phone out to check the time again. Her father was late. Which shouldn’t be surprising, since he always found a way to make her wait on him. At least she knew he’d actually made it to Austin—which had frankly shocked her. She’d half expected him to cancel the whole trip at the last minute the way he’d done so many times before. But he’d texted two and a half hours ago to say he’d landed and would be headed her way as soon as he got his rental car.
So where was he?
It didn’t take two and a half hours to drive from the Austin airport to Crowder. She could only assume he’d made some sort of detour. One he’d neglected to mention was on his agenda when he’d claimed to be headed her way. Typical.
While she had her phone out, she texted Josh.
Mia: He’s still not here. Maybe he’s not coming after all.
Josh: Are you worried? Do you want me to come over and wait with you?
Mia: No it’s fine. This is what he always does.
As she was hitting send, she heard a car door slam outside. Peeking out the window, she saw her father standing beside a steel-gray Range Rover, his posture rigid and disapproving as he surveyed the property.
Never mind, she typed out to Josh. He just got here.
Mia took a deep breath and tried to manifest serenity and restraint as her father’s heavy tread made its way up the stairs. A sharp, impatient rap sounded at the door, and she went to admit him.
Her father took up most of the doorway, his imposing frame smartly clad in a tailored sport coat, dress shirt, and slacks. As always, his appearance was impeccable, though she noted more gray at his temples than the last time she’d seen him.
“Quite a place you’ve got here, Ace.” He strode over the threshold without waiting for an invitation, giving her cheek a brisk kiss as he walked past her into the apartment.
“Hello, Dad.” She watched his lip curl slightly as he surveyed her modest but perfectly nice living space. “I was starting to wonder if I should call out the state troopers to send a search party for you.”
Two seconds in her dad’s presence and she’d already given up on serenity in favor of passive aggression. Fuck it. She’d never gotten the hang of all that positive manifestation stuff anyway.
He flicked his hand, dismissing the inconvenience and potential worry he’d caused her. “Oh, I stopped on the way to meet an old friend for a drink. You know how it is.”
Unfortunately, she knew too well.
At least it helped explain her father’s mysterious presence here. Either his “old friend” was some sort of professional contact he needed something from, or it was a woman he was seeing behind his current wife’s back. Mia didn’t care to know which explanation was the correct one, but she considered them equally likely.
When he’d completed his visual inspection of her apartment, he rounded on Mia with a smirk. “Nice flock of chickens you’ve got out in the yard there.”
“They belong to my landlady.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t think they were yours.”
Mia felt the need to stick up for Birdie. “She shares some of the eggs with me. And some of the vegetables from her garden too.”
“Charming.” His tone clearly indicated he considered it anything but.
At least he hadn’t mentioned the couch on Birdie’s porch.
“Is she having some sort of rummage sale?” he asked. “Or is that old denim couch a permanent fixture in her front yard?”
Mia’s molars ground together. “She’s been extremely kind to me since I moved here, so I don’t really care what her yard looks like.”
Her father offered an unctuous smile. “Lucky you.”
Mia was lucky to have Birdie in her life, but she knew better than to expect her father to understand that.
“I suppose this is the best you can afford on whatever they’re paying at that place,” he observed sourly. “Thank god it’s only a one-year contract.”
Hearing her dad articulate so many of the same thoughts she’d had herself when she first came here made Mia feel sick to her stomach. Had she been this stuck-up and shallow? So contemptuous of everything around her?
It pained her to realize how many of her father’s attitudes she’d internalized. Although at least she’d had the courtesy to keep her negative opinions to herself.
“The salary happens to be quite decent,” she informed him. “I’ve actually enjoyed the experience of teaching at a smaller school. I like Bowman and I