Chapter 35

It must be love! It has to be love!

Every time Erica found herself in love, or at least in deep like, she became ravenous. Last night, she had downed a quart of mango ice cream without even thinking. The last time that happened, she had been in a six-week relationship with a guy named Brent. Unfortunately, the minute Brent knew his ex-girlfriend wanted to come back, he dumped Erica like last week's leftovers, leaving her with nothing more than a gaping wound in her heart and five extra pounds. The heart healed quickly, but those pesky extra pounds took another month to shed.

In a rare, spurious move, Erica decided to visit Maritza Sunday afternoon without announcing her arrival. Since her divorce, Mari had chucked the house she shared with Ricardo and moved into an apartment near Miami Beach. It was actually more of a bungalow, within a series of stucco cottages, all painted flamingo pink with terra cotta roofs and Spanish grillwork.