“What’s this?” Grace asked her best friends, as they grinned at the envelope she held in her hands.

“Call it a late Christmas present, or early birthday. Just open it, already,” Paige answered, bouncing in her seat.

They were at their favorite burger joint for their monthly Girls Night Out. Grace looked over at the other two, and wondered what they were up to. The envelope looked plain enough. Using her fingernail, she defly sliced the thick envelope open. A look of confusion came over her face as she pulled out the brochure and read, “CruiseLady’s LDS Singles At Sea.”

Grace put the papers down, not looking any further. “I told y’all. I’ve sworn off men. At least, for a while. Not to mention, I can’t afford a cruise, or the time off. Besides, a singles cruise? I’m not parading my lily white legs in a swimsuit trying to pick up a man while surrounded by young teenyboppers in bikinis. I’m not that desperate.”

“But Grace,” Dawn intervened, “this is a Mormon cruise. Good little Mormon girls don’t show their belly buttons, remember? Besides, it’s an educational thing as well.”

“And you don’t have to be able to afford it. If you’d look a little further in the brochure instead of being so negative.” Hillary added, pointing at the brochure. All three girls had the largest grins Grace had ever seen plastered on their faces.

Grace furrowed her brow and flipped through the brochure until her mouth opened into a round O. “What have y’all done?” There, in the middle of the brochure, was a ticket for an ocean view with a window room, paid in full, a round trip ticket from Raleigh to Houston, also paid in full, and $1000 in traveler’s checks.

“I can’t …. I don’t… what is this?” Grace stammered as she flipped through everything. Her mind raced keeping her from focusing as she tried to comprehend what all of this meant.

“It’s a gift, so accept it, Grace. You’ve been saying you need a vacation for months, and we agree!” Hillary couldn’t hide her exuberance.

“Paige found a link to this CruiseLady’s website and told us about it, and we decided it’d be perfect for you. In fact, we’re jealous that you’re going and we’re not. But we knew you’d never spend your money on it,” Dawn looked sternly at her dear friend.

Continuing the barrage, Paige sad, “Aaron would need a new pair of tennies or something. We want to do it, our husbands support our idea, we even talked to your ex! He said he’d be glad to keep Aaron.”

Hillary giggled. “If Seth hadn’t, we’d have done it for you, and sent the missionaries to his house daily while you were gone to torture him.”

Paige grinned at the thought. “Hey, maybe we’ll do that anyway. It’ll be fun. The Elders need a challenge, right?” The other two nodded. “This bunch, they think they can convert every lost soul in the Triangle. Meeting Seth Jackson will keep them hopping.”

Grace burst out laughing. “Paige, you’re horrible, but I love ya for it.” She sobered, and looked at each of her dear friends. “But I can’t miss work. I still have to pay the bills. I’m sorry, I can’t accept this. Please, please tell me the tickets are refundable.”

Paige looked at her friend, bit her lip, and fought the urge to reach across the table and shake her. “Grace, it’s called PTO. You have it. A week’s worth. It goes into effect a month before the cruise. You won’t lose any pay, you’ve got a babysitter or five, and money in your pocket. You ARE going.”

Hillary’s eyes flashed and she said seriously, “We don’t give a Laman’s loincloth if you meet a man or not! You need a vacation and this fits the bill quite nicely. Now, say ‘Thank you my bestest friends in the mortal world’ and order some food before that waitress kicks us out of her section.” Hillary sat back and sighed, then giggled as the other two gave her high fives.

Grace glared at the three of them for a minute, then closed her eyes. When she opened them, there were tears welling up. “Thank you, my bestest friends in the mortal world. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She paused, composed herself, and added with the hint of a smile, “I really don’t know why the waitress hasn’t brought our food out yet. We eat the same thing every time. Geez! And suppose one of you answer this for me, since you’ve got all the other answers: What the heck am I going to WEAR?”

Dawn reached in her purse and handed Grace a gift certificate to the mall with a wink. “I was waiting for that.”

They motioned to the waitress, placed their usual orders, and poured over the brochure, dreaming of what it would be like.