Chapter 26

Casey took one more look around the bedroom she’d shared with Cat for the last three days and tested the heft of her duffel bag as if it would mysteriously reveal whatever item she had the nagging feeling she was missing. She turned to Cat. “I still feel like I’ve forgotten something.”

Sitting naked but for a pair of librarian glasses on the still-rumpled bed, Cat looked up from whatever she was studying on her laptop. “Maybe it’s the fact that you’re flying to California for a week to sleep with my husband.”

“I’m not...” Casey started to say, then shook her head. “I’m going to California to talk about work. Sleeping with Hall is just a nice side-benefit.”

Cat smiled. “Still, the situation is weird and there’s probably something in your head telling you that you need to make things right between us before you go. I remember that feeling.”

“It is weird, though. Right?” Casey sat on the edge of the bed again.

“In the sense that it’s not how happy homoclites behave, it’s very weird,” said Cat. “I like being weird. And I’m glad Hall’s not going to be alone this week. I’m just sorry it’s my turn to sleep in an empty bed for a few days. But, you certainly aren’t leaving me wanting after last night and this morning. I have been celibate for weeks and even months at a time before although, as a married woman with a beautiful girlfriend, I really hope to never repeat the latter experience. It made me cranky.”

“Do you think you’ll sleep in an empty bed the whole time?” Casey asked. “I know asking you to be celibate is kind of like asking a mermaid to walk on dry ground.”

“Ah.” Cat closed her laptop and turned to Casey. “Well, that is the plan this time, yes. We haven’t really talked about extracurriculars. Have we?”

“Do we need to?” Casey frowned. “I just figured you and Hall would do whatever you were doing when I wasn’t in the picture, just less frequently because I was keeping you busy.”

“Well no,” said Cat. “We’ve actually been completely faithful to you since you came back to us. We were waiting for you to be ready to talk about what comes next.”

“You were?” Casey’s frown got deeper. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well...” Cat put her laptop aside and stretched out to lay her head on Casey’s jeans-covered thigh. “As I recall, the last time we tried to talk to you about the nature of our relationship, you cut off contact, ran away to New York, and didn’t talk to us for a year and a half. We might be a little gun-shy.”

Casey winced at the characterization, which was brutally fair. “Well, I promise. I won’t do that again. I can’t promise I’ll like what I hear, but I’ll stay and talk about it next time.”

“Do you have time to talk now?” Cat asked. “I know you still have some packing to do.”

Casey kicked off her shoes. “I have some time anyway. My flight’s in like five hours.”

They adjusted their positions until Casey was sitting with her head against the headboard and Cat was curled up, still naked, next to her. It had been a wonder to Casey to discover how well two women could fit together like this. Now, it just felt right. She looked down at her lover. “Should we get Hall on the phone?”

“It’s early yet and we’ve deputized each other to talk to you about this when the time seemed right.” said Cat. “You can talk to me now and Hall once you get to LA if you like.”

“You two have probably talked about this a lot.” Casey realized.

“We talk about everything. Talking is the curse of the polyamorous. We try not to take anything for granted,” said Cat. “Can I ask if your thinking on our relationship has changed any?”

“Maybe a little,” said Casey. “You know there was that picture of us in the tabloids last week. Right?”

“I thought the lighting was unflattering and I don’t like being called ‘Unknown Woman,’ but I remember it,” said Cat.

“My mother saw it. She was very excited,” said Casey.

“Excited in a good way?” Cat asked, surprised.

“In a good way for a bad reason,” said Casey. “You were ‘Unknown Woman.’ I was ‘Casey Osbourne, Nick Coyle’s girlfriend. My mother was delighted to hear Nick and I were dating.”

“And you didn’t disabuse her of the notion?” Cat asked, not really a question.

Casey hated the note she heard in Cat’s voice. “I tried. I swear. I wanted to just blurt out, ‘That’s my girlfriend Cat. I’ve been dating her and her husband for a while now. But I panicked.”

Cat laughed. “It’s probably best not to blurt out major lifestyle choice announcements.”

“Anyway, every time I talked to her since then, I’ve mentioned you or Hall or you and Hall a little more to try to ease her into the idea,” said Casey. “So far, she’s really only interested in hearing about Nick, but I’m hopeful.”

Cat smirked. “And how does Nick feel about his part in the masquerade?”

“I haven’t told him,” admitted Casey. “I showed him the story in the newspaper and he seemed more concerned about my reputation than his own. I’m ... really a terrible person. Aren’t I?”

“Hall and I don’t think so, but we may be the wrong people to ask,” said Cat.

“I should really just tell my Mom. Shouldn’t I?” Casey asked.

“Should you?” Cat rolled onto her back. “If you haven’t, maybe you’ve got a good reason.”

“Wait. I’m confused. Are you saying I shouldn’t come out to my family?” asked Casey.

“I’m saying that you know the situation way better than I do and that I try to avoid giving unsolicited advice, particularly to people I care about,” said Cat. “Whatever you choose to do, I’ll support you as best I can.”

Casey sighed and stroked her hair. “I’m soliciting your advice. What should I do?”

“If you’re soliciting my advice, I imagine you’re expecting me to say that you should tell your mother the truth and let the chips fall where they may,” said Cat.

“Yeah. That’s what you would do in my position. Wouldn’t you?” Casey asked.

“I’ve never been in your position,” Cat said. “My mother is a celibate lesbian and my father is almost a serial monogamist. I grew up on an artist’s commune in Oregon. If you google my name, the fourth hit calls me a feminazi and the sixth hit calls me a gender traitor. And I’m all over YouTube talking about polyamory. I can’t help but be out. You grew up in a close-knit Texas family that sounds pretty nice all things considered but might genuinely endeavor to make you miserable if they knew the life you were leading.”

“So, you’re not going to give me the magical answer that solves all of my problems in a neat little package. Are you?” asked Casey.

“If I come up with that answer, I’ll text it to you,” said Cat. “In the meantime, we’re hoping you’ll continue to live the life that makes you happiest, particularly if it involves continuing to make us so happy.”

“Am I making you two unhappy by limiting your extracurriculars?” Casey frowned.

“We’ve made the choices that make us happiest for now,” said Cat.

“So, what do I need to do - just wave my hand and say it’s all right for you two to live the lives you had before I came back into them?” Casey asked.

“Is that what you want?” Cat asked. “Hall and I discuss between ourselves what we do, who we play with, and who we want a more long-term relationship with. We were starting to look for someone to take your place when you came back.”

“Well, I don’t want you to start doing that last part again,” said Casey. “You don’t need anyone to take my place. I’ve taken it back.”

“And we don’t need to look for a replacement because you’re planning to stick around or because you want us to wait until you decide to leave?” Cat asked.

The question hit Casey like a physical blow. She really was a terrible person. Cat must have seen the effect of her words because she was hugging Casey a moment later. “I’m not asking to hurt you or to change your mind. I’m asking because I don’t know the answer. We haven’t really talked about any of this since we got back together again. Right now, Hall and I assume you’re leaving again at some point. If that’s not your plan, we’d like to talk about the future at some point.”

Casey closed her eyes. “You guys know I love you both. Right?”

Cat kissed her. “We strongly suspected it. We love you too, Case.”

Tears welled unbidden in Casey’s eyes. “I just can’t imagine never being a wife and mother.”

“Well, I highly recommend being a wife if you can find the right person.” Cat smiled.

“You don’t want to be a mother?” Casey frowned.

“I’m terrified of pregnancy,” said Cat.

“But doesn’t Hall want kids?” Casey asked. “He told me he did.”

“He does,” said Cat.

“So, what are you going to do?” asked Casey.

“Well, we might adopt,” said Cat. “Or, we might find some arrangement where Hall gets to be a father and I don’t ever have to be pregnant.”

Casey frowned. Then, an idea popped into her head, fully-formed. “Oh.” Her frown deepened. “Oh. Oh God. You’re not...” She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing.

“Casey,” Cat said sharply enough to make Casey’s eyes open again. “Don’t hyperventilate. We haven’t asked you because we know you’re not ready to talk about it and might never be. It’s just theoretical right now. We still have decades of opportunity if we decide to go that way.”

Casey’s panic mostly receded. She asked, “How would that even work ... legally, I mean?”

“We don’t know. If we ever got really serious about that possible arrangement, we’d have to talk to lawyers about it, maybe plan where the baby was born based on favorable laws,” said Cat. “It’s always possible the laws could change between now and then. We might even fight to change them. It seems like an impossible fight, but so did same-sex marriage just twenty years ago.”

“You’re serious?” Casey asked. “You think you can get the American government do what ... recognize polyamory?”

“I prefer getting the hell out of trying to define or regulate marriage at all,” said Cat. “I know it’s a tall order, but there are already people organizing along those lines. Hall has millions of fans. I’ve got tens of thousands. Our voices could help ignite something. Plus, we have a very rich, very sympathetic friend who can’t wait to change the world.”

“Is that why you two hang out with Nick?” Casey asked.

“We hang out with Nick because he’s a fan of Hall’s and hired him to be in a video, then hired me to paint a portrait of his friend,” said Cat. “Hall’s done some favors for him because he’s a good friend to have. We’d both like to work with him again after this. But, we’ve certainly understood from the beginning what a difference it might make to any cause we’d consider taking up if he took it up too.”

Casey frowned. “Have you been trying to seduce him?”

“Case, if you thought the only way you could ever have a child and not have to worry about the government taking it away from you was to seduce Nick Coyle, would you?” Cat challenged her.

“I like Nick,” said Casey automatically. “If I were single and he were single, I might seduce him just because I wanted to.”

“Well, I like Nick too,” said Cat. “If my husband didn’t mind and my girlfriend didn’t mind, I might seduce him myself.”

“I ... don’t mind, I guess,” said Casey. “I don’t really think it’s my place to mind. I mean ... if you sleep with him, that doesn’t mean I have to sleep with him too. Does it?”

“No, but it does mean he’d be sleeping with your girlfriend. Some people might be bothered by that,” said Cat.

“I’m ... not,” Casey realized. “I think I just found something I’m supposed to be uptight about and I’m not. That’s progress. Right?”

Cat laughed. “That’s progress, Case. For the record, I also wouldn’t be bothered if you slept with Nick either. And Hall doesn’t mind if either or both of us sleep with him.”

Casey frowned. “Isn’t he already with Kiki, though?”

“And Jazz and probably Pilar by now,” said Cat.

“Oh.” Casey shook her head. “We don’t really want to join a harem. Do we?”

Cat laughed. It took Casey a moment to figure out why. “Oh, God. I’m in a harem. Aren’t I?”

“Or two. I like to think you and Hall are in my harem,” said Cat.

“Is two really a harem? It’s always like three or more in anime,” said Casey.

“It’s up to you how you define the word,” said Cat. “On the bright side, if you joined Nick’s harem, you could probably tell your mother about it and get her used to the idea of polyamory.”

“God,” Casey blushed. “I probably could honestly. I tried to tell her once that he was seeing Kiki and she said, ‘Well, rich men always have two or three girlfriends at a time.’”

“She’s not wrong...”

“God, all right.” Casey rubbed her eyes through the lids. “Too many new facts to digest. I think I need to go pack whole the world makes sense. Is there ... anyone else you want my permission to sleep with before I get back?”

“Well, there are a few people Hall and I discussed that he said he wouldn’t mind,” said Cat. “I figured we should talk about Kiki if we were talking about Nick. And we talked about Arwen. He was okay with both of those. And then we talked about Arwen and Lev together, which he was okay with, but I promised Arwen I wouldn’t try to sleep with Lev, so he’s off-limits unless Arwen brings him along. And ... we talked about the hostess at that Brazilian place, but I don’t think he ever gave me an answer on her and I don’t know her name anyway. So, that’s Kiki, Arwen, or Arwen and Lev. Do you have a problem with any of those?”

“Maybe hold off on Kiki. If you sleep with Kiki and I haven’t, I really think I have to and I don’t know if I’m ready for that,” said Casey. “Arwen and Lev are fine, I guess. Are they really a possibility?”

“Maybe. Arwen’s been asking a lot of questions and Lev’s been learning to dance,” said Cat. “So, Arwen and Lev or just Arwen or just Arwen and Lev?”

“Uh ... any combination of the two, I guess.” Casey leaned in and kissed Cat. “What about Jazz and Pilar?”

“I haven’t talked to Hall about them,” said Cat.

“Ok. Well, I’m fine with them.” Casey kissed her again. “I really need to go pack.”

“Have fun in LA,” said Cat. “Give Hall my love.”

Casey was halfway home before she stopped chuckling to herself and wondered what the hell she’d just agreed to. Not for the first time, she suspected Cat had some powerful reality-warping field that made you forget that giving your girlfriend permission to sleep with other people wasn’t normal. She felt lucky that she hadn’t agreed to have Hall’s babies.

When she let herself into the apartment, the sounds of a Japanese schoolgirl being violated floated up the hall from the living room. Casey closed the door and called out, “Kiki?”

“In here,” called Kiki.

When Casey stepped into the room, Kiki looked up, “Oh, hey. I used to have a roommate that looked like you. But she moved in with a bunch of people she was sleeping with and I never saw her again.”

“Two is not a bunch,” said Casey.

“Is it still only two?” Kiki asked. “You’re slacking.”

“It’s actually only one at a time right now. Cat’s here in New York and Hall’s in LA.” Casey sat on the couch next to her roommate. “Coincidentally, I’m just here to pack before I fly to LA for work.”

“Convenient.” Kiki paused the video she’d been watching on the image of a schoolgirl with a tentacle in her mouth.

“I’ve actually been getting a lot of interest out of Hollywood since Nick’s video came out,” said Casey. “It’s a business trip.”

“A lot of fantasy movie stuff?” Kiki asked. “I’ve been getting a lot of requests for fantasy movie stuff.”

“Are you following up on any of it?” Casey asked. “I’ll be out there all week.”

“I don’t do LA. I came to New York to get away from that place,” said Kiki. “I might talk to some TV people here in New York, but I haven’t decided.”

“I guess you’ve been busy with modeling?” Casey asked.

“Yeah. It’s picked up. Jazz wants me to make out with Emily. And for some reason, Land’s End has been sniffing around about me doing catalog work,” said Kiki.

“Uh, wait. Back up one headline,” said Casey. “Jazz wants you to what?”

“She’s got this idea for a guerrilla marketing campaign - like the old Taster’s Choice campaign, but with sexy girls who bond over both wearing the same bra the first time they hook up even though they come from different worlds and have way different tits. There’s more to it, but I couldn’t hear her over someone saying ‘yes’ really loudly after she asked about making out with Emily. It sounded like my voice.” said Kiki.

Casey laughed. She’d been a little surprised to find Kiki at home in the middle of the afternoon, but apparently not much had changed. “You’re working for IBJ now?”

“Yeah. I’ll be walking for Jazz in Milan in two weeks and then I’m supposed to be the face of IBJ in Japan pending a lot of business stuff,” said Kiki. “Nick set it up.”

“That was ... uh, generous of him,” said Casey. “I guess you two must be getting along pretty well.”

“We are. I hooked up with him and Jazz before he flew off to Montana, but that was after he asked Jazz to hire me and before I knew he asked Jazz to hire me, so it was a very classy threesome, not some quid pro quo thing,” said Kiki.

Casey heard an odd note in Kiki’s voice. “Would it bother you if it had been quid pro quo? I didn’t think anything bothered Kiki.”

“It would be weird,” said Kiki. “I mean it’s all weird. When I met Nick, I thought I was hooking up with some nice, innocent college guy whose world I could rock. I didn’t think I’d have to deal with him ... doing things for me or offering me stuff. Pilar texted and asked me to come clothes shopping with her and Nick on Tuesday. What do you think that’s all about?”

“I ... wouldn’t know,” said Casey. “You don’t think it’s just about clothes shopping?”

“I think Pilar did some secret Stone girl sex-juju on Nick over the weekend and they’re going to uninvite me from the party,” said Kiki.

“Didn’t you just tell me you and Jazz did some secret Stone girl sex-juju on Nick before he left?” Casey asked. “You don’t think Pilar’s juju could be stronger than that. Do you?”

“I wouldn’t think so,” said Kiki. “But they went to some Stone wedding, so maybe she has like a whole coven of Stone girls to work some super-spell on him.”

Casey glanced at the TV screen. “Have you been watching Bible Black?”

“Which one is that?” Kiki asked.

“Coven of schoolgirls doing black magic - lots of sex, lots of gore,” said Casey.

“No, but it sounds good,” said Kiki.

“I’m surprised you’re here watching anime in the middle of the afternoon,” said Casey. “Did Prohibition come back while I was gone?”

“If it had, I’d probably be dancing on a table at a speakeasy by now,” said Kiki. “I was up late last night helping Jazz get ready for Milan. I only got home like an hour ago.”

“God. We have a lot of catching up to do,” said Casey. “Come watch me pack?”

“Will you be trying on lingerie for your boyfriend?” Kiki asked.

“I ... could,” said Casey. In spite of everything, Kiki’s ability to turn on a dime and almost kind-of hit on her still took Casey aback. It was nice to know she hadn’t completely left the real world.

“Cool.” Kiki was up off the couch and offering her a hand up in a flash. “Maybe one of us will remember where your room is.”

“I have been gone a lot,” Casey led Kiki to her room. “Have you been here enough to notice? I’m used to that being the other way around.”

“Some. The really good parties are like way uptown now. It just seems like a hassle to have to get over to West Fourth Street, then transfer to the blue lines and...” Kiki waved her hand. “I don’t know. I’m over at the loft half the time and I’ve been hanging out with Jazz all weekend. Partying just seemed like too much work today.”

Casey decided not to comment on what a change that was for Kiki. She knew her roommate well enough to realize it wouldn’t be taken well and might trigger a fresh bout of wildness for its own sake. “Well, it’s nice to know that if you get bored enough, you actually seem to enjoy anime. Legend of the Overfiend definitely wasn’t on my recommended viewing list, though.”

“I tried some of that stuff with emo boys and giant robots,” said Kiki. “Not really my thing.”

“I did make that list when I first met you. I might have suggested the dirtier stuff if I’d known you better,” said Casey. “Did you get into the yaoi?”

“That’s the pretty emo guys having sex with each other. Right? That’s more my thing, but I really like the weird stuff,” said Kiki. “Japanese people are seriously fucked up.”

“It’s not just Japanese people.” Casey brought her suitcase down and opened it on the bed. “Cat draws some really funny hentai-inspired stuff and posts in on Deviant Art as Cat-or-Mary diNancy.”

“Send me a link?” Kiki asked.

“I could give her your address to send it herself.” Casey had packed for enough business trips that she didn’t really need to look at what she was putting in her suitcase. “You two should hang out.”

“You’re not afraid of me hanging out with your girlfriend?” Kiki raised an eyebrow.

“I’m kind of terrified. The two of you together could be an extinction-level event, but I’m willing to risk it. You’re two of my absolutely favorite people in the world and you’re both at loose ends this week. You might keep each other out of too much trouble,” said Casey. “Or, you might start a world war, but it would probably be a really fun world war.”

Kiki sat down. “You’re not worried I’ll sleep with her?”

Casey paused in her packing. “I ... uh kind of asked her not to sleep with you or I asked her not to sleep with you unless Nick was there. I already forget which. It was a ... really weird conversation.”

Kiki didn’t say anything. Casey went back to packing and Kiki still didn’t say anything. Finally, Casey said, “I could tell her I changed my mind.”

“Why’d you tell her not to sleep with me?” asked Kiki, a note of warning in her voice.

Casey stopped packing again and turned to look at her friend. “I thought if she slept with you, I’d probably end up sleeping with you and we’re roommates. I think I’m only keeping from losing my mind over the whole thing with Hall and Cat because it’s contained. Once it crosses over into the real world, I’m going to have to deal with it like it’s real.”

Kiki frowned. “You wouldn’t have to sleep with me if you don’t want to. I could totally steal your girlfriend, break her heart, and have her back to you before you got home.”

Even though she knew the conversation was serious, Casey couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t think it would go that way. Cat’s not like anybody you’ve ever met. And it wouldn’t be stealing if I told her it was okay.”

“Why would you do that?” Kiki sounded more confused than upset.

Casey went back to packing so she didn’t have to look Kiki in the face when she said, “Because the real world’s going to intrude on our honeymoon sooner or later and I think one night with you and Cat together might just kill me ... which would mean I didn’t have to explain to my mom what I’ve really been up to.”

“Oh.” Kiki stayed quiet long enough for Casey to finish packing. This time, it was more of a stunned silence. Casey smiled to herself. It was about time she got to strike Kiki dumb for a change.

Casey threw on a jacket. “I should get going. I’m flying out of LaGuardia and traffic is probably going to be horrible. Should I give Cat your address?”

“Would you?” Kiki asked. There was a lot more in her question than the words indicated.

“As soon as I catch a cab,” said Casey. Kiki walked with her to the front door, picking up Casey’s carry-on as she walked past it. When they reached the door, Casey took her bag and hugged her friend. She considered kissing Kiki, but everything could be different by the time they saw each other again. Instead she said, “Try not to start Armageddon without me. I wouldn’t want to miss all the fun.”

As the cab carried her towards the airport, Casey tried to figure out how to compose a text telling Cat what she wanted to say. Eventually, she settled for sending Kiki’s e-mail address and the message, “She’d like to see your extra-Deviant art. You two should hang out while I’m away,” and a big pink heart. It was vague enough that she and Cat would have to talk about exactly what it meant, but talk was the curse of the polyamorous and Casey was well and truly poly now if she hadn’t been before.

Nick, Pilar, and Inez left Montana later than they meant to on Monday. He’d been prepared to get up on little sleep to catch their flight until Pilar had reminded him that the plane really wouldn’t leave without them unless he decided to lend it to some refugees before morning. Instead of rushing to get out, they slept in and left four hours later than expected. Nick wouldn’t get home until ten and Pilar wouldn’t be going home at all tonight, which suited him just fine.

Since Friday’s rude interruption, sleeping with Pilar had been wonderful. Nick hadn’t taken another sleeping pill the whole time. He’d gone on moderately short sleep Saturday night, but only because he set an alarm. Last night, he’d slept a solid ten hours, a rare luxury for a man getting used to the idea that most luxuries weren’t terribly rare if he really wanted them.

He raised an eyebrow when Pilar cuddled up and asked the air hostess for a blanket. “Tired?”

Pilar glanced over to where Inez lay on a couch with headphones in, reading something on an iPad, then snuggled in and said. “No. I just thought that, if you decided ‘anywhere, anytime’ included joining the Mile High Club today, people could at least pretend they didn’t notice.”

Nick laughed and kissed her. “I admit it occurred to me, but it seemed kind of rude to the crew. I hope I’m not falling down on the job of testing your limits for you.”

Pilar laid a hand on his stomach and stroked him gently through the fabric. “I thought it would be in kind of poor taste and not really your style, but you’ve certainly been taking ‘anywhere, anytime,’ to heart.”

Nick chuckled. “Montana does have a lot of ... places. Doesn’t it?”

“You know you’re allowed to come back if you miss some,” Pilar teased him Her phone chirped. She read a message and responded. “Kiki is coming clothes shopping with us tomorrow.”

“Oh. Did you invite her?” Nick asked.

“I did. I also talked to Jazz briefly. She’s going to be super-busy until Milan, but she sends her love.” Pilar flicked her thumb across her screen. “God, I have like five hundred e-mails from this weekend.”

“You work fast.” Nick kissed the top of her head. “I guess your limits are in good hands.”

“That and I want to avoid misunderstandings. I’m going to be eating breakfast in the loft tomorrow and people don’t usually assume the best when they’re faced with the unknown.” Her eyes scanned her e-mail client. “Jazz understood without my really having to explain much and has been enthusiastically sexting me all morning. Kiki’s more of an unknown quantity. So, I’m thinking the sooner we seduce her, the better it will be for everyone.”

“That’s ... very efficient of you,” said Nick.

“Is it off-putting?” Pilar asked. “I could talk about how excited I am about getting her into bed now that the idea’s in my head, which is true by the way. We’re getting outside of my comfort zone and that’s a real turn on right now. Plus, Kiki is a little sex bomb.”

“It’s not off-putting,” said Nick. “I envy your efficiency. I don’t think I’m efficient about much of anything.”

“Says the man who arranged an airlift while attending a wedding reception and still had time to dance,” teased Pilar.

“Tanvi handled most of it,” said Nick. “And Emily and now Max apparently. I dumped Anne on them and they rose to the occasion. I should do something nice for them when we get back.”

“Nicer than you’ve already done?” Pilar asked. “Good luck.”

“Oh, yeah. I’d like to propose a rider to our relationship agreement,” said Nick.

Pilar raised an eyebrow. “Does it have anything to do with the nice thing you want to do for Max and Emily?”

“Sort of,” said Nick. “I’d like to be able to give you gifts and not have you try to stop me.”

“I’m good with that,” said Pilar. “Can I return them if they’re not my size?”

“If they’re clothes or shoes or things that come in sizes, yes,” said Nick. “I just want somebody I can be generous to and not worry that it’s going to be a push-of-war trying to refuse my gift because it’s too generous. If I want to do something extravagant for you and it makes you uncomfortable, I’d like you to consider it part of the whole envelope-pushing part of our relationship and accept it.”

“Like flying me to London to see a Broadway show?” Pilar asked, sounding mischievous.

“Like that,” said Nick. “Honestly, the appeal of that is more that I knew I could offer and Inez would accept than it is about seeing English people singing about French history.”

“I thought it might actually be about wanting some alone time with Inez,” said Pilar.