Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(3)

Mary beamed. “What a guy! Frank, you have to teach Anthony to surprise me sometimes. He’s not exactly spontaneous.”

“Ha! Ditch him at the altar, Mare. I’ll hook you up with one of my boys!”

Mary grinned. “How’s your hand? Did you get the cast off?”

“It’s all good, I only have this thing now.” Frank showed his left hand, and a black cloth brace peeked from his sleeve. He grabbed Judy’s arm. “Babe, let’s get out of here.”

“Okay.” Judy let Frank pull her up, but her gaze fell on her desk clock, which read 10:15, and she remembered something. “Wait, how are you in town this early? Did you drop off the dog at the vet’s? You said you would.”

“Ruh-roh.” Frank’s grin turned sheepish. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What do you mean?” Judy stopped. “She had to get flea-dipped. Did you take her or not?”

“I forgot.” Frank shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Oh, honestly.” Judy felt disappointed, but not completely surprised. She had been trying to figure out whether Frank was marriage material, and she was starting to worry she had an answer. “I just washed the sheets, the comforter, and the towels I put on top of the couch and chairs.”

“It’s not the end of the world.” Frank glanced at Mary, and Judy knew that he hated to fight, especially in front of anyone. “We’ll get her dipped tomorrow.”

“They’re closed on Sunday.”

“No worries, we’ll do it on Monday.”

“That’s too late.” Judy had explained this to him ten times, but she couldn’t seem to make him hear her. “Remember, we have to treat the house and the dog simultaneously? There can’t be any delay.”

“Okay, we’ll treat them both, then. What’s the big deal?”

“But you didn’t drop her off, so that means that I have to wash everything all over again on Sunday night, if we want to drop her off on Monday.”

“Would you rather me go home and try to take the dog in now, instead of taking you to breakfast?”

“Honestly, yes. The dog has to get dipped, and I have to work. I would really appreciate that.”

“Okay, fine.” Frank rolled his eyes and waved a cranky good-bye. “We’ll do it your way. See you later. Bye, Mary.”

Judy and Mary held each other’s gaze for a moment then Judy shrugged. “What am I supposed to do? That was the right decision, wasn’t it? Things have to get done but he wants to play all the time.”

“I think he was trying to do a nice thing, but I totally get where you are coming from.”

Suddenly Judy’s phone started ringing, and she slipped it from her pocket in case it was Linda Adler. But it was her aunt Barb calling, and the phone screen came to life with a candid photo of her adored aunt, her mother’s younger sister. “Excuse me, let me get this, it’s Aunt Barb.”

“Tell her I said hi,” Mary said, because everybody loved Aunt Barb. She lived about an hour away, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and they’d all been out to her house for beer and barbecue. Last year, Judy’s uncle Steve, Barb’s husband, had passed, and the whole office had gone to his funeral.

“Aunt Barb, hi, how are you?” Judy answered the call, realizing that she hadn’t seen her aunt in a few months, though they talked on the phone all the time.

“Hello, honey,” her aunt said, and Judy knew immediately that something was wrong. Her aunt sounded grave, when she was usually so warm and happy.

“What’s the matter?”

“Am I catching you at a bad time?”

“No, why? What’s the matter, Aunt Barb?”

“Didn’t your mom call you?”

“Yes, but I was busy.” Judy’s mind raced. She regretted ignoring that call from her mother. “What’s going on? Is Mom okay?”

“Yes, your mom’s fine. In fact, she’s here at the house with me.”

“What?” Judy asked, surprised. Her parents lived in Santa Barbara, and her mother rarely visited her or Aunt Barb, and never unannounced.

“We’d love it if you could come out today, too, if you’re not busy.”

Judy’s mouth went dry. Something was up. “Sure, okay, but why? What’s the matter?”

“We’ll talk about it when you come, sweetie.”

“Tell me.” Judy swallowed hard. “Please.”

Aunt Barb hesitated. “Are you sitting down?”





Chapter Two

An hour later, Judy reached Kennett Square, a small town in semi-rural Chester County, and she pulled onto the gravel driveway in front of her aunt’s small brick house, cut the ignition, and checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were still wet from crying, but her skin wasn’t as mottled as it had been when she’d first heard the horrifying news.

I have breast cancer, her aunt had said, and Judy hadn’t heard anything else. She sniffled, reached for a crumpled Dunkin’ Donuts napkin, and wiped her eyes one last time. She pulled her key out of the ignition, got her purse, jumped out of the car, and hurried down the driveway past the garage. The sun was high in a cloudless sky, and the October air unseasonably warm, the lovely weather incongruous given the heartbreaking news. Judy couldn’t imagine losing her aunt. Her aunt was too young to die.