“Force of habit. Or just to vent about something. When they vent, they don’t even care if we respond. As a matter of fact, they prefer it if we don’t say anything.”

Rina laughed. It was true. “No, you’re going to win. Not only do you have the female body in the woods, you also have Gabe, who will probably want to update you on his mother and what happened to her.”

“Yeah, but Donatti will tip the scales on your side.”

“Why would Chris call me?”

“Because he’s always calling you.”

“He doesn’t call me that often. Besides, now he’s busy with Terry. I wonder what happened to her?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out.” A pause. “Are we still on vacation with our moms?”

Rina said, “What do you mean?”

“Does the unplugging extend to Florida?”

“What do you think?”

Decker said, “I vote we can plug back in.”

“I vote yes as well. We’re in America. It’s back to the grind. But it’s a nice grind.”

“It is. But I’m already missing Israel. I can’t wait to get started on the remodel.” Decker smiled. “The place is perfect.”

“The house is nicer and bigger than I remembered. I love the arched windows. And the old Moroccan tiles on the living room floor. I didn’t remember that either.”

“Neither did I,” Decker said. “And the location. You can’t beat the location.”

“The location is great.”

“I saw you eyeing the front yard. What do you have in mind?”

“The usual. Flowers and some nice greenery. Also, fruit trees. It would be nice to have fresh oranges and lemons instead of buying them in the supermarket.” She smiled. “I suppose we should close the deal before we start fantasizing.”

“It’s going to happen,” Decker said. “Besides, fantasizing is so much fun.”

“Better than reality, with all those sticky details.”

“Ach.” Decker waved a dismissive hand. “We’re not in a hurry. It’ll be fun.”

The seat belt light came on. Seats upright, tray tables and footrests stowed in the landing position, and carry-ons back in the overheads.

“Never ate so much good street food in my life.”

The plane broke through the clouds, gliding over the Atlantic until a city of high-rises gave way to green land and intercoastal waterways.

“Here we go,” Decker said.

“How are your legs?”

“A little cramped, but waaaay better than coach. This is going to spoil me.”

Rina said, “Maybe we can tell the kids how much we truly appreciated the gift and how comfortable we felt for the first time, and it was really, really a treat and it would be really nice if we could do it again sometime in the future. Because after all, you only have one mother.”

“That’s called a guilt trip.”

“Like they haven’t guilt-tripped me before? Don’t you know, darling? Guilt is a two-way street.”