“I don’t expect you guys to understand,” Marina said softly, holding her coffee in both hands.

Bette and Shane were sitting at Marina’s kitchen table in borrowed terrycloth robes, having enjoyed hot showers and tossed their laundry into the washer, while they tucked into the omelets and toast Marina had prepared.

“Well,” Shane mumbled around a bite of toast, “I don’t understand how you thought you could walk from Santa Monica beach to Hawaii without getting your feet wet. There was a smile on her lips, but none in her eyes.

Marina tossed her head back, took a deep sigh. “I wasn’t thinking,” she said hoarsely. “I haven’t been thinking very much since I met Jenny.” Her eyes glazed over as she remembered everything about that night, every word, every look, every smile. “It was so different. I just … I felt, I wanted, I needed….”

Bette pursed her lips before realizing that she was no longer in a position to pass moral judgment on Marina. Or anyone else, for that fact. “Did you know about Tim? In the beginning?”

Marina dropped her eyes. “No, not at first. By the time I did ….” She took a sip of coffee, shook her head. “Who am I kidding? Even if I had, I’m not sure I would have done it differently. I just didn’t think we would get ….” Her voice trailed off.

“Involved?” Shane finished for her.

“Yeah. I didn’t WANT to know, I guess. She was so different from Francesca, from all the others, really.” She laughed bitterly. “Fran referred to them, hers and mine, as the in-betweeners.” She tossed down the last of her coffee and stood up to get a refill. “Listen to me. How callous I sound.” She rubbed her forehead. A long sigh slid out of her, full of regret.

“I guess I’ve never … understood … the arrangement you have with Francesca,” Bette said slowly, trying to choose words that were not loaded with criticism.

“It was good,” Marina shrugged, “in the beginning. Francesca and I. At least, I thought so. But she’s gone so much of the time. And she made it clear, almost from the start, that she had no intention of sleeping alone while she was away and it was fine with her if I didn’t either.”