Free Moment of Impact by Lisa Mondello

You’re perfect.”
    She picks up her spoon and plays with her yogurt. “Perfection is way overrated.”
    * * *
     
    Lily
     
    We’re going swimming, so I put on the same pink bathing suit I wore when Gus was teaching me to paddleboard and the same white coverall. I know he likes the way I look in it. He’d been completely taken aback the first time. Now that we’ve made love, and he knows my body so well, he can just enjoy seeing me in it while we swim.
    The days we have off together are so few that I want to take advantage of being in the sun and doing something fun. Gus works long hours with Drake’s landscaping company. So does Penny. I almost envy Penny for the time she has to be with Gus during the day. While I’m serving eggs Benedict to screaming tourists, she’s getting the benefit of trading stories with Gus.
    I squash down the jealousy that rises up with my thoughts. I hate hearing stories when Penny comes home from work. But I think she knows that.
    Penny comes down to the kitchen dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a white tank top. Instead of the usual sandals we all wear these days, because it’s easier to take them off while walking on the beach, Penny has a pair of tennis shoes and crew socks. Her dirty blond hair is pulled back tight into a ponytail.
    My stomach plunges, and not from the yogurt I’m trying to keep down. “I thought you were off work today.”
    “That was the plan,” she says, pulling a pitcher of iced coffee from the refrigerator and pouring it into her travel mug. “Drake called a little while ago. It’s light duty. There is an estate that has a test rose garden that needs some pruning before a Sunday brunch they’re having. Tomorrow. So I’ll be gone for a few hours. You’d think they would have scheduled the work during the week instead of on a Saturday. But some people snap their fingers and expect people to move regardless of how it effects someone else.”
    I know what that is like. I’ve seen my parents do it a hundred times. People were disposable to them.
    “Are all of you going?” I ask, fearful that my planned day is now ruined.
    She shakes her head. “Just me and Drake for some reason. You have plans with Gus?”
    I nod, relieved that our one day off together hasn’t been ruined.
    “Listen,” Penny says, grabbing a banana from the crochet banana hammock on the counter. “I’m really worried about Heather.”
    “I know. Jenna too. She hasn’t been herself lately.”
    Penny’s face brightened up. “Oh, she doesn’t have cancer!”
    My mouth drops open. “Jenna thought she had cancer? Where the hell have I been?”
    “Fucking Gus.”
    I laugh, but my mind is still with Jenna.
    Penny touched her ponytail. “Her short hair?”
    “Chemo?”
    Penny nods. “She had a lump on her groin and thought the cancer had come back. But she just found out last night she’s fine. The little stinker never even mentioned anything to me about it until I found her dancing around in the kitchen.”
    “Dancing? Jenna?”
    “Hey, you’re not the only one who dances. Although no one does it better than you.”
    I blush from her compliment. “I’m really glad Jenna is okay.”
    “Me, too. But that leaves Heather. I found her on the floor of her bathroom last night. She was puking her guts out.”
    Just the mention of puke makes bile rise up my throat. I put the yogurt I’d been trying my best to eat down on the counter. I’ll probably toss it.
    “She’s working tonight at Windjammers. Want to go with me to check on her? Something is just not right.”
    “Gus and I have plans today.”
    “Oh, please? It will only be for a little while. You know how Heather is. She comes across as a badass, but she is pretty fragile. She came to the island to win that loser Jason back, although I have no idea why. The dude is bad news. I just wanna make sure Heather is safe cuz she’s been getting pretty slammed after her shifts. We can just go in to check on her around