“Like a baby. You?” He sat next to her, staring out at the water, his placid expression bringing her peace.
“I slept great.” She drank her coffee, which had cooled since she’d come out here.
He took a big sip from his cup, then sighed in contentment. “You think we did the right thing? Moving here, I mean. We could have had a big house on the water.”
She laughed to hide the concern his question had raised in her. “We have asmallhouse on the water. It’s not much different. Except there’s less to clean and maintain.” Although at a thousand-twenty-five square feet with another six-hundred square feet of porch space, they had the largest tiny house plan the community offered.
He smiled. “True. And I like this minimalist lifestyle. It’s an interesting way to live. Makes you really think about what’s important.”
“I agree.” She almost laughed. Besides the house, they had a boat at the nearby marina, and it slept six. There was also a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains with four bedrooms. If they needed a change of scenery, there was no shortage of places to go.
Her smile faded. That boat and that cabin were just as accessible to Sophie and her brother as they were to Essie and Frank.
Which made Essie think Sophie was starting trouble for trouble’s sake.
Chapter Four
Maude Harrigan groaned when she caught sight of the clock on the nightstand. Eight thirty-seven was entirely too early to be awake. At the earliest, she might open her eyes at nine, but ten was a much more reasonable time.
She was a night owl, not a morning…bird? Was that the saying? Seemed odd that the night bird would be a specific species and the morning bird would just be a bird. She groaned. This was too much thinking for such an hour.
She closed her eyes and lay there, wondering if she should attempt more sleep or just make the best of it.
It was sad that coffee robots hadn’t been invented yet. A robot that could sense when you were awake, make the coffee that instant, fix it the way you liked it, and then bring it to you.
If she invented that, she’d be a millionaire. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the slightest idea how to invent anything, forget building a robot. Which was why she still had a job.
Now an app was something she could definitely come up with. But an app still couldn’t bring her coffee in bed.
She yawned and opened her eyes, feeling like she was supposed to remember something. What was it? She didn’t haveany appointments that she could think of. The new book club wasn’t until seven tonight. Was it trash day? No. She blinked as a mental light bulb went off. Itwasrecycling day.
At least she had time to get the bin out.
Did women with husbands have to take the recycling out? Doubtful. They probably didn’t have to take out the trash, either. Or mow the grass, although that was covered in the monthly HOA fees.
Having someone around to do chores wasn’t a good enough reason to get hitched, but just once in her life, Maude would have liked to try the whole married thing.
That hadn’t been part of her life plan, though. She wasn’t bitter about it. She had been, once upon a time, when all her friends were showing off engagement rings, and she’d been a bridesmaid more times than she could count. And then, of course, there was the baby boom, when all her friends had somehow been simultaneously pregnant.
The baby showers had seemed endless. She’d eaten more cake and played enough diaper-related games to make her an expert.
But Mr. Right had never come along. Not since high school and the boy who’d gotten away. Her crush had been handsome, smart, and athletic. He’d been all hers. Until he hadn’t been.
For years she’d blamed her parents and been angry about the move to the Midwest, but it wasn’t their fault. Her dad had to go where his job sent him. And her first romance was never meant to be, just like getting married.
Didn’t mean she didn’t think about what could have been.
Of course, marriage hadn’t worked out for Robbie, her brother. But she liked to think she’d have been good at it.
She smiled sleepily up at the ceiling, imagining herself married. Her husband would greet her with a kiss in the morning. Pull her into his arms for a cuddle. They’d laugh atone of their many private jokes. Then he’d get up and make the coffee.
Now that might be reason enough to get married.
Except at fifty-five, what were the odds she’d meet a man? Slim to zip. Even slimmer she’d meet a guy who’d understand her lifestyle. Or be interested in a woman at this stage of life who didn’t spend her days baking cookies or knitting or whatever fifty-five-year-old women were supposed to do.
Maude lived her own kind of life. She ran her own company, designing and maintaining websites, she had a couple of (small) tattoos, she drove a muscle car, played video games, and generally did whatever she wanted.
It was why she’d moved into the Colony. Lots of great amenities, close to the beach, and more affordable than the oceanfront condo she’d been considering. Plus, tiny homes were hip and cool, and if Maude was anything, it was hip and cool.
