Parmesan Pizza Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 16)

  “It bothers me too,” the pizzeria owner said. “I know it bothers Russell too, but at least he can do something about it.”

  “He’s not the only one that can do something about it,” Shannon said. “We’ve both helped him a couple of times. I know he does a lot, but so do you. If it wasn’t for you, Sadie might never have been caught.”

  “It was just chance that I happened to walk out there and see her going through the dumpster,” Ellie said.

  “Well, it wasn’t ‘just chance’ that you followed her and then called Russell when you figured out what was going on. Not everyone would’ve done that.”

  Ellie smiled. “Thanks. I didn’t really think about it, to be honest. I probably should’ve been more careful.”

  “There’s no point in second-guessing yourself now,” Shannon said. “You’re fine, and that’s what matters.”

  “I suppose it’s true.” The pizzeria owner sighed. “Now that everything with Sabrina his been resolved, I can’t stop thinking about the second pizzeria. The grand opening is only two weeks away. I’ve been second-guessing myself – triple-guessing myself – and wondering if we should even be opening at all. But it’s too late to change my mind. What am I going to do?”

  “Ellie, it will be fine,” Shannon said. “Seriously. Your food is good, and from what you said about Linda, she seems like a nice woman who is going to do everything she can to make the restaurant succeed. I really wish I could come down there with you, but I don’t want to chance anything with this pregnancy.”

  “I understand,” Ellie said. “You have to do what’s right for you and your family. I’ll send you lots of pictures, and maybe we can fly down on our own next year. I suppose with Nonna moving down there for half the year, I’ll be visiting a lot.”

  “That’s right,” Shannon said. “She’s going to be staying there until, what, March?”

  “April. It’s going to be so odd not having her here. Although she will come back for my wedding, of course.”

  “You’ll have all of this space to yourself, which will be nice.”

  “I know,” Ellie said. “I don’t really know what I’m going to do with most of it, to be honest. I keep telling myself the nothing will really change, but I know it will. It’s going to be lonely, living alone all the way out here.”

  “You’ll be fine,” her friend said. “It will be nice for you to have some time to yourself before you get married. Enjoy it. And remember, if anything ever gets to be too much, just give me a call and I’ll come spend the night. James can deal with having the bed to himself for a night. In fact, he’ll probably like having some alone time too. Once the little guy comes along, neither of us will have a moment of privacy for quite a long time.”

  “I know,” Ellie said. “Thanks.”

  She smiled over at her best friend. She had so many relationships to be grateful for, and she knew that Shannon was right. She would just have to face the future and have faith that the second pizzeria would be a success. And if it wasn’t, she would survive. She had so much ahead of her, including her own wedding, and she shouldn’t let this one thing consume so much of her energy. She needed to focus more on living her life, and focus less on what could go wrong, because if there was one thing she had learned, worrying never prepared her for what was actually to come.