Polly spreads out her hands. “I don’t know anyone named Skip. I swear it, Marissa.”
Liar or cunning actress? Marissa thinks again. Natalie could be the link between Skip and Polly. Hadn’t Skip just said last night that Natalie might be involved with the sales of his town homes?
“I could never do anything to hurt you, Marissa. The truth is, I haven’t just been looking after the store. I’ve been trying to look after you.”
Marissa wants to scream. “I don’t need you to look after me!”
Polly wipes her eyes. “Please don’t be mad at me. It isn’t my fault!”
Marissa grits her teeth. The promising candidate from GW is coming in on Monday, she reminds herself; Marissa will hire her even if she’s less than ideal. Anyone would be better than Polly.
The store phone rings. “I’ll get it!” and Polly turns.
“No!” The word comes out harshly. “Polly, we’re not done talking.” Marissa rises and walks to the checkout desk, thinking, If Skip is the one who kept trying my cell and is now calling the store, I will completely lose it.
The number on caller ID flashes. It’s her home line. She snatches up the receiver. “Matthew?”
“Hey, I tried you on your cell but you didn’t pick up. Were you in my home office earlier?”
“No, why?”
“The cleaning woman wasn’t here, was she?”
“No, she never comes on Saturdays. What’s wrong?”
“Did you leave the window behind my desk open?”
“Of course not.” Marissa rarely goes into Matthew’s first-floor office—the last time she did, it was just before their date at Mon Ami Gabi—and she would certainly never leave the window open. One of Matthew’s prized possessions is a small original Picasso sketch that his mother gifted to him when he graduated from law school. It hangs between the two windows in the room. If moisture got through to it, the artwork could be damaged.
“I just went in there to grab my laptop because Bennett wanted to look up dinosaur pictures for his diorama. The window was open a couple inches.”
“Oh my God. Did someone break in while we were all out?”
“My laptop was on my desk and everything else seemed the same. Hang on, let me check upstairs.”
Marissa holds her breath as she hears Matthew’s quick footsteps thudding. “Nothing looks different in the bedroom. Your jewelry is still in the drawer. I’ll check the rest of the house just in case.”
“I’m coming home.”
Polly is staring at Marissa, clearly riveted by the half of the conversation she can overhear. Marissa slams down the receiver to the store phone and doesn’t bother bidding Polly goodbye; Marissa runs straight out the door.
She dials Matthew from her car. “Matthew, that guy who assaulted you—could it be him?”
“No way,” Matthew says firmly.
Marissa slams on the brakes as she approaches a red light. She’s driving too fast; she needs to get herself under control.
“Why? Why couldn’t it be him?”
“C’mon, Marissa. The police said it was probably a random attack. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Marissa’s breathing sounds ragged even to her own ears. “But he didn’t mug you. And whoever broke in didn’t take anything. Someone is obviously after something!”
“We’re safe, babe. No one messes with me or my family.”
The steel of his voice grounds her. Matthew is a fighter, she reminds herself. “Where’s Bennett?”
“He’s in the kitchen. He’s fine.”
Marissa blinks hard against the tears spilling down her cheeks. “Almost there,” she whispers.
Marissa holds on to the vision of Matthew and Bennett together, looking at pictures of dinosaurs, for the rest of her short drive.
She hurries into the house and finds them together at the kitchen island, just as she’d imagined.
“Mom’s home!” Matthew shouts, his voice surprisingly joyful. He must be trying to normalize things for Bennett. Marissa gives them each a quick, hard hug, then bends down to get a closer look at the image Bennett is considering on the laptop.
“It’s a Coelophysis,” he explains. “They were in the Triassic.”
“He looks fierce.”
Bennett nods. “He’s a carnivore.”
The kitchen seems exactly as she left it. Surely if someone had broken in, she’d be able to sense an intrusion?