Maude here, exhausted from an evening spent scaring young hooligans. Someone dared a few of Mt. Geneva’s teenagers to spend Halloween night at Berthiaume Manor, so they broke in and made themselves right at home! You should have seen the looks on their faces when a candelabra jumped into the air and sailed right past them. Take that, you ruffians!

Ahem. I’m not usually a violent ghost, dear readers, but I really really don’t like trespassers. My father didn’t either. He used to set the dogs on them! Anyway, on to our update for today, in which we have another elder, another teen romance, and another politician yap-yap-yappin’ away.

Yes, it’s Will Dobbins, the aforementioned politician. Being a Congressman suits him well, but he has stars in his eyes and wants to run for Senator at the next election. On this particular night he was working on a speech about Mt. Geneva’s spaghetti noodle shortage. Way to stay on top of the most pressing issues, Will!

Meanwhile, in the dining room, Rory Dobbins had invited Meadow Thayer over for hamburgers that he had made himself. He wanted desperately to ask her out, but she never seemed particularly interested. He figured maybe some good home cookin’ would do the trick. At this point, he was willing to try anything.

And by Jove, it worked! Meadow was so impressed by Rory’s culinary skills that she stuck around for dessert. Oh, and they kissed a little, too.

That night they held a birthday party for Joely. Her husband Nick had achieved white hair status just a few days before, and now it was her turn. The family gathered to eat cake and whoop it up, though Nick was, again, absent from the festivities. He had a good reason, though — he had been promoted to Party DJ at the Knotty Pines Country Club and was spending many a late night playing soppy love songs for wedding parties.

After the revels, everyone went to sleep except for Joely, who stayed up in the living room waiting for Nick. He came home weary but with a serene light in his eye — he really enjoyed witnessing all of the romance that a wedding reception had to offer. It made him feel that all was right with the world, if only for a little while. After Nick swept Joely up into a birthday hug, the couple decided to watch some late night TV.

They settled on re-runs of Three’s Company (Nick had a secret crush on Suzanne Somers but wisely refrained from telling Joely that) and snuggled up next to each other on the sofa.

When Joely fell asleep on the sofa, Nick kissed her forehead and retreated to the den to do some painting. Over the years, he had become quite the artist, painting mostly abstract landscapes. This time, however, he was working on a picture of what Joely looked like when he first met her. And I must say, it was a very good likeness, too!

Well, dear readers, I must bid thee adieu for the night. If you see any trespassing hooligans, let me know.