The Ex

by Freida McFadden

  Dean cocks his head, confused. “Mrs. Mascolo?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I’m Dean.” He sits down on the sofa next to her. “Your granddaughter asked me to come by because she’s a little worried about you.”

  “She worries too much.”

  “Maybe. But she’s right to worry when it comes to chest pain.”

  Nonna’s shrewd eyes look Dean head-to-toe. “You Italian?”

  “Greek.”

  She smiles. “Does your family call you Dino?”

  He laughs at that. “Not too often. Sometimes. But you can call me Dino if you want. If you’ll tell me how your chest is feeling.”

  “Burning. Just a little heartburn. Like I said, nothing to worry about.”

  He asks her a few more questions, which she answers with surprising cooperation. She must think he’s really handsome. I watch Dean’s face, trying to figure out how worried he is. He finally reaches into the black bag he brought with him and pulls out a stethoscope.

  “Can I have a listen to your chest?” he asks.

  She looks between the two of us. “You can listen if you ask my granddaughter on a date for tomorrow night.”

  Dean laughs while I avert my eyes. “I’ve been asking her, Mrs. Mascolo! She won’t go out with me.”

  “Well, she will if she wants you to listen to my chest.”

  Both Dean and Nonna are staring at me now. I feel like my face is on fire, but I quickly nod my head. I’ll do anything for Nonna to go along with this exam.

  Dean listens to Nonna’s chest for what feels like forever. When he pulls the stethoscope off his ears, he’s smiling. “Mrs. Mascolo, you’ll outlive us all.”

  She snorts. “Who wants that?”

  “Good point.” He puts the stethoscope back in his bag. “Listen, the pain in your chest might be heartburn, but I can’t be sure without doing some tests.”

  “No tests.”

  “Mrs. Mascolo…”

  “No tests, Dr. Dino.”

  “Okay,” he sighs. “How about this. Come to my office Monday morning. Let me hook you up to our EKG machine and that’s all we’ll do. It’s like a snapshot of your heart. It won’t hurt and it will take less than five minutes. What do you say?”

  Nonna lifts her eyes to look at me. “And you’ll go out with him on a date?”

  “Yes!” I wrap my arms around my chest. “I will! Nonna, please just go!”

  “Fine.” She nods. “I’ll see you Monday morning, Dr. Dino.”

  They iron out a few more details and then shake on their agreement to meet on Monday. It sounds like he’s going to come in early just to see her. I don’t know why he’s being so nice to some old woman he just met, but he’s charming as hell around her. If I don’t agree to go out with him, I’m pretty sure she will.

  I walk Dean out of the apartment and over to the stairwell after he’s done. I’ve given up on being embarrassed about my sweatpants and the fuzzy slippers I put on. It is what it is.

  “So…” Dean says when we get to the stairwell. The dimple on his cheek pops as he offers a crooked smile. “I think she’s right. Probably just heartburn. But we have to check it out.”

  “Thank you so much for rushing over,” I say. “I mean it. I can’t thank you enough. I was terrified.”

  “Well, that’s the benefit of knowing a cardiologist.”

  I frown at him. “You’re a cardiologist?”

  He laughs. “It says it on my card, you know.”

  I didn’t notice that. All I remember is his name. “Well, thank you. Again.”

  I can’t help but think of how Nonna insisted I should say yes if he asked me out again. I agreed because I wanted her to cooperate. But the thing is, if Dean asked me out right now, I’d be very tempted to say yes either way. I should be head over heels for a guy like him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

  “You don’t owe me,” Dean blurts out.

  I blink a few times. “What?”

  He clears his throat. “What I mean is, you don’t have to go out on a date with me just because your grandmother said you had to. And you don’t have to go out on a date with me because you feel like you owe me for helping you.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment jabs me in the chest. “So does that mean you don’t want to go out with me?”

  It must be the sweatpants

  He snorts. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You think I’d come all the way to Brooklyn on a Friday night for a girl I don’t like? I’m a nice guy, but not that nice.”

  “But…”

  “But I don’t need Nonna to force you to go out with me.” He sets his dark brown eyes with the long eyelashes on my face. “I can win you over without resorting to blackmail.”

  I manage a smile. “Awfully confident, aren’t you, Doctor?”

  “Hell yeah.” He returns the smile. “Call me when you finally realize how awesome I am, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  As he pushes through the door to the stairwell, I feel a pang of regret. I should ask him to stay. I should tell him I want to go out with him tomorrow, and it has nothing to do with what he did for Nonna. I should tell him to kiss me right here, right now, in the hall of my grandmother’s apartment building in Bensonhurst.

  But I don’t.

  Joel has really done a number on me.

  Instead, I watch Dean leave. I watch him sprint down the stairs, only turning once to wave goodbye. And he calls out to me, “Make sure Nonna comes to see me on Monday!”

  Chapter 30: The New Girl

  Two weeks ago, Joel’s friends Anna and Con announced the birth of a baby boy named Andrew. When Joel called to tell Cassie about it, he sounded more excited than the new parents were.

  It worries Cassie. When she first brought up the prospect of kids with him, he acted like she was being silly—they were only together a month, after all. But now they’ve been together nearly six months. And furthermore, Joel made an offhand comment about wanting to be a dad before he turned forty. Except he’s now thirty-seven. That means he’s got three years to get engaged, get married, knock his wife up, have her spend nine months pregnant, and then have a baby. Working backwards, that means he’s got to get engaged…

  Like, now.

  Maybe he’s flexible on the whole forty thing.

  Right now, they’re at Con and Anna’s apartment, paying a visit to the baby. Cassie likes their place better than Lydia and Pete’s four million dollar apartment—this place is cozier and the furniture looks like you can use it without having a panic attack that it could be damaged. Anna herself looks tired. She usually seems so put together—it’s surprising to see her in a camisole and leggings with two milk stains on her blouse that match those on the sofa. There are purple circles under her eyes and new white hairs are threaded through her messy ponytail.

  “How are you doing?” Cassie asks her. “Are you sleeping?”

  “I sleep when the baby sleeps,” Anna recites, as if it’s her mantra.

  Joel grins at her. “I’d be happy to take him off your hands for a little while.”

  Anna obliges by gently handing him the bundle in her arms. Joel is so careful with him, settling down on the couch and peering down at the little face. “Look how tiny he is, Cassie.”

  Anna giggles. “Somebody’s got baby fever.”

  God, no.

  Con comes out with a bowl of popcorn and sodas for everyone. He rests a hand on his wife’s shoulder, “Anna, if you want to go lie down, I’ll keep Cassie and Joel company.”

  Anna yawns. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. You’ve been up with Andrew since four. Go to sleep—it’s my shift now.”

  But just before Anna leaves the room, Con reaches for her hand, and for a moment, the two of them hold hands and look into each other’s eyes. What Cassie sees pass between Anna and Con in that moment reminds her of the love she used to see between her grandparents. Lydia and Pete are always bickering, but Anna and Con never do. They’r
e always staring at each other like they’re the only two people in the world. They have a Wuthering Heights sort of love.

  Cassie looks over at Joel. Do I feel that way about him?

  She has no idea. All she can think about is that watermelon-sized baby coming out of her orange-sized hole.

  “She really needs some sleep,” Con tells us once Anna’s disappeared into the bedroom. “Andrew barely sleeps at night… it’s like hour-long stretches. And because I work during the day, she’s been taking on most of it.”

  “How about a night nurse?” Joel says.

  “That’s what I said.” Con frowns. “I tried to insist, but she wants to do it all on her own. But… well, I’m glad she’s taking a nap now, at least.”

  Cassie makes a fuss over baby Andrew. He is awfully cute, after all. It’s fun to hold him without all of the responsibility of taking care of him. When he poops his diaper, she just hands him over to Con, who takes care of it expertly, before handing him back with a fresh diaper. She’s having a great time when the doorbell rings, and when Con goes to answer it, she hears Lydia’s voice in the hall.

  Great.

  “You didn’t tell me Lydia was coming,” Cassie hisses at Joel. She looks down at the infant in her arms and suddenly wants desperately to pass him off to someone else. And get the hell out of here.

  Joel, who is messing around with his phone, looks up and shrugs. “I didn’t know they were coming.”

  It’s been awkward around Lydia, to say the least. Cassie has socialized with her once since the night of that horrible Halloween party, and the two of them barely looked at one another. Cassie cringes as the clip-clop of Lydia’s heels grows louder.

  Lydia seems equally surprised to see Cassie and Joel sitting in the living room when she comes into the room with Violet in tow. She gives Cassie a look. “Oh… it’s you.”

  Given everything, that’s the best Cassie could have hoped for.

  “Hi, Lydia,” Cassie says tightly.

  “Hi, Francesca,” Violet says.

  Oh God.

  “No, Violet,” Lydia says. “This is Cassie. Not Francesca. Definitely not Francesca. Not even close.”

  Glad she clarified that.

  Lydia eyes Cassie, her eyes sharp. “What are you doing?”

  Cassie looks around, baffled. What is she doing? She’s holding Andrew. She’s not dangling him by one leg. She’s not feeding him beer.

  “You’re not supporting the baby’s head,” Lydia snaps at her. “Haven’t you ever held a baby before?”

  Cassie glances around, searching for Con, who seems to have vanished. He’s probably napping with his wife. The two of them both looked like they could use it.

  Lydia lets out a sigh and shakes her head. “Here, give him to me. Before you seriously hurt him.”

  Lydia sits down next to Cassie on the sofa and practically yanks little Andrew out of her arms. It wasn’t like Cassie desperately wanted to hold him, but she doesn’t appreciate the insinuation, especially in front of Joel. She’s certain she was holding the baby’s head. After all, Con saw her hold the baby and didn’t say she was doing anything wrong.

  Andrew had been fussing in her arms, but now that Lydia’s holding him, he seems to settle. She picks up the pacifier on the table and slides it between his lips. “There,” she coos to the little boy. “Isn’t that better?”

  Cassie’s cheeks burn. “I thought he was okay.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Lydia says. “Not everyone is maternal.”

  Violet sits down next to her mother, snuggling up against Lydia’s slim arm as she peers down at the baby. She’s wearing another one of her beautiful but completely impractical dresses, but she doesn’t seem to mind—she’s not itching or pulling at it. “Mommy,” Violet says. “May I hold him?”

  “Yes, you may,” Lydia says patiently. “But you have to be very careful. Can you do that?”

  Violet nods solemnly.

  The little girl sits back on the sofa and Lydia gently hands her the little bundle. Violet treats the baby reverently, cradling him in her arms.

  “You are doing a fantastic job, Violet,” Lydia coos. “You are supporting his head perfectly.”

  Lydia flashes Cassie a pointed look when she says it. To emphasize the point that a five-year-old is able to hold a baby more competently than Cassie can.

  Cassie looks at Joel to see if he’s caught any of Lydia’s veiled insults. He’s still busy on his phone. He looks like he’s texting someone. And as his phone vibrates with a received message, a smile plays on his lips.

  Could he be texting Francesca?

  She’s not sure why that thought pops into her head. Except that somehow, Francesca is everywhere. She can’t even visit one of his friend’s apartments without being mistaken for her.

  But he’s done with Francesca. For a long time.

  Isn’t he?

  Chapter 31: The Ex

  I am in extended family hell.

  Nonna has invited her younger sister for dinner, who came with her two children (both of whom are my parents’ age), and we’ve also got their kids here. I didn’t approve any of this—Nonna simply announced they were all coming this morning. I was pretty annoyed. Just because Nonna is a social butterfly, that doesn’t mean I want to be. Why won’t she just let me wallow in my own loneliness and misery?

  Then again, it’s her apartment, so what can I say?

  I’ve spent the entire afternoon cooking. I’ve got three pots going on the stove, while my cousin Nick is running his mouth off and also getting in my way.

  “I wanna see the great chef at work,” Nick says.

  I shoot him a look. “I don’t usually have an audience.”

  “Right. Isn’t it great?”

  Nick is a couple of years younger than me, with greasy, close cropped black hair, a perpetual five o’clock shadow, and a New York accent several orders thicker than mine. He was a cop for several years, but I heard from the Mascolo grapevine that he left the force.

  “Well, it smells good,” Nick says. “Your boyfriend is a lucky guy.”

  I stare down into the pot of red sauce. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “No? Weren’t you always with that Joe guy? The doctor?”

  “Joel,” I mumble. “And… we broke up.”

  “Aw, that sucks. Sorry.” He pulls a face. “My girl dumped me a few months ago. But I always say, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone new. Am I right?”

  “Maybe,” I sigh.

  I still haven’t called Dean. I’ve picked up his card a hundred times, but I never manage to dial that number. And now it’s been long enough that I worry he’s moved on. A guy like that doesn’t stay single long.

  But he is taking good care of Nonna. She’s had a few appointments with him, and he’s basically acting as her primary care doctor, since he’s the only one she’ll see. He even convinced her to take a medication for her blood pressure.

  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

  “…and the business seems to be picking up, but a lot of it is word of mouth, ya know?” Nick is saying.

  I lift my eyes. “Huh?”

  Nick pauses mid-sentence and laughs. “You okay there? You seem a little spaced.”

  “I’m fine. Sorry.”

  “I was just saying,” Nick says, “being a private detective is great work when I can get clients. But it’s been slow so far. So if you got any friends who need someone investigated…”

  My heart leaps in my chest. “You investigate people?”

  He grins at me, showing off his one gold incisor. Classy. “You got someone you need investigated, cousin?”

  I chew on my lip. I’ve had a bad feeling about Olive from the moment I first laid eyes on her. There’s something… off about her. I don’t have any proof aside from a gut feeling, but I just can’t shake it. I know there’s something going on with her. I’m not imagining it.

  Also, if I have Olive investigated and she’
s clean, it will help me to move on.

  “Yes,” I say. “I do. But… I can’t really afford…”

  “Hey, we’re family.” Nick holds up his hands. “I wouldn’t charge you nothing. But if you think I do a good job, you spread the word. We got a deal?”

  I nod. “Deal.”

  “Okay, so who’s the broad you want me investigating?”

  “How do you know it’s a woman?”

  “Just a feeling I got. Am I right?”

  “You’re right.”

  And then I tell Nick everything. It’s difficult, because it’s not like Nick is the most sensitive guy on the block. But if he can help me, he’s got to have all the information.

  On his part, he’s a real professional. He gets out a mini-pad from his jacket and scribbles down all the information I tell him. He doesn’t crack a smile or make any smartass comments. Little Nico’s really grown up.

  Except right as we’re wrapping things up, Nonna walks into the kitchen.

  “What is going on here?” she demands to know. “What are you talking about?”

  I duck my head down. “Nothing.”

  “Is this about Jo-el and his silly girlfriend?” she asks.

  “No,” I say quickly, although Nick’s face gives it away.

  “This has gone too far!” Nonna rants. She gets up in my face, pointing a wrinkled finger at me. “That wonderful Dr. Dino wants to take you out, but you only obsess about Jo-el. I have had enough! Enough!” She glares at Nick, who cowers by the refrigerator. “And you do not encourage this. She needs to move on!”

  With those words, she spins on her heel and marches out of the kitchen. Leaving me and Nick in awkward silence.

  “Uh,” he says.

  “I’m sorry about that,” I mumble.

  “Not the craziest outburst I’ve ever seen in this family. Don’t worry.”

  “She’s probably right.” I lower the burner before my sauce gets scalded. “Everything I told you… just forget it. I need to move on.”

  “You sure? Because I’ll still do it.” He grins at me. “I’m not afraid of Aunt Angela.”