Chapter 20
TWENTY
“If I killed Ronnie, would you help me cover it up?” I swiveled my chair so I could face Orianna. Talking about murder with someone who was now in a relationship with a cop was probably not wise. But Orianna was chill, and I trusted she wouldn’t narc on me with her new man.
“Why would you want to kill Ronnie?” she asked a bit hesitantly.
“He’s getting on my nerves,” I replied.
It wasn’t a lie, and Ronnie had not crossed the inappropriate line—yet—and maybe I was being paranoid, but I was sure he was toying with it.
“You never told me anything about that charity gala. You went all gung ho about your story with Callahan, and now you’re acting like he doesn’t even exist?”
She looked at me, and then craned her head so she could look at Ronnie’s office.
“Some things are more important than breaking a story…you know?”
I shrugged and left it at that. I turned so I could face my monitor.
Doing my little column was getting old. I was going to have to suck it up and pitch my new idea to Ronnie.
“Around Town with Hart” needed to break ground.
At this point, my dread was less about going into Kanes’ Auto and more about the fact that Ronnie would just approve it because I was asking. It somehow cheapened my grand idea.
Or he could shut the idea down and I would still feel like shit—but him approving it no questions asked would be even worse.
Before working up the nerve to get up and go into his office, I opened the anonymous email. I scanned the headlines to see what caught my attention.
Sunny Pines Mayor Seen With His Ex. I tried to recall who was in charge of Sunny Pines but couldn’t remember, so I skipped it.
Town Pariah is Back. My heart skipped a beat as I moved the cursor so I could click it.
Astrid Hart has been pining over her best friend for years.
She couldn’t handle the fact that she couldn’t have him, so she ruined everyone’s prom night.
My stomach was in knots as I read the first few sentences.
I immediately went back and stopped myself from reading the rest. Was that how people viewed me?
Pining over her best friend. Those words stood out above the rest. Had it been so obvious that everyone pitied me?
Was that the real reason everyone hated me, because they thought I did it as some sort of revenge?
I could feel the sting of tears blur my sight, so I blinked them away. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.
That was in the past, and it shouldn’t matter—it didn’t define me.
I repeated that two more times until I was ready to let it go—for now. Problems couldn’t be avoided forever. Maybe if I hadn’t avoided Tyler back then we wouldn’t be struggling now. Maybe we would be healed in our own paths, thinking fondly of childhood memories.
Annoyed with myself because I let my mind wander to Tyler once again, I began to read the other email.
The fact that Orianna was looking into him should have been clue enough that Callahan Sr. was not a good man.
Like every corrupt politician before him he had cops in his pockets, so they looked the other way, and no one cared about the dead-end trail of women that were left behind.
Everyone knew Willow Grove’s mayor was a manwhore, and he liked to date them young.
I hoped Rachel wasn’t having dinner with his son anymore.
I wasn’t getting a good feeling about it, and now with Orianna backing off, it seemed ominous.
I made a mental note to myself so I could demurely warn her off him.
I was about to close the window when an email with five flower emojis caught my eye. Maybe it would be some feel-good fodder. I loved something positive to report on when the world was full of negativity. A dose of kindness went a long way.
What the fuck?
The email only contained a picture of an astrid flower.
Maybe I was wrong and people weren’t as fooled as I thought?
Had someone finally put two and two together and made four?
Did they know I was the anonymous poster?
I only told my family, and Rachel, because she didn’t read the paper much.
As for my coworkers, they knew, but I doubted they would snitch.
Not when my column was driving traffic, and it was giving The Herald financial security.
I forced myself to close all the windows. Since I needed to take my mind off things, I opened a new document and began to work on my next article.
“Just get it over with,” I mumbled to myself.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I rose from my seat and made my way toward Ronnie’s office.
“Hey, Ronnie,” I greeted him as I knocked on the door.
“Come in, Astrid, you’re always welcome in here. There’s no need to knock.”
“You know me, I don’t like to impose,” I told him as I walked in, leaving the door open. Although he had an open-window concept, it was better to let others hear what we were discussing.
“Nonsense, we’re all family here,” he waved me off with an easy smile. “How can I help you?”
Oh, here went nothing.
“I’d like to do something a bit different with my column. I know the feel-good stories aren’t doing much for anyone anymore. Not when we have the anonymous column, and that’s partly my fault.”
“Oh, your little section has gained us subscribers, don’t think what you do is in vain.”
I ignored his comment about my “little section” and kept going.
“I’d like to do interviews and highlights for all the different mom-and-pop shops in the county. I think it would be great for everyone involved.”
Ronnie didn’t even stop to think it over.
“I think that’s amazing. Yeah, go ahead and do it. You need anything, come to me, and I’ll help you out.”
I smiled, but I couldn’t vocalize my thanks. A part of me wished he would have hesitated. His instant approval and his comments kept me wondering if I was losing my mind.
“Thank you, Ronnie,” I mumbled as I began to retreat back to my desk.
“Anything for my employees,” he called after me.
Taking my phone out, I pulled up Rachel’s contact.
Me: Can we please go out to drink?
Rachel: I thought you were too old to hang out anymore.
Me: I’m willing to give it another shot.
Rachel: Even if that involves Tyler?
Me: Shut your mouth or I’m taking your coffee maker. You don’t deserve it.
Me: Let’s go to that bar in Willow Grove.
Rachel: I could use a drink.
“I can’t believe we let that random cop drive us home,” Rachel told me.
Our night in Willow Grove had been uneventful but successful. We got so drunk that we had to leave Rachel’s car at the bar. Since Rachel didn’t talk to anyone other than yours truly, and no way in hell was I going to wake my parents up because of some drunk shenanigans, we were stuck walking home.
It wasn’t a long walk between the two towns. It could be done in about twenty minutes if you were speedy. However, we were not speedy. Lucky for us, some cop was able to give us a ride.
“He was cute,” I told her as if that made him trustworthy. In my experience, the hotter the guy, the bigger the ego. And everyone knew big egos were just trouble.
“He could have been a serial killer,” she argued.
“We are home. We are safe. Now go to bed.” I shooed her toward her house so I could do the same and go to mine.
“Night, Astrid. I had fun.”
“Me too!”
I waited for her to enter her door before stepping toward mine. I made it to my porch, but I couldn’t bring myself to open the door.
I should have been sleepy, but for some insane reason, I was too wired to lie down. I looked at my door and then at the road.
Fuck it.
Before I knew it, my feet had begun to do their own thing.
If I had been sober, I would not be making my way across town toward Tyler’s house at this hour. The walk there seemed to drag on, but that was most likely because I was tipsy.
God, how did Tyler make this walk when we were little?
Was he not scared at all? He would come over no matter the weather.
Most of the time, it was on his bike, but sometimes he came on foot.
I loved it when he would come sleep over.
Being an only child, you were used to a certain degree of loneliness.
With Tyler there, I never felt it. Even though it was only me, I felt safe and secure, and I owed that to him.
I felt invincible growing up, and I knew it was because he was always right behind me.