And She Aches Just Like A Woman

Sadly, my Alaska cruise is going to conflict with the BDE. Also, I know how unbelievably slow those satellite-Internet connections are when everyone on the damn ship is trying to upload their photos and I refuse to subject myself to the aggravation. So Dani is heading home for a bit to visit her brother, Mary is heading home to visit her sisters, and my off-island characters are going to be too occupied with stuff to keep up with communication. Unless my selfie with a moose goes horribly wrong, I'll be back in two weeks.

If Dani could travel back in time, she would go back to last night to warn herself not to drink all that champagne. Unfortunately, that was not possible. Still feeling the effects of the hangover, Dani stumbled out onto the front porch for some fresh air. "I'm never going to drink champagne again," she vowed to herself.

Too bad she'd break that resolution by the end of the week.

[Open!]

"Thank you for calling The Gig! If you'd like to book a horse or schedule a riding lesson, please leave your information at the beep and one of our staff members will get back to you."

Dani had set everything up for one last pool party before the end of the summer. There were cold drinks, inflatable pool toys and a stack of beach towels. Dani figured it would be a nice way to kick off the holiday weekend. She just hadn't counted on turning into a Chihuahua before she had a chance to take a dip in the pool.

[Expecting one person in particular, but open if anyone else want to enjoy the pool! Just don't expect Dani to respond since I'm going to be AFK.]

Dani had gone out to a club on the mainland Saturday night. She had been pretty inebriated when she stumbled back to her house, stripped out of her clothing, and fell into bed.

It was late when Dani finally woke up. Her first thought was that she needed water and aspirin. Her second thought was that, hangover or not, she really felt weird...


"What the hell?" she asked, looking down a very different body than what she remembered. Even her voice sounded a lot deeper than usual. She reached up and touched her cheek. To her horror, there was stubble under her fingertips.

"Dammit! I hate this island."

Sure, it was only Wednesday, but Dani was having a really tough week so far. She felt the need to get back to her roots. That's why she was in the living room, drinking mint juleps and watching Toddlers and Tiaras. It was nice to relive her glory days when she won Junior Miss Bay Area in the 5 to 6-year-old division, before her pageant grandmother moved on and Daddy wasn't interested in helping her compete in glitz pageants.

[Open for visitors! There's enough bourbon to go around.]

Dani was in the living room with a stack of bills, her checkbook and a calculator. She was frowning as she did the math. Her winnings from the bets she'd placed on the Triple Crown races really hadn't put her that far ahead once she subtracted the cost of the subsequent shopping spree. To add to that, her business operating expenses had increased even though she was short an employee now that Kris had left.

The only thing that was more irritating than her money woes was that funny smell that had lingered in the house since last Friday. Dani frowned even more as she got another whiff of it and made a note to buy some potpourri.

[For the guy that lives there.]

Dani had managed to keep herself amused yesterday. She used to not seeing her daddy around on weekends. But what really had her annoyed was not finding her maid, her cook or her nanny.

So after she put on her favorite princess dress, she found the kitchen. She pulled some pots and pans out of cabinets and started banging on them with a wooden spoon. "I'm hungry!" she yelled, confident that she'd get someone's attention.

[For stayingfrosty or exconnextdoor if she'd like to stop by.]

Dani was so happy her new dining room table had arrived just in time for the first fancy dinner in her new house. She had food delivered from Taste of Thai and brought out her best silverware (okay, it was her only silverware at the moment). She wanted to be sure that her dad knew that she was doing very well without him and without Davis money.

Now, hopefully Vince and his friend had remembered the dress code for tonight was rather formal. Dani had reminded Vince to dress up if he was going to meet her father.

[For the invited dinner guests!]

Dani was getting fed up. Taking the initiative to drive to Kentucky with Vince's cash (and Vince himself) seemed to do the trick. The seller had agreed to a rather low offer and taken her cash, but he kept stalling on actually delivering her horse. And sure, she and Vince had managed to entertain themselves very nicely in one of Louisville's most luxurious hotels, but Dani was eager to head back to Fandom with her horse.

Finally, Dani insisted that they head back to the farm to see for themselves what was taking so long. It was a good thing that Dani had rented a horse trailer ahead of time, because when they got there, they found the seller about to get into a packed car and take off.

"What about my horse?" demanded Dani. "I swear, if you don't give me what I paid for, I will make you regret it. I'm a Davis, you know. I have connections. My father..."

The guy cut her off and told he really need to get out of there before his ex-wife and her lawyer arrived to seize his remaining assets. There was a horse in the barn, plus some other animals, and Dani was welcome to take whatever she wanted, but he had to leave.

So Dani went to the barn to take a look for herself and found a mare, a little baby colt who couldn't have been more than 5 months old, and a mama goat with two little baby goats. "Do we just take all of them?"

[For the business partner! NFB due to distance.]