Isla wasn’t the only one who couldn’t disguise her own smile. “I won’t even ask how it went,” she said, handing Amy a crisp glass of Chardonnay, bustling West Hollywood stretched out beyond the big living room window.

“Maybe you should ask how long?” Both young women broke up in a cackle of sexual mischief.

“It was that good, huh?” Amy shook her head and took a sip of cool white wine just to collect her thoughts, and even then she couldn’t. Instead of waiting, Isla said, “I told you.”

“Hey, when you’re right, you’re right.” Amy raised her glass and Isla did the same, the two crystals clinking. “Sssooooooo right. Can’t wait to do it again.”

“What? You’re kidding!”

“Why not? He was … I have to see him again, Isla.”

Isla’s big, dark eyes got even bigger and even darker. “He? You don’t mean you’re crushing on this guy?” But once glance at Amy’s guilty grin told Isla everything she needed to know. “Amy, this was a … a set up thing; you get that, right?”

“Of course I do, Isla. C’mon!”

“No, Amy, you c’mon. I know that look in your eye. And if I can see it, what do you think The Munsters are gonna say?”

Amy waved her off and enjoyed another sip of cold white wine. “You only know because, well, you know. But they’ll just think I’m just me being me.”

Isla leaned back and took a sip from her own glass, one eyebrow raised as she fixed her glare on Amy. “I guess. But do you really think this guy can be … the one? He is a service provider after all!”

“He’s an actor, Isla.”

“Like I said … ”

“Isla, it isn’t like that. He’s … I dunno, we made a connection.”

“Of course you did,” Isla said. “And now you want to see him again.” Isla shook her head and sat down next to Amy, leaning against her with a warm nudge. “Amy, you know how waitresses flirt with the guys who pay the check?” Amy had to nod. “It’s just that, it’s part of the job … but you gotta know it’s nothing more. He’s building up a roster, flirting for tips. And hey, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. It’s fine; it’s awesome, even. We’ve been doing it for so long, I’m kinda glad to see someone on the other team grabbing a little ass and banking a little coin, y’know?” They shared a friendly chuckle before Isla went on, “But I don’t wanna see you lose your head either.”

Amy let out a big sigh, “Isla, this was your idea!”

“And it was a great idea! But it’s not a dating service, I don’t think.” Isla seemed to give it some thought before saying, “Maybe you should do another kind of thing?”

Amy could hardly fathom. “More? Like what, have myself thrown out of an airplane?”

Isla chuckled a little. “Like a black guy maybe … or a woman? Who knows? Now that you’re trying new things, you should keep at it.”

“No,” Amy answered without needing to give it another thought. “It’s not just the thing, the event. I mean, it was great, but …” Shaking her head, staring into what Amy knew was the face of her future, handsome and cloaked in long, black hair, she said to Isla as much as to herself, “No … it’s him, it’s got to be him.”

* * *

Amy felt like she was floating on air. Even the Dey mansion compound seemed like the paradise her father surely had envisioned it to be. A private Garden of Eden, a carnival of delights. She’d forgotten how beautiful the pools were, purple lights shooting up through the palm trees and ferns, the stone grotto a private enclave for moments of secretive public sex. Amy almost giggled to think about how many of her so-called friends had used the grotto, and the fact that she’d never used it at all.

Maybe soon, Amy imagined, picturing herself and Camden in that stony wet darkness, indulging in a secret, passionate tryst, escaping reality together.

Amy suddenly looked around, blushing and glad that nobody was around to see it.

“Buenos Dias, Miss Amy.”

Well, almost nobody.

Rosa came waddling out into the backyard, her beady brown eyes fixed on Amy’s glistening blues. She smiled at Amy, even giggling with herself as if she knew a secret, a secret about Amy.

“Rosa,” Amy said, “how’re you doing?”

“I’m all right,” she said, “but not as good as you, I don’t think.” Amy tried not to reveal anything of what she was thinking, but she’d known Rosa for fifteen years, Rosa had practically raised her. So lying to her was a tall order, if not impossible.

“I’m okay,” Amy said, “nothing special.”

Rosa smiled. “Nobody special?”

Amy and Rosa stared each other down, then burst out in a little laugh. “I can’t say anything about it,” Amy said, adding, “about him, I mean.”

“Him? It?” Rosa pressed.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Amy said, “I just mean, you know, it’s turning into a thing … maybe … I dunno. Just … nothing, it’s nothing.”

Rosa nodded and gave Amy an exaggerated wink. “Si, chica, de nada.”

Amy smiled back, returning the nod, but she wasn’t convinced that Rosa would keep her word. Amy didn’t pay her salary, she knew that. But Rosa was closer to her than anybody in the family, and Amy was the only one who paid Rosa any attention or any respect at all.

She won’t sell me out, Amy told herself, not to them, not to anyone.

But the words of her own mother rang in her memory, sending chills down her spine. Family is the only thing you can rely on.

Now Amy wasn’t sure if she could trust her family at all, and that was even more worrisome as she knew she was on her way to see them that very night for dinner.