Cece answered. “He came home from a conference, and my daughter found a blond hair in his laundry. She’s a brunette.”
Paige grimaced. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“That’s what I told her, but she’d already had some suspicions.” Cece frowned. “I did a reverse image search and found he has a second Facebook profile, but it’s set so only friends can see his posts. I don’t see any valid reason for him to have such a thing if he’s not having an affair.”
Maude sat back. “I’m still waiting on him to accept my friend request.”
“I hope he does that soon,” Cece said. “Natalie’s losing her mind not knowing.”
Maude gave a quick, confident nod. “I’ll step it up and send him a message. I’m pretty good at being an online honey pot.”
Cece snorted. “Thanks.”
“Anything else interesting happen this week for you?” Paige asked.
That got a smile out of Cece. “I did have a little date of my own. Which Blaise helped me get ready for. We had dinner andwent bowling and I’m seeing him again. Also, not tomorrow night but the Friday after, if anyone feels like it, he’s the live music at Shooters. He plays guitar and sings. I told him I might bring some friends.”
Essie clapped again. “Girls night out.”
“I’m game,” Maude said. “By the way, Blaise, this cake is delish.”
“Thanks,” Blaise said, smiling.
Essie nodded. “It’sreallygood.”
“I’m in for Shooters, too,” Paige said. “Maybe I’ll see if Graham wants to go.”
“That would be great,” Cece said. “Joe would love that.” She shrugged. “Also, I’m thinking about starting a podcast, so don’t be surprised if I force some of you to be guests.”
That got them laughing again.
With a smile, Cece said, “That’s it for me.”
Paige went to the next woman. “Blaise? How was your week?”
She smiled. “It was nice. As I was saying, my neighbor taught me how to bake that cake. He’s a real enigma. Grumpy widower, retired Marine, sweet as pie to my dog but answers most of my questions with grunts.” She laughed. “He invited me over for dinner one night and I did get him to go on a beach walk with me, so I think I’m making progress. I just can’t tell if he likes me or my dog.”
Maude’s brows shot up. “Any man who picks your dog over you must be blind. I mean, I’m sure your dog is cute, but…”
More chuckles.
Blaise shook her head. “I don’t know. Brick—that’s his nickname from the Marines—he knows who I used to be, but he doesn’t seem the least bit impressed by it. Which I like. It’s refreshing to be treated like a person and not a…”
“Sex symbol?” Cece offered.
Blaise nodded slowly. “Those days are a bit behind me, but yes, something like that.”
“I can only imagine,” Paige said. “But it sounds like he’s needed a friend, so I think it’s great. Anything else to add?”
“Just that I talked Brick into entering the community bake-off.” She was all smiles.
“Well done,” Cece said.
“I thought so, too.” Blaise looked at Essie. “That’s it for me, so you’re up.”
“All right,” Essie said. “Well, my week was nice. Frank went to Miami to talk to his daughter about using her social media to bash me. He was mad, I tell you. Frank doesn’t have a temper, but you get him riled up and watch out. He laid down the law and handled the problem. In fact, Sophie’s supposed to be calling me to make a formal apology. And she hasn’t mentioned me once on TikTok since his visit.”
“Wow,” Paige said. “That’s impressive.” She grinned. “Not as impressive as that sparkler on your wrist, though.”
