Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
E ssie worried that she’d said too much. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m probably just overreacting.”
“What makes you think she’s trouble?” Maude asked.
Essie supposed she had to answer that since she’d started the discussion. “She posted on TikTok about me. And it wasn’t nice.”
Maude whipped out her phone. “What’s her username?”
“Oh, I don’t think?—”
“I want to see it, too,” Paige said. “I hope I don’t follow her.”
Blaise smiled and took her phone out. “Our first group activity. I thought it would be reading a book, but this is good, too.”
Cece laughed and leaned closer to Blaise. “Agreed.”
Essie realized there was no getting out of it. “She’s on there as Sophie Says. You know, with the little AT sign in front?—”
“Found her,” Maude said, staring triumphantly at her screen. “She dresses like a hootchie.”
“Maude!” Blaise laughed and kept searching.
“Is that not the right word?” Maude asked, looking up. “What do people say these days? Ho? Floozy? Bimbo?”
Blaise’s eyes went wide. “Found her and, yeah, okay, she definitely has a certain look meant to attract attention.”
Cece nodded. “She dresses for the male gaze.”
“You can say that again,” Maude said.
Paige let out a soft snort, her eyes fixed on her screen.
Maude glanced at Essie. “What’s this girl’s goal? Is she trying to find a sugar daddy?”
“Maybe she’s trying to become a Kardashian,” Paige offered.
“I don’t know,” Essie said, pleased her new friends agreed with her secret assessment of Sophie’s wardrobe choices.
“Does your husband know his daughter is putting herself out there like this?” Maude asked. “I mean, obviously, she’s an adult and free to do what she wants, but he can’t be happy about this.”
Essie sighed. “I don’t think he knows. I certainly haven’t told him. I don’t want to get in the middle of it, and I don’t want to be accused of causing trouble.”
“But it’s okay for her to do it?” Maude’s brows rose.
“I get it,” Cece said. “You don’t think it’s your place.”
“No, I don’t,” Essie said. “And anything I might say, Sophie would find a way to turn it against me. Frank and I have been married less than a year. We should be focused on each other and our new life together, not his adult children. Although, I want to add that his son is lovely and nothing like Sophie. Chad works in his dad’s paper company.
He was even Frank’s best man at the wedding.
Sophie found something else to do that day with her girlfriends and didn’t come. ”
“Seriously?” Cece said. “That’s nervy. What did Frank say about that?”
“He wasn’t happy,” Essie answered. “But he said he understood. That she wasn’t ready for him to remarry, but that she’d eventually come around.
I keep waiting for that to happen.” She shook her head.
“I talked with both of them, Chad and Sophie, before Frank and I got engaged. I told them I had no interest in replacing their mother, that that wasn’t my goal in any way, shape, or form.
That I just loved their dad and wanted to make him happy the same way he did for me. ”
“And?” Maude asked.
“And Chad completely understood. Initially, I thought Sophie did, too. Then I realized she wasn’t being honest with me. My daughter, Liliana, found her on TikTok and figured out what was going on.”
“Which is what?” Blaise leaned forward. “Is she talking about you on TikTok? Because that could be construed as slander.”
“Libel,” Cece corrected her.
“I can never remember which is which,” Blaise said.
“Slander disappears after it’s said, like something in a speech that’s not recorded. Libel can be shared or replayed, like a TikTok video or a blog post or a newspaper article. Remember it as slander is speech, libel is long-lasting.”
“Thanks, I should be able to remember that.” Blaise looked at Essie. “So is she talking about you on social media?”
“She is,” Essie said. “But never by name. She always refers to me as you-know-who or that woman . And she made it clear a while back that she was referring to her father’s new wife.”
“She sounds jealous,” Maude said. “And scared that you’re going to do something to screw up her inheritance.”
“If she’d do something with her life, instead of thinking she’s going to become some big influencer, she could make her own money. Frank offered her a job in his company, but she didn’t want it,” Essie said. “And trust me, Frank has plenty of money to leave to his kids.”
“There is money to be made on TikTok,” Paige said. “But it’s not the gold rush everyone thinks it is. You have to work at it.”
Maude’s gaze turned shrewd. “You have any sponsors? Any companies you collab with? Some brands that have reached out?”
Paige smiled. “I have a few. One is for ceramic pans, a product I truly love. Another is a small hairbrush company. But I only work with brands I can genuinely recommend. Products I’ve used and liked. I’m not some spokesmodel for hire.”
Essie cringed, thinking about Blaise.
Paige saw her expression and mimicked it, quickly turning toward Blaise. “That came out wrong. That was very insensitive of me.”
Blaise shook her head, smiling. “It came out exactly right. What I did and what you’re doing are two very different things. I was a model for hire. You’re…your own brand. I love what you’re doing.”
“Thank you,” Paige said.
“So,” Maude started, swiping her finger up her screen as she talked.
“Based on your engagement numbers, views, comments, that sort of thing, and the number of brands you’re working with, you’re probably making fifteen hundred a month or so.
You don’t have to confirm or deny that, just saying that if that’s true, darling Sophie can’t be making more than a grand a month. That’s not money she can live off of.”
Essie said nothing. Maude was saying exactly what she was thinking.
Paige was, thankfully, still smiling. “You’re pretty accurate. The money fluctuates, but you’re not far off. Fortunately, it’s not money I rely on. Also, I don’t know who’s paying Sophie’s bills, but it’s obviously not her. Is she married?”
Essie shook her head. “No, but she has a boyfriend. Or she did. Who knows now. I think he’s in finance.”
“Is your husband giving her some kind of allowance then?” Maude asked. “Which, obviously, isn’t our business. Sorry. We kind of ganged up on you, didn’t we? But I do think you should talk to him. He deserves to know what his daughter is saying about his new wife.”
“I agree,” Cece said. “It’s so unfair to you. But it’s your life. Only you know the right decision and how Frank will react. Like Maude said, sorry for ganging up on you.”
“It’s okay,” Essie said. “I don’t feel ganged up on.
I appreciate the advice. The only other person I’ve been able to talk to about Sophie is my daughter, who’s just a few years older than Sophie.
And, yes, he does give her some money. But that’s not my business.
Honestly, it’s good to have the input of peers. ”
Paige nodded. “See? The book club is working already.”
“I wouldn’t mind talking about the book,” Essie said. “That is, if we’re actually going to read one?”
Paige laughed. “I promise, that is the plan. I picked out a book I thought would be a fast, fun read. Girl in Hiding . Has anyone read it? It’s a psychological thriller. They’re making it into a movie.”
“Haven’t read it,” Maude said. “But I’m game. I love those. I’ll read pretty much anything.”
“Same,” Blaise said. “Just no horror. I like to sleep at night.”
“I’m in,” Essie said. As pleased as she’d been to have the input on Sophie, she hated feeling like she’d made herself the focus on the group. “I’ll buy it as soon as I get home.”
“Works for me,” Cece said. “Hey, I have an idea. After we read it and talk about it, would one of you be willing to write it up like a book report? It would be a great little column for the Buzz .”
Essie raised her hand. “I’ll do it. I didn’t mention this to all of you, but I was a middle school principal for thirty-three years, so I’m pretty good at grammar and punctuation and all that.”
“Thirty-three years?” Maude’s brows lifted. “Good for you. If we get out of hand, are you going to give us detention?”
Essie laughed. “You never know.”
Cece pointed at her. “You’re hired, Ms. Rodrigez-Holt.”
“Thank you.” Essie sat up straighter, pleased. She hadn’t been looking for a job, and, obviously, writing the occasional book review for the community newsletter wasn’t much of one, but it was definitely something to do. And something she could be proud of.
She couldn’t wait to tell Frank.
But the problem of Sophie remained, and while her new friends had chimed in, Essie still didn’t know what to do about her stepdaughter.