"Thank you so much. That really helps. My back hurts from all the driving."
"Let's go out for dinner tonight, then. We don't need to cook. There's a nice new place at the beach with grilled fish on the menu. We could try that."
"Sounds great!" Hannah went out to get the rest of her stuff from the car. In the meantime, Ben grabbed two beer cans from the fridge. He and Hannah toasted when they sat down on the porch.
"To a long and carefree summer," Hannah said.
Ben grinned. "A good thing Greg's out of your life. He never wanted to visit this place. St. Mary's Port has missed you."
"How's Emily, by the way? I was thinking about her at the gas station. There was a Navajo guy walking around there from the same clan." She felt herself blush and quickly took a swig of beer from her can.
"She's fine! She was asking about you."
"Does she still live in Naabi'aani?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah, she just finished her studies. She's a certified naturopath now. Her practice is on the rez, in Naabi'aani, but she also works at the homeopathic pharmacy in town."
"Wow! Good for her. And what about Josh - have you seen him yet?"
"Sure. We meet every summer. He still lives there with his parents. He just finished high school."
Hannah smiled, staring out over the lake spreading out at the bottom of the hill like an unfathomable, giant mirror. It was great this place hadn't changed in her absence. Everything was still as beautiful as she remembered, and their old friends were still around too.
Hannah glanced down at her watch. "When does the pharmacy close? Do you think I'll have time to say hello to Em?"
"She's not working today." Ben dug up his cell phone. "But she will be tomorrow. She asked me to tell you to call her. I have her number here."
"I'll send her a text. Once Emily starts talking, there's no way to stop her."
After Hannah tapped out a text message to her old friend, she and Ben walked down to the beach and sat down at a table on the deck of 'The Winking Shrimp'. Hannah let her gaze wander over the calm water of Lake Powell, where people were swimming, riding paddle-boats or walking along the shoreline. She took in the red rocks of Antelope Island across the water, their almost luminescent shapes like ancient castles in the setting sun. The nameless small island just off the coast looked like a dark, blood-red stain on the water.