“Hey, I thought you said you’d be back around ten?”“Yeah, Jimmy understood what he was doing, but he thought he was doing something wrong even... though it was working. I just convinced him he was right and stuck around as he finished his homework and played a couple of video games real quick,” Tim was trying to be nonchalant as he untied his other shoe, collected them both and placed them underneath the desk. He grabbed the remote control and looked up at his mom with an unspoken urging for her. . . . . . . . . “I wrap my arms around your waist from behind as you turn your head and our lips meet. I close my eyes and savor the taste and feel of your lips massaging mine. “Come on.” I take your hand and lead you over to a blanket, gentle breeze. Next to us is a battery operated radio and an ice bucket containing two bottles of KF beer. “This is a private beach a common friend of us owns,” I explain as we sit down next to each other on the blanket, “While the owner’s away on vacation he. She’d love to know we were there, loving as she would have loved.”Polly looked at me. I’d said ‘love.’ It had slipped out and her face was utterly unreadable. “You’d better move in then.”“Is that a suggestion?”“Think of it more as an instruction. As,” she stressed the word, “we’re loving, we might as well make it permanent.”“You old romantic, you.”“Less of the old.”My publisher, Erin, was putting some pressure on me to finish the book about Gurnard and Isabella. We argued about the title. And how many are out there?" Pretty much everybody," said Karen."You mean nobody wanted to get more sleep. I hope I'm not some sort of shepherdess leading a bunch of sheep." No, Natty," said Karen. "These are amazing, unique people. I mean after being greeted by our fearless leader in a coma, the day has begun with a bang, and everyone wants to be involved in every moment of this crazy day."Among familiar faces were many strangers and Natty was tempted to greet the arrivals, whether it was to.