“Positive. Pack up a bag of his things and yours and leave after work.”
“Yeah but I know you don’t like dog hair on everything.”
Barkley was a shedder. “It’s nothing the vacuum can’t handle. Besides, it would be nice to have you here.” She’d have to let Graham know. Paige wasn’t ready for him and her daughter to meet. That was a step in the direction of serious, and Paige wasn’t there yet.
“I’m going to remind you that you said that,” Randi said with a smile in her voice. “It would be great to spend the entire day on the beach, doing nothing. Do you have an umbrella I can borrow?”
“I have a canopy. It’s better than an umbrella. Easier to set up, weighs less, and more coverage.” They’d been all the rage in the community a while back and she’d bought the nicest version available. “I’ve got chairs, towels, everything you need. Just bring your swimsuit and Barkley.”
Randi laughed. “I’ll need a little more than that but sounds good. I can probably be there by eight. Maybe a little earlier, if that’s all right.”
“That’s perfect. I have to run to Publix after lunch anyway, so tell me what you’d like for breakfast and anything else you want and I’ll pick it up.”
“You don’t have to do that, Mom.”
“Randi, I want to. I’m your mother. I don’t care how old you are, you’re still my baby.”
“Well, I don’t mind being pampered a little,” Randi said. “I like cinnamon-raisin oatmeal muffins, which I usually make myself.”
“I’m sure I can find something similar.” Maybe not at Publix, but there was a bakery in town. “What do you like to drink?”
“Water is fine. I have a glass of merlot at night.”
“I’ll pick up a bottle. We can have steak tomorrow night, if that’s all right? Couple of filets. What do you say?”
“I say that’s better than what I usually eat. Really, Mom, whatever you make is fine with me.”
“All right. I’ll see you when you get here this evening.” Paige smiled. It would be lovely to see her grandson, too, but bringing him would mean Randi wouldn’t really get time to herself. Besides, he had a birthday party to go to. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“So am I. I’ll text when I’m on my way.”
“Perfect. Love you. See you then.”
“Love you. Bye.”
Still smiling, Paige got up and put her phone in her purse. She put on her favorite white leather sandals, touched up her lipstick, and went out to her golf cart. She took off her jacket, folded it neatly and put it on the seat beside her with her purse.
It might be warm outside, but every business in Florida seemed lawfully bound to set their air-conditioning low enough to cause chills. She’d need the jacket once she got inside. Besides that, the color was stunning on her.
She popped on her sunglasses and headed to meet Graham. She’d never really gone to The Queen’s Arms before meeting him. Just the once when she’d first arrived, but she’d felt out of place.
Going with a retired MI6 agent had changed that. They’d even played a game of darts. She wasn’t very good, but he was teaching her. It was fun.
Doing anything with Graham was fun.
The only downside was that spending time with him meant she wasn’t getting her usual content for her TikTok. A little voiceinside had cautioned her not to share him with her audience. That doing so would make him like all the others—the men she went out with once or twice and showed off as a way of getting back at her ex-husband.
He’d left her for his male personal trainer, something Paige’s self-esteem had never quite gotten over. Despite the personal reinvention she’d done, despite how she’d changed her life and come out on top, there were still some deep scars there.
That kind of humiliation stayed with a person. With that one decision, he had declared their entire marriage a lie. He’d professed that hehadtruly loved her, but she didn’t believe that.
He’d used her for cover. As a way to get ahead in business, as a way of hiding who he really was.
Now that she had a real man in her life, she was cautious, of course, but she felt protective of Graham. Like this new relationship was something to be guarded. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe she was so jaded about love and relationships that she’d lost all perspective.
But maybe it felt so good and new and wonderful because it was a once in a lifetime experience.
She had no way of knowing except to keep moving forward and see where things went. Nothing wrong with that.
