Page 67 of After Anna

“Yes.”

“So if they were untrue, as you claim they are, then they would have come as a surprise to you, wouldn’t they?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it possible that when you heard those allegations against you for the first time, your facial expression reflectedsomeanger?”

“I don’t know, I can’t say. I don’t know what my face looked like that day.”

Linda’s eyebrow lifted. “Then you can’t know that youdidn’tlook angry, can you?”

“Well, no.”

“So then, isn’t it entirely possible that youdidlook angry when you heard Anna’s testimony, isn’t that correct?”

“I… suppose so.” Noah had just contradicted himself. Linda had hog-tied him with his own words.

“So then Annawasn’tlying when she said that your expression was angry, was she?”

“No.”

Linda signaled to her paralegal. “Let’s move on.”

Chapter Thirty

Maggie, Before

“What errands?” Maggie asked Anna, who perked up as soon as they left the school building.

“Can we go to the Land Rover dealership, please? Just for fun? It’s only fifteen minutes away.”

“How do you know that? You’ve only lived here a day.” Maggie smiled, surprised. She reached for her keys and chirped the Subaru unlocked.

“I Google-mapped it.” They climbed into the car, shutting the doors behind them.

“You can’t really want a Land Rover, can you?” Maggie reversed out of the space. “My first car was an old Mazda, bought used. It was bright orange. I named it Tangerine. I figured I’d rather be a tangerine than a meatball.”

Anna smiled crookedly. “But I like Land Rovers. Dad drove one and so did my grandparents. They say they’re the safest cars, like a tank.”

“But they’re so expensive. How much is a Land Rover?”

“The Range Rover is $75,000, notthatexpensive.”

“Honey, that’s expensive, in my book.” Maggie spared Anna the Value of Money lecture because she was about to deliver the Meeting New People lecture.

“But can’t we go look, just for fun?”

“Okay, for fun.” Maggie took a right turn on Montgomery Avenue, heading toward the dealership. “So what do you think of the school?”

“It’s crazybig.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Anna looked out the windshield, biting her nails.

“Why didn’t you want to go in the cafeteria? Because I was with you?”

“No, I just wasn’t ready.”