Page 76 of Happily Ever After

“What?”

“You’re staying here. As long as you need to. But that doesn’t mean you’re hiding.”

Sophie swallowed. “I don’t want to hide anymore. That hasn’t done me any good.”

Essie knew that was true. She stood and opened her arms. Sophie hesitated for only a second before getting to her feet and stepping into the embrace, clinging tightly, her sobs muffled against Essie’s shoulder.

Essie held her tight, thinking that sometimes the most loving thing you could do for someone was to tell them the truth.

And sometimes, finally being shown that reality was exactly what broke things open.

Chapter Thirty

The house was quiet when Maude woke.

Not that sort of quiet where she could tell the house wasn’t empty, but the really good kind of quiet. The vacant kind that meant Robbie had already left for the flex space and taken his particular brand of noise with him.

No footsteps. No drawers opening and closing with cheerful indifference. No low whistle drifting down the hallway. No jangling keys.

Maude lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, the events of the night before rearranging themselves in her mind with uncomfortable clarity. She’d done a deep dive on Darcy Lane and come up with sunken treasure.

Those patterns were very telling. Maybe she’d look at them again this morning, but not just yet. First, she needed coffee. Always.

She swung her legs out of bed and padded toward the kitchen without bothering to check the time. She knew it wasn’t the crack of dawn. Probably more like midday, but whatever hour it was, it felt too early to be awake.

Well, she wasn’t going back to bed now. She started the coffee and fed Pixel. “You look extra handsome today, my fishy friend.”

He went after his pellets with enthusiasm.

She leaned her hip against the counter as she waited for the coffee to brew. The kitchen felt bigger than usual this morning, as if Robbie’s absence made more space.

Maybe it did. But it wasn’t like he was completely gone. The faint smell of sawdust hung in the air, a byproduct of Robbie’s work. It wasn’t a bad smell, but it did make her wonder if it was time to do some cleaning.

She thought about starting a To Do list, but then the coffee finished brewing and everything else was ignored.

Maude filled her mug carefully, watching the level rise as the aroma wafted up, dark and fragrant. The smell alone took the edge off the sleepiness that still clung to her.

She added sugar and cream, then carried her mug to the small table by the window and sat. The first sip burned her tongue slightly, but the coffee tasted good. The second went down even easier.

It was hard to keep her mind from returning to Darcy. Sleep hadn’t brought distance the way she’d hoped it might. If anything, the pieces had locked more firmly into place.

Had Darcy moved to the Colony looking for a group to torment? Did she get some kind of thrill out of this? Sure seemed that way.

Maude finished her cup of coffee, then went back to the bedroom and traded her tank top and underwear for a pair of shorts and a loose cotton tee. Not an outfit she’d be seen in public in, but fine for sitting on the porch and pretending the day hadn’t actually started yet. She tied her hair back, grabbed a refill of coffee, and stepped outside.

The morning air was already warm, the kind of warm that announced summer was well and truly here. The sliver of Gulf she could see beyond the porch glittered faintly, sunlight catching on small ripples that made Maude ache for the beach.

She really could use a day at the beach. She’d been working an awful lot. She thought about how amazing that would be.

A chair. A book. The sound of waves loud enough to drown out bylaws and powerplays and women who thought control was some kind of prize.

She sat on the lounge chair, took a long sip of coffee, and exhaled.

Last night had taken more out of her than she’d realized. Not physically—she wasn’t that fragile—but mentally. It was the kind of exhaustion that came from seeing something clearly and knowing it couldn’t be unseen.

Now that Maude had identified what Darcy was doing, this pattern of systematically tearing apart groups that wouldn’t allow her to take over, something had to be done or they’d lose the book club. This nonsense demanded a response.

Maude set her coffee down on the side table and picked up her phone, meaning only to check the time. The screen was lit up with notifications.