Part One Beth and Claire had not crossed paths, except for phone calls, FaceTime, and email exchanges, for almost half a decade. Despite the long intervals between in-person visits, the two friends remained close. It had been that way since their university days in England. The two women had both “married well” and settled into their lives on opposite sides of the Atlantic -- Beth in Los Angeles, Claire in Paris. They had...

Part Two The morning, then early afternoon, passed uneventfully. As the hot Andalusian sun began its first, late afternoon moves towards dusk, Beth spotted Lucas through the vented shutters of her guesthouse, wandering back from the beach. He was wearing the same white swimsuit as before and looked so beautiful still -- so sexy and bronzed. Beth might have swooned were it not for the fact that walking next to him again, w...