I roll my eyes. “Not even close.”
“Well, this is unexpected.” And then his brow creases. “But there’s still one more to go.”
“I can tell Nonna I don’t want to go and—”
He’s shaking his head. “No, don’t do that. Nonna would be bummed if you didn’t go on her date.”
I nod. There’s no way I can disappoint Nonna. I’m glad he gets that.
“But I’ll be waiting for you to get home. And after this last blind date, it’s my turn.”
I bite my bottom lip so I don’t say something stupid likeYes! Please!
The front door chimes, and Wes pushes away from me. It’s Mr. Crawford, carrying that ugly gnome Olivia talked him into buying a few days ago.
He puts it on the counter. “This thing won’t quit staring at me. Every time I go outside, his little beady eyes follow me around the garden. And it scares away all the birds.”
I hear Wes laugh behind me. I don’t dare turn around, or I’ll lose this straight face I’m working so hard to keep.
“I understand, Mr. Crawford,” I say. “Would you like to exchange it for something else?”
As I help Mr. Crawford pick out a statue, Chase calls for Wes to help with a delivery.
Business picks up a little after that, and finally Olivia and I are flipping theCLOSEDsign and locking the front door. Before we leave, I look for Wes one last time, but I haven’t seen him since he disappeared with Chase. I square my shoulders as we head toward the car.One more date to go.
MARGOT:Anna is officially off the vent and breathing beautifully all on her own!!
I let out a loud gasp. Nonna and Olivia turn to look at me.
“What’s wrong?” Nonna says, concern all over her face.
I open my mouth to answer, but Olivia throws up her hand. “Wait! Make her tell you what the clue means first!”
“Olivia, really,” Nonna says. “Is it bad?” she asks me.
I shake my head. “No! Not at all! Anna is off the vent!”
Olivia and Nonna both squeal. Nonna says, “This calls for a special treat!” And then she’s pulling bowls and mixers and sugar and flour and other things I can’t identify. She slips a bright red apron over her clothes that reads:CAUTION: HOT!
Nonna gets to baking and I get back to the text from Margot.
ME:This is wonderful news!! So will you get to take her home soon?
MARGOT:Maybe as early as tomorrow if she keeps doing this well. I can’t believe one minute she’s got all these machines hooked up to her and then the next we’re getting ready to leave, but they tell me this is more normal than I know.
ME:I know you’re ready to get out of there
MARGOT:Yes! And how about you? Ready for this last date?
ME:I guess. I have no idea what we’re doing or who it’s with so it’s kinda hard to get excited
MARGOT:Any chance Nonna picked Wes?
ME:No. We talked about it. But he said he’d be waiting up for me when I got home.
MARGOT:Okay my heart melted a little
ME:I thought the same thing!! So I just have to get through tonight and then I guess we’ll see where it goes
