Clarissa drove toward Nashville, wondering how Paige had found the changed computer initials. She never should have seen it.
The plan had always been to settle the lawsuit, make it look—to Milton Parrish, at least—like it was Paige’s fault, and get on with life. No one the wiser. No one hurt. Once again, her plans had failed.
She punched voice dial on her phone. “Call Tony.”
The two of them hadn’t spoken since he’d called about Paige and the investigator. Clarissa had planned to wait for him to be the one to cave. But . . . tonight she needed his company enough that she would forgo pride.
“Hello.”
“I’ve had a really bad day. You want to meet for dinner somewhere?”
“I’m kind of in the middle of something right now.” Was he really, or was he just angry? “How about I pick you up in a couple of hours and we go for ice cream?”
Clarissa smiled. Tony knew her so well. All she needed after a hard day was a chance to remember her goals and refocus on her dreams. “Ice cream it is.”
“I expect you to eat something along the lines of health food before we do this. Got it?”
She laughed. “Broccoli, spinach, and carrots.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
Later, as they drove across town, he smiled and laughed perhaps a bit too much. Big personality or not, Tony was putting on.
It was the same act she’d seen after Laurie left him and moved in with her senior law partner. It could only mean one thing. His heart was broken. Clarissa knew it was her fault. All she had to do was talk to Paige, tell her the investigator was her idea, and she and Tony could work it out.
And Tony would love Paige more again.
“Here we are. Oh look, they saved a spot for us.” Tony slid his car into an empty spot right out front.
At nine o’clock at night, the street was busy with up-and-coming twenty- and thirty-somethings dressed in trendy clothes, driving trendier cars. Several new “it” dinner spots had opened in the area, as well as a couple of dance clubs and a gym. Clarissa looked at the door to what was now a warehouse and smiled at the thought of having her own store here, soon.
Tony held the door open to the ice cream shop. She curtsied as she walked past. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“Hi, Clarissa.” The girl working behind the counter of the ice cream shop smiled and waved to her. She had braces on her teeth and a long blond ponytail running down her back.
“Hi.” Clarissa tried not to show her complete ignorance, but who was this kid? “How have you been?”
“Oh, great. I graduate this year. I’m heading to University of Tennessee in the fall. Gram is so excited.”
Gram? Clarissa felt her jaw drop. “Are you Brenna? Brenna James?”
The girl smiled. “Of course. Who did you think I was?”
“Tell you the truth, I was trying to figure it out. You’ve grown up a lot since I saw you last.”
“Huh, huh.” Tony nudged Clarissa with his arm. “Are we forgetting our manners?”
“Oh, Brenna, did you ever know my uncle Tony? He’s my dad’s brother.”
She shook her head. “Don’t think we’ve ever met. Nice to meet you.”
Clarissa turned to him. “Brenna’s grandmother Judy was Grandma’s morning walking buddy. Brenna and I used to tag along.”
“Tag along is not quite the word I’d use—get dragged along is more like it.”
“There’s definitely some truth to that. So how is your gram Judy these days?”
“Good. She’s still walking five days a week, playing bridge, the usual.” Another customer walked into the store, and her expression sobered. “So, what would you like?”
“A scoop of chocolate on a sugar cone, please.”
Tony coughed the word boring into his hand. “After you’re done scooping that mundane order, I’d like a scoop of razzle dazzle fruit frazzle.”
Clarissa looked at him. “Razzle dazzle fruit frazzle?”
He shrugged. “I’m in touch with my youthful side tonight.”
Brenna handed the cone to Clarissa and started scooping Tony’s order. “So, I see your dad around here a lot. I guess he and his wife are planning to put a yoga studio next door or something?”
Clarissa almost dropped her cone. “What?”
“They had someone over there taking measurements last week, and Carrie, that’s the lady I work for, she got all excited. She said they’re going to put in a gigantic yoga studio, with a spa and the works.”
Clarissa took a bite out of her cone. “I . . . hadn’t heard that.”
Later, Clarissa sat alone in her condo, thinking over the events of the night. She could still see the sadness on Tony’s face. She could picture Becky measuring for a yoga studio. And there was one person to blame for all of it.
Paige.
She thought about the painstaking way she’d gone about changing the initials on Ms. Feldhouse’s prescription. What if Paige decided to go to Clarissa’s grandfather and tell him about that, that the lawsuit wasn’t her fault? It would ruin everything. The only reason that Milton Parrish would even consider not counting this as a mark against Clarissa would be if he didn’t consider it her fault at all. If Paige started talking, she could ruin that.
Maybe she should call her grandfather, just lay a little groundwork that Paige was in denial or something. It would help if things got out of hand. She picked up the phone, and as soon as her grandfather answered, she started weaving her defense.
“So, you’re telling me that she made the mistake, but you feel that she might try to blame it on you?”
“I don’t know. Her initials are in the computer and everything, but she just seems to be in denial. I’m afraid she might try to stir up something.”
“Somehow, this doesn’t seem like the Paige I know. She is very careful. Are you quite sure there’s no truth to her idea that you somehow were involved in the mistake?”
Why did he never believe her? “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Maybe I’ll come down there and take a look at what’s going on.” He paused for a moment. “You know, maybe you’re just not ready for a store in Nashville yet. It seems to me there are a lot of problems in your small-town pharmacy.”
Something flashed inside of Clarissa. She was not going to take this, not for one more second. “Okay, there are some other things that you ought to know. Some things that I’ve known for a while, but I haven’t told you because I knew it would hurt you. But I think it’s time you knew the whole truth about Paige. Starting with her job in Atlanta.”