They explored the woods, persuaded by Dana to go on a hike, with Bette lagging behind and making sure to leave markers so they could find their way back. They managed to get the wood stove going and made some of the food they’d brought. They screamed in unison at the huge spider that was waiting to attack under the pile of blankets, at the mouse who scampered from the main room to the bedroom and back before Shane calmly picked it up and set it outside, and at the rattling at the door at 4 am, which just turned out to be Dana struggling to get the door open after slipping out unnoticed for a trip to the outhouse.

They partook of Shane’s “green” and stayed up until it was nearly dawn talking about their lives – their problems, their pasts, their insecurities. It was a good time, creating a memory for each of them as they learned more about each other than they had known before. They slept in late the next day and, having decided that one night – even a really fun one – roughing it in the country was enough, they were packing up the cars with their stuff in the afternoon, ready to get back to LA – and running water.

Alice sidled up to Tina as she was slamming the trunk. “Hey.”

Tina smiled at her. “I guess this is it.”

“Yeah. Listen… I’m sorry about this. I know you expected something better when I convinced you to come out here. I’ll make it up to you. Promise.”

“Don’t worry about it, Al. Actually this was exactly what I needed. I had a lot of fun.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. And it helped me remember a few things I had lost sight of.”

“Life in LA isn’t all that bad, right?”

“Right. I’ve been lucky to have all that I do. But mostly I realized even when I take all that away, however temporarily, I have something else much more important.”

“What?”

“Friends. True friends like you, who did this for me in the first place. Friends like Shane and Dana who will put up with anything with a smile on their face. And of course Bette, who is obviously more than a friend to me, but still willing to go completely out of her comfort zone as long as it’s with you girls.”