"I'm sorry. I didn't..." Lindy muttered. Gone was the giddiness from their earlier encounters, along with the light in Jewel's eyes. Her stomach clenched. Shame and guilt ate her up inside. She hated causing her friend pain.

"I'll try it." Jewel interrupted her apology.

"Try what?"

"The food you wanted me to taste." Angrily, she opened her mouth, allowing Lindy, who hurt her with her harsh criticism, to place a piece of white meat onto her tongue.

Lindy watched in silence as Jewel chewed the foreign substance. "Well?"

In between bites, Jewel said, "It's rubbery."

"Do you like it?" Lindy asked.

"Yes."

"Don't you want to know what I fed to you?" Lindy asked as she reached over with a napkin to clean her friend's chin.

"What did you feed me?" Jewel asked to please Lindy, despite not wanting to know. She figured, in some cases, ignorance was bliss.

"Squid," she answered in between bites of her dinner roll.

"Squid?" The revelation caused Jewel's stomach to heave. She told Lindy no new dishes, and here she was trying several. She surprised even herself.

"Yep! You like squid!"

"Debating trying the crawfish," Jewel admitted. Her voice was flat and devoid of any emotion.

Lindy wished she'd kept her big mouth shut about Danny. Irritated with herself, she observed her friend as she reached for the crawfish. Jewel cracked the shell, removed the meat, and dipped it into the cocktail sauce. Jewel inspected the crawfish. Closing her eyes, she bit into the red-colored meat, dripping butter onto her chin.

"It's a little spicy. I can take it or leave it."

"I told you trying new things was fun," Lindy laughed.

Jewel did not respond to her friend's forced cheerfulness. Her avoidance increased Lindy's uncomfortableness and the silence between them thickened. Unaware of the change in her friend's mood, Jewel allowed thoughts to float to memories of happier times- moments she spent with her favorite person.

After she worked a split shift at Pizza Island, Danny stopped by her place to make dinner: he seared steaks, steamed broccoli, cooked pasta for seafood salad, and baked dinner rolls. Jewel offered to help him, but he guided her to the couch and put on Pysch, one of her favorite television shows. Then he surprised her with a small tub of warm water and Epson salt to soak her sore feet. Jewel sighed as the warm water tingled her feet. Kissing her on her forehead, he returned to cooking. The soothing sound of sizzling meat eased the tension in her body; it was as effective as listening to the waves crash upon the beach. She almost fell asleep waiting to eat.

"Do you like the restaurant?" Lindy asked, interrupting her from her pleasant memories. Jewel could tell her friend was desperately trying to salvage their jovial conversation and camaraderie.

"Thanks for bringing me here and encouraging me to try new things," Jewel said half-heartedly. She knew her friend didn't mean to hurt her, but it was the first time Lindy used her pain against her, and it stung.

"You're welcome."

It fascinated Lindy to watch her companion chop the heads off the shrimps. Jewel screwed up her face. With trembling hands, she placed them in her mouth.

"They are good," Jewel confided between bites.

The Cajun shrimp were the best, but the salt and pepper shellfish ran a close second. If she could move on from Danny, she could try new foods.

"Did you see Reynolds face when the little boy at table seventeen threw up?" Lindy asked.

"He turned copper ring green. I thought he was going to vomit." Jewel laughed. "I read a post on Reddit that explained why some people turn green when sick. It's a blood condition, Chromatichor, also known as god's blood. It changes the color of your blood based on how you're feeling: besides turning green when you are sick, it turns a dark crimson when you are angry, and if you feel disheartened or sad, the blood turns blue."

"Are you serious?" Lindy stooped laughing and stared at her.

"Yeah. The disease illuminates the inside of the veins, rendering the blood's color visible from the skin's surface. It's a strange and beautiful condition."

"Okay," Lindy said, astonished by Jewel's discovery.

"Who brings a sick kid for pizza?" Jewel returned to their previous conversation.

"Pizza is nasty when it comes back up. Especially when that kid threw up, it looked like pieces of flesh." Lindy's gleeful cackling melted the heavy tension between them.

"It was lumps of dough, dyed red, from the pizza sauce. Gross!" Lindy said, pretending to puke herself.

"At least it blended in with his redshirt."

"You always try to find the good in a bad situation," Lindy tittered.

Clearing off the cluttered table, their waitress asked, "Can I take your trays out of your way?"

"Sure," Jewel answered, offering her an empty plate.

"Would you like a refill on your drinks?"

"We both would like some ice water, please," Lindy told her.

The slow-moving waitress left to fetch their drinks, taking their trays with her. Hidden under the tray was a white envelope.

"What is this?" Jewel picked up the smooth envelope. Flipping it over, she found her name written on the other side.

"When did you place this card here?" Jewel asked, waving the envelope at her.

"I didn't." Lindy's brows furrowed. "I left it in your mailbox."

Puzzled, Jewel said, "How did it get on our table?"

"Open it." Lindy encouraged, leaning against the table for a better view.

Jewel tore open the envelope and removed the card from inside. A blue Jay, but one of her favorite birds, rested on a wooden fence tweeting musical notes filled out the front of the card.

"It's lovely," Jewel smiled.

"Lindy, this is from you!" Jewel exclaimed, recognizing Lindy's handwriting. She wrote with tilted e's; they reminded Jewel of a chunky toddler rocking on the floor.

"Let me see." Her eyes widened as she reached for the card.

"Let me read it first. Gosh," Jewel said, rolling her brown eyes. She read the card out loud.

"Dear Jewel,

I hope your day ends happily and peacefully. Remember, the bad days help us to appreciate the good days.

I love you,
Lindy."

"That is the card I left in your mailbox!"

"No, it's not." Jewel ran her fingers through her hair, twisting the ends into a knot.

"Yes, it is," Lindy insisted.

"The card you left for me was in a red envelope," Jewel said, a knot forming in her stomach.

"No. I left a white envelope," Lindy assured her, picking up the card with the blue Jay on it. "I should know. I mean, I am the one who left it for you."

The way Lindy refused to admit she left a different envelope in her mailbox, Jewel wondered if she imagined receiving it. Hoping to prove her wrong, she grabbed her Haunted Mansion purse Danny bought for her birthday and searched through her belongings. She placed her items on the table until she withdrew the red envelope resting on the bottom.

"See! Here it is," Jewel announced. Her outburst startled the diners at the table beside them. The couple gave them a dark stare before returning to their meal. "This is the card that was under my door."

"I didn't give you that card, Jewel!" Lindy declared, not amused by the prank.

"Then who did?" Jewel asked, unease forming in her stomach. 

"Open it," Lindy urged.

"Okay!" Jewel said, the nerves in her fingers tingling.

Old bay clung to the tips of her fingers, and Jewel didn't want to ruin the thick crimson envelope nor the vintage green wax leaf seal on the back. Taking a moment to clean her fingers in her glass, she wiped her hands on the paper napkin under her fork, several pieces of torn tissue stuck to her fingers. Jewel reached over and used Lindy's napkin to remove the dangling tissues. Unsure of what she would find inside but eager to find out, Jewel broke the lovely seal. It contained a beige invitation on leaf-embedded cardstock. The script, written in a gold champagne font, offered a solution to her problems.

CONGRATULATIONS, JEWEL!

You're invited to spend two weeks basking in the charm and authenticity of Lake Ashford.

You and a friend will experience fourteen days and thirteen nights of free room and board with all meals included.

Lake Ashford offers log cabins, a stocked pantry, plenty of hot water for showers, a friendly staff, a scenic lake, and a lush forest filled with nature. The cabins are located away from busy freeways.

Lake Ashford offers activities to help plan your days: archery, barbecue grills, canoeing, fishing, group campfire rings, hiking trails, swimming, and space for an artist to relax and sketch.

Claim this prize April thirteenth thru twenty-seventh.

Call and make your reservations today at 1-494-555-4558

Reservations must be made in advance. No exceptions!

J. Murderu
Manager of Lake Ashford

"I thought Lake Ashford had closed down."

"Maybe it is under new management," Jewel suggested.

"Why was the invitation stuck under your door?"

"I do not know."

"Wasn't the card stuck under your door? Maybe it's a trap."

"Stop, Lindy! You are scaring me," Jewel raised her voice.

"You should be scared. I want you to come to stay with me for a while."

"Maybe the landlord placed the cards under my door. He probably placed them under everyone's door," suggested Jewel.

"I would ask my neighbors if they received an invitation."

"Are you trying to unsettle me with your wild accusations?"

"Don't you want to know how the card get here? I left it in your mailbox?" Lindy glanced suspiciously at the table next to them.

Jewel looked around the restaurant. Someone in the crowd knew her, someone she did not recognize.