I put my hand to my heart. Belle Epoque at the Beach was, without a doubt, the most fun event of the year in Juniper Shores. Even still, I said, “I see what you’re trying to do, but it’s a no.” I wouldn’t, couldn’t go to my favorite event of the year if I wasn’t on the arm of the man who loved me.

“A no!” Julie protested. “I had to beg, borrow, and steal to get our dresses from the theater company.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “And I know you hated every minute.” My voice dripped with sarcasm. Julie thrived on manipulating people into getting exactly what she wanted. I envied that in a way. I could use a little more of that these days.

“Charlotte, if you will remember,” Grace said authoritatively, “Bill’s company is the headline sponsor of the event. You have a ton of tickets. We should use them.”

I did recall him mentioning that.

“And Merit and Iris are volunteering with their friends,” Alice said.

I looked at them skeptically and sighed. “Look, I get it. It’s a fun party. But you can’t seriously think that I would go out in public when it has only been two weeks since my husband’s total and complete humiliation.”

Julie reached into her purse and handed me a single piece of copy paper. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was a miniaturized version of our local newspaper’s front page. “This is running tomorrow.”

The headline read: “BILL SITTERLY MAINTAINS INNOCENCE—AND IS MOMENTS AWAY FROM PROVING IT.”

I gasped. The print was too small for me to read, but, well, probably no one else would read it all either. That headline was enough. “Do you think you stretched the truth a little there, Jules?”

She shook her head. “Nope. When I interviewed Bill and Oliver, they seemed very confident. I only used information from their quotes.”

I rubbed my temples. “So you’re telling me that this will hit everyone’s front walks and inboxes tomorrow morning, and I’m supposed to go prance around tomorrow night?”

“Yes,” Julie said. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Do you know what I’ve learned from my debacles?” Alice asked. She was a good voice of reason, because who had weathered more scandal than Alice?

“What?” I asked warily.

“People believe that guilty people hide. Innocent people carry on. We are innocent people. I’m tired of hiding away, of not having fun, because of what people will say. They think I killed three husbands. If I can deal with the chatter behind my back, you can too.”

Grace nodded. “I haven’t been to a single big town function since Troy left. And guess what? It isn’t my fault he abandoned his family. I’m not hiding out anymore.”