“Oh, well, naturally! Once she needs my help with something.” Gemma flutters her fingers. “How was your trip to the ends of the earth?”

For now, I’ve asked Cali to keep the many revelations of Ushuaia to herself. I’ve told her that Edward figured out who I was when I first arrived. She’s as impressed as I am that he’s kept it a secret. It’s a relief that Cali knows, but however cathartic it was to tell her, it was exhausting too.

“It was great! We went on a lake tour, saw the penguins.”

“Do they smell as horrid as I’ve heard?” Gemma asks, wrinkling her nose. We’d casually extended the invitation to her but were unsurprised when she demurred. Gemma has made it clear she’s a city girl, not into outdoorsy adventures, which are the only reason to go to Ushuaia.

“They do not smell great, but it was a good trip. How are things here?”

Gemma shakes her head. “A bit of trouble with Anders, I’m afraid. He’s not here tonight,” she adds as I glance around us. “He’s off pouting.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. What’s going on?”

“He just wants more from me than I expected him to. I mean, he’s twenty-five, for god’s sake, I didn’t think he’d get so attached.”

I smile. “You probably blow his mind.”

Gemma grumbles, “I’m not sure he’s accustomed to any resistance. I gather he was quite the golden boy back in Oslo, but I think this thing with his sister has just shattered him. I’m just not sure what he expects from a holiday romance.”

“What are you going to do?” I ask.

“He says he needs me to decide,” Gemma replies, taking the rest of her half-full wineglass down in one sip and gesturing to me to refill it.

“About what?”

“About him. I suppose you could say he’s given me an ultimatum.”

“Oh. Well, how do you feel about it? I mean, I know you care about him.”

“I do, but it’s more complicated than that. Besides, I’m probably just a midtwenties rebellion, something he needs to get out of his system. He’ll tell his grandchildren about the old lady he had a scandalous romance with before he met their grandmother.” She smiles.

“I don’t think that’s how he sees it.” I consider the way Anders looks at Gemma—full of admiration and awe—and I feel a sudden flash of envy. “If anything, it seems like he’s the one who’s fallen for you. Like he’s got more to lose.”

“Oh, Liz,” Gemma says, looking at me as though I’m a hundred years younger than she is, “women always have more to lose.”