Page 28 of Little Last Words

“Youknowher?” I asked.

He nodded. “We met at a bar the other night.”

CHAPTER11

Given the fact my family had spotted my brother’s truck the moment we drove into the parking lot, there was no time to discuss Penelope right now. If we remained in the Bronco much longer, I was sure my mother would slide out of the booth and make a beeline for us.

“Talk fast,” I said. “What can you tell me about the time you spent with Penelope?”

“Not much.”

“Which bar?”

“The Untamed Shrew.”

“When?”

“A few nights ago. I’d had a couple of beers and was about to close out my tab when she walked in. She strolled right over to me, sat down, and we started talking.”

“What did she say?”

“She gave me her name, and I gave her mine. I said I grew up in Cambria. She did too. After high school she moved, traveled for a while, then went to college. She got married and had a kid somewhere along the line, a little girl. Guess the kid was spending the night at her grandparents’ house that night so Penelope could have a night to herself.”

“Anything else?”

“She’d just been through a bad breakup. She didn’t offer any details, and I didn’t ask for any. Way I see it, if someone wants to tell me something, they will. And if they don’t, they won’t.”

I crossed one leg over the other. “How did she seem? Happy? Sad? Nervous?”

“She was in a good mood, smiled a lot. She kept looking past me though, around the room, like she was listening to me but not listening at the same time if that makes sense.”

It did.

I thought about what Rita had said. “You’re not the first person to say that about her. Did you feel like she was flirting with you or trying to hit on you at any point?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t. She just seemed nice, like she was making normal conversation. Don’t get me wrong—she was cute. If I thought she was interested, I may have said something to gauge her interest.”

“Did she say or do anything to make you think shewasn’tinterested?” I asked.

“It was an overall vibe I got, like she was already spoken for, I guess.”

I glanced through the restaurant’s window, making eye contact with my mother. She threw her hands into the air as if to ask what the two of us were doing.

“We need to put a pin in this conversation for now,” I said.

“I hear you. There’s one more thing I should mention.”

“What is it?”

“We spoke for maybe twenty minutes or so and then this woman walked in. It was obvious they knew each other and had planned to meet there.”

“What can you tell me about the other woman? What did she look like?”

“Same age as Penelope, I’d say. She had long, dark hair and olive skin. Think she was wearing a crop top with a skull on it and leggings.”

“Was Penelope happy to see her?”

“Yeah, she hopped off the barstool, threw her arms around the woman, and they walked off together. And I know I’m not the best judge of character at times, but something about the woman … I don’t know. It was off, like she was having a bad night or something.”