An Ex to Grind (45 page)

As we disembarked from the ferry, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper with Evan's address on it. "Excuse me again," I said to the woman. "I'm sorry to bother you, but could you tell me how to get to this address?" I showed her the paper.

She laughed. Laughed! Not knowing that people in the Abacos are generally happier than people anywhere else in the world and that they laugh simply
because
they're happy, I was convinced that she was laughing at me.

"Don't tell me," I said, rolling my eyes. "I've gotten off at the wrong island or something." I sighed. "I've been so preoccupied with my poison ivy and my boyfriend—well, he's not my boyfriend yet. Not until I find him and tell him I'm ready to be with him. I was so excited about seeing him that maybe I wasn't as careful as I should have been when I made the reservations yesterday. I kind of rushed—"

I stopped when she started shaking her head at me.

"No," she said, continuing to laugh. What a jolly person! What a jolly country! "I was trying to explain that the place you're going to is just up the street—a two-minute walk."

"Really?" I said. "I didn't screw up?"

She grinned the widest grin I'd ever seen. "Not at all," she said. "You're right where you want to be."

So, there you have it. I was right where I wanted to be. What I hoped—well, "hope" is an understatement—was that Evan would be there waiting for me; to accept me, welts and all.