Page 33 of New Day at the Beach House

Margo thought it was very generous of Conrad to take not only her home, but Trina, too. With Ethan driving Roxie, Willie, and Miguel, it meant they didn’t have to get one of those Uber rides. Margo would have gladly pitched in for that, but the two men insisted that it was no big deal for them to drive.

Margo certainly didn’t mind. It was a kind gesture. She just wasn’t sure how comfortable she felt about the prospect of Conrad kissing her goodnight in front of such a crowd. Public displays of affection were, to her mind, a little tasteless and something that should be reserved for one’s own private time.

It hadn’t escaped her that Roxie and Ethan had been holding hands at the diner. Granted, Margo and Conrad had held hands during the play, but it had been dark in the auditorium, and she was sure no one else had seen them.

During the drive home, she kept the conversation on two topics: the play and the diner. She didn’t want to discuss the book in front of Trina. It wasn’t her or her family’s business what Margo was doing.

At last, Conrad pulled into the driveway. He stayed to one side so that Ethan could pull alongside his vehicle.

“Thanks so much,” Trina said. “It was really nice to meet you, Conrad.”

“You, too, Trina. Best of luck with the salon.”

“Thanks.” She hopped out, leaving Margo and Conrad alone.

He reached over and took her hand. “I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me.”

“It was a lovely evening. Tomorrow morning around ten?”

He nodded. Then he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “You bet. And eleven to look at the house.”

“Right.” The idea of looking at the house made her a little nervous, but change made a lot of people feel that way. “Good night, then.”

She got out and went toward the elevator. Trina held the doors open, but Willie and Roxie were both still a ways off. Willie had a grip on Roxie’s arm and looking less than stable.

Trina stepped out but kept her hand on the doors. “Go on up. You have two floors to go. I’ll wait for my mom and Mimi.”

“Thank you.” Margo stepped in and pushed the button for the second floor as Trina took her hand away.

She’d had a nice time. Better than expected. But she would have preferred to spend the evening with Conrad alone. She supposed that was just who she was. She was never really going to be a people person.

Nothing wrong with that. Not everyone needed to be gregarious. Conrad was more than enough for both of them. And, goodness gracious, he knew everyone in town. Or they knew him.

Margo stepped off as the doors opened on the second floor.

She’d lost track of how many people had come up to him at the seniors center. She’d just nodded and smiled and made no real attempt to remember the names of anyone he’d introduced her to. What was the point? There were too many of them.

At least, she thought, if they ever did do a book signing, it would be well-attended, so that was something.

She went into the bedroom to change and get ready for bed. Jules was already in there, slouched against her pillows on her bed, her knees pulled up to rest her notebook on. Toby was at the foot of the bed. But Jules was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and didn’t look like she was turning in anytime soon. Not while wearing a full face of makeup.

“Hey, Mom. How was it?”

“It was well done for an amateur production. I enjoyed it. We went to Digger’s Diner afterwards.”

“How nice.”

Margo sat on her own bed to take her sandals off. “What are you working on?”

“Song ideas.” Jules sat up and put her notebook down. “I talked to Billy today. He wants me to get him a demo of my new song as soon as possible. Jesse was the only one I could think of that might be able to help me, so I’m actually headed over to see him shortly. He’s been swamped all day, but he said he’d have time to sit down with me around nine.”

“That’s so late.”

Jules smiled. “Not in the music world, it isn’t.”

“I suppose not. Are you taking Cash with you?”

Jules nodded. “He should be down any minute.”

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