The men stepped aside to let Bette and Logan join the broad, loose circle, when they approached the group. Bette turned to accept a glass of sangria from one of the staff circulating through the crowd balancing trays of drinks as they joined the circle.  She was still laughing at a joke Logan had cracked and swallowed the sip of sangria she’d taken, as her laugh ended.   She looked around quickly at the people in the circle.

And sucked a breath.

Jodie.

Her ex was also eyeing her from across the circle, and, judging by the lack of surprise in her ex’s eyes, Bette thought Jodie had seen her much earlier, probably ever since she and Tina had descended to the beach from the lawn next to the mansion.

Meanwhile, Logan picked up a call on his phone, and while he clutched the phone against his chest, he whispered to Bette that he was going to see to a problem back in the office, “… and I have to work on it back in the mansion….” His voice faded in and out of Bette’s auditory focus.   “…do you mind looking after things here …”

He kissed the top of her head quickly before walking quickly away from the group, resuming the conversation he was having with the person who’d called him, striding over the sand, while Bette nodded absentmindedly.  For a moment, she remained quite still, staring across the circle in Jodie’s direction, memories of her years with Jodie flitting through her mind.

What is she doing here?

Jodie was standing next to a shapely auburn-haired woman, whose arms were halfway covered with tattoos, and who was now also eyeing Bette as Jodie signed something to her. Bette remembered enough of the sign language she’d picked up when she and Jodie had been together to realize that Jodie was telling the woman that Bette was an ex that Jodie regretted losing.   Jodie soon accepted the woman’s kiss after signing to her that she was walking over to Bette.

Just a whole lifetime ago.

As she sought to recover from her surprise at seeing Jodie, Bette realized how much her life had changed since she’d last communicated with Jodie –  when they’d broken up and Jodie had desperately tried to win her back by alternately cajoling her then fighting with her.