Page 56 of Head Over Heels

She nods, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "She teaches labs from six to nine on Thursday evenings at the university campus. Ballentine building. The lab is in room 204 on the second floor. There's a small parking lot just north of the building, off Noble. That part of campus is well-lit at night."

"You're suggesting I ambush her. With her students around."

She studies me for a moment. "I'm suggesting you talk to her. You obviously have something to work out," she says. "Whatever it is, work it out."

"Or what?" I ask, the corner of my mouth curling in amusement. "Are you going to fire me?"

"No," she laughs, "but I'm sure I can set something up where you'd have to talk to her in public, and I figure you'd both rather do that in private."

I nod reluctantly. "I'll try to talk to her tonight. It's not just that, though." I sigh. "My nonna is under the weather, and at her age, that worries me."

She nods. "I know. But we can't do anything about that. This is something you have some control over. A wise woman often tellsme to take control. Take control, Pietra." She rests her hand on my arm. "Do you need anything before I leave for the afternoon? You have a meeting with Jason and Aimee, but otherwise your evening is clear."

"Go." I nod toward the door.

I stop her as she turns to leave. "Gwen?"

"Boss?"

"Thank you."

I knock on the lab door five minutes before Josie's class is scheduled to be finished, silently poking my head in. I'm surprised to find nearly all the students gone. Three are still here, but they've already packed up their bags.

I see the momentary surprise in her eyes when she sees me, but she covers it quickly. "Come on in," she tells me, meeting me near the door. She puts a hand on my back, leading me to the front corner of the lab near her desk. She waves to the three students as they head out the door.

"You weren't answering my calls."

"I've been busy," she defends herself. "I'm coming up against some unexpected challenges with the penthouse property." She frowns. "Marin said your grandmother is sick?" She sticks her files and her laptop into her bag. "Where are you parked?"

"I'm parked next to you. Yes, Nonna's sick. It's just a cold, but any time she gets sick is dangerous. She's ninety-eight, so I always worry about her."

She locks the lab door and wiggles the handle to make sure it's locked.

"What's going on with the property?" I ask as we exit the building.

She's quiet for a minute. "At least some of the items are stolen—besides that coin we were talking about, I mean. I found aletter in the safe, and—" She shakes her head. "I'm starting to wonder if I should just walk away from all of it."

I tangle my fingers with hers and squeeze her hand. I think she's going to pull away for a minute before her hand relaxes in mine. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her shoulders drop. "I don't know. I haven't even told Mel and Renna about it."

I bite my tongue. I don't want to hear about Mel. "Why not?

She bites her lip. "I need to talk to my dad and see what he knows—without my mom knowing about it."

That sounds ominous. "Your grandfather, he was your mom's dad, right?" She told Josie to walk away from all of this, if I remember correctly.

She nods. "I still don't understand why. But I have a lot more questions now."

We arrive at the parking lot. "Can I take you out for a drink? I can listen."

She shakes her head. "I appreciate it, Florence, but I'm tired. It's been a long day. I'm already stressed, and I don't want to lead you on. I haven't told anyone about this. My head is exploding with everything."

I squeeze her hand before I let go. "I could come to your house. No expectations," I promise. "I can listen. Just be a friend," I offer.

She raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know Florence Pietra knew how to do that," she teases.

I don't know why, but that hits me like a punch in the gut. Maybe it's because she's been ghosting me all week. I turn away from her, pulling out my keys. "Never mind." I swallow thickly.

---