Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
W hen Lauren went to breakfast the next morning, she noticed that the woman who’d been with Lisa the night before at the restaurant was sitting with them in the dining room, sipping a cup of coffee. Lauren helped herself to coffee, some fresh melon, and a scoop of cheesy scrambled eggs with veggies. She brought her tray to their table when Lisa waved her over. Rhett was there too, with his usual coffee and nothing else. Lisa and her friend had already eaten—their plates were empty.
“Lauren, this is my friend Marley,” Lisa introduced her.
“Nice to meet you. You were at the restaurant last night?”
Marley nodded. “It was a lot of fun to watch the filming from afar. We tried to imagine what everyone was talking about.”
Lisa leaned forward a little. “There was one moment just as they’d about finished eating where the whole table looked shocked. We were dying to know what was going on? I’m not sure if you are allowed to say?”
Lauren grinned. “I’m not supposed to—but as long as you promise to keep it to yourselves?”
Lisa and Marley both nodded vigorously, while Rhett looked amused.
“So, when one of the girls, Katy, got up this morning, she saw another girl, Suzanne, walking down the hall. She’d obviously been coming from one of the guys’ bedrooms.”
“Oh! And they really asked her about that at dinner? How embarrassing,” Lisa said.
Lauren laughed. “Welcome to reality TV. Suzanne swears that nothing happened, though. They just watched TV, and she fell asleep.”
Lisa looked a bit skeptical. “Do you think that’s true?”
“Mostly. We have cameras in their bedrooms, too.”
“So they have no privacy at all?” Marley sounded surprised.
“There are no cameras in the bathrooms. So that’s where they change usually and sometimes where other things are rumored to happen. With Suzanne and Noah, there was a little kissing before they watched TV and then Suzanne did fall asleep soon after. What’s unknown is if this will be an isolated event or the beginning of a romance.”
“How fun. I feel invested now,” Lisa said.
Marley laughed. “And now you can see why I am so addicted to these shows.”
“What’s next for filming?” Lisa asked.
“Today should be fun, actually. We have an outing to the Whaling Museum, which will be great PR for the museum. The cast are all influencers, and each of them will make a thirty-second video at the museum and whichever one goes the most viral will win five thousand dollars for their favorite charity.”
“What a great idea. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the museum,” Lisa said.
“Will it be open to the public while you are filming?” Marley had a gleam in her eye and Lauren knew what she was thinking.
“It won’t. But….I can get the two of you in, as long as you don’t mind being part of background shots. It will look like the museum is open if a few people are there. But no worries if you are busy.”
“We’ll be there,” Lisa and Marley said at the same time.
“Great, meet us there at two. Filming will probably go from two to four as we make our way through the whole museum,” Lauren said.
“Rhett, do you want to join us?” Lisa asked.
He shook his head. “I’m good. I’ll be heading to the restaurant. But you girls have fun.”
“Also, I don’t know if this would interest you, but we’re inviting all the neighbors over tomorrow night for our first big party,” Lauren said. “There will be a band and a big cookout. The theme is Nantucket Red, so we’re just asking that everyone wear something in that pinkish red shade.”
“I’ll definitely come. I think Rhett will be at the restaurant?” Rhett nodded in confirmation and looked relieved.
Lisa turned to Marley. “You should come with me?”
“I’d love to.” Marley’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.