Chapter 9

Siana looked down at the plate, trying to figure out how to attack it, finally deciding just to start with the sausages. She ate for a moment before she looked up to find Gladys watching her with oddly sharp eyes. "Hi, can I help you?"

"You said you had some pictures of things you'd done." The sharp look retreated, replaced by the regular affable look. "Share with the class, dear."

Siana put her fork down and pulled out her phone. "This might take a sec, I haven't really turned my phone on since I left and I'm probably going to have a few hundred messages to wade through."

"There's no hurry dear." Gladys turned to Marcus and started having the most inane conversation about the running of the inn. Siana turned her attention to her phone and as it powered up, she started deleting messages from her mother and calls from her ex and gloating texts from that unknown number. She didn't care about any of it so why was the unconcern from her mother and the rising rage of her ex bringing her to tears. No one cared about her, her mother should be worried, her ex should be floundering without her. Neither of them seemed to care that she'd disappeared. That she was unfindable.

But she wasn't going to cry about it, especially not in front of two complete strangers over a wonderful breakfast that she was suddenly just not hungry for.

Gladys seemed to sense something was wrong because just as Siana finished clearing out her messages and wiping the sadness off her face, the older woman turned to her with her hands out. "Can I see now, dear?"

Siana brought the album of her creations up and passed the phone over, breath catching in her chest. Would she like it? She was starting to get that Gladys was some sort of- maybe the mayor was a good equivalence? Like she was the unofficial head of this place, everyone seemed to defer to her and seemed like they would do whatever she asked of them. So, if she wanted to stay here then she had to make a good impression on Gladys. But did she want to stay here? It was almost like this place was trying to draw her in, trying to offer her something that she wanted. Home maybe? At the same time, it was almost trying to throw her out? Like it was caught between the two motions. But that was stupid, she was being stupid.

She was distracted from her thoughts when Gladys made an approving sound and handed her the phone back. "Your cakes are lovely dear. I'd like to see what you can do. Do you think you'd like to have an on the job interview? Maybe tomorrow morning? That gives you today to get a little bit settled and take care of your car and things. Does that suit?"

She nodded, the weird push and pull feeling settling slightly more towards pull. "I'd like that, yes, thank you."

"Good, now." Gladys stood up and gestured. "If you're done eating, we'll go see the boys and see what they found out about your car."

Siana stood up and looked over at Marcus who was just finishing his own breakfast. "Thank you, I'll be back later to settle my bill if that's ok?"

"Let's figure out how long you need to stay for and then we'll take care of everything." He looked down at Gladys who was practically bouncing. "Let me know."

"Of course, dear." Gladys led her out of the house and down the road, telling her odd facts about the houses and their residents. Most of whom were out on their front porches watching and waving as they went past. "I told you you were the most exciting thing that's happened around here recently."

"I mean, I feel a little like a circus act." Siana said waving to a small child and feeling a little hurt and then silly when the kid went and hid behind what she assumed were their parents.

"Don't worry dear, we just don't get a lot of visitors." Gladys didn't even look over her shoulder as she continued down the street. By the time they got to her car, which was sitting in what looked like the driveway to another private residence, Siana was completely lost as far as getting back to the inn went. Hopefully Gladys would take her back when they were done here.

As Siana was getting past a spill of anxiety over not knowing where she was, Gladys had walked to the door of the house and knocked at the door. What emerged from the house were two of the largest people that Siana had ever seen. They were monolithic, both of them had to duck to get out of the door of the house and they were as wide as they were tall. Or at least that's what Siana saw before her panicked brain caught up with her eyes.

Her mother had dated someone like that once, it hadn't ended well for either of them and was what resulted in them moving to Lymburn in the first place. But Siana wasn't going to think about Carl, these men were nothing like Carl since Carl had been an asshole and these men had gone to retrieve her car for her and bring it here to fix it for her.