Page 5 of Happily Ever After

“Hey,” Paige said back. She looked calm. If she had any nerves about what she was going to do, they weren’t on display.

“Come in.” Cece stepped aside. “Are you excited or nervous?”

“A little nervous, I guess, but very ready.” Paige came into the kitchen, and set her tote down on the counter. “It’ll be good to do this. To get it out in the open.”

“No one, Darcy included, will be able to use this against you ever again.”

“Nope.” Paige smiled but it disappeared quickly, as if the weight of what she was about to do had just hit her.

“And your daughter is okay with this?”

Paige nodded. “Randi’s fine with it. She thinks it might actually help her.”

Cece’s brows furrowed. “How so?”

“Because it might cause my ex to lay low for a while and he’s constantly pestering her to see Liam. Her son.” Paige shook her head. “Randi doesn’t really want to let Peter into her life like that and she’s running out of ways to tell him no.”

“I take it she never got over what he did to you?”

“It’s also what he did to her. He tore our family apart.”

“I can understand that. Natalie went through a lot when her father left us.” Cece paused. “You want a glass of water to take in with you?”

“Yes, please.”

Cece grabbed a clean glass from the cabinet and took it to the fridge, filling it with cold water from the indoor dispenser. She set it in front of Paige, then got one for herself.

Paige took the glass and leaned lightly against the counter. “This place always smells good,” she said. “What is that?”

“Nothing exciting. Coffee and fabric softener, maybe a little air freshener now and then.” Cece laughed. “I loved those candles you had going at book club, but I wouldn’t trust Peanut not to singe off a whisker.”

“Cats are curious creatures,” Paige said with a nod of understanding.

On cue, Peanut trotted into the room, stopped short when she spotted Paige, and let out a single, authoritative meow.

“Hi to you, too,” Paige said, bending to scratch behind Peanut’s ears. “Did you hear us talking about you?”

Peanut didn’t answer, just accepted this attention as her due, then promptly lost interest and jumped onto the chair by the window, curling into a tight, judgmental loaf.

Cece rolled her eyes. “She’s very busy today.”

“I can tell,” Paige said with a little chuckle.

They stood there for a moment. It felt like neither of them was quite ready to head into the studio, but they had to start sooner or later.

“I guess we should go in,” Cece finally said.

Paige took hold of her glass. “Yes. I’ll tell you now that I may be slow in answering some of the questions, but it’s just me trying to get the words right.”

Cece nodded. “That’s fine. And it isn’t like I won’t be editing this before it goes live. If you say something that you decide you’d rather not have out there, I can cut it. This is about you telling your story, not me forcing you to share salacious details.”

“Thank you.” Paige’s mouth curved slightly. “Let’s get started then.”

Cece would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about the truth of why Paige’s marriage had broken up, but she guessed she was about to find out. She gestured toward the studio. Everything was ready. Microphones set up, levels checked ahead of time because Cece believed in being thoroughly prepared.

Paige followed her in. “Oh, this is nice. It feels so professional. Not that I expected anything else.” She smiled. “It’s very you. I like it.”

“Thanks.”