Page 104 of Movers and Shakers

“You called her? She never answers the phone.”

“I know. Her voicemail told me all I needed to know.”

“What does her voicemail say?”

“I don’t know if you want to hear this. Or if I want to call again.”

“I do.”

Juno pulled out her phone and brought up her contacts.

“You have reached a number that is no longer in service,” Mom said in a bad impression of an official phone notice. “The woman here has moved on andcannotbe found!”

“Oh, boy,” I muttered. Her anxieties over my life were obviously getting worse and it seemed splitting myself into two hadn’t been enough. But what else could I do? I was trying my best, yet I still messed up somehow.

“Yeah. I was done after that.”

“So, how did she find you?”

“She has a private investigator looking into every call she receives and that investigator somehow tracked down both my phone numberandmy social security number, which she recited the second I answered the phone.”

“Shewhat? How does she have a private investigator?”

“You didn’t know? I assumed you pay for it.”

“No, I don’t pay for it. I give her a decent amount of money to live off of, but that’s it.”

“And how much is a decent amount of money to you?”

My cheeks heated. I knew I was privileged with more money than I could ever use, so I spoiled my family with it, but I also had no idea how much was too much. “Like twenty thousand?”

“A year?”

“A month.”

Juno’s eyebrows raised. “Well, we figured out how she can afford the private investigator. And why you pay me so much.”

“I’d rather other people be cared for, but I didn’t think she’d dothiswith the money.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not all of it.”

“What else could there possibly be?”

“When she called me, she told me to make sure no one else found out about Rose Hill. If they did, she’d tell you to fire me. I thought it would be best if I listened so you didn’t get stuck with someone who didn’t know your secret.”

“So that’s why you were against me telling Barry.”

“I still am.”

“What if Barry doesn’t tell?”

“What if hedoes?You’re right, this was wrong, and maybe we should have gone back to LA once you broke it off with him, but what’s done is done, and if he knows, then he might speak out, especially if he’s mad.”

“He wouldn’t—‍”

“Have you seen him angry yet? Like truly angry?”

I had, and it was when he’d found out about his father. He’d kicked me out then. But he still didn’t tell anyone.

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