‘Actually, I am,’ he said, but softened the rebuff with a soft smile. ‘Sorry.’ She shot him a funny look, as if she was surprised by his answe... after all, but then she sent him a small, almost flirtatious smile. ‘Too bad,’ she said with a dramatic sigh and sat beside him anyway. ‘But maybe I’ll get lucky and she won’t show up.’ He laughed a little, then lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers, drawing attention to his ring. ‘Today I’m meeting a friend. But if you’re just looking for a little. When she got angry, you did not want to be around her. Barbie was 25, on her fourth husband and had a couple of studs, not counting me, warming up in the bullpen, well-heeled and eager-to-wed ones. Number four was looking very haggard these days, fucked out, destined for the discard pile from which there was no escape. The first three had all died rather violently."Take her out, get her cleaned up so we can see what we've got, buy her some decent clothes and show her around. Get her back here. -- "Can I suggest your parents extend their invitation to Carol too. The four of us will be together more often than not, so they should get to know her too." I'm sure that'll be fine. You're invited too, Carol. We don't have another bed, because Mom and Dad use the other bedroom as an office, but we've got a sofa, or an airbed if you prefer. Or maybe," and I could see Ava get a funny look on her face, which I couldn't interpret, "you could sleep in the bed with the rest of us. Would that be. All but Tika who had grown up in this world and knew how to navigate it safely.By noon, the Americans were tired, wet, and miserable. The only thing that kept them going was the fact they were headed home.The group didn’t make it nearly as far as they hoped and Tika was beginning to think she might have to add another day to the three-day hike she had figured.But they did reach the canyon that day and Tika took the trail to the right, opposite of the direction the Yupanqui warriors took when.