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28
Viv was unsettledand frustrated as she drove home and no matter what she did to try and shake it off, it was just getting worse.
At the end of the night, Sue Ann Perkins informed her that this year’s Hometown Heroes Ball was projected to make twenty-two percent more revenue for the city than last year. Not only that, but tonight’s event had also raised more money this year than any other year in Hope Falls history.
That was a huge win for Viv and Broken Nail Events and PR. She’d made an aggressive goal and not only met it, she’d exceeded it. That was something to be proud of. And before she’d even brought it up, Sue Ann asked her to come by next week to talk about next year.
She should be flying high, on top of the world, basking in her success. But instead, she wanted to punch something and then cry. Or cry and then punch something, she wasn’t picky about the order in which the crying and punching happened.
The dash screen lit up and she saw that it was Nonna calling her. She’d left the event right after dinner with her date Mr. Lopez. Her bedtime was hours ago and Viv was worried that something must have happened.
“Ar—” Viv answered the call but before she could even get a word out Nonna spoke.
“I’m so proud of you, my Vivi! I hear you raise more money than any year ever!”
How did she know that? That was fast travelling news even for Hope Falls.
“Who told you that?”
“Sue Ann dropped off Elvia and I ask her how much money raise.”
“Why are you still awake?”
“I wake up to have a snack and hear Elvia singing outside my window when Sue Ann bringing her home. She had too much of the wine.”
Viv smiled. Nonna had fought tooth and nail not to move into Golden Years, but Viv was pretty sure she enjoyed living there. She sat at her window and watched all of the activity and goings on. Plus, she’d scored a boyfriend out of the deal which was pretty sweet.
“So, you celebrate your success, yes? You have champagne?”
“No. I’m going home.”
There might be wine and a bath in her immediate future, after the crying and punching, but Viv had no plans of bubbly.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m tired.” It wasn’t a lie. She was tired. But it was more emotionally and mentally than physically.
She was worn down with what had felt like a cat and mouse game she and Glenn had been playing, although she wasn’t sure who the cat was or who the mouse was. Which made things even more confusing.
“No! I hear it! You are sad! Why are you sad?!”
The question was sweet but the delivery was more accusatory than anything else. Nonna was old school. She didn’t sugarcoat things. If she wanted to find something out, she asked. If she had something to say, she said it.
Those are the qualities that Viv and Nonna had originally bonded over. She’d met Nonna a week after the coffee shop opened and Viv had been walking by the auto shop. Nonna stopped Viv, who was wearing a Taylor Swift shirt and the two had talked about their love for Tay, Tay for almost two hours. The unlikely friendship had quickly grown into something that felt a lot more familial than anything else.
Maybe Nonna wasViv’s Hope Falls Effect. She’d always wondered what it would be like to have a grandma. Although, when she was growing up she pictured her fictional grandmother to be more of a Sue Ann type, which was much more of a Rose from the Golden Girls type. She was sweet, nurturing and maternal.
Nonna had more of a Sophia. She was sarcastic, biting, and brutally honest. But those were all the things that Viv loved about her.
“So? Why you sad?” Nonna prompted again.
“Not one dance,” she finally spoke the words she’d not even allowed herself to think. “He did not ask me to dance once!”
He hadn’t even spoken to her. Sure, every time she glanced his way he was looking at her, but so what? He hadn’t said one word to her. This was how it was going to be, huh? Them hooking up in his bathroom and then him ignoring her in public.
Fuck. That.
Tears started to form in her eyes, but she sniffed them back. She was not about to cry over a man that could so easily ignore her.
