Page 24 of Happily Ever After

Gigi also needed to make her mind up for herself. Not have it made up for her.

Maude picked up her mug, took a sip, and grimaced. That was the cold cup. She set it aside and reached for the hot one instead. It was nearly empty. She went to the kitchen to pour herself fresh coffee, thinking as she went.

She glanced at Pixel’s tank. He was drifting lazily through the water, his fins fanned out like wings. “What would you do? How would you approach her?”

Pixel turned and went in the other direction.

Maude nodded. “Yeah, it should definitely be done in person. I was planning on that. Email is too impersonal for this kind of thing.”

She took her coffee to her desk. The legal pad stared back at her. She picked it up.

Gigi seemed to like feeling useful. That she was part of something. A community. She’d tried to have that with the Queen Bees, but they’d shut her out, so she’d found it with Darcy. Or at least the illusion of it.

Maude sighed. Why couldn’t Gigi just have understood that the book club was a done deal? That they were an established group not looking to expand? She could have created her own book club.

Instead, she’d found Darcy and become her…minion.

Maybe that wasn’t exactly the right word, but it felt applicable. Gigi probably considered herself Darcy’s right hand.

Maude doubted Darcy saw it that way.

Maude put the pad down and picked up a pen, tapping the end of it against her chin while she thought. Her first idea was to invite Gigi somewhere and talk to her over drinks or maybe even an appetizer.

Not at The Bee’s Knees, she thought. Too public. Too easy for Darcy to magically appear and join them.

Not Shooters. Too loud. Too casual. And the last time they’d all been there, Gigi had tried to get too close to Joe, upsetting Cece. Bad vibes there.

She needed neutral ground. Somewhere Darcy wouldn’t naturally be.

Outside, a lawnmower started up down the street. Somewhere, a dog barked and it kind of sounded like Cookie. Life went on, unbothered by Maude’s dilemma.

Maude turned back to her work, hands settling on the keyboard. She’d figure out the right thing to say. She usually did. She could always ask Cece, but Cece was busy getting Paige’s interview ready to go live.

Maude didn’t want to bother her with anything else until that was done.

She stared at the blank document a few seconds longer, then closed it without saving.

She pushed her chair back and stood, stretching her arms over her head. The house was quiet without Robbie in it. Just the bubbling of Pixel’s filter and the faint whirr of the ceiling fan in the living room. She walked to the window and looked out at her small backyard and the potted veggies that she would water this evening.

Gigi wasn’t someone who needed convincing. She was someone who needed to feel chosen. Which meant Maude needed to make her feel special, while also helping her to understand who Darcy really was.

It was going to be a fine line to walk.

Maude went back to her desk and picked up her phone. She scrolled until she found Gigi’s contact, which she’d already gotten from the community directory, then stopped. Calling felt too abrupt. Texting felt safer, but only if she got it right.

She typed out a message, then deleted it. She typed a new one, but she didn’t love that version either. Finally, she set the phone down and thought it through again.

But maybe that was the problem. She was overthinking this.

Maude picked the phone back up. Hi Gigi! This is Maude. I hope you’re having a good day. I was wondering if you’d like to grab coffee with me tomorrow morning? Just the two of us.

She read it over. That sounded good. Casual. Not like anything was up.

She hit Send.

The phone stayed quiet for a few minutes while she went back to work and forced herself to focus on the next thing on her To Do list. More updates to an existing site.

She made the updates, adjusted the spacing, then checked the mobile view. She hit Publish and sent another quick update to the client. She was just getting into a rhythm when her phone buzzed.