She went with navy pants and a navy and white patterned blouse with a lightweight white cardigan. She paired it with navy sandals and gold hoops, then finished her hair with the dryerand a round brush, added some mascara and tinted lip balm and declared herself ready to go.
Dr. Keen wasn’t going to care what she looked like so long as she was presentable.
She thought about driving her car instead of the golf cart so she’d have air conditioning, but there was a decent breeze and the day hadn’t warmed up that much yet. Coming home might be a different story, but she wouldn’t care then.
Golf cart it was. “Peanut, behave yourself while I’m gone.”
She tucked her phone into her tote, which also contained her notebook and her good pen, then she grabbed her keys and was out the door.
The Bee’s Knees was a popular eatery in the Colony, but probably more for lunch than any other meal. Except for their Thursday night prime rib special. Then you couldn’t get in the place.
Although itwasSaturday morning. Breakfast might be busy. She hoped they could get a table without an issue.
She found a parking spot, checked herself in the visor mirror to make sure she wasn’t too windblown from the drive over, and went inside, very glad to be a few minutes early.
Dr. Keen was already there, standing near the hostess area. She recognized him from his photo on the hospital website. He was in a polo shirt, khaki shorts, and flipflops. She’d overdressed.
She put on a smile. “Dr. Keen?”
He nodded and held out his hand. “You must be Cece? Call me Oliver.”
She shook it. “Nice to meet you, Oliver. Let’s get a table.”
As soon as they were at a table and had ordered coffee and water, Cece pulled out her notebook and pen. “How do you like the Colony?”
He smiled. “I like it. It’s a real change for me, but it was the right time in my life to do it and so, here I am.”
“Always good to have a doctor in the community. Did you live in a tiny house before you moved here?”
He laughed as the server arrived with their coffee and water. When she left, Oliver continued, his smile already gone. “No. I lived in a pretty large house.” He focused on his coffee, adding a couple packets of sugar.
“What made you decide to downsize so drastically?”
He hesitated. “When is this article going to come out?”
“About two weeks from today.” There was something going on, she could see it in his eyes. A blind man could have figured it out. Oliver Keen had no poker face.
“Okay.” He exhaled. “My wife and I were going through a separation.”
That explained everything. “I’m very sorry.”
“Thanks. The divorce just became official last night.”
Ouch. She felt for him. “This is probably the last place you want to be right now, huh? Do you want to reschedule?”
He shook his head, giving her a quick, polite smile. “No. It’s fine. I just haven’t said anything to anyone at the hospital yet. I’m doing that Monday. Even have a meeting with HR set up so they can send in a request to change my bio on the website.”
“It’s not something I need to mention in the article.”
“Thanks.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “You don’t realize how far the ripples go.”
“What’s that?”
He let out a short laugh. “Someone once told me that getting divorced is like throwing a stone into calm waters. Takes a while for things to settle down after the splash, but eventually, the calm returns. Still waiting on that part.”
She nodded, understanding completely. “It does take a while. I’ve been through it. And it wasn’t pretty.”
“Kids?”
