Page 14 of Happily Ever After

Essie had texted. Can all of you meet for breakfast tomorrow at my place? Nothing fancy, just a frittata, fruit, and coffee. But Maude and I would like to talk to all of you.

Paige stared at the message, then glanced toward Graham. He’d heard the buzz but hadn’t looked up, giving her a moment to read and respond.

She wondered what the talk would be about. There was only one way to find out, she imagined. She typed back. Yes. What time?

Essie wouldn’t ask for a full group breakfast without a good reason. That wasn’t her style. And what did Maude have to do with it? But Paige didn’t ask why. She could wait until they were all together.

As Cece, Blaise and Althea answered in the affirmative as well, Essie responded with the time.

How’s 9 am? Maude promised that’s not too early for her, so I figure the rest of us should be able to make it.

Paige gave that a thumbs-up. She’d have plenty of time to get her workout in.

Across the kitchen, Graham scraped the mashed potatoes into a bowl and set it on the counter. “Everything okay?”

Paige set her phone back down on the counter. “Essie wants the Bees at her place for breakfast tomorrow. She and Maude want to talk.”

Graham blinked. “That sounds like something’s up.”

“It definitely does,” Paige agreed. “I’ll find out tomorrow. You need help with anything else?”

“No, we’re good.” He set the bowl of peas beside the pork and the potatoes, then reached for two plates.

“Wonderful. In that case, let’s eat,” Paige said. The food smelled amazing.

“At your service.” Graham began plating dinner.

They ate at the small kitchen table, talking some more about his car shopping as well as nothing in particular. How he’d seasoned the pork, that the peas were better than either of them expected, whether mashed potatoes should be perfectly smooth or have lumps.

It was exactly what she needed after a day of sharing the secret she’d harbored for so long. The right kind of ordinariness to let her mind rest.

When they were done, Paige stood and gathered their plates without asking.

“I’ve got it,” Graham said automatically.

“It’s all right,” Paige said. “I’m already up. Besides, you made the food.”

He didn’t argue as he got to his feet. He rarely did. He seemed to know when to let her be like that.

She rinsed while he loaded the dishwasher, working around each other with an ease that made her feel as if she’d known him much longer than she had.

When the counter was wiped and the last dish put away, Graham turned off the kitchen light and followed her into the living room.

They settled next to each other on the couch, the way they always did. Graham queued up the new episode of a show they’d just started.

It was a British murder mystery set in a small coastal town with an implausibly quirky police station, and a body that turned up in the most inconvenient place. In the first episode, the victim had been in a tree. In the second, it had been in the library.

She couldn’t imagine where one would end up this time. She tucked her feet beneath her and pulled the throw blanket up over her lap.

“You’re sure you’re ready for another episode?” Graham asked. “Things are about to get unpleasant.”

“It’s a murder mystery,” Paige said with a grin. “If it wasn’t a little unpleasant, it would be a sitcom.”

He laughed softly and hit Play.

They watched for a while, commenting only when something particularly outlandish happened or when one of them guessed wrong about a suspect. About halfway through, Graham paused the show.

“Forgot to mention, I picked up dessert,” he said.