Anna hesitates. “I… I shouldn’t.” She bites her lip, her eyes darting around. “She wasn’t a nice person though. And honestly? Sort of nuts.”
Is she the sort of person who would call me over and over, and then hang up?
Cassie is suddenly desperate to tell Anna everything. About the crimson paint. The slur written on her door. The break-in at the bookstore. Everything. She has a feeling Anna will know what to do. Or maybe she can offer some advice on what to tell Joel.
“I always thought she was a little off,” Anna admits. “Even before she—”
“Miss, I need help!” An old woman has approached the counter, looking peeved at being ignored. Unfortunately, Zoe is on lunch break.
“Okay, sure,” Cassie says hastily. She can’t afford to upset any customers, especially when business is finally on the upswing. “Just one second.”
“I better get going anyway,” Anna says. “I’ll see you later, Cassie. Thanks for the books.”
Cassie curses to herself as she watches Anna leave. All Cassie has heard for the last several months is how wonderful Francesca was. Anna is the first person who had a negative word to say about her. But she has a feeling Anna isn’t going to have time to get coffee in the near future, considering she’s got a baby about to pop out of her.
Cassie’s phone rings one more time. She doesn’t have to check the screen to know it’s a blocked number.
Chapter 29: The Ex
It’s a Friday evening, and I’m sitting on the sofa, eating chicken parmigiana with Nonna and watching the news.
The good news is the chicken parm came out perfect. The breading is crispy and the chicken is moist.
The bad news is… well, I think it’s fairly obvious. A woman my age should not be spending all of her evenings hanging out with her elderly grandmother, cooking chicken.
“That ABC news anchor is very handsome, isn’t he?” Nonna announces out of nowhere.
I look at the screen, where a man with golden blond hair and gleaming white teeth is delivering a story about a deadly five car collision in the Bronx.
“I guess so,” I say.
She nods at the television. “You should go out with him maybe.”
I stare at her in disbelief. “Him? The ABC news anchor?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Uh, because I don’t know him?”
“You just camp yourself outside the news station until he comes out,” she says, rubbing her palm over her chest. “Girls do that all the time. Nothing wrong with it. How else are you supposed to find yourself a husband?”
I’ve already nearly gotten the police called on me for stalking Olive. I don’t need to throw a news anchor into the mix.
“I think I’ll pass,” I mumble.
Nonna rubs at her chest. “I am just saying, I have a more exciting social life than you do.”
I can’t disagree with her. Nonna has spent her retirement joining clubs and socializing. Everyone loves my grandmother. “I’m taking a break from dating. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Tomorrow night, I am inviting Mary from my knitting circle and her son.”
“Then I won’t be here.”
Nonna rubs her chest again. “So stubborn.”
I frown at her. “Why do you keep rubbing your chest?”
“I’m not rubbing my chest.”
“Yes, you are.”