Page 25 of Happily Ever After

She finished the line of code she was working on, then reached for it.

Gigi had answered. Hi! Yes, I’d love that. What time were you thinking?

Maude nodded. This was good. She typed back. Great. How about 10 am? There’s a little coffee shop just outside the Colony. Sea Beans, do you know it?

A pause, then Gigi’s response came through. I do. That sounds perfect. Thanks! See you tomorrow.

Maude smiled to herself. Well, that was done. She set the phone down and leaned back in her chair. Now she just had to figure out what to say. And how to say it.

But that would come. She also needed to let the Queen Bees know progress had been made. She opened the Queen Bees thread and typed out her message.

I’m meeting Gigi for coffee tomorrow morning at Sea Beans. I’ll text afterward and let you know how it goes.

She hit Send and her phone buzzed almost immediately, but it wasn’t from any of the Queen Bees.

It was Robbie.

She opened the message and smiled as a series of three photos filled the screen. They were of a gorgeous, finished rocking chair, the wood sanded glassy smooth and stained a pale beachy blue color. The clean lines and solid, curvy build made it the kind of chair you could picture anywhere. It looked like something that could be passed down through generations.

Maude had a pang of envy that it wasn’t for her.

His message read, Just finished this one. Thought it would be good for the site. I’m going to use it as a sample at the arts and crafts fair. I’m thinking $1200. I know that’s a lot but it’s a quality piece.

Maude saved the photo and typed back. I can see that. $1200 seems fair to me. It’s really beautiful. I’ll add it this afternoon.

She looked at the image again before sending it to herself. Robbie’s work always made her pause. She knew her brother was talented, but seeing it like this gave her a new appreciation for his work. She loved how much care he put into something like that, knowing it was meant to last.

On a whim, she sent it to the Queen Bees, just to show off her brother’s work. Then she turned back to her laptop.

She opened up his website, wanting to get the chair up right away. She slid her hands onto the keyboard and got the photo uploaded, happy to be adding something so beautiful to his site.

The plan for tomorrow was filed neatly away until it was time. And by then, she was pretty sure she’d know exactly what she was going to say.

Chapter Eleven

Paige adjusted the tripod by half an inch, then stepped back and looked at her phone screen.

Nope, that was a touch too high. She’d done this a thousand times but for the first time in a long time, she was nervous.

This was a very different sort of post she was about to record.

She lowered the tripod, tilted the ring light slightly to the left, and tried again. The framing was better now. Her shoulders were centered and the background looked cleaner.

The living room looked the way she wanted it to. Soothing, calm colors, nothing too wild competing for attention, but the spider plant on the left added a nice bit of green.

Her outfit was the same way. Navy top with white trim, white jeans, gold accessories, hair pulled back and sprayed artfully into place, Luminelle makeup perfect. She wanted to look like herself.

And she wasn’t selling anything tonight. She was recording her announcement about the interview, which she planned on posting first thing tomorrow.

So long as Cece sent the text that everything was good to go.

Paige checked the time.

Six p.m. on Saturday night. Graham had offered to come over, but she’d said no. Not because she didn’t want company, but because this felt like something she needed to do alone. At least this part of it.

She’d promised to meet him at the pub at seven for dinner. She imagined her appetite would come back by then.

She sat on the edge of the sofa and smoothed her hands over her jeans, then looked at her image in the phone screen. She frowned and reached up to adjust a strand of hair that had somehow escaped her attention.