"Can't sleep, Max?" Cy-Croc asked.

"No, Cy-Croc." Then Max explained to her that it wasn't because the bed he had in Peg's pool house wasn't comfortable, which it was, and it wasn't because he kept having nightmares about Roxanne like he had done the last few nights, but because he kept thinking about his dad and his friends still looking for him. He never forgot how crucial the job he and Cy-Croc were doing for everyone, but he didn't know how long he would have to keep up ignoring his phone every time it rang, ignoring all the notifications on social media from his friends and now how long he had to lie to Peg and Pistol, the closest thing he's ever had to a mother and a sister in his life.

Then Cy-Croc turned on Max's Bud Mask disguise on and put one of her earpieces into his ear. "Try getting some night air for a few minutes. That might help. But I'll give you a five minute warning before the disguise runs out."

"Okay, thanks." Then Max, as Bud Mask, got out of bed, put on a white bathrobe over his dark blue swim shorts and went to look at the beautiful city of La Sugarville. As he looked out, he continued to wonder if what he and Cy-Croc were doing was right. He knew he had no choice and he knew Cy-Croc wasn't lying about how those flaming monsters after him, but he just wished this never happened to him.

"Can't sleep either, Bud?"

Max turned to see Peg standing next to him. She was wearing a white bathrobe.

"No, Miss Peg. It's not because of your bed. It's actually very comfy. It's just I've never been to Florida in my life before and I'm just – just –" Max was struggling to come up with an excuse.

Peg smiled. "I know how you feel. You just moved here and because it's your first day it's very unsettling."

"Yeah," Max said, trying sound more excited as his character of Bud Mask. "Yeah, that's it. Wow, Miss Peg, you're way cleverer than I thought."

Peg chuckled. "Thanks, Bud. I know how you're feeling. I felt exactly the same when Pistol and I moved here, Join me in the hot tub with me and I'll give you some advice about settling down here." Then she went to turn on the hot tub.

"Okay." Then Max saw Peg taking her bathrobe off and saw she was wearing a dark purple bikini before she got in. Then it was his turn to get into the hot tub. It was a little too hot at first, but once he settled into it, he got relaxed.

"This is lovely," Max said.

"Isn't it?" Peg agreed.

"So, what's your advice for living in Florida, Miss Peg?"

Then Peg explained that it took some time for her and Pistol to get used to La Sugarville, but it would be worth it because they were grand beaches, massive libraries, big restaurants with delicious food, a vast movie theatre, plenty of luxurious shops and a vast shopping mall which had everything.

While he listened to Peg's advice about settling down, Max felt something around his shoulders. It was her right arm.

"That's great advice, Miss Peg. And I think meeting you and Pistol and staying at your wonderful place has been a great start."

"Oh, thanks, Bud," Peg said. "I designed the house, the garden, the pool house and the pool myself."

"Wow! As if you weren't already a very accomplished woman with your house selling business and raising your kid." Max remembered Peg telling her about her jobs at selling houses in not only La Sugarville but in the whole of Florida as well and looking at the photos of all the awards she achieved. It was like a huge step up since she and Pistol left Spoonerville and moved here.

"One of my kids, actually," Peg said.

"One of your kids?" Max already knew that Peg had an older son called PJ, who was his very best friend and the closest thing he had to a brother and now a famous gourmet chef who had his own brand with three Michelin star restaurants and a very popular TV show called PJ's Kitchen Adventures, and he already knew that she divorced her ex-husband Pete and why she divorced him. He acted surprised for his Bud Mask character as Peg explained that she divorced Pete because on PJ's birthday he lit what he thought he had bought was birthday cake candles, but when he lit them, the Pete family and the neighbours, the Goofs, learnt too late that it was actually dynamite sticks. They tried to put them out and they tried to throw the cake with the dynamite sticks out, but it was too late to do that. But the Pete family and the Goofs managed to get out of the house before it blew up completely along with the garden. Everything the Pete family owned was completely destroyed, including their emergency funding. Peg had struggled to put up with Pete's schemes for more than twenty years, but this was the last straw. She just had to get away from Pete once and for all. She successfully divorced him, but she was sad that, according to the judge, she could only take Pistol with her and PJ had to stay with his mean father. Max also acted excited that Peg was the mother of the PJ, the world's most popular TV chef ever.

But what Max did learn from Peg tonight was that she dated a few single men, but she failed to have a relationship with them since she divorced Pete and she was struggling to raise Pistol on her own. No matter how hard she tried to raise her properly, she kept failing. Pistol was failing at school and she kept hanging out with the wrong kids (the popular yet dumb kids).

As Peg started to break down into tears as she told Max about it, he wrapped his arms around Peg. "I know how you feel, Miss Peg. I've been something like that myself." Then he told her the story of how his last girlfriend Mona broke his heart and put him off dating any woman for good.

"Well, I'm so sorry that's happened to you, Bud," Peg said. "I know this sounds strange and I only met you today, but I already know that you're a great guy and any woman would be lucky to have a guy like you."

"You really think?"

"No. I really know."

"Thanks, Miss Peg. That really helps."

"You're welcome. And please just call me Peg."

"And I know you'll find the right man because you are very nice, smart and beautiful lady," Max said. "And if you don't, look at what else you've achieved in your life as a single woman. A lovely house, a great career and raising two great children."

Peg hugged him. Then the bubbles stopped.

"Want a round of bubbles, Bud?" Peg didn't wait for Max to answer because she pressed it straight away.

"Max," Cy-Croc said in his earpiece. "This is your five-minute warning."

"Sorry, Peg," Max said, as he got up and out of the hot tub. "I must try and get back to sleep now, but thank you for helping me with the advice of settling here in La Sugarville and thank you for letting me join you in your hot tub. I feel better than before."

"You're very welcome, Bud," Peg said. "Breakfast is at seven and we'll be having pancakes and fresh orange juice."

"Sounds delicious," Max said, as he dried himself with a white towel. "Looking forward to it. See you in the morning."

"See in the morning too." Then Peg smiled romantically as she watched Max head back to the pool house.