Page 28 of Jael

“What? Right now?”

“Is my dad not paying you enough?”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“You’re not doing your job very well.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“Is that what you’re going to tell him when you report back?”

Danny thought for a minute. “What do you want me to tell him?”

He appeared genuine, but she couldn’t reconcile that with Danny from the past. “If you want to get fired,” she said, “you can tell him to leave me alone.” Her cell phone rang. It was Hannah. “Give me a second.” She answered. “Did they run out of avocado?”

“Hey, uh, no,” Hannah said. “It’s about the house where Becca’s staying.”

“What about it?”

“She said she found an eviction notice on the front door today.”

“What?” Jael squeezed her eyes shut. “He never gives up.”

“Who? The husband?”

“No. Never mind. I’m sorry about this. Everything’s gotten complicated, but I’ll get it sorted. Leave it with me.”

“Becca’s pretty rattled. She said if she doesn’t have a place to live with the kids, they’ll have to go back home.”

“No. Tell her everything will be okay—actually, I’ll call her. I can reassure her there’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a mistake.”

“Okay. Let me know when everything’s settled so I know where we’re up to.”

“I will. I’ll talk to you soon.” She hung up and opened the door. “I’ve got to go, so…tell my dad whatever you want. It won’t make any difference. He’s already made up his mind. If you want to get paid, just understand that he won’t be happy unless Vita Nova is buried and gone. And I will fight till my dying breath to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

She moved to get out, but he put a hand on her arm. “Is everything okay?”

“Nothing I haven’t had to deal with before. And feel free to keep tailing me if you have to. I’ll leave you alone from now on. Let you get to work.”

She called Becca as she hurried back across the street.

“Hannah told me what happened,” she said as she went back into her office.

“I’m sorry,” Becca said. “I’m causing so much trouble for you. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t have any money to pay for rent, and I?—”

“No, none of this is your fault. It’s a hiccup on our end. Don’t worry about that notice. It won’t mean a thing soon. Okay?”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I’ll get it taken care of. It’s a misunderstanding. That’s all. And I haven’t forgotten about making cookies. I know Hannah has looked after you really well, but I was so disappointed to miss out.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I would have much rather done that than what I had to cancel for. You think your kids would be up for more baking?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

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