Page 29 of Captiva Book Club

“I sort of stole the invitation.”

“Are you kidding? He must be frantic looking for it.”

“Not that I can see, at least not yet. I thought it would buy me a few days. I didn’t want him to RSVP before we had a chance at this match-making thing.”

Maggie laughed. “Oh Ciara, you are too much. Okay, well, the damage is done. Let’s just spend the day on the beach having fun and see if we can move this thing along. Can you be here at ten?”

“I’ll be there.”

As Maggie ended her call, Chelsea returned to the porch with her cup of coffee.

“Oliver seems like a nice guy. He’s incredibly handsome on top of that. If I spent most of the day in the kitchen with him, I’d be distracted.”

Maggie nodded. “He is a lovely man.”

“How’s he getting on…with everything he told you about his past, I mean. Does he…struggle at all?”

Maggie shook her head. “Not that is visible to anyone who doesn’t know about his family tragedy, and for now, I believe that’s how he wants to keep things. I don’t blame him. Everyone grieves in their own way.”

Chelsea nodded. “So, did I hear something about having fun? I want to have fun,” Chelsea said.

“Well, have a seat, because the fun is about to begin,” Maggie said.

Maggie explained everything that had been going on between Luke, Meredith and the wedding invitation. She’d hoped Chelsea would be just as excited about Ciara and Maggie’s match-making plans for Luke and Katie, but that wasn’t how Chelsea responded.

“Are you and Ciara in high school? What could you be thinking?” Chelsea asked.

“What’s wrong with a little push? We’re not forcing them to like each other. We’re just going to set the stage for the two of them to be in the same room together. We’ll let nature take its course.”

Chelsea shook her head.

“I think it’s a dumb idea, and I also think that women our age need to mind our own business. The young kids don’t need help from us. Besides, isn’t this the very thing we admonish Linda for? I don’t like the label of busy-body old lady.”

Maggie sighed. “Fine. You don’t have to participate. Claire, Ciara and I will have a nice day on the beach, and you can stay home and be your grumpy, non-romantic self. I hope Steven knows what he’s getting into because you’re no fun.”

Chelsea quietly sipped her coffee and then added, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t go to the beach with you all, but someone needs to be the voice of reason. This has disaster written all over it, and I’ll be the first to say I told you so when it falls apart.”

Maggie chuckled. “That’s you all over…the voice of reason.”

By ten o’clock, Chelsea, Ciara, Claire and Maggie were settled on the beach, a tray of sweet teas resting on the table beside them.

“Oliver is amazing. He’s always thinking of new ways to pamper our guests, even when we don’t have any,” Maggie said with a smile. “Which means we get treated like guests instead.”

“Lucky us,” Claire said as she sipped her tea. “Maggie, I can’t thank you enough for inviting me. I needed this today.”

“You’re welcome, but I feel terrible for not thinking of inviting Kristin to join us.”

Claire shook her head. “Don’t, she’s very busy in the store. I tried to get her to go out to lunch with me yesterday, and she said she was so swamped with Christmas orders, she wouldn’t be able to sleep until after the holidays.”

“It’s not necessarily a bad problem to have. I’m glad the shop is a success,” Chelsea added.

Maggie didn’t waste any time getting to her reason for the beach visit.

“Claire, as I mentioned on the phone, I had a few things I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, right, I hope everything is all right,” Claire responded.

“Everything is great, it’s just that I had a visit with my mother the other day, and she suggested the book club have a quick get-together before Christmas…nothing big, just a meet and greet kind of thing to make sure we all have the book and are on the same page, so to speak.”

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