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.
“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?”
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.
