“Umm, hello, guys?” Alex sat fully upright on her chair, beckoning Paul to come back. “Am I not on this call anymore?”

“Sorry, babe,” he reassured, returning to his seat and placing her squarely in the frame. “I was just showing her the view.”

“Are you not going to visit the town, Lex?” Her mother was nothing if not committed to maximizing every second of travel with capital-A Activities.

“I went for a five-mile run through town this morning,” she replied, half-wanting to add that she had also consumed over thirty grams of protein at breakfast and drank four glasses of water. “I’ll probably go back after lunch.”

From across the deck, a rather embarrassed-looking Danial stopped mid-step, laptop firmly in his hand. “Oh, sorry, I was just going to do a little work.”

“Who is that?” Elena asked, straining to see.

“It’s Danial,” Paul replied, diplomatic as ever. “Say hi, Danial.”

He flipped the phone around to place Danial in frame, and Alex’s heart jumped to her throat. The last time they’d spoken was the day before that fateful grad party, at a parents’ lunch where their mothers had gotten along fabulously.

Danial walked over to their deck chairs, leaning down slightly, his thin gold chain falling free from his button-down shirt. “Elena, how are you?” He smelled freshly scrubbed, the whisper of his sandalwood cologne blending with the expensive soap from their cabins.

“I’m good!” She paused, and Alex cringed with the thought that her mother was likely assessing his physical appearance. “You look healthy! Are you getting enough sleep out there?”

“Hah, probably not.” He smiled, crescent-shaped laugh lines appearing in his cheeks with the sincerity of it. “But I haven’t been working, either, so that’s good.”

“How is Marjane?” Her question had an unusually tender tone, especially for someone as blunt as she was. “We’re still friends on Facebook.”

“I know,” he confirmed. He knew? “Thank you for asking. She’s doing okay.” He paused for a moment, raising a cupped hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “I’m going straight to LA to visit her after the wedding.”

“That’s good.”

“Listen, Elena, I would love to keep chatting, but I need to hop on a call with the London office.”

“I thought you weren’t working.” Alex shocked herself with her own words, which escaped before she could calculate their rudeness. Paul rolled his eyes.

“I’m mostly not working,” Danial replied, meeting her gaze directly. “And by the way, I’ve seen you check your email at least fifty times since we set sail.”

“I knew it!” Elena cried from inside the phone. “She told me she’d deleted the email app for the trip.”

“Oh, honey,” Paul laughed, pointing the screen back toward himself. “I could have told you that was a lie.”