10. Isabella
10
ISABELLA
T ravis gaped at her, then glanced back at his phone. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I know my mom’s voice.”
She also knew the bite behind her mother’s tone. It was the voice she used when she’d had enough of Isabella.
Straightening, Bella sucked in one deep, grounding breath. Help wasn’t coming. She couldn’t go home. They’d moved on without her, and she had no idea what she’d done to push them away.
“Bella, I–”
Bella pulled her hand from his grip. She’d been clinging to him like he was her savior, but now her hope was gone. “Let’s just move on. Did you have a plan B by any chance?”
“They shouldn’t do that to you. Whatever the rift is between you, you’re still their daughter, and they should–”
“I’ve put them through enough. My teen years were full of mistakes. I probably deserved the hits I took.”
“Bella!” Travis said, stern and deep. It was the voice of a man standing up for something he believed in.
Except, he didn’t believe in her. How could he when he didn’t know her?
Travis cleared his throat and leveled her with a stare that would have brought the most defiant child to order. “I don’t want to hear you talk about yourself like that.”
“It’s the truth,” she whispered.
“It’s not. I don’t know who told you that, but no woman deserves to be hit.”
The injustice hollowed out her chest. The ache radiated up her throat, sending tingles flashing behind her eyes.
Her dad used force to control her, and she’d rebelled against it at every turn. That was something she knew for sure.
Her mom stayed out of the way until later when she would quietly let Bella know she’d deserved it.
She had, hadn’t she? She’d caused all kinds of problems for her parents. Maybe that’s why she was eight hundred miles from home and alone.
Bella wiped her eyes before any moisture got the idea to sneak out. “About that plan B,” she prodded.
“Actually, I do have a plan. You met Hadley, Olivia, and Anna yesterday.”
“Yeah.” Bella didn’t want to think about the women who’d made her forget that there was a lifetime of memories she needed to remember.
“Hadley has a roommate, Olivia and Dawson are married and living together, but Anna is living in her parents’ guest house.”
“Guest house? Like, an extra house?” Bella’s voice was higher pitched than she’d intended, but who really had an extra house?
“Yeah. Her parents are attorneys, and they’re wealthy, to say the least.”
Bella’s shoulders sank. “She was so nice to me yesterday. She washed my hair!”
“Anna isn’t your normal entitled rich girl. She’s nice. She’s an attorney too, but she’s a fashion influencer on the side. Companies send her clothes and stuff for her to feature on her social media channels.”
“That’s really a thing?” Bella asked. “Like, she gets paid for that?”
Travis shrugged. “I think so. I have no idea how that works, but she does get free stuff a lot. She donates things to Blackwater Restoration and Blackwater Hope House when she can.”
Bella froze at the familiar name. “What did you say? Blackwater Hope House?”
“Yeah. Our friend, Camille Harding, owns the thrift store and runs a women’s and children’s shelter.”
Bella’s train of thought shifted. A shelter. A place for people who didn’t have homes.
She was going to have to go to a homeless shelter. How could this be happening?
“Sorry, I got off topic there. What I was saying is I think Anna would be willing to let you stay with her until you can get back on your feet. It’s the tourist season, so ranchers and hotels are always looking for workers. You shouldn’t have a problem finding a job.”
Bella’s lungs started working again, and she sucked in a deep breath. “Stay with Anna. There’s no way she’d do that. I’m a stranger. She doesn’t know me. I don’t even know me!”
“Let’s call her,” Travis said, picking up his phone as if calling a friend and asking her to house a stray was something he did on any other Thursday morning.
“Travis, let’s talk about this. Everyone else who is homeless goes to the shelter. That’s what I should do.”
“Not when you have friends,” Travis said, raising his eyebrows. The expression just made him look sweet and playful and did nothing to convince her that his idea was ridiculous.
“I can’t do it. She’ll feel obligated if you ask, and she’ll just say yes because she feels bad for me.”
“Anna isn’t like that. She loves being around people, but she doesn’t want to get a place of her own right now because she’s engaged and plans to move in with Dean after they get married.”
Bella covered her face with her hands. She didn’t have many choices, but it would be a million times better to live with Anna than go to a shelter.
“Just let me call her. The worst that could happen would be for her to say no. But if she says yes, then you have a much better place to stay until you figure out where you’re supposed to be.”
Bella raised her head. He was right. It could be the best possible thing that could happen to her at this point if Anna said yes. “Okay. Let’s call her.”
Travis tapped the screen on his phone and rested it on the side of the bed. It rang twice before Anna answered in a sweet, high-pitched voice.
“Hello.”
“Hey, what are you up to?” Travis asked.
“Staring at a pile of paperwork I wish I could set on fire with my laser-beam eyes. You?”
Travis looked up at Bella, and the breath she’d been taking halted in her throat. He was outrageously handsome and sweet enough to melt her heart like warm butter, and he was looking at her like she was the only woman in the world.
Snap out of it!
“Sitting here with Bella.”
“Oh! How is she doing? Tell her I’m planning to come by tomorrow and I need to know her breakfast order,” Anna said.
“She’s okay I think. I have you on speakerphone.”
“Hey, girl! I’ll see you soon. Should I bring any kind of entertainment? You have got to be bored to pieces watching local TV.”
Bella’s shoulders relaxed, and her smile wasn’t strained anymore. “I’m feeling great. Thank you so much, but I think I’m going to be discharged today.”
“That’s the best news! Wait, where are you going? Did you remember where you’re from?”
“I wish I could because now would be a good time to know some things.”
“Come stay with me! I need a roommate, and you’re looking for a place. I have an extra room and clothes. I have tons of clothes. You can have a whole wardrobe. Please say yes. This will be so much fun!”
Anna sounded genuinely excited, and Bella hadn’t even asked. Anna had offered.
Travis pressed his lips together and smirked. This was one time Bella would gladly let him gloat about being right.
She had a place to go, and just in the nick of time.
“That… that would be amazing. Are you sure it’s okay?” Bella asked.
“Yes, it’s okay! I’ll come get you right now.” The jingling of keys on Anna’s end of the call said she wasn’t kidding.
“I’ll bring her to you,” Travis said. “Thanks for this. I’ll call you when we’re on our way.”
“This is going to be great. I promise to be the best roommate ever,” Anna said.
Bella swallowed hard. This was an answer to prayer she hadn’t even known to pray. “I’ll be the best roommate too. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Travis, get her here before dinner, and I’ll make chicken piccata.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said before saying a quick goodbye and ending the call. “See. I told you she’d be happy to have you.”
Bella’s chin began to quiver, and she lifted the sheet in her lap to cover her face just before the first sob shook her body.
“Whoa. I’m sorry. What’s wrong? What happened?” Travis asked as he stood.
“Nothing. This is great,” she managed to squeak out.
“Said the crying woman. What’s going on?”
“I’m just overwhelmed. I can’t believe she said yes. I can’t believe I’m in this stupid situation.”
Travis leaned over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She tilted her head to rest against him and breathed in the spice of his cologne. The warm scent alone was enough to stop the gasping sobs, but his strong arm around her had replaced the crushing weight of her problems.
“You’re going to make it through this. You’re not alone.”
For the first time since she woke up in the hospital, she actually believed it could be true.