Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Sunday mornings were Paige’s favorite kind of quiet.
The beach wasn’t busy yet, except for the few serious walkers who moved along the shoreline at an unhurried pace. There was a lone jogger, but from his youthful age, she could tell he wasn’t a Colony resident.
Further along, a man cast a fishing line from the surf. Brown pelicans skimmed low over the water like creatures from another time and place. Gulls danced out of the way as she strode forward.
With her sandals dangling from her hand, she walked closer to the water, letting the damp sand cool her feet. She breathed in deeply, the salt air calming her in a way nothing else quite did. She absolutely loved living here. Loved this life.
It was even better with the Queen Bees in it. She scanned the beach without meaning to, pleased to see no sign of Darcy or Gigi. Maybe they didn’t get up this early.
Their absence felt like a small mercy. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with them today. It would require pretend niceness, and she didn’t feel up to that.
Paige kept walking, letting her thoughts drift where they wanted.
Graham. Randi. The coming week. Blaise’s call with the publisher.
Cece’s podcast and health concerns. Essie’s issues with Sophie.
Althea taking care of Lester. All of it lived somewhere in the back of her mind, but none of it pressed too hard just now.
She nodded in greeting to another woman passing by and felt a deep sense of peace. Whatever happened with Darcy and Gigi and this new club, it would be fine. Or she would make it that way.
She didn’t need any additional stress in her life. None of the Queen Bees did. They had enough already.
By the time she turned back toward home, the sun was higher and the quiet had started to vanish, replaced by the sunseekers setting up for the day. Someday soon, the Queen Bees needed to do a beach day.
They could set up their canopies and umbrellas, arrange their chairs, bring lunch, snacks, and drinks. They could talk or read or nap. It would just be wonderful to spend time together like that.
Paige stopped at the beach entrance, rinsed her feet at the outdoor tap, then slipped her sandals back on and headed up the path to her house. She was waylaid for nearly ten minutes by a very chatty Felicia Bronson, who wanted Paige to help out with some fundraising for a local children’s charity.
Paige agreed to look into it and get back to her, then finally headed toward her house again. She was nearly there when she saw the box.
It sat just to the side of her front door, big enough that she couldn’t miss it, the cardboard stamped with clean black lettering she recognized instantly.
Luminelle.
Paige stopped short, then laughed softly to herself. “Well,” she said. “They didn’t waste any time, did they?”
She bent to check the label, though she already knew it was hers, then lugged the box inside and nudged the door shut behind her with her foot. The house still smelled faintly of coffee from earlier. Sunlight filtered in through the windows, welcoming her home.
Paige set the box on the dining table and stood there for a moment, hands on her hips.
Having the products actually here made it very real now. Maybe she’d do a few videos today. Maybe an unboxing video? Of course, she might not use that. She’d have to see what they sent first.
She grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer, then set up her phone to record, and sliced through the tape, folding the flaps back carefully, as if whatever was inside might be fragile. And maybe it was. She had no idea what all they’d sent.
She’d do a voiceover later to narrate what was inside, if she decided to use the video.
Tissue paper covered the top, folded neatly, pristine and sealed with a silver Luminelle sticker. She peeled that back and lifted the tissue.
Beneath it, rows of products nestled in molded trays. There were serums, moisturizers, and cleansers in the first one. She lifted it to peek beneath and found gorgeous compacts, lipsticks, brushes, and some other small boxes labeled in elegant type.
A welcome card rested on top, thick paper, her name printed cleanly across it in handwriting so nice it might have been computer-generated.
Paige picked it up and read the note, smiling as she did.
The paper was thick, creamy, and weighty. The kind that felt and looked expensive. Inside, the message was printed in a clean, elegant font, with a short line added in ink at the bottom.
Welcome to the Luminelle family, Paige.
We’re thrilled to partner with you and to have your voice represent what we believe in—care, confidence, and beauty at every stage of life.
We’ve included a curated selection of our core products to get you started, along with a few upcoming releases we think you’ll love.
Thank you for trusting us. We can’t wait to see what you create.
—The Luminelle Team
Below the signature, someone had written, So glad to finally make this official! Can’t wait to work together.
Paige smiled, card still in her hands. Family was a big word. But it didn’t feel misplaced. Maybe a little grand, but she understood.
She set the card back in the box, more aware than ever that this wasn’t just a business deal. It was the confirmation that what she’d built had value. She hadn’t needed the validation, but now that she had it, she felt lifted up by it. As if everything she’d done had been proven worthwhile.
She lifted one product after another, turning them in her hands, showing them to the camera as she felt their weight and noticed the little details. She opened everything, sniffed the fragrances of the skin care, studied the colors of the makeup, really tried to take it all in.
It was all so beautiful and so well thought out.
She turned the camera off, then lined a few items up on the table, already imagining how she’d talk about them. What she’d say. What she wouldn’t. Paige had never been interested in pushing things she didn’t believe in, and Luminelle seemed to understand that.
She thought briefly of Darcy then. Not with fear, but with greater resolve that the woman would not interfere with this next chapter of Paige’s life.
This was her life. Her work. Her voice.
Her opportunity.
Paige closed the box, leaving the products out where she could see them, and went to make herself another cup of coffee. She had planning to do. She was going to be mindful about the posts she did with these products.
Not only that, she needed to start using them. To be sure she actually liked them. She wasn’t about to promote something she didn’t believe in.
Whatever else was unfolding at the Colony, whatever new groups were forming or alliances shifting, this moment was hers.
And she intended to enjoy it.
Paige carried her fresh cup of coffee to the table, settling into a chair where the light fell just right. She took a sip and studied the open box in front of her, the products lined up neatly like little beauty soldiers.
She picked a few up and examined them more closely. She liked that they felt substantial in her hands. The packaging was solid and elegant. Nothing flimsy or gaudy.
After a few minutes, her coffee was gone and her curiosity had won out.
She gathered a small armful of products and took them down the hall to the bathroom, setting them on the counter beneath the mirror.
The room was bright with morning light. This was where she’d always tested things, because in this much light, the truth showed up quickly.
She read the labels again, slower this time. Cleanser. Serum. Moisturizer. Eye cream. She washed her hands, put on a terrycloth headband to hold her hair back, and started with the cleanser, working it gently over her skin. It rinsed clean without that tight, stripped feeling she hated.
That was a good sign.
She followed with the serum, a few drops warmed between her fingers before pressing it in.
It absorbed quickly, no residue, no shine that would fight with makeup later.
The moisturizer came next, richer than she’d expected but not heavy, and the eye cream last, tapped in carefully with her ring finger the way she’d learned over the years.
Paige leaned closer to the mirror, tilting her face from side to side. Her skin felt good. Smooth. And it looked calm. Like it had been given exactly what it needed without any stress. That wasn’t always the case with new products.
She smiled at her reflection, a real one this time. She nodded. “I can work with this.”
Of course, she’d need to live with these products on her face for a while. There was no telling how her skin might react in an hour or so. She might wake up tomorrow morning with splotches. She doubted that would happen, but she was ready to wait it out all the same.
Back at the table, Paige made a few notes on a pad. She jotted down how the products felt. How they smelled. A few words to use when she described them. What she’d say, and what she wouldn’t. She wasn’t interested in hyping this stuff up. She was interested in honesty.
Her audience expected that. If something didn’t work, it was just as important for them to know that.
And in that moment, focused on this new aspect of her brand, Paige forgot to think about Darcy Lane.
Which was exactly how it should be.