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“We’ll keep you so content you’ll never look anywhere else,” he promised.

“Careful,” she said as they shook hands on the deal. “You two don’t have the job yet either.”

Chapter 10

Mila

After Gio walked her out to the van for her things, he showed her to a room on the first floor. He apologized profusely for how small it was, but it was much larger than the back of her van and there was a bathroom right next door. Compared to how she’d been living for the last few weeks, it was luxurious!

He’d also apologized for leaving her alone but of course he wasn't going to hang out with her when Carter was upstairs. She wished she could join him, but he didn’t invite her, and she didn’t feel like she could ask.

It made her a little sad that Babette had abandoned her for Carter. She really was the sweetest dog!

With nothing else to do, she took a long hot shower. All her clothes were filthy, so instead of pulling on a dirty outfit, she pulled on the robe that had been hanging on the back of the bathroom door. It was big on her and smelled like Carter. It was comforting.

Settling on the bed, she stared at her fully charged phone. She was out of excuses to ignore all the messages or missed calls.

Predictably, most of the texts were from her parents demanding updates. The last few were frantic, and she had five missed calls today.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the phone started ringing, and her mother’s face appeared.

Giving up, Mila answered with the most cheerful voice she could summon.

“Hi Mom! Isn’t it late for you?”

“Mila!” Barb shouted. “I’ve been calling for days!”

Mila rolled her eyes and wished Babette was here to snuggle. She could use the emotional support. “Don’t exaggerate. We talked yesterday.”

“That was five days ago,” Barb retorted sharply. “And I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day. My next call was going to be to the police. I told you California was too dangerous. I’m going to buy you a plane ticket home.”

“Mom, I’m perfectly fine,” Mila said, deciding to keep all the strangeness of the evening to herself. Everything that had happened in the last few hours made her living in the van seem mundane now. Not that she was going to tell her mother about that either!

“You’re not fine,” Barb responded. “If you were fine, you would’ve answered me sooner.”

“I’ve been busy,” Mila said.

“Busy doing what?” Barb sounded suspicious. “What could you possibly be doing this late at night?”

“First of all, it’s not that late here,” Mila reminded her. “And second, I was interviewing for a job.” That wasn’t completely a lie.

“Still only interviewing?” her mother questioned. “Oh Mila, just give up already and come home. I’m sure you can get your job back at the North End Bakery.”

The part-time job that allowed her plenty of time to take care of her parents’ house and nieces and nephews? No thank you!

“I have a job,” Mila said before her mom could go on about how much better it would be for her at the North End Bakery.

There was a brief silence before her mother spoke.

“You do?”

The level of surprise in her voice was disheartening.

“Yes Mom, I do,” Mila said wryly. “Don’t sound so happy for me.”

“No honey, I didn’t mean to sound like that,” Barb said quickly. “I was only hoping you were ready to come back to Tea. We miss you. Little Anna keeps asking where her favorite auntie is.”

Guilt slammed into Mila hard enough to take her breath away. This was why she’d avoided her mom for the last few days. If she’d heard this before now, she would’ve caved and been right back where she started.