Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
M aude rolled out of bed in her red boy-short underwear and Wonder Woman tank top and after a quick stretch, went into the kitchen to get coffee. Today felt like it was going to take more than a cup. Fortunately, she had a combination coffee maker that could use K-cups or percolate an entire pot.
Once the pot was started, her next stop was Pixel’s tank. She dropped two pellets in. “Morning, Pixy. How did you sleep?”
He was much more interested in his food than her. She let him eat and went back to the coffee.
She’d slept fitfully, her worries about Ollie waking her up more than once. Worry wasn’t the right word. She hurt for him, she supposed. She’d never been through a divorce, but she’d known plenty of people who had and not one of them had said it was a fun experience.
It changed people. She’d seen it. Made them wary of relationships, made them distrustful of the opposite sex. Made them question their own worth and their ability to make smart choices and wise decisions.
She could only imagine what Ollie was going through.
She went out to the living room and checked on the flowers. Some of them had opened a bit more and the pickle jar needed water. She took the makeshift vase into the kitchen and held the flowers to one side so she could fill it.
She carried the flowers out onto the porch, came back in for her coffee, phone, and iPad, and took a seat on her lounger, not bothering with a robe.
Yes, if the neighbors really wanted to see her in her underwear, they could, but she didn’t care.
She was more covered in her sleepwear than she was in her bikini.
The thought made her smile. This was the way all mornings should start. With coffee, flowers from someone nice, a good book, and no concern for what anyone else thought.
For a few minutes, she did nothing but sit there, drink coffee, and stare out at the water. It was far enough away that all she could see was a line of blue at the bottom of the horizon, but it was still nice.
As she came awake, she considered the day ahead of her. She wanted to check in with her parents and see how they were doing. She texted them regularly, but it wasn’t the same as a phone call. She might text her brother, too, just to say hi.
She’d have emails to deal with, of course. Hopefully, none with issues that took too long. She really wanted to hit the beach and read her book. She imagined at some point Paige would send a group text and let them know how Lester was doing.
Maude doubted they’d get to see him until he was out of the ICU after his surgery. That made her think about Althea and how she was holding up. Would she be at home or at the hospital? Maude really had no idea. Paige would probably know. If Althea was home and needed company, Maude could go over.
She yawned. Once she woke up a little more, she’d text Paige and see what the deal was. Paige had probably woken up hours ago, worked out, had a sensible breakfast, and was now on her third TikTok post for the day.
A little snort-laugh escaped Maude. Just for fun, she looked up Paige on TikTok to see what kind of content she was producing.
Didn’t take much searching to find her. Maude clicked the Follow button and settled in to watch some videos.
Paige was a smart woman. She had great delivery, a winning smile, and was always so well put together that even if she hadn’t been pretty and fit, she would have come off that way. She knew how to dress, how to do her hair, how to wear just the right amount of makeup.
It was impressive. Maude wondered if she should ask for some tips. Other than cutting a few inches off her still long hair, she hadn’t changed much since high school. Maybe a little in college. She’d learned how to do her brows better then. And stopped wearing such clunky shoes.
But she still favored the same bohemian styles. Loose, flowy tops and skirts. Low-cut jeans, sometimes with patches, sometimes with rips. Hoop earrings, strands of beads, lots of colors.
Yes, she’d mixed in some logo T-shirts and the occasional thrifted jacket or cardigan, but a little update wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Maybe.
Of course, the real question was, why did she care now?
She knew why. Her gaze shifted to the flowers. She liked Ollie. And he was doctor. Not even just a doctor, but a heart surgeon. And Maude had seen a lot of pictures of Emily last night.
She was nicely dressed in every one of them. Hair and nails always done. Makeup perfect. Maude couldn’t even remember if she’d taken hers off last night.
She swiped a finger across her left lid and checked it. A smudge of black told her no, she hadn’t.
Ugh. She was a mess. Ollie might want to be friends with her again, but could he genuinely be romantically interested in her when she was the exact opposite of Emily?
Maude knocked back the last sip of her coffee and went inside to get another cup. Before she did that, she cleaned her face, moisturized, brushed her teeth and hair, and put on some deodorant.
That was better. Not sure who she was hoping to impress, but she felt like it was a step in the right direction. Coffee refilled, she went back out, still in her tank top and underwear.
Ollie was standing in her backyard.
She yelped and ran inside, spilling her coffee in the process.
“Maude?”
“Hang on,” she called back. She could not go out there like this. Her mind was a muddle, not quite awake enough to make sense of what she needed to do. Get dressed, obviously, but in what? She seized the first thing she could think of. Her denim overalls.
She yanked them on, grabbed some paper towels and went back out to the porch to mop up the mess she’d made. “Hey, Ollie.”
“Hey, Maude. Sorry about just stopping by. I seem to do that a lot. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay.” She meant it, too. “Come on in.”
He opened her screen door, and came in, but just stood there, out of the way of her cleaning. The aroma of coffee mingled with salt air. “Can I help?”
“No, I got it. You want a cup of coffee?”
“You have any left?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Very funny. Yes, plenty.”
“Sure, I’ll take a cup.”
She got the last of the spilled coffee and stood up. “Be right back.”
She refilled her cup, filled a second one for Ollie, added cream and sugar, then carried them out. He was sitting in the only other available seat besides the lounger where her stuff was, the chair next to the small table where she’d placed the flowers. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you again for the flowers. They’re really beautiful.” She sat on the lounger cross-legged, facing him.
He smiled and drank his coffee. “You’re not going to believe why I’m here.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” She wasn’t about to guess, but her mind instantly went to a worst-case scenario. He was getting back together with Emily.
“I had breakfast with a friend of yours this morning. Cece Davenport.”
Maude exhaled. “From the book club. Cool. Why did you guys have breakfast?”
“She interviewed me for the Colony newsletter.”
She blinked rapidly, like that was beyond imagination. “You’ve hit the big time now.”
He laughed. “For sure. I told her the truth about everything. The article doesn’t come out for two weeks and I’m talking to HR on Monday to update them on my new status.”
“Then the divorce really is official.”
He nodded, more solemn now. “It is.”
“Well, thanks for letting me know.” Although he’d kind of told her that last night, she just hadn’t been sure that’s what he’d meant.
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
“Cece mentioned you were good at researching people. Online, I mean. She didn’t know we were friends.”
“I’ve been known to do a little cyber snooping.” She smirked. He already knew she’d looked him up, although that was something anyone could have done.
“Could I hire you?” He seemed dead serious.
She couldn’t imagine why he’d want that. “Who do you want to research?”
“Emily. I think it’s possible she may have been cheating on me.
I really didn’t consider it before because she never seemed like the type.
But after talking to Cece, I think I just didn’t understand what was going on.
Maybe I was too wrapped up in work, maybe I didn’t want to think about it.
But I feel like an idiot now. I’d like to know for sure. ”
“Let me clear that up for you. You’re not an idiot.”
He smiled. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. Will it affect the divorce if she was?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. I should talk to my attorney and find out. So, will you help me?”
“Yeah, of course. But you don’t have to pay me.”
“Your time is as valuable as anyone else’s. I want to pay you. What do you charge to build a website?”
“Depends on the website.”
“A basic package.”
“Two-fifty for the bare minimum.”
“How about we start there?”
She didn’t like the idea of him paying her for such a thing, but there was no telling how long it would take. “That might be too much. I have no idea how long it’ll take me. I may not find anything either.”
“How many hours will two-fifty get me?”
“Six. That’s what I allot to build a basic website.”
“Done. How soon can you start?”
“Today.”
“Great.” He smiled again. “Now, how about dinner sometime this week?”