Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Essie noticed something was up before she fully understood what that something was.
It was subtle at first. Cece went still beside her, Paige’s gaze lifted toward the stage and didn’t budge. Maude was joking with Ollie and Robbie about something and seemed her usual self.
Essie followed Cece and Paige’s line of sight just as Joe stepped back from the microphone and put his guitar on the stand, smiling as applause rolled through the room.
That was when Essie saw her. The woman who’d arrived uninvited to book club was here.
Gigi DeLuca stood near the stage, close enough to be deliberate, one hand on the edge of a high-top table, her body angled toward Joe. Essie watched Gigi toss her hair back, laugh at something Joe may or may not have said, and lean in as if being close was permission enough to make a move.
Oh, dear. No wonder Cece looked like she wanted to break something.
Essie felt her own protectiveness rise up. Cece didn’t need this, not with everything else she was going through. Essie had lived long enough to know what she was seeing. Gigi wasn’t just enjoying the music.
She was flirting. Hard. With Joe.
Essie turned slowly to Maude and tugged on her sleeve to get her attention.
Maude gave her a smile. “Hey, there.”
Essie kept her eyes on Gigi, indicating her with a nod. “Please tell me no one invited her.”
Maude followed Essie’s gaze and groaned softly. “That’s just freaking fantastic. No one did, I’m sure.”
“Well, she got wind of it somehow.” Essie kept her voice low, but there was weight behind it.
Maude shook her head. “This is book club all over again. She just shows up to places like it’s her right. Granted, this is a public place, but still. Ugh.”
Essie pressed her lips together. Across the table, Paige was still watching, her posture subtly straightening. Blaise had paused mid-laugh with Brick, her eyes narrowing just a fraction as she picked up on what was happening.
Cece, though, hadn’t moved. She watched Joe with a composed stillness that told Essie everything she needed to know. Cece was as displeased as a woman could be without physically doing something about it.
“Well,” Essie said quietly. “You’re right. It is a public place. And I’m sure she doesn’t know Joe is taken.”
Maude snorted under her breath. “Or doesn’t care.”
Essie folded her hands on the table, calm settling over her like armor.
“She’s trouble,” she said. It wasn’t unkind to speak the truth and sometimes, it needed to be done.
“Not the sort that’s easily detectable initially.
The sort that pretends to be friendly. The sort that assumes you’re going to go along with whatever she’s decided to do. I don’t like that.”
Maude glanced at her. “You think she knows Cece and Joe are a thing?”
“No idea,” Essie said. “But if she doesn’t, she ought to at least figure out Joe’s not interested.”
Joe had come down off the stage to speak to a man near the front. They were laughing like one of them had told a joke. But Joe’s gaze lifted in the middle of the conversation toward the cluster of tables they occupied. Toward Cece.
Gigi hovered at the perimeter. Joe hadn’t given her attention, as far as Essie could tell. That was good. She exhaled, some of her trepidation easing.
“Still,” Essie murmured. “I wish that woman would learn the difference between being included and being intrusive.”
Maude lifted her drink. “To boundaries,” she said.
Essie smiled. “May we all continue to defend them.”
Frank leaned in. “You want anything else, sweetheart? I just saw a slice of key lime pie go by that looked like something I need to try.”
Frank had never met a key lime pie he didn’t like. Essie shook her head, then looked back toward the stage. “Whatever you want is fine,” she said. “I’m more interested in a developing situation at the moment.”
Frank followed her gaze. “I assume you mean the woman with the big hair and the tall shoes?”
“I do. She’s the same one I told you about who showed up at book club.”
“And she’s here now?” He made a face. “That’s an odd coincidence.”
Essie nodded. “It sure is.”
Around the table, conversation thinned and then stopped altogether. Paige set her glass down, then nudged Graham. Blaise straightened, Brick’s arm settling protectively around her shoulders like he sensed her unease. Maude’s attention was fixed on Cece, her expression unreadable but alert.
Cece’s eyes narrowed, then she rose from her chair.
She didn’t rush forward but she didn’t hesitate, either. She crossed the room with an easy confidence that told Essie this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. Whatever she was about to do, she’d given it some thought.
Gigi hadn’t left her spot at the edge of the stage a few feet from Joe, who was in conversation with someone new.
Essie watched closely, her pulse ticking up as the scene unfolded. What was Cece going to do? Confront the woman? Do something to show Gigi that she and Joe were together? This was going to be interesting.
Cece didn’t hesitate. She walked toward the small knot of people gathered near the stage, where Joe stood chatting away with a couple in baseball caps who looked like they spent most of their time on a boat, and a woman wearing a whole lot of turquoise jewelry.
Joe spotted Cece almost at once.
His face lit up with the unmistakable look of someone genuinely pleased. He stepped toward her before she reached him and did something so natural Essie felt her breath catch.
He took Cece’s hand as he greeted her. No hesitation. As if being at his side was simply where she belonged.
Maude nudged Essie.
“I’m watching,” she said. They all were.
Which meant they all saw Gigi freeze a few feet away, her posture shifting as she realized that this moment wasn’t unfolding the way she’d expected. Her smile, which seemed a permanent fixture, was gone.
Joe didn’t notice.
Or if he did, he didn’t react. Cece was smiling at the people Joe was introducing her to, but in that second, her smile got a little bigger. Joe had made her part of the group instantly, without even thinking about it.
Joe’s attention stayed with the group gathered near the stage, still holding Cece’s hand as he said something Essie couldn’t hear.
Whatever it was made the couple smile immediately and shift their attention fully to Cece.
Joe lifted their joined hands slightly, the gesture unmistakable, as if he weren’t just introducing her but also proud of her.
It was a very sweet gesture and made Essie smile. Good for you, Cece. You’ve got a man there who knows your worth.
Cece laughed, her shoulders relaxing, and nodded as one of the women said something animated to her. Joe’s expression softened in a way Essie read as genuine and completely unguarded. He wrapped his hand tighter around Cece’s, then leaned in closer to hear what she was saying.
Cece hadn’t had to do anything. Joe had handled it perfectly, making it plain to anyone watching, Gigi included, that they were together.
Essie felt the worry she’d been holding dissolve all at once. Whatever words had been exchanged, Gigi had gotten the message. She slipped through the crowd and went back to the bar.
At the tables, the rest of the Queen Bees had obviously seen the same thing. Blaise exhaled slowly as she reengaged Brick in conversation. Maude tilted her head to say something to Ollie. Paige lifted her glass and nodded at whatever Graham was saying.
“Well,” Frank murmured beside her. “Looks like Joe handled things well.”
Essie smiled. “He handled things exceptionally well. Thankfully, Gigi seems to have gotten the hint.”
She reached for Frank’s hand, warmth spreading through her palm as their fingers entwined. “And yes,” she added. “You can order the pie.”
“Already did. With two forks.”
“You’re a good man. I think I’ll keep you.”
Frank laughed and snuck a quick kiss.
Amazing how some things, Essie thought, sorted themselves out without anyone having to say a word.