Think, darn it. “Fine. I thought we could just go to lunch and catch up.”
More silence. “Aren’t you dating Devlin?”
Considering my breasts still had whisker burn from that morning, yes. “I am. And I feel badly that you didn’t know about his job, although he has to go under again, so we have to keep that a secret.” Was that a good enough reason to go to lunch? Probably not, considering I’d just told Nick to keep Aiden’s ATF status a secret.
“Got it. I’ll keep that fact under my vest. I have to go, Anna. Talk soon.” Nick hung up.
Nonna scooted her chair closer. “I need your phone.” She flipped the office phone around and meticulously dialed in an Idaho number.
“Hello,” a soft female voice answered.
“Gerty? It’s Elda. Plan A was a bust. We have to go with Plan B,” Nonna said.
I sighed. “Hi, Mrs. Basanelli.” Nick’s grandma was a hoot. She was a sweet lady, but she also was Italian and knew my grandmother well. “I’m not sure you two should have plans. Maybe we should let Tessa and Nick figure things out themselves.” Unfortunately, getting them together had been my idea. I was totally at fault here.
Gerty snorted. “Those two would spend time being morons instead of giving us great-grandchildren. Plan B it is, Elda. See you tomorrow at noon.” She clicked off.
Nonna set the phone back in the cradle. “You tried, Anna. Don’t worry. This is just step one, and I’ll need your help later on.”
Guilt swamped me. “Nonna, I know this was my idea, but I didn’t think you’d get Gerty involved.”
“Gerty wants Nick married and she really wants great-grandchildren,” Nonna said reasonably. “Nick and his brothers need to settle down, and I see Tessa and Nick together. You’re brilliant, and it’s a relief to know that my match-making skills have been passed down to somebody.”
I weakly held up a hand in protest. “No. I shouldn’t be match-making. I wouldn’t like it if Tessa did that to me. Let’s reconsider this.”
“Too late,” Nonna said cheerfully.
I had no choice but to switch topics and grandchildren. Maybe I could get Nonna off Tessa and onto another one of the Albertini kids. I shouldn’t. I mean, I really shouldn’t. But having Quint mad at me was better than having Tessa angry. She could be volatile, and I wouldn’t put it past her to cover my car with whipped cream or something. Tess was a sweetheart, but she believed in revenge. “I’m worried about Quint, Nonna. Since Chrissy broke up with him, he seems lost. He’s dating the wrong women. Believe me.”
Nonna stilled. “He is?”
I nodded vigorously. Jolene might’ve been just doing her job by nailing me in the newspaper, but she wasn’t that nice, and Quint deserved somebody kind.
“Oh.” Nonna sat back, obviously thinking rapidly. “All right, then. As soon as we get Tessa taken care of, we’ll move on to Quintino. Do you have anybody in mind?”
“No,” I burst out. “Nobody. I don’t want to be a match-maker.”
She stood up. “Too late, sweetheart.” Then she ambled to the doorway. “Incidentally, how are things going with you and Aiden? Even though he isn’t Italian, he’s a good man.”
“Great,” I said quickly. No need for any interference from my family right now.
“Good. Is he going to be able to help with the fact that a dead body was found on your porch?” She turned at the doorway, the full force of her chocolate-brown gaze hitting me.
“Yes. Don’t worry about that, Nonna.” I’d wondered if she’d get to the newspaper article.
She sadly shook her head. “I can’t help but worry. Also, why is that Jolene O’Sullivan always writing articles about you?”
“She doesn’t like me,” I said. As much as I wanted to help Tessa, I couldn’t throw Quint under the bus a second time by telling Nonna that he was kind of dating Jolene. I was a better cousin than that.
“Then there’s something wrong with that woman,” Nonna said.
I grinned and stood to walk around my desk and hug my grandmother. “You might be biased.” Slipping my arm through hers, I walked her into the hallway. While I hadn’t known she’d made an appointment to see me, there was no way I’d keep from escorting my Nonna out of the office and to her car. My stomach growled. “I haven’t eaten. Do you want to go grab lunch?” Oliver was going to kill me if I left him with all of those people in the waiting room, but I had to eat.
Nonna patted my arm. “Normally I would, but I have work to do today to prepare for Plan B. That reminds me. You and I are doing lunch tomorrow, so make sure you have an hour at noon.”
Oh, man. I was now involved in this scheme. There was no way to argue with Nonna, so I didn’t try. What had I gotten Tess into? I should probably warn her, but my schedule looked pretty packed for the rest of the day.
Thank goodness. Yeah, I’m a wimp.
