“Hi, Anna,” Cassie says.
“I told you I was going to bug you for books about impending motherhood, didn’t I?” Anna smiles. “What have you got for me?”
Cassie looks down at her bulging stomach. “I better find something short. You don’t look like you have much time.”
Anna laughs. “More than you think. I’m just abnormally gigantic. And no, I’m not having twins. Thank God.”
Cassie leads her to a small section in the back where they’ve got a volume of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and some other similar books. Anna flips through a few of them, not looking particularly excited. “I’ll take them all, I guess.”
“Oh, great.” Triple sale. And the maternity books aren’t cheap. This has been a great day for the store. “I’ll go ring you up.”
Anna pays for the books with a gold credit card. Cassie recalls that Anna’s husband Con is a doctor, just like all of Joel’s friends. She can’t quite recall what Anna does—hair stylist maybe? But it’s clear from the way she dresses and her credit card that she’s not hurting for money. She can afford to buy three books she might never read.
“By the way,” Cassie says as she slides Anna’s credit card back across the counter to her, “thanks for being nice at the party last month. That meant a lot to me.”
Anna rolls her eyes. “Don’t thank me. Lydia was acting ridiculous.”
“She was, wasn’t she?”
“I think she put up that photograph of Francesca just for your benefit,” Anna says. “It was the first time I’ve seen it up there, anyway.”
Cassie’s frowns, remembering the photograph. “Francesca really was very beautiful in that picture.”
Anna is quiet. “Well… yes. That’s true.”
Cassie’s stomach sinks. She’d been hoping Anna might say it was a spectacular photograph of Francesca and she really looks like an ugly cow. But it’s obvious that’s not the case. It’s stupid to even think it.
“Does he talk about her much?” Cassie blurts out before she can stop herself. “I mean, when I’m not around?”
Anna’s eyes fill with sympathy. “Not anymore. You shouldn’t… I mean, that’s all in the past.”
“Yes, but… how do you compete with someone that perfect?”
“Well, he did break up with her, so…”
Cassie raises her eyes. All this time, she’d been under the impression that Francesca ended the relationship. “I didn’t know that. Do you…” She lowers her voice. “Know why?”
Anna puts a hand on her belly. “No. I mean, that was between the two of them. He was vague about it.” She hesitates. “But I remember he said he felt like she was dishonest with him about certain things. Things she hid from him. That really bothered him.”
Things she hid from him.
What will Joel think when he finds out what Cassie’s been hiding from him?
She sighs. “I’m sorry. Is it completely inappropriate that I’m pumping you for information?”
“A little.” Anna laughs lightly. “But I can’t blame you.” She’s quiet for a moment, holding her palm against her abdomen. “Look, I shouldn’t say this, but the truth is, I never liked Francesca.”
Cassie’s heart speeds up. She can see a customer trying to get her attention out of the corner of her eye, and Cassie never ignores customers, but she needs to hear more about this. Now. “Why not? Why didn’t you like Francesca?”