NorthangerAlibiInterior (3 page)

Leaning over like he was, Tony was only about a foot from me. “It’s just for a couple of seconds. It’s not like you’ll drown or anything. You did read the brochure, right? It told you to make sure you only brought waterproof stuff on board.”

What in the—?
I glanced down at the pamphlet in my hand and back up at him, totally thinking he was serious until I saw a playful glimmer flash in his light brown gaze. “Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and tried to push him back toward Cassidy. My hand collided with solid steel. At least, that’s what his shoulder felt like to me. Not that I had touched a lot of guy’s shoulders, but Tony’s felt pretty strong. Really strong, actually. Almost
too
strong.

He must’ve seen my face because he chuckled nervously, then quickly leaned back into his seat.

A few more passengers moved down the aisle between us and broke our eye contact.

“What’d you say to Claire?” Cassidy asked him.

As I sat forward and tried not to think about how strong his shoulder was, I heard Tony murmur something to Cass. A second later she burst into laughter.

Ha ha.

“Don’t mind Anthony,” Nora whispered. “He’s always trying to tease people. You should see the stuff he does to me.” She shuddered dramatically.

It was definitely a sign that they were a normal family. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

I didn’t have much time to think about them after that, since the boat thingy started up. For the next hour and a half, I lost myself completely to the zany tour. Even the tour guide was hilarious. I couldn’t believe it when he had us singing along with him. He made the most boring sights, like regular cafés and businesses, seem exciting. I couldn’t wait to explore them after the tour was over.

When we plunked into the water, the energy level, which had been pretty high before, jumped to colossal proportions. It was incredible to see Seattle from the water—it gave the whole city a sort of picturesque quality.

It was then that it hit me. Really, truly hit me.
Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I’m here! I’m in Washington! How did I ever get this lucky?

So, my first full day in Washington wasn’t bad. It was wonderful, actually—it didn’t turn out anything like what Cassidy and I had imagined. Thank goodness Nora and Tony weren’t total far-fetched basket cases. The day could’ve been pretty bad.

Dinner at the Space Needle turned out to be a way different story. Believe me—I need a whole chapter to tell that one. Who knew Tony would turn out to be so completely different? I mean, honestly, I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted how our day would end. But now that I’ve had some time to ponder it, I see the signs were there all along. I just hadn’t been wise enough to put them together.

Secret Revealed

It all started out innocently enough. We had begun and ended our day at the Space Needle—with a quick run home and a change of clothes, of course. This time we were going inside, and none of us wanted to go to Seattle’s coolest restaurant in jeans and T-shirts.

The Space Needle was huge. I didn’t think so just by looking at the picture, but when you stand right underneath it, the building is pretty impressive. It’s awe inspiring the way that large spaceship-looking thing is balanced on such narrow legs. Whoever designed it must’ve been a complete genius.

The ride to the top in the elevator was crazy. Even though it took less than a minute, it felt like five.

Cassidy gasped. “My stomach is going to fall right out this window.” Everyone in the elevator laughed.

I knew exactly where she was coming from. The farther we climbed—and the more of Seattle we saw below us—the farther my stomach felt from my body. I had no idea I was afraid of heights until that moment.

“Oh, just wait till you get inside,” Tony said next to me. “The restaurant spins so you get to see the whole city.”

What?
“It spins?” I freaked and held on to the side of the elevator. “What do you mean, it spins?”

“Are you kidding?” Cassidy looked green.

Everyone in the elevator laughed again, even the strangers.

“What?” I said.

Nora shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, but Tony was faster. “You can’t even tell you’re moving, I promise. It rotates so slowly you don’t even realize anything has happened until you look out the window and the scenery has changed.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Cassidy muttered. “For a minute there, I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into.”

I glanced over at Nora to see how she was taking it, but she wasn’t paying attention to anyone except Tony. By the looks of things, they had just started a very heated, whispered discussion. Whatever Tony was saying, it wasn’t making Nora very happy.
What’s going on?

I tuned out the adults completely to try to hear what Tony and Nora were saying, but the hum of the elevator was so loud I couldn’t make out more than a couple of words—“Yeah, well . . .” and “No. Don’t even . . .”

My sister was a bit closer to them, and I wondered if she could hear any better. After giving her a nudge with my elbow, I was about to ask if she’d heard anything, when we arrived and the elevator doors opened.
Darn.
Tony and Nora stopped talking and surged forward with everyone else.

“What’d you bump me for?” Cassidy quietly asked as we entered the main lobby of the restaurant.

I leaned toward her but caught Tony’s eye. “Nothing, I’ll tell you later,” I mumbled. Then I exclaimed, “Wow—the food smells awesome. I can’t wait to try it.”

Mr. Russo walked up to the hostess, and I watched as he slipped a folded bill into her palm and announced our names. She pretended to scan the reservation list, and then said with a smile, “We have your table waiting, sir. If you will please follow me.”

I wondered if anyone else noticed Jonathan Russo’s bribe. If they did, they didn’t say anything or seem to think it was weird.
Huh.
I hitched my purse higher on my shoulder and followed the group, with Cassidy beside me.

“Did you see that?” I whispered.

“See what?” she muttered back.

Glancing behind him, Tony caught my eye again.
The guy must have ears like a jackrabbit.
I smiled. “The flowers on the hostess desk. Weren’t they beautiful?”

“Uh, I didn’t see them.” Cassidy looked at me funny.

I couldn’t tell if Tony bought it because he’d already turned around. I didn’t know why I was so hesitant to let him hear me, but I was.

Once we got to our table and saw the view of the city from the window, I felt a little lightheaded. It was beautiful, but it was totally weird to be so far above the world and looking down on it, knowing you were basically floating above it all. One side of the rectangular table was against the window, and I chose the opposite side, so I was as far as possible from the window. Unfortunately, so did Tony.

Sheesh. It’s like he’s trying to keep tabs on me or something.

Nora sat next to him, and Cassidy sat next to me. The adults sat across from each other—women on one side, men on the other. I could tell they were all good friends.

“Are you sure you kids don’t want to sit closer to the window?” Tony’s dad asked. “Claire? Cassidy? I’ll swap seats with either of you, if you like. The view is much better from here.”

“I think it’s the view they’re trying to avoid, Dad,” Tony jumped in.

“Oh, I see.” Jonathan smiled knowingly at us before turning his attention to Roger.

Darlene leaned over as the hostess handed Cassidy and me our menus and said, “This is on us. We really want you to enjoy yourselves tonight, so order whatever you want.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. Then I opened my menu, and the prices of the food hit me full force.
Holy cow!
I gulped.
Forty-five dollars for seafood? Fifty-five dollars for steak? Are you kidding me? That better be one massive piece of meat.
I scanned through the other items to find something more reasonable. I knew the exact second Cassidy became aware of the prices, because she inhaled sharply and then choked out a cough. Her eyes were huge.

I could tell she was doing the same thing I was—trying to find something that didn’t cost more than a new pair of mall-quality boots. Fifty dollars could feed our whole family for about three days. Just the thought of spending that much on one meal blew me away.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked up to find Tony’s eyes resting on me. For a moment I forgot everything else. “What? Oh—uh, nothing.”

“Nothing?” He grinned. He really had a nice grin. Like, almost model nice. “Are you sure?”

My heart skipped a beat when I noticed he had a dimple. A really
cute
dimple.

“Claire? Are ya with me?” He smiled again.

My eyes flew to his. I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking, like he could read my mind. I blushed in humiliation and hid behind my menu. Tony wasn’t discouraged.

“Hey.” He gently tugged the menu away from me. “Don’t cover your face. I like looking at it.”

What?
My heart stopped. Literally stopped.
Is he serious? There’s no way he’s serious.
I decided to play it cool and took a breath to get my heart to beat again. “I’m not hiding,” my voice squeaked.

Tony’s grin deepened, and I noticed another, fainter dimple.

I cleared my throat and tried again. “I—I was wondering what you normally ate when you came here.”
There. That wasn’t so bad.

“Me?” His eyes twinkled. “I don’t normally eat when I come here.”

“You don’t normally eat?” I was confused.

“No.” He chuckled and folded his menu. “I usually ride the elevator to the top and study the view.”

“Oh.”
I’m such a dork.
“You don’t come to the restaurant?”

“You could say that.”

I picked up my menu and scanned it again, trying not to hide behind it this time.

“But I hear the crab cakes are really good. And their seafood trio is awesome. Most people get those together—they’re a nice combo.”

Nice. There’s that word again.
I quickly glanced at the two items he mentioned. I gulped again.
Okay, no way.
The combined total was seventy-one dollars.
Sheesh. How did I get roped into coming to this place
?
“Thanks.”
I decided to stick with soup and salad
.
That was only eighteen dollars.

“What are you ordering?” Cassidy asked me under her breath. “I was thinking maybe soup and salad?”

I tried not to giggle. “That’s where I was headed.”

Our waitress came by and took our order. The Hadleys wouldn’t allow my sister and me to just order starters, no matter how un-hungry we proclaimed ourselves to be. After we placed our orders, they made us choose a meal, too. We both settled on the cheapest thing—roasted chicken.

The soup and salad were so good that by the time the rest of the food came, my mouth was watering. All at once, I didn’t care how much was being spent on me. The food was amazing. Cassidy and I both dug in—in a very ladylike way, of course. We were halfway through our meals before I looked up and saw Tony resting his head on his hand, pushing his salmon and prawns around his plate with his fork. It didn’t look like he’d eaten any of it.

“Hey, are you going to eat?”

He was so startled by my question, he dropped his fork against the plate. “Oh, you noticed?”

“Yeah.”
Was I not supposed to?

He sat up and smiled a quick, short smile, then looked down at his plate. “Uh, well, I don’t think I’m feeling that good, actually.”

“Are you sick?” I was worried.

Tony glanced up, looking surprised. He must’ve realized I was concerned, because he straightened up and collected his fork. “Hey, no worries. I’m all right.” He stirred a chunk of salmon around in a thick, creamy sauce before he brought it up to his lips. I didn’t miss his slight hesitation before he opened his mouth and swallowed the whole thing without chewing.

Oh my gosh, he
is
sick!

His head snapped up, and he looked right at me. He studied my features intently for a moment before he mumbled, “You know, I think you may be right. I think I
am
sick.”

His mom heard him, and she snickered across the table loud enough for everyone to hear. “You? That’s impossible.” Then, for Darlene’s benefit, she loudly whispered, “Anthony has never been ill a day in his life.”