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The dock was visible up ahead, with Gus waiting for her.
“I heard you leave,” he called out, waving to them. “That was some party.”
Maggie pulled alongside the dock. The tide was higher and made getting Brulee up two rungs of the ladder easy. He took the canvas bags of dishes from her.
“That food last night.” He held his midsection, panting, making the women laugh.
“Yeah, I’m suffering now,” Maggie said.
“I’d like a rerun for dinner tonight. Are there many leftovers?”
“Come and get some food. There’s a ton. We won’t have to cook for a couple of days.”
“I’ll take you up on it! The porta pottie company is coming to take your pot away. I’ll meet them at the dock.”
“Text me!” Maggie said, waving.
They hiked up Main Street, headed to Aunt Elizabeth’s house, Katrina holding on to her shoes and wearing sneakers. They were chatting when a new Mercedes SUV drove up, parking at the curb in front of the post office. A familiar blond woman unfolded her long body out of the driver’s seat.
“Oh, jeez, it’s Lola Beaumont again!” Katrina hissed. “She drives a Mercedes, and Alphé drives a piece-of-crap pickup truck. What’s that all about?”
“I don’t know, but I bet he bought it for her,” Maggie said.
“Maybe to chauffeur his kids around?”
“I bet that’s it. Is it something you can live with?”
“I think it is. I have more than enough for us to live a comfortable life, and he can still see to it that his kids have the best. I’m not against that.”
“You’re already thinking of expenses. That’s pretty serious,” Maggie said.
“Yes, it really is. The white-collar, blue-collar thing means something to him, and I was trying to allay his concerns.”
“Men are weird about things like that,” Maggie said. “I don’t say too much about my money, and Justin is a vet.”
“Well, I don’t have millions like you do, either. He even googled the income of a medical device salesperson on his phone. I had to laugh at that. I don’t think Alphé has a computer.”
“Well, you’ve proved money is not necessary for real attraction.”
“He reads, though. Well, he listens to audiobooks. He has quite the extensive collection on the boat. Everything from Dickens to Stephen King. And tons of self-help starting withImprove Your Tennis GametoFocus on Meditationwith Ravi Conquest.”
They laughed out loud. “I don’t believe it,” Maggie said.
“He said it saved his life when his marriage was breaking up. We haven’t gotten into the particulars of that yet, however. I’m not eager to hear more dirt, like how he found out she was cheating.”
They’d arrived at Maggie’s aunt’s house. Katrina helped her lug the canvas bags of dishes up to the porch, and then she kissed her cheek and headed for her car, a brand-new Porsche.
“Alphé is going to crap when he sees what you drive,” Maggie cried, laughing out loud.
“Maybe I’ll sell it first.”
“Don’t do that. He might enjoy flaunting it in front of his ex.”
“Good point!”
“Text me when you’re headed back,” Maggie called out.
“I will.”
