Page 40 of Save the Last Dance
The mail carrier stood on the other side of the screen door, holding a few envelopes and what appeared to be a flyer from the local supermarket. The woman was the same carrier who had been delivering Gram’s mail for the past two decades, but it took Nina a second to recognize Josephine with her gray hair dyed red now. She smiled at Nina and waved with the mail while chomping her gum with enthusiasm.
“Registered letter for you, sweet pea.” Her grandmother edged the walker away from the door. “You need to sign for it.”
That couldn’t be good, could it? Nina shoved damp hair off her forehead and opened the door to reach for the pen the mail carrier held.
“Thank you.” Nina scrawled her signature where Josephine indicated. Distracted by the mail carrier’s rhinestone manicure, Nina almost forgot to check to see who had sent the letter while she signed. “Rathmore Hotels?”
“Rathmore. Isn’t that the last name of the man your partner ran off with?” Gram asked, pushing her walker so close Nina felt the bar in her hip.
“Bobby Rathmore is on the cover of one of the tabloids this week,” the mail carrier informed Gram. “He’s got a little slip of a girl under his arm. A blonde.”
“Really?” Nina handed Josephine back the pen, nervous about what the registered letter might say. “It wasn’t Olivia Delmonico, was it?”
The description sounded like Olivia. Bobby Rathmore’s fiancée had been acurvy redhead.
The postal worker shrugged. “I don’t know. Those jet-setters and Hollywood types change lovers every week. I see it on the covers all the time when I deliver the mail.” She handed Nina the envelope. “You ladies have a nice day.”
“Thank you,” Nina and her grandmother said at the same time while they turned to stare at each other.
“I don’t want to nose into your business.” Gram nodded at the delivery, the silk daisy pinned to her gray sweatshirt bobbing as she moved. “But I am dying of curiosity right now.”
“Me, too.” Nina pointed toward the table. “Should we sit?”
“Heck, no! You should start shredding into that paper, sugar plum.”
Too distracted to gripe about this morning’s dose of endearments, Nina did exactly what Gram suggested. She tore open the envelope, letting a few stray bits float to the floor. Inside a trifold piece of blank hotel stationery, there was a handwritten note on a smaller sheet of purple paper.
Nina smoothed out the lavender page, recognizing Olivia’s handwriting immediately.
Dear Nina,
I am so embarrassed to have learned that my actions have caused Cupcake Romance to close. When I asked Bobby to leave town with me that night, I was caught up in the moment and did not consider how it would impact you. I am enclosing contact information for Bobby’s lawyer, who has instructions for refunding your half of the money in our business account. I hope this will not affect our friendship! I’ve had so much fun working with you.
Love always,
Olivia
P.S.-The Seychelles are breathtaking!! You must visit.
Gram whistled softly as her finger trailed down the lines on the page, stopping at the last one.
“Unbelievable.” Nina realized her hands were trembling as she held the paper, but she couldn’t begin to pinpoint what emotion was responsible for the tremor.
Incredulity? Relief? Or the swell of anger that returned to her now along with a renewed sense of betrayal?
“You are a generous, warmhearted woman, Nina.” Gram lifted a hand from her walker to lay on Nina’s back. “But even so, this bimbo has lost her marbles if she believes draining your bank account and running you out of business isn’t going to affect your friendship.”
“I’m sure she thinks if I go to the Seychelles it will magically be all better.” She stood in the quiet kitchen, hair still dripping while a songbird trilled just outside the screen door. And something about the tone of the letter suddenly reminded her of other letters and other broken promises.
“What exactly are the Seychelles?” Gram asked. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”
She pronounced it like “sea shells” and let the brunt of her Tennessee accent fully brutalize the word.
Nina couldn’t help but smile. “It’s an island chain in the Indian Ocean that most people only get to see onNational Geographic.”
But then, Olivia had visited lots of places Nina had only dreamed about. Maybe that had been part of her appeal as a friend. Nina had often lived vicariously through Olivia’s adventures. These days, though, she wondered why she’dcared. Living in New York had fulfilled some of her wanderlust. Besides, she wasn’t the girl who’d been left behind anymore, always wishing she could jet off to wherever her parents might be.
Gram gave a dubious harrumph and pointed a weathered finger at the purple notepaper. “You know who she sounds like in this letter?”
