“Zabrina!” Giovani shouted, throwing open the curtain that served as a door to their makeshift hut.

She was sitting beneath a tree, focused on weaving palm fronds into a rug. “What is it?” she asked, glancing up at him. She couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm, though experience had taught her that this conversation would likely end in either an argument or a desperate attempt on her part to bring him back down to Earth.

“You’re never going to guess what Robert just told me,” he replied, plopping down Indian-style across from her.

She placed her project over to the side so she could give him her undivided attention....