A few minutes later, he was in the other room, in his recliner, watching more of Sophie’s videos, a bowl of ice cream on the table next to his recliner.
Essie had a sinking feeling that whatever came next wasn’t going to be good for her or for Sophie. But there was no way this was going to stay a secret forever.
While he was watching, she sent her daughter a quick text.Frank knows about Sophie’s TT. He’s watching them now. And not happy.
Liliana sent back a gif of a man eating a giant bag of popcorn.
Essie frowned.If you think this isn’t going to make things worse, you’re wrong.
She sighed and stuck her phone in her pocket, then took her ice cream into the living room and settled into her recliner.
All she could do now was pray.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maude had run errands on the way home from the hospital, including picking up a few groceries and dropping off an Amazon return at the UPS store. Once home, she’d done a full sixty minutes of yoga, taken a long soak, and while in the tub, caught up on client emails.
She’d also sent Ollie a super short text. Just something to let him know she was available to talk.
Now you have my number, too. M
But then she’d gone right back to client emails and once she got out of the tub, worked on the updates they’d requested, including building a new page for one of them.
Work was a good way to distract herself from replaying her conversation with Ollie. And to keep paying her bills.
To be honest, she was torn when it came to Ollie. She believed everything he’d said. The pain in his eyes at the loss of his marriage looked real.
But she was torn because he was technicallystillmarried. Getting involved with him now had some ick factor. What if his wife suddenly changed her mind and decided she wanted Ollieback? Maude did not want to be the woman in the middle of that. Or feel like she’d done anything to keep it from happening.
She never ever wanted to be the other woman. Especially not when there were kids involved.
She was going to have to tell Ollie that, but it didn’t need to be done now. Whenever he reached out to her, she’d work it into conversation. Or, if she had to, just say it straight out. They’d never had a hard time telling each other the truth in high school.
Being older shouldn’t change that.
Mind made up, she focused on her work, stopping only when her stomach grumbled. After a dinner of hummus and pita chips eaten while sitting at her computer, she finally finished her work and went to sit on the porch with her iPad.
She’d bought the book for the book club but she’d yet to start it. Tonight was as good a night as any.
She took a diet Snapple iced tea with her and settled in. The air was so nice. Just the faintest tang of salt came in with the breeze. The sky was striped in pink and orange from another incredible sunset, and if she listened closely, she could just make out the shushing of the waves.
Or maybe that was wishful thinking.
She hoped to fit in some beach time tomorrow. That would be good. She’d take the book with her. Probably finish it.
She opened the book on her iPad and started reading. She was two pages in when the sound of a golf cart pulled her out of the story, which was already grabbing her attention. It was going to be a good read.
She turned her head toward the sound. Golf carts weren’t unusual. Everyone had one, herself included. But this one was close. Maybe at her neighbors’? Or on the street in front of her place? Then the engine turned off.
Someone knocked on her door. She got up to see who it was, flipping on lights as she went, now that it was dark in her house.
She opened the door. Ollie stood there in his scrubs, holding a colorful bouquet of flowers. Nothing serious like roses, just a pretty, random mix wrapped in white paper and tied with a few loops of raffia twine.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten flowers. “Hi.”
“Hey. I know I shouldn’t have come by without calling but I’m not here to do anything but drop these off and say thanks for listening to me today.” He held the flowers out. “That meant a lot. I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk to someone. It was good to say some of that stuff out loud.”
“Thank you. They’re beautiful. And it was really good to talk.” She took the flowers. He was smiling, but his eyes held sadness. Ollie had never been hard for her to read. “Are you okay?”
