Turning the Page (Queen Bees Book Club #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Dressed in a coral seersucker blazer with a white silk tank and white jeans, Paige Wheeler sat ladylike on the edge of her couch.

She’d already set the scene with an artfully arranged turquoise throw on the back and a gorgeous white and ivory chenille pillow propped just so against the arm.

The turquoise would make her blazer pop, and the pillow added a nice texture.

Her hair and makeup were done, her accessories carefully chosen. It was a good look. One she was pleased with, especially because she’d pulled it together from her existing closet.

She had her knees together with her legs extended to the side, ankles crossed. Her ring light and tripod were set up and ready to go, her phone in the center holder.

The little Bluetooth remote that would start her camera recording was hidden in her hand. She rehearsed what she wanted to say once more in her head, then put on a big smile, and pressed the remote.

“Good morning, all you lovely people. I wanted to share a thought for the day.” She glanced at the sheet of paper she’d taped below her phone. It bore the thought she’d come up with in a large, easy-to-read font.

“Intelligence is quietly solving the puzzle while stupidity is loudly eating the pieces, choking on the corner bits, and demanding a trophy for ‘participating in the game.’” She arched her brows ever so slightly as her smile took on a wry edge.

“Let’s all work on solving the puzzle today, shall we? ”

She pressed the button again to stop recording, her smile flattening.

That was aimed at Sophie, the stepdaughter of one of Paige’s new friends, Essie Rodrigez-Holt.

Sophie was a complete and utter fool who’d decided to sue her father, Essie’s husband, Frank, and Essie because Frank had threatened to end Sophie’s allowance.

Why had he threatened to end it? Because that little ingrate was using her TikTok account to publicly badmouth Essie. Accusing her of spending all of Frank’s money, making snide little comments about Essie, and just generally using her as the butt of jokes.

To Paige’s way of thinking, Sophie had a bigger problem than Essie, who was doing nothing she’d been accused of. In fact, Essie was one of the sweetest women Paige had ever known.

Sophie’s real problem was that she was thirty-two years old and getting an allowance. How was she not ashamed of that?

With a shake of her head and a little sigh at the insanity of it all, Paige grabbed her phone, and uploaded the video to TikTok, did a few quick edits, and published it.

She hoped this new idea was well received.

Adding a Thought For The Day video every few days would give her more content and something new to post. She’d already posted what she was wearing as her Outfit Of The Day, but she didn’t like to do an OOTD every day because, frankly, she didn’t always want to put this much effort into what she was wearing.

When she went to the gym, which she’d done first thing this morning, she’d been in standard but cute workout gear, hair slicked back into a high pony and wearing minimal makeup.

Could she share that? Yes, and sometimes she did.

But those posts were more like filler. They didn’t get the sort of engagement she liked.

She understood. A plain-faced woman about to sweat wasn’t that exciting.

She checked the time. She was meeting Graham for lunch at The Queen’s Arms but she had a few minutes before she needed to leave. Just enough time to call her daughter, Randi.

She leaned back on the sofa, put her bare feet up on the coffee table, and dialed.

Randi answered right away. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

“Just had a few minutes. Thought I’d check in with my favorite child.”

“Um, I’m your only child.”

“True, but you’re still my favorite.”

Randi laughed. “Good to know.”

“What are you up to today?”

“Working. Thinking about how nice it would be to lay on the beach all day instead.”

Paige smiled. “You should come hang out with me this weekend. You could definitely get some beach time in. All you wanted, really. We could have breakfast together, go to the gym together…”

“Mom, I have a husband and a son to look after.”

“Can’t Sean look after Liam for the weekend? When’s the last time you came to visit?”

“I don’t know. Liam has a birthday party to go to tomorrow. Although I did already buy and wrap a present.” She let out a soft breath. “I guess I could ask Sean. It would be fun.”

“Ask him. And if helps sway him, tell him you’ll take Barkley with you. That’s one less soul for him to look after.” Barkley was Randi’s adorable little toffee-colored dog. He was some kind of shaggy mutt who’d gotten all the cute genes from each breed in his lineage.

“Okay, give me a minute to call him and I’ll call you right back.”

Randi called back six minutes later. “I can’t believe this, but Sean’s fine with it. Are you sure about me bringing Barkley?”

“Positive. Pack up a bag of his things and yours and leave after work.”

“Yeah but I know you don’t like dog hair on everything.”

Barkley was a shedder. “It’s nothing the vacuum can’t handle. Besides, it would be nice to have you here.” She’d have to let Graham know. Paige wasn’t ready for him and her daughter to meet. That was a step in the direction of serious, and Paige wasn’t there yet.

“I’m going to remind you that you said that,” Randi said with a smile in her voice. “It would be great to spend the entire day on the beach, doing nothing. Do you have an umbrella I can borrow?”

“I have a canopy. It’s better than an umbrella. Easier to set up, weighs less, and more coverage.” They’d been all the rage in the community a while back and she’d bought the nicest version available. “I’ve got chairs, towels, everything you need. Just bring your swimsuit and Barkley.”

Randi laughed. “I’ll need a little more than that but sounds good. I can probably be there by eight. Maybe a little earlier, if that’s all right.”

“That’s perfect. I have to run to Publix after lunch anyway, so tell me what you’d like for breakfast and anything else you want and I’ll pick it up.”

“You don’t have to do that, Mom.”

“Randi, I want to. I’m your mother. I don’t care how old you are, you’re still my baby.”

“Well, I don’t mind being pampered a little,” Randi said. “I like cinnamon-raisin oatmeal muffins, which I usually make myself.”

“I’m sure I can find something similar.” Maybe not at Publix, but there was a bakery in town. “What do you like to drink?”

“Water is fine. I have a glass of merlot at night.”

“I’ll pick up a bottle. We can have steak tomorrow night, if that’s all right? Couple of filets. What do you say?”

“I say that’s better than what I usually eat. Really, Mom, whatever you make is fine with me.”

“All right. I’ll see you when you get here this evening.” Paige smiled. It would be lovely to see her grandson, too, but bringing him would mean Randi wouldn’t really get time to herself. Besides, he had a birthday party to go to. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“So am I. I’ll text when I’m on my way.”

“Perfect. Love you. See you then.”

“Love you. Bye.”

Still smiling, Paige got up and put her phone in her purse. She put on her favorite white leather sandals, touched up her lipstick, and went out to her golf cart. She took off her jacket, folded it neatly and put it on the seat beside her with her purse.

It might be warm outside, but every business in Florida seemed lawfully bound to set their air-conditioning low enough to cause chills. She’d need the jacket once she got inside. Besides that, the color was stunning on her.

She popped on her sunglasses and headed to meet Graham. She’d never really gone to The Queen’s Arms before meeting him. Just the once when she’d first arrived, but she’d felt out of place.

Going with a retired MI6 agent had changed that. They’d even played a game of darts. She wasn’t very good, but he was teaching her. It was fun.

Doing anything with Graham was fun.

The only downside was that spending time with him meant she wasn’t getting her usual content for her TikTok.

A little voice inside had cautioned her not to share him with her audience.

That doing so would make him like all the others—the men she went out with once or twice and showed off as a way of getting back at her ex-husband.

He’d left her for his male personal trainer, something Paige’s self-esteem had never quite gotten over. Despite the personal reinvention she’d done, despite how she’d changed her life and come out on top, there were still some deep scars there.

That kind of humiliation stayed with a person. With that one decision, he had declared their entire marriage a lie. He’d professed that he had truly loved her, but she didn’t believe that.

He’d used her for cover. As a way to get ahead in business, as a way of hiding who he really was.

Now that she had a real man in her life, she was cautious, of course, but she felt protective of Graham. Like this new relationship was something to be guarded. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe she was so jaded about love and relationships that she’d lost all perspective.

But maybe it felt so good and new and wonderful because it was a once in a lifetime experience.

She had no way of knowing except to keep moving forward and see where things went. Nothing wrong with that.

But sharing him with her forty thousand followers and the millions of people who might potentially see her video? That did not feel like the right step at this point.

She wasn’t even ready to tell Randi about him.

For now, Graham belonged to Paige and Paige alone.