He looked up and then back down at the case folders. “There are too many people in the reception area. I am working in here. In here. In here.” He deftly stuck a label to a folder and gestured to the laptop next to him. “We are connected to the server. Oliver Duck puts information into the system, and then I create the case file here. Where it is quiet. Oliver Duck likes people. Duck is a good last name. Ducks are smart.”
I rubbed a spot of tape off the doorframe. “All right. Thanks, P. I’ll go meet with clients.”
“Shut my door,” he said, not looking up.
Fair enough. I shut the door and hustled across the hall to my office. True to his word, Oliver brought client after client in all morning, and I took several of the cases. I set aside some notes on the last case, which was a neighborly fight over land boundaries, when Oliver ushered in my Nonna Albertini.
I stood. “Nonna.”
My Nonna was a stunning woman who looked like a mature Sophia Loren. She had thick dark hair, sharp brown eyes, and wonderfully Italian bone structure. She was several inches taller than me and today wore a smart linen pantsuit in the green pastel family.
I couldn’t wear linen to save my life. I’d be a wrinkled mess by now, but not my Nonna.
She smiled and moved forward to take a seat. “Hello, Annabella Fiona. I’m glad it’s time for my appointment.”
I dropped into my chair. “Nonna, you never need to make an appointment. Never. I’ll see you any time you want.” I immediately moved all papers, notes, and case files to the side. “Please tell me you didn’t have to wait to see me.”
She shrugged. “I had a very nice time speaking with that Duck fellow. He’s young, but he seems like a good person. I think your cousin Macy might need a date for prom next year. It’s too early to know.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. They were rose gold with a peachy colored tint.
“Okay.” Duck was on his own with my Nonna. I wasn’t going to cross her. Plus, he’d look great in a tux. “What can I do for you?”
She leaned forward. “I’m here to work on our plan.”
“Oh.” I leaned forward as well. “Okay. I think you should invite Nick to the family barbecue on Sunday.” The two of us had banded together to match-make my sister Tessa with Nick Basanelli, the prosecuting attorney for the county. A couple weeks before, I’d puked into his potted flowers after being accidentally dosed with pot brownies, and he’d acted like the perfect gentleman, solidifying my opinion of him. “He has been to the barbecue before and knows a lot of our family.”
“It’s not enough.” She waved one graceful hand in the air. “We need a more direct approach. Since you’re such a successful lawyer, surely you have cases with him.”
Only my grandmother would consider me successful considering I’d been fired from my one job as a lawyer and had created my own firm out of desperation. “Well, I have a couple of cases against him from this morning,” I admitted. One was a minor in possession of beer and the other a trespassing case. “Not to mention my current case.” Although the feds would probably take that one over.
“Perfect.” She patted my hand. “You call him and have a business lunch at Smiley’s.” She dug in her monstrous purse, past the always present wooden spoon in there, and pulled out a carefully handwritten index card decorated with roses at the top. “Here’s Tessa’s waitressing schedule for the next week. I had her give it to me over the phone and told her I planned to shop in town at some point and wanted to know when I should pop by.”
I accepted the notecard. “So you want Tessa to serve us?”
She nodded. “Of course. Tessa is a hard worker and is always smiling. Nicolo needs to see her in a natural environment. Plus, she has some hang-up that she’s just a waitress, and he’s a big-shot lawyer, and we need her to get over that. Actually doing her job will help.”
Nonna had insight into people that was both unique and no-nonsense. Even so, Tessa was not going to like this. “Nonna, I’m not sure about this.”
“I am.” Her chin firmed. “How about you call Nicolo right now? Put him on speakerphone.”
I hesitated. If Nick refused, there was no doubt in my mind that Nonna would jump in. “Um, okay.” I dialed his cell phone instead of the office phone.
“Basanelli,” he answered, his voice deep and distracted.
“Um, hey, Nick. It’s Anna.” I cleared my throat as my Nonna beamed. “I’ve ended up with a few clients, minor criminal charges, and wondered if we could meet for lunch and talk about them.”
Nick was silent for a minute. “I don’t have any misdemeanors on my docket. Who are the attorneys on the other side?”
I winced. “I, ah, don’t have the case files yet.”
Nonna frowned.
I held up a hand to keep her from ordering Nick around. “I also thought we could talk about my case.”
“You don’t have a case with me yet,” he said. “In addition, if you’re charged by my office, I’ve heard you are represented by counsel, so I could only talk with you if Clark were there. Is Clark coming to lunch?”
“No,” I said quietly. Okay. This was not going according to Nonna’s plan, and that was a mistake.
Nick audibly sighed. “I have a Zoom meeting with the governor in about ten minutes, Anna. What is going on?”
