“Don’t do me any favors.” I stand up so abruptly, the chair nearly tips over. “Have a great life.”
I feel his eyes on my back as I walk out. He doesn’t call my name or tell me to stay. Not that I ever expected him to.
Chapter 28: The New Girl
With one week before Christmas, business at the bookstore is at its peak and things are looking up. Even Maureen the Homeless Woman is looking more cheerful. You wouldn’t think a used bookstore would be a place where people would shop for presents, but you’d be wrong. Cassie applauded Zoe’s idea to make gift cards. They’ve sold enough in gift cards that they’re in the black for the month of December.
Of course, that doesn’t change the overall situation. Not even close.
Cassie is sitting at the front desk in the store, watching the customers milling about, when she hears her cell phone ring within the pocket of the coat hanging off her seat. She pulls it out and checks the number—it’s unfamiliar. She hesitates then shoves it back in her pocket.
Ever since the break-in at Bookland, Cassie’s been getting phone calls from a blocked number with only silence on the other end. Because the numbers are blocked, she has no way to block the calls. She’s been getting at least one every day, sometimes more. A few days ago, a call from a blocked number woke her up at two in the morning. She took her phone to the Apple Store to ask about it, and they said the numbers were probably from a burner phone, which is untraceable.
Zoe says she gets calls like that too, but Cassie can’t help but wonder if the calls are related to the break-in. And if Francesca could be responsible for all of it.
“Excuse me?” A boy in his teens with a face full of acne has approached the front desk to speak to her. “Can you help me find a book?”
“Sure!” Cassie loves being asked for help. “What book are you looking for?”
“It’s for school,” the boy says.
“Okay…”
He scratches at his chin. “It’s yellow, I think?”
“Is it fiction?”
“Yes…？”
Okay, this is going to be a challenge. “Do you know what it’s about?”
The boy shakes his head. “The teacher told us to get it.” He chews on his lip. “I think it has a vegetable in the title.”
“A vegetable?”
He frowns. “Or a fruit.”
Cassie wracks her brain, trying to think of titles with a fruit or vegetable in them. James and the Giant Peach? A Clockwork Orange? The House on Mango Street?
“Wait!” the boy says. “It was a raisin, I think!”
“A Raisin in the Sun?”
“No, that’s not right…”
Damn, she thought she had it that time for sure.
“Something else…” His brow furrows. “The Angry Raisin? Is that a book?”
Cassie’s eyes light up. “Grapes of Wrath?”
“That’s it!”
Cassie locates a copy of The Grapes of Wrath in the back of the store, and the kid goes off happy. She’s about to make another set of rounds to see if any of the browsing customers need assistance when she hears a familiar voice say, “Cassie?”
She turns to find Anna standing behind her, looking extremely pregnant but still stylish in a black knit maternity dress. In the last month, Anna really popped. Cassie remembers how kind Anna was the night of the party. Lydia is absolutely horrible, but Anna is the sort of person she could imagine being friends with.