“I’d like to check out, please.” I hand the front desk clerk my key.

Jenna and I had some food brought up to our room so I could get my strength back. My throat is still ragged, but I gargled salt water to help it heal. While we ate, we didn’t talk about what’s been happening and since that’s the only thing on our minds, it was the quietest meal we’ve ever had. A couple of times we heard people walking in the hall and we both stopped with our forks in the air, expecting a knock. But none came.

It helped to have something to plan to keep my mind off the sadness I can’t help but feel. A helicopter will bring us over to Madrid where we’ll catch the flight home by way of Miami, just after eleven o’clock tonight. And now our luggage is on the far side of the lobby waiting for us on a bellboy’s cart, the teenage bellboy resting his weight on it. Jenna’s pink leopard-print suitcase and my purple one have new friends in the shape of two nondescript humungous black rolling cases, and I don’t like them at all. “You see those big honkin’ cases?”

She glances over. “Yeah?”

“Those aren’t nearly as much fun as ours are. That was me trying to be something I’m not.”

She smiles and touches the Prada shades balanced on her head. “What about these?”

I pull mine down to cover my eyes, striking a pose, the black slacks I bought in New York hanging beautifully off my curves. “Oh, these are very me.”

She laughs, happy for the lighter mood, and puts hers down, cocking her hip out in a funny pose, the sundress she bought this morning after breakfast, fanning out prettily. We’d done a run of the hotel stores before hitting the pool, and it feels like weeks ago rather than hours.

“Jenna, you know how you said you needed to buy that with your own money?”

“To have something of my own, yeah,” she smiles, putting the shades up again so I can see her eyes.

I follow suit and move my hair off of my shoulder. “I need that, too. When we get back, I’m going to go in and quit Ralphs, even though I’m sure I’m already fired.” I roll my eyes. “But I’m going to go handle my business and then you know what I’m going to do? All of my focus is going to dancing. I’m going to train harder than I ever have. I’m not going to just sit around on this pot of gold and get lazy. I want to follow my dream still. And I want to do something with the money, too. To help people. I’m not sure what yet, but I’m going to put some serious thought into it.”

My friend lets out a big sigh that bends her whole body. “I was hoping you would say that! This is fun… but at the end of the day, what do you want to do?”

“Right,” I smile, turning to face the clerk, embarrassed to catch him waiting for us behind his iPad. “Oh, sorry!” Pulling out my debit card, I slap it on the counter. “How much do I owe?”

His tanned skin shifts into a professional smile, but I can see by the glint in his eyes that he liked what he just overheard. “Your room has been paid for, Ms. Calliwell. Mr. Gabriel took care of it.”

Surprised, I glance to Jenna. “Oh! Well, that’s unexpected.”

“He left this.” A gold wedding band glints in the light as he hands me an envelope that, while not aged, has a yellow tint to it. My blood freezes at the sight. One more affair that ripped the Stone family apart. I slip it into my purse. “Thank you. Cabs this way?” He nods and goes back to his work.

We walk to the luggage and Jenna’s watching me stare at the shiny tile beneath our feet. Alec paid for my room. I know that’s a drop in the bucket of what he has financially, but did he do that to clear his conscious? I can and do believe Jack asked him to break my heart and that he agreed, but what if that was before he met me? What if he couldn’t do it in the end, because he ended up really caring? When he said he did care, a teeny tiny part of me believed him, but the larger realistic part just thought he was fighting for his reputation or his self-respect or… something? What if two people can really fall in love, almost at first sight? There’s enough evidence in the world supporting that, so why won’t my head give it a chance?

As Jenna and the bellman head for the door, I mumble my next thought aloud, “Would he have punched his best friend just to keep up an act?”

Jenna stops walking and asks the bellman to wait a minute. “I don’t think he would, do you? I mean, that’s jeopardizing a lot, don’t you think?”

I nod, hope furiously taking hold. “Do you think he’s still here? That was hours ago he paid for the room. Did he leave, do you think?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Spinning around, I dash through the enormous lobby and skid in front of the reception desk. “Is Mr. Gabriel still here?” I croak, my voice still not a hundred percent. “Can you please call his room?”

The clerk’s eyes darken, knowing he’s about to disappoint me. “I’m sorry. Mr. Gabriel checked out.”

“Oh.” I bite my lips as my hands slowly slip off the counter. “Thank you.” He smiles the smile of one who likes to help people and hates it when he can’t.

Walking back to Jenna, my hand digs for the envelope. She and I exchange a look as I open the letter.

My eyes flick left to right again and again, soaking it in and wishing there was more. With an ache in my chest, I show it to Jenna. “Well, he’s not as verbose as my father was, I can give him that.” Crumbling it up in one hand, I walk toward the exit, telling the bellman, “We can go now. Thank you for waiting.”

“It’s no problem, Ms. Stone.”

“My name’s not…never mind.” I follow him out, with Jenna at my side as she always is. “It hurts.”

“Yeah,” she says softly, looping her arm through mine, her inner strength holding me up. “Let’s go home.” God bless best friends for carrying us when we’ve fallen, and for sparking the hope that keeps us up. “You can see him when you get home. I have a feeling he’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

I rest my head on her shoulder as the sliding doors whoosh open.