Irene very much doubts that. “I didn’t know you had a twin,” she says. Then she realizes she knows next to nothing about Mavis’s personal life.

“Well, I’m warning you, she’s very tough. I find her a bit intimidating, to be honest.”

This gets Irene’s attention. Mavis, with her extreme self-confidence, her stylish clothes, her cutting-edge vision, finds her sister intimidating? What must the woman be like?

“I’m not sure what I need,” Irene says.

“You need Nat,” Mavis says. “Natalie Key. Call her, Irene.”

Baker

Thursday, four in the morning, Houston, Texas. Baker sits straight up in bed. This is it. This is happening. Their flight to St. Thomas is in a few short hours.

His phone shows two missed calls from Cash the night before plus a text that says, Pick up, bro. It’s urgent.

Baker still has last-minute packing and organizing to do before Ellen comes to take them to the airport. He doesn’t have one spare second to talk to his brother, though he figures Cash must have heard the news: Maia saw Mick kissing Brigid on the beach, Maia told Ayers, and Ayers is going to break off the engagement.

Well, Baker already knows. Ayers texted him right after it happened.

It’s a sign from above; this new chapter in his life is going to work. A tropical island, a nontraditional lifestyle, and, most important, Baker’s relationship with Ayers Wilson. He’s going to win Ayers over or die trying.

“We’re going to miss you like crazy,” Ellen says. They’re curbside at the airport, which is congested with Ubers and taxis and people wheeling their roller bags while talking on their phones, but Ellen insists on getting out so she can give Baker a proper hug goodbye. “Becky is in charge of finding us a new school husband.”

“What?” Baker’s friendship with his school wives is rare and, he thought, special. He never dreamed he’d be replaced.

Ellen shrugs. “She’s the one in HR.”

“Just as long as it’s not Tony,” Baker says.

Ellen grins but her eyes are shining with tears. “I’m only kidding, Bake,” she says. “You know what? We’re already planning a trip to visit you this summer.”

“You are?”

“I’m terrible with surprises,” Ellen says. “Sorry about that. Yes, we’ll see you in a few months.”

“You can stay at the villa, you know,” Baker says. “It has nine bedrooms.”

“You’re sweet to offer, but we wouldn’t do that to your mom and brother,” Ellen says. “I’m going to book rooms at Caneel.”

Baker finds himself getting choked up as he shepherds Floyd into the terminal. His school wives are the only people in Houston he’s going to miss, and he’s touched that they feel the same way, so much so that they’re already planning a trip down. Once they see St. John and Irene’s villa and meet Ayers, they’ll understand why he’s making the move. He’d be a fool not to.