Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
J ill called Mandy the next morning and filled her in on Cory’s visit to the bar and what had transpired.
Mandy was horrified but also agreed with Jill that Cory deserved it.
She felt bad for Patrick and didn’t understand how Cory could do something like that to one of his closest friends and his business partner.
“Oh, and Patrick told Cory he’d be hearing from his attorney. What do you suppose that means?”
“I’m not sure. Unless maybe he wants to split up the company. I don’t think I’d blame him. I wouldn’t be able to work with Cory after learning what he did.”
“Is Cory with Daisy? Will she stay with the company, do you think?” Jill asked.
“I really don’t know. I guess it depends on if Patrick still wants to stay with her and if they both want to work on things and work together.
I can’t imagine. Cory said it wasn’t serious with Daisy, and I could see both of them just having fun and not considering how their actions would impact others.
You know she’s never been one of my favorite people,” Mandy said.
Jill laughed. “Kind of sounds like they deserve each other. You know, you might want to call your attorney and see if this could affect your settlement if they split up the company.”
That hadn’t crossed Mandy’s mind, and now that Jill mentioned it, she immediately worried that it could have an impact.
“Good idea. I’ll give her a call. Oh, can you come over Sunday night? I’d like to have you and Emma over to meet some of my friends. We do this now and then. Everyone brings an appetizer and a bottle of wine. I have plenty of wine though, so don’t worry about that.”
“Sounds fun. I’m going to New York this weekend, but I’ll take an early flight back. And I’ll bring wine. You can never have too much wine.”
Mandy laughed. “That’s true. Thanks for the heads-up on Cory. I’ll give my attorney a call today.”
As soon as they hung up, Mandy called Lindsay and filled her in. “If Cory and Patrick split up the company, will that affect my settlement?”
Lindsay assured her that it would not. “If you had done a percentage of the company or alimony payments, it may have had an effect as Cory’s overall income could change. But since you are doing an upfront lump sum that is based on where the company is now financially, you’re fine.”
Mandy breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, because I don’t want to have to go back to court again or delay this in any way.”
“Less than ninety days now, Mandy. It won’t be much longer, and then it will be official.”
“Thanks, Lindsay. One less thing to worry about.”
Mandy fed the kids early Sunday night and settled them in Brooke’s bedroom with a movie a little before seven.
They’d spent the day at the beach, and most of that time, the kids were in the ocean swimming, so they were tired.
They usually went to bed by eight, but this was a Disney movie they were both excited to see, so she hoped they’d enjoy it and be asleep by the time it was over.
Brooke’s bed was a trundle, and she pulled out the bottom mattress and set it up for Blake.
Once they were all tucked in and the movie was on, Mandy headed downstairs. She was starting to feel hungry too.
She’d made chicken salad sliders for her appetizers.
Her sisters and her kids loved her chicken salad.
She gave it a twist by adding a squirt of lemon, honey, and mustard to the mayonnaise as well as a handful of slivered almonds for some crunch.
She opened a bottle of Daou cabernet and poured herself a glass.
Everyone arrived within a few minutes of each other, and the food all looked so good. Mandy introduced her sisters to Kate and Kristen Hodges, who were twins.
Jill recognized them. “It has been a long time. I think your mother was at our grand opening.”
“She was,” Kate said. “Kristen and I were both in Boston that weekend for a girls’ getaway. We went shopping in the Back Bay and ate our way through the North End.”
“It was so fun,” Kristen agreed. “We were sorry to miss the event though. I hear Mimi’s Place is doing great.”
“It is, now that we have Jason back for lunches and Jared as our new sous-chef,” Mandy said proudly.
“We need to get in there soon,” Kate said.
Barbara handed Mandy a casserole dish with her hot artichoke and spinach dip. Mandy set it on the kitchen island and figured they could all just help themselves. She knew her sisters knew Barbara already, but they hadn’t met her other guest, who arrived last.
“Jill and Emma, this is Angela. She’s not from Nantucket, but she lives here year round now. I met her through Kate and Kristen. Angela also runs a cleaning company and cleans for us and also for Cory’s company.”
Jill looked intrigued. “Do you do all the cleaning yourself? I hear that commercial cleaning is a huge growth area.”
Mandy laughed. “This is the sister who’s a recruiter. She’s always fascinated with people’s jobs.”
Jill smiled. “It’s true, I am.”
Angela didn’t mind the questions though. “I don’t clean as much as I’d like actually. The company is really busy, and I’ve hired a lot of cleaners to help. I do whatever is left over.”
“She actually likes to clean,” Kate said.
“Well, that works out great for us.” Mandy couldn’t imagine enjoying cleaning, but she knew Angela found it relaxing, and she was the best cleaner Mandy had ever hired.
Even when Angela didn’t do the cleaning herself, her workers did just as good a job.
Mandy wasn’t surprised that business was booming for Angela.
Everyone had brought something delicious, and they all helped themselves to dips and sandwiches, stuffed meatballs, cheese and crackers, and for dessert, Kristen had brought brownies.
Mandy poured wine for everyone, and they took their wine and plates of food onto the back deck and settled on the several sofas and comfy chairs that were grouped in a semicircle facing the ocean.
It was an unusually warm night with just a slight breeze.
The water was calm, and the setting sun made the sky turn rose pink.
In the distance, the last ferry of the night headed out of the harbor.
They all chatted easily. Mandy wasn’t surprised that Emma seemed to hit it off with Kristen, who was an artist and was interested in Emma’s photography. Jill was intrigued by the book that Kate was writing. Kate wrote mystery novels, and Jill loved mysteries.
It was a fun night, and the time flew as they ate and chatted and had a bit more wine.
“Oh, I heard from my attorney, and she said it shouldn’t change anything if Cory and Patrick go their separate ways,” Mandy said to Jill. She’d meant to update her earlier.
“Does everyone know about his latest shenanigans?” Barbara asked her.
Mandy thought for a moment. She’d told her friends about the divorce and Cory’s cheating early on. But she hadn’t had a chance to update them on his affair with Daisy and Patrick belting Cory at the bar. She filled them in, and everyone agreed that Cory deserved to be embarrassed by Patrick.
“He wasn’t like this when we were first married,” Mandy said. “Success changed him. The Cory I fell in love with wasn’t like this.”
“No, he wasn’t,” Barbara agreed. “I know you’re not ready yet, but I have no doubt you’ll find someone better. As my mother always says, ‘everything happens for a reason.’”
Mandy just smiled and looked around the room, happy to be with her best friends and her family. She wasn’t ready to think about dating yet, but she felt optimistic that she would be one day soon.
She held up her wineglass. “Cheers to that.”