6
Bella scrolled through her phone absently. She wanted to make a call, but she knew there would be no answer. That was the hardest part. Knowing no matter what she did, she’d never talk to her mother again. She’d never tell her about Ryan or about meeting her dad or about anything else that ever happened in her life.
Bella tossed the phone onto the bed. She’d been in Bereton two weeks, and in all that time, she hadn’t made friends with anyone. She hadn’t called any of her former coworkers or so-called friends. And they hadn’t called her. It was like no one noticed, or cared, that she left town.
She thought about calling her mom’s former partner, but Julia made it clear the last time they spoke that she wasn’t a big fan of Bella’s. Julia said she wasn’t going to keep paying Bella unless
