sounded concerned now. “What’s wrong, honey? Are you crying?”
She heard her father’s voice in the background. “What’s wrong with her? Didn’t she make it home?”
“I’m home,” Elise managed. She didn’t want them to worry. “I’m okay.”
“What’s wrong?” her mother asked.
“Someone broke into my apartment while I was gone.”
Her mother gasped.
A moment later, her father came on the line. “What’s missing?” he asked.
“The TV,” she said. “Maybe more. I haven’t really looked around yet. I’m too freaked out.”
“Are there any broken windows?”
“No,” Elise said. “But the door lock. That was broken. That’s how they got in.”
“Elise,” her father said. “Get out of there right away. Come over here.”
“I have to pack a bag…”
“It isn’t safe. Just bring your bag from your trip. We’ll wash your clothes and you can wear them again. If you need anything else, we’ll go over together in the morning and get it for you.”
“Okay,” Elise said.
“Are you okay to drive?” her father asked. “You don’t need me to come and pick you up?”
“No. I’m all right.”
“Okay,” her father said. “We’ll leave the lights on for you. See you soon, sweetheart.”
Elise hung up the phone, her stomach in knots. How could this be happening? Coming home was supposed to be comforting. She was supposed to have tonight and tomorrow to relax, to settle into her old routines, before returning to work.
But there would be nothing relaxing about what she now realized the next few days would contain. Reporting this burglary to the police. Cataloging stolen and damaged items. Replacing what she could.
Not to mention the fact that she didn’t know how she was going to feel safe in her apartment again after this. The knowledge that someone had broken in made her feel like they were standing right behind her, breathing down her neck. Good thing she only had a month left on her lease.
She grabbed her suitcase and ran down the steps to the ground floor, letting her suitcase bang its way down from one step to the next. Then she shoved it in the backseat of her car and got behind the steering wheel.
She breathed deeply as she drove to her parents’ house, trying to bring her emotions under control. By the time she pulled into their driveway, she was feeling calmer.
Her mother was waiting in the doorway, and as Elise got out of her car, she came running out and flung her arms around her daughter.
“I’m all right, Mom,” Elise said, her voice slightly muffled by her mother’s shoulder.
“I’m just so glad you were away when this happened,” her mother said. “When I think of what could have happened if you had been home—”
“It’s all right, Marilyn,” her father’s voice rumbled. Elise felt his broad hand on her shoulder. “You two get inside. I’ll bring her suitcase.”
Elise’s mother steered her to the kitchen table. “Have you eaten?” she asked.
“Not since the meal on the plane.”
“I’ll fix you something.”
“Mom, it’s midnight.”
“You have to eat.” Her mother went to the refrigerator. “We have leftover lasagna. Can I heat that up for you?”
Elise was incapable of saying no to her mother’s lasagna, midnight or not. “Okay,” she said.
Her father came in, wheeling the suitcase behind him. “I’ll put this in your bedroom for you.”
Elise felt a burst of warm gratitude to her parents for never remodeling the bedroom that had been hers as a child. She had encouraged them to do so several times, but they had always insisted that she needed to have a room at their house. Now she was glad it was there. It would be a comfort to be able to fall asleep in a place that felt so familiar.
Her mother put the lasagna on the table. “Have you called the police?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Elise said. “I panicked. I didn’t know what to do.”
“We’ll call them in the morning,” her mother said. “This break-in probably happened days ago, so there’s nothing urgent about reporting it right now. Oh, Elise, what a thing to come home to. I’m so sorry this happened.”
“It’s all right,” Elise said, even though it wasn’t. “I’m just glad I could come here.”
“You can always come here,” her mother said.
“And we want to hear all about your trip,” her father added, coming back into the room and taking a seat beside her. “Any chance of some more of that lasagna?” he asked her mother.
“I’ll get it,” Elise offered. “You can sit down, Mom.”
“Don’t be silly.” Her mother was already moving toward the refrigerator. “You’ve been through hell today. Stay