The Things Friends Hide

Claire Young is forty-three, recently divorced and floundering in her new found freedom. Instead of throwing herself a pity party—though that option hasn't been taken off the table—she's on a mission to course correct the second half of her life. The plan: drag her three best friends on a luxury resort vacation and swill mimosas until they turn orange. The cover: celebrating her finalized divorce. The truth: to let them in on a secret she's been hiding for years. But as life has it, things aren't going to plan. Once at the resort, Claire realizes the Jamaican breeze hasn't loosened her lips and that she doesn't have the market in secret keeping, as one by one her friends hijack her big moment with issues of their own. There's dear Amanda, only married a year and looking down the barrel of divorce. Could it be that her overly flirtatious ways have caught her husband's notice? Waiters, beachgoers—Miguel, the hot activities director—no man is safe from her wandering eye. Jill, her friend since college, seems to have developed a problem with men and prescription pain medication. How the heck could Claire not have known about this after so many years of friendship? Between Jill's foul language and penchant for accosting innocent vacationers, they all might get booted off the island, or worse, stuffed into a Jamaican jail. And then there's Bethany. Beautiful, pampered Bethany. Something's going on with her but she's not talking. With two successful daughters, a doting husband and money in the bank, what could she possibly have to be unhappy about? Might it have something to do with the sudden appearance of handsome Louis call-me-Mac Macdonald? Between anonymous gifts that spark more tension than intrigue, too much bickering and not enough sharing, it doesn't take Claire long to see that her dream of a bonding experience is going south faster than a twenty-dollar dye job. Even the mimosas aren't helping. Is there anything Claire can do to salvage this trip and these friendships, or will they be lost to her like the last twenty-three years of her life?