Page 89 of Is Anyone Listening?
"I should, shouldn't I?"
"I spoke to Morgan earlier. She talked to a lawyer friend who offered to draft contracts for our sponsors at a minimal cost. Two of the sponsors want to proceed, and I think we should jump on the opportunity now while the podcast listeners are engaged. Morgan said the comments are off the charts. I took a quick peek earlier, and she's right. But I know you have a lot going on, and I'm sorry the pressure is all on you."
"It's fine. I can do it. I'm at the inn now," I said as I parked in the lot. "I'm going to see if I can talk to Ellen. After that, I'll film something. I'll text you when I'm going live. Unless you want to join me on your phone?"
"I'm not feeling up to it. The pain makes my head fuzzy at times."
"You should just rest. Don't worry about anything. I'll handle it."
When I entered the inn, there were a couple of people who appeared to be checking in at the front desk with Moira. The living room was empty, and it looked like the servers were setting up the dining room for happy hour. I wanted to talk to Ellen before I did anything else, so I decided to see if she was in her apartment.
As I went down the back hallway, I noticed her door was slightly ajar, and I could hear two people speaking. It sounded like Ellen was talking to Ray. I crept a few steps closer to the open door, straining to hear what they were saying.
"Tom will handle it," Ellen said. "There's nothing for us to do. Just get back to work, Ray."
"There will be more questions about Jessica."
"That doesn't matter. We've been careful. As long as everyone keeps quiet, it'll be fine."
"Do you really think everyone is going to keep quiet when your own granddaughter is asking a million questions around town. And she's getting people like Finn to take up her quest."
"I'll handle Cassidy. Don't worry about her."
My heart jumped at the sound of my name, at the cold purpose in her voice. I whirled around and hurried away before they caught me eavesdropping in the hallway. I went through the side door and into the garden, taking deep breaths as I tried to calm down, to process what they'd said. They'd been talking about Jessica, probably about Nathan, and they knew Finn and I had talked to Tom, which meant Tom had called them. But why had he called them?
My stomach churned with a sudden nausea, a terrible fear that my grandmother was right in the middle of whatever was going on. She'd told Ray not to worry about Jessica, that they'd been careful. What the hell did that mean?
Chapter Twenty-One
I pulled out my phone, feeling a desperate need to call someone, but who? Tyler? Finn? My father? The last one nagged at me.
Should I call my dad? Should I ask him if my grandmother was a…God! I couldn't even say it. Didn't even want to think it. But wasn't the evidence right in front of my eyes? How could I think anything differently after what I'd just heard?
Before I could change my mind, I punched in my father's number, holding my breath as I waited for him to answer, but he didn't pick up. And his cool voice on the message didn't make me want to leave one. I certainly couldn't ask this question in a voicemail. Nor did I want to text it.
As footsteps came up behind me, I whirled around in alarm, a fear that grew greater as I looked at Ray.
"Everything all right?" he asked.
"Yes," I said shortly.
"Good. Your grandmother is looking for you. She's in her apartment if you want to stop in."
"Of course. Thanks." As he didn't make a move to leave, I said, "Is there something else?"
He gave me a long look, then said, "No, that's it." And then he walked away.
I took a few more deep breaths, debating what I wanted to say to my grandmother, but I hadn't come up with anything by the time I walked into the inn and knocked on her apartment door.
She opened it a moment later, giving me a surprising smile. It didn't reach her eyes, but it did part her lips and surprised me with a warmth I hadn't seen before. But maybe this was part of her plan to handle me.
"Cassidy. Come in. I see Ray found you."
"Yes. I was in the garden. It's beautiful out there."
"I've always loved gardening. There's something about digging my hands in the dirt that's very satisfying."
It was the most personal thing she'd ever told me, and it put me off balance.
