Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Zippy’s smile tightened. “Now, hold on—”
“Not another word,” Nonna snapped. Her eyes were blade sharp. I kept hold of the spoon so she couldn’t grab it again. Her smile reappeared, but it had no kindness in it. The grin was polished by fury. “I suggest you rethink your life choices, Zippy.”
For the first time since he’d walked in, Zippy visibly lost his ease. His laugh faltered. “You don’t mean that, Elda.”
“Oh, I mean it,” she answered, slow and deadly calm.
How did this man know both of my grandmothers? I wasn’t sure what exactly Nonna had in mind, but the look on her face told me she meant it down to the bone.
Zippy smoothed the front of his suit. “It was very nice to see you both again,” he said, voice clipped. “I apparently need to reconsider a few things. I will speak with my client.” He inclined his head to me and then turned and left the restaurant. The door closed behind him with a wet little thud from the rain outside.
For a beat, the whole place held its breath. The people at the tables around us turned back to their food. Tessa leaned on the bar, face slack with disbelief. Violet sat as if her knees had stopped working. I licked my thumb and pushed it across the rim of my glass in a nervous habit.
“Um,” I said finally, because someone had to try to explain what had just happened. “Would you two like to clue me in here?”
“No.” Nana spoke softly now, her Irish lilt lined with steel.
Nonna smiled and her eyes twinkled. “Absolutely not.” She sounded both cheerful and determined. She stared at Nana across the table, both still standing. “Fiona, I find myself a bit peckish. Would you like to grab a drink with me at the Elks Lodge?”
Nana straightened. “I truly would. They have a new brandy I’ve been meaning to try.”
Nonna snagged the spoon out of my hand and shoved it into her handbag.
They moved in unison, like a practiced duet, and swept out the door together, their skirts swishing, heels striking a measured rhythm on the wet pavement. The air outside swallowed them up like two small queens taking their leave.
It took Tessa a minute to collect herself. She hurried over and dropped into the chair opposite me, hands pressed flat on the table as if steadying a ship. “What in the world?” she demanded, her voice small and incredulous. Her hands trembled a little.
I opened my mouth. Sound didn’t come. For the first time that afternoon, I felt a little unmoored. Rain hissed against the windows, a steady backdrop to the absurdity. The fryer hummed and the low murmur of other diners resumed like nothing had interrupted them. My chest was tight, adrenaline and reluctant pride doing a slow, combustible dance.
Finally, I sucked in air. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
Tessa put her face in her hands for a second, then pushed back and laughed in a fractured tone that might have been hysterical if the situation weren’t so painfully real. “That was like something out of an acid trip.”
I let out the breath. “I need more information from them both.”
Outside, the rain picked up, drumming a faster tempo on the awning. The smell of wet earth came in on the breeze, grounding me. We sat there for a long moment, letting the ordinary sounds of the diner stitch the edges of the afternoon back together.
I thought of Zippy in his impeccable suit, of Nonna’s wooden spoon, of Nana’s quiet appetite for mischief. I thought of the Elks Lodge brandy and the way two energetic women could rearrange the equilibrium of a room. Then I stood, reaching for my coat. “I guess I’m going to the Elks Lodge.”
Tessa drew back. “You can’t. They’ll eat you alive.”
I didn’t have a choice.
Chapter 20
My grandmothers were not at the Elks Lodge. I wanted to feel relief, but I didn’t. The fact that they weren’t where they were supposed to be didn’t surprise me, but it didn’t sit right either. Where had they gone?
I drove over the pass and called Aiden, reaching his voicemail. The guy was probably already in the air. “Hey, it’s me. I really need you to do that deep dive on Zippy O’Bellini. Right now. Both of my grandmas know him, and there’s some bad history there. I don’t know what it is, but I’m concerned.” I clicked off.
Brickhouse usually accompanied Aiden to work, so I knew he was okay at home for a little while.
The rain started to fall harder. By the time I drove into Timber City and parked in the back lot behind my office, the drops were pounding against the roof. I grabbed my bag, jogged up the slick steps, and slipped inside my office. The building was silent now, that hollow after-hours quiet when the workday is over and every sound echoes.