Free That Man of Mine by Maria Geraci Page A

waited till he left her office to study the mound of paperwork on her desk. She should probably just toss all the personal messages. There was really no need to find out who was on “Team Mimi.” But if she threw out all the messages, then she might miss something important.
    She quickly read through the slips of paper, dumping most of them into her trash. There was an “urgent” message from the manager of The Harbor House, a local upscale seafood restaurant, demanding to know how long the construction on the lot next door to them would continue, and another one from the principal of Whispering Bay Elementary, asking her to come speak at their next teacher’s meeting. Other than that, there was nothing else that required a response.
    She finished prioritizing the messages, made some phone calls, then reluctantly opened up the Spring Into Summer festival folder. It didn’t take an MBA to figure out Doug hadn’t been yanking her chain. Bruce had left her with the mother of all messes. He was probably at this very moment sitting at his office at the bank, gleefully chortling how he’d dumped all his mistakes right into her willing lap.
    Â Mimi rubbed her aching temples. No one forced her to run for mayor. She’d asked for this. And somehow she’d find a way to fix it.

N ormally, Thursday night Bunco was the highlight of Mimi’s week. It was a chance to unwind and forget about the demands of everyday life. This week’s hostess was Shea Masterson, creator of the famous super-secret margarita.
    Â Shea, along with Pilar and Kitty Pappas were the group’s founders. There were twelve women total and no one missed Bunco unless absolutely necessary. Mimi, however, had been dreading tonight ever since word of The Separation hit town. She thought about faking a cold. Or a rash. Or possibly even a fever. But if by some slim chance she were to get away with it, it would only postpose the inevitable until next week. She couldn’t avoid her friends forever. Nor did she really want to.
    She expected the Babes to pounce on her the second she walked through Shea’s door, demanding to know what was going on with her marriage. Strangely enough, though, no one brought it up. Maybe, for once, the Babes were going to respect her privacy and let Mimi talk about it when she was ready.
    It had been hard enough to face her parents the other evening. Despite his obvious confusion over the separation, Daddy had been a sport about it. Momma, on the other hand, was the one who was acting strangely. All these years she’d done nothing but harp on Zeke. But now? She acted like Zeke was the son-in-law she’d always dreamed of. That was Momma for you. Just when Mimi thought she’d figured her out, she realized she didn’t have her figured out at all.
    After a while, Mimi began to relax and enjoy the night. The women talked about their kids and their jobs. Everyone was excited about Lauren’s latest addition to Baby Got Bump—a new line of retro-toddler wear. Frida announced she and her husband Ed were taking a month long vacation in Europe, and everyone squealed as Kitty passed around pictures of her ten-month-old baby daughter Amanda.
    They were about to begin round two of play. Mimi was on her second margarita when Shea rang the Bunco bell (the signal that another game was about to start). But instead of announcing the game, Shea smoothed down her long red hair and squared back her shoulders, like she was ready to do battle. “Okay, now that we’ve all had a chance to warm up, let’s hear what’s new with Mimi.”
    Eleven pairs of eyes turned to look at her.
    Mimi stifled a moan. She should have known the first part of the evening had just been an appetizer before tonight’s main course—Mimi ala Flambé.
    â€œUm, well, let’s see,” Mimi said. “I had my first city council meeting, that’s what new.”
    â€œAnd she was a