"And quite happily …," Marissa interrupted, eyeing Lauren worriedly, noting the slight flush that suddenly crept up her friend’s cheek.

Lauren ignored her.  "So where is …."

"My wife…Tina," Bette answered.  "Tina’s in L.A, with our daughter."

"Oh…your wife," Lauren cocked her head to one side, her voice trailing.

"Is she going to that sandbox opening or something, that Helena and Kit are doing tomorrow?," Peggy asked. 

"Yes," Bette answered Peggy with a chuckle.  "Actually, it was Tina’s idea to have something like that in "Hit"," she paused then turned to the others in the table to explain.  "Hit" is a club linked to a cafe that Helena and my sister Kit own, out in LA."

"It was Tina’s idea?," Marissa asked with a smile.

"Yes it was," Bette nodded, smiling at the memory.  "We were out in our "mini-moon" in the Maldives, and one night, as we were relaxing in a lounge, Tina thought aloud how neat it would be for "Hit" to have a "sandbar" type bar in the club, where people could walk and dance without their shoes on, dig their toes in the sand, etc."

Brook laughed, "She’s right, that sounds like a cool idea.  A shoeless bar …"

Bette smiled at her, and continued, "Anyway, I asked permission from the owner, and started taking pictures of the bar in the Maldives, and all the sand around, and how everything was set up.  Then I sent them on to Kit and Helena.  I guess they thought enough of the idea to give it a whirl."

Brook asked, "So how was the minimoon out in the Maldives… must have been romantic, huh?" 

Bette blushed slightly, remembering some of the things she and Tina had done, while on their minimoon, then answered, "Yes, it’s just so beautiful out there.  And the scenery was so breath-taking that I was inspired to make a few suggestions to improve the resort we were staying in," she paused.  "But don’t misunderstand me, the resort was great.  We really enjoyed ourselves out there.  But when the owner asked…"

"You gave him recommendations he just couldn’t walk away from, huh?," Marissa asked, with a smile.

Bette nodded, smiling also.  She liked that she and Marissa seemed to be able to interact in a social setting comfortably, at least.