I returned from a bathroom break and had taken a couple of headache pills. As much fun as Anika's friends were, they could be a little much for someone like me, who wasn't used to being around a lot of people for extended periods of time.

"Ah, she's back!" Tara crowed, turning the screen of her laptop toward me, and I stared right into the faces of the startled and confused twins. For a moment, I thought this was a trap or a setup.

"Doesn't she look just like you?" Tara innocently crowed, and I realized in that instant that if it were not for Chantal's presence, I would have probably come clean, but not with her there. I had a feeling that this group of women would take on someone like me like a sister, and despite their lifestyle choices, they would never rat on me.

"Hi, Ashley and Taylor; nice to meet you again. It has been a while since that Comicon in Australia a few years back." I kept my cool, and although they were not entirely on the same page, they were taking their cue from me and letting me lead. It only took them a second to realize that I must have seen them there and that I must have gone with Kayla and Erick.

"Yes, how are Kayla and Erick? I've got their names right, don't I?" Ashley immediately started playing along.

I didn't miss the little mutinous set to her mouth that warned me that we would have a conversation about why I saw them and didn't somehow make contact.

"I didn't know you knew Anika?" Taylor took over.

"I work for her mother-in-law, Barbara Shetland, and I am engaged to Connor Shetland." I didn't want to drop the bomb on them, but they probably already knew.

"We saw that in that horrid article," Ashley said, wrinkling her nose as she always did when she wound something distasteful.

"Wait, did you meet at Comicon four years ago?" Tara asked.

"Yes." The twins said at the same moment.

"Our promoter spotted Avery in the crowd, and since Avery didn't want to meet with us in public, we had lunch in our suite. We've been in contact every now and again," Taylor embroidered.

"And you've never persuaded her to do the triplet thing?" Shal asked.

"She doesn't like being in front of the camera," Ashley said as I retook my seat and tried to keep my calm.

Chante was watching me like a snake, and the way she focused on me made me suspicious that she might not be buying this as easily as our friends.

"Miss Rothman? There's a call for you in Mrs. Shetland's office. It seems to be urgent," Angela said from the door, and we watched Chante follow the Housekeeper with a frown.

"We must get rid of her, and we need to do it now!" Grayson said loudly enough that the others shushed her.

"Are you okay, Avery?" Ashley asked, more concerned about me than our secret. "You seem a little disconcerted."

"I'm fine."

"Congratulations on your... engagement," Taylor said, and I should have gotten around to explaining everything to them sooner, but I expected to meet up with them in person.

"You can stop pretending. I don't know how, but you three are sisters. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you are triplets," Grayson wasn't having any of it.

"Not now, Grayson," Anika warned, glancing at the door.

"This conversation is not over, but we'll play the game for the grinch," the redhead said and leaned back.

"How do you lot know the twins?" I asked.

"Summer camp," they chorused.

"For Youtubers," Tara felt she had to correct. "I wasn't there; I was training for the Olympics."

"Then how did they meet you?" I asked, distracting them almost too skillfully, and from the way Taylor and Ashley struggled not to smirk, I knew they realized that I'd learned a few tricks from them over the years.

"I knew Anika, and Anika knew Shalimar, and Shalimar knew them," Tara said, shrugging.

"How do you know Kayla and Erick?" Grayson asked, and her stress on "Erick" revealed her interest.

"Kayla is my neighbor, and we became friends."

"If you want to be Kayla's hero, give her Erick's number," Shalimar needled. I leaned forward, knowing Erick would be doing his emails, and pinged him. I didn't expect him to join the conversation almost immediately, especially since it came from an unknown IP.

It took him a moment to adjust to all the faces.

"I think I died and went to heaven," he drawled in his cutest Aussie accent as Kayla peeked over his shoulder.

"Hi, Avery. What's going on?" She asked.

"Grayson thinks Erick's cute," I teased, and the English woman turned pink.

"I think you just shorted out my brother's brain," Kayla said when he didn't react, but then he jumped to his feet, almost hitting her in the face, as he yelled yes before recovering himself.

"Grayson Temple, you just got one thousand yesses," Tara said in her best Simon Cowel impersonation that made him sound like Siri.

"Will you Marry me?" Erick blurted, stoked with himself.

"It's a little soon, sailor," Grayson tried to slow his boat.

"He's kidding. You are one of his favorite people, and he's just having a little meltdown," Kayla said, hitting him upside the head before emptying a jug of water over his head.

"He should be fine now," she said as he sputtered, trying not to get water on his equipment. "No thanks required.

We were all laughing when Chante returned, and our levity immediately evaporated. She didn't like it.

"It was nice talking to you all. Avery, don't be a stranger; you still owe us the deeds on your engagement," Ashley reminded.

"Yes, I am really sorry I didn't talk to you earlier," I stressed, knowing they'd understand my message, and they nodded as Ashley ended the connection.

"You are a woman of secrets," Chante said scathingly, and when our eyes met, the suspicion in the depths of hers made me realize that she no longer bought my story.

"Guys, it's getting late. Are we going to bed so we can have an awesome day tomorrow, or are we greeting the dawn," Anika asked, hiding a yawn.

"We're going to bed. I want to ride out to that waterfall tomorrow," Tara said, and the others favored her suggestion.

"What waterfall?" Chante asked, distaste pulling at her mouth.

"Waterfall is self-explanatory. See you guys at dawn," Grayson said, and I was glad to escape Chante's presence. Her being rubbed something in me the wrong way on a profoundly spiritual level that I found hard to put into words. My grandmother would have said, "her devils brought my angels in an uproar."