“Did he make dinner for the two of you?”
Mia nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.” To Mia’s delight, he’d served chicken nuggets, french fries, and applesauce. Not only had Jacob served this feast, he’d also let her sit at the dining room table with him and had allowed her to use as much ketchup as she wanted. He’d been looking at his phone the whole time, so he hadn’t even noticed that she’d dropped a few choice bits of chicken to Griswold. If only dinner could be like that every night.
“Very good. I’ll let you off early, then. You can put my shoes away and head downstairs.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Trying to hide her glee, Mia walked up the stairs and carefully set the shoes in the rack in Ma’am’s walk-in closet. Once downstairs, she passed by the kitchen, where Ma’am was pouring herself a glass of wine.
“Goodnight, Mia.”
“Goodnight, Ma’am.”
“Remember that tomorrow morning you can come up for breakfast, but then you’ll have to go back down to your room. Not a peep from you.” Ma’am inserted the cork back into the opening of the bottle and opened the refrigerator door. “The man is coming to install new blinds in the kitchen, and I’ll need you to be quiet as a mouse. Understand?”
Mia nodded. The blinds had been lowered over the window as long as she could remember, blocking the sunlight and her view of the backyard. When the blinds broke—the top piece falling out of the bracket—Ma’am had blamed her, but it wasn’t her fault. Mister had come to her defense. “The girl can’t even reach the lever. There’s no way she broke it.” He winked at Mia, something she wasn’t sure about. It made her think they were getting away with something, but what that could be she didn’t know. She had no idea what had happened with the blinds. One day they were mounted over the window, and the next the blinds were laid neatly on the counter. Jacob, probably.
Ma’am stared at her over the rim of her wineglass. “The dog stays here. I’ll be down in a minute to tuck you in.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Mia held out a hand for Griswold to stay, and then she went down the stairs, happy at this turn of events. She had the rest of the evening to herself and part of tomorrow morning too. At the bottom of the stairs, she crossed the basement, going straight for the back corner to what Jacob called her secret compartment. “It’s super cool,” he’d told her. “I don’t know anyone else who has a hidden room.”
She was lucky that way.
The basement walls had been covered with light-colored wood paneling; the floors looked like hardwood but actually had a plastic-like grooved surface. When she’d first come to live with the Flemings, Ma’am had let her sleep in the extra bedroom upstairs.
The problem had begun when Ma’am had realized they needed a safe place to put her when company came over. After a few months, Ma’am had had a clever idea. She’d had a man come and build a wall on the far side, and behind the wall he’d made a room. Mia’s room. A bookcase on wheels disguised the door. All the books were attached, and there was a small lock on one side of the middle shelf to secure the door from the outside. If the bookcase was in place, it looked like that wall was where the room ended. No one would ever be able to tell that Mia’s room was back there.
Best yet, the bathroom was nearby. Mia’s room and the bathroom combined made an L shape on that end of the basement. She was the only one who used that bathroom, really, so it was like it was her own space.
Mia had heard Ma’am talking to the man, telling him that the room was a place to store something valuable. Something valuable. She’d turned this phrase over in her mind, pleased to be considered this way. The notion had been dashed when she’d repeated the story to Jacob. “She wasn’t talking about you,” he’d said. “That’s just something she told the guy.”
Jacob knew things because he was close to being a grown-up, while Mia was still little. She had recently asked Jacob why she didn’t have birthdays like everyone else, and he had explained that it was because they didn’t know when she was born. “We think you’re about six or seven,” he’d said. “If I knew for sure, I would tell you.”
After the builder man was done, she wound up with her very own bedroom, which was, as Ma’am liked to remind her, a major pain to have built. It had cost a lot of money, and they’d done it just for her. She had a dresser and a cot and an old TV that Mister had given her when Ma’am got a new one for their room. It only got a few channels, and the picture was terrible, but it was better than nothing. She was careful to keep the volume low so that Ma’am wouldn’t have a reason to take it away from her. The TV was her only link to the outside world, and she learned a lot by watching the news and PBS. She had figured out how to read from Sesame Street, a secret she never shared with anyone else. Once she knew the sounds of the letters, it was easy to figure out the words in the books Jacob had given her, the ones left over from when he was a little kid. She hid them in one of the drawers in her dresser, unsure if Ma’am would allow her to keep them.
Mia went into the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth, hurrying so that she’d be finished when Ma’am came down to tuck her in for the night. By the time she heard Ma’am’s footsteps on the stairs, she had pulled the bookcase as far as she could, changed into her nightshirt, and climbed into her cot, pulling the sheet up to her chin.
“All set, Mia?” Ma’am’s voice rang out from the other side of the doorway.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Okay then.” Ma’am pushed the bookcase until it was secure in the doorjamb, and the room went dark. A second later, the lock clicked shut, tucking her in for the night.
Chapter Six
When Niki came down the stairs the next morning, Sharon was already at the kitchen table, coffee cup in hand, the newspaper spread out in front of her. She’d just finished eating a slice of cinnamon-raisin toast. Sharon acknowledged Niki’s presence with a nod. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” Today Niki wore dark pants and a striped button-down shirt. On her feet were a pair of black flats. Not business professional, but definitely more conservative than yesterday. It was surprising how tiny Niki was without the bulk of her hooded sweatshirt. Her petite frame and trim waistline would be the dream of most women, and that wasn’t the only difference Sharon noticed from the previous day. Niki’s hair had been pulled off her face into a bun, bringing her high cheekbones, perfect skin, and big dark eyes into full view. The combination was stunning.
“You look great,” Sharon said.
Niki pulled self-consciously at the front of her shirt. “I thought I’d apply for jobs today. I need to find work as soon as possible.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” Sharon nodded in the direction of the toaster. “If you want some cinnamon-raisin toast, help yourself.”
“Thanks, I think I will.”
They were, Sharon decided, diplomatically navigating around each other, each of them careful not to offend the other. After Niki had retired to her room the night before, Amy had called to see how the two of them were getting along, and she’d listened attentively before giving her mother a list of instructions. Don’t make too much of a fuss over her. Let her know in plain terms what you expect. Make her feel welcome, but don’t smother her. Don’t ask too many questions. She’s liable to take off if she thinks you don’t want her there. Sharon felt conflicted about this string of directions. On the one hand, it was good to know. On the other, it was a little insulting. Everything Amy had mentioned she probably would have done anyway. But she guessed it was never a bad idea to have a reminder.