The word "prison" made Angela's stomach tighten. She'd felt trapped for so long on that isolated farm—even though she hadn't fully realized it until they'd escaped. The idea of her new home feeling even remotely like that was disturbing.
"It won't," Jude said, as if reading her mind. His eyes met hers briefly. "The security features will be invisible unless they have to be obvious. Hidden exterior cameras, reinforced glass that looks normal, door locks that respond to your fingerprints. Nothing that would make you feel hemmed in."
"That sounds better," Angela said, though she still felt a flutter of anxiety at the thought of needing such extensive security measures.
"The goal is for you to feel safe without feeling trapped," Duncan added gently. "I know that's a delicate balance, especially given what you've been through."
Angela nodded, grateful that he understood without her having to explain. She picked at her cinnamon roll, suddenly not very hungry.
"On a lighter note," Elizabeth said, clearly sensing the need to change the subject again, "have you given any more thought to what you'd like to do? Duncan mentioned you and Kiara were discussing options."
"Kiara's looking into online classes," Angela said. "She's always been good at academics. I'm… still figuring things out."
"What interests you?" Elizabeth asked. "Besides baking, which you're clearly talented at."
Angela felt heat rise in her cheeks. "I don't know. I've never really had the chance to explore different things. On the farm, we just did what needed to be done."
"Well, now you have time to discover what you might enjoy," Duncan said. "There's no rush."
Angela knew there wasn’t. But the more time that passed without having a direction, the more worried she became that she wouldn’t find something meaningful to do with her life.
But for the next week, her focus was going to be on meeting her mom. Once that was accomplished, she’d get serious about finding something to do with her life.
When they’d finished eating their cinnamon rolls, Jude said that he needed to leave. Angela felt a bit bereft that they hadn’t had more time with just each other to talk.
She put a few more cinnamon rolls into a container, then gave it to Jude before he left. Alone in the kitchen, she put away the rest, then headed up to her room.
By the time Wednesday afternoon came, Angela was a ball of nerves. Her anxiety about meeting her mother was even worse than how anxious she’d felt over meeting Duncan.
The clothes they’d ordered had arrived Tuesday morning and, thankfully, they’d fit, and Angela thought they looked okay.She still didn’t know how to dress as a rich person since she and Kiara always had to just settle for whatever they found at the thrift store.
Annie seemed to go for comfort over style. Elizabeth, however, tended to dress more stylishly, so Angela had tried to land somewhere in the middle.
Kiara hadn’t seemed nearly as worried about what to wear. Though Kiara had always been more confident than her, Angela wasn’t sure what to make of her confidence since coming to the estate.
Was she really that confident about everything?
“No time to think about that now,” Angela muttered as she slid her feet into the heeled boots she’d ordered. “Let’s get this over with.”
She swung her door open to find Kiara in the hall.
“Ready to go?” Kiara asked with a smile.
Was she? Not really. But it was time to suck it up and face yet another new challenge.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
She was once again leaning on that strength to get through a difficult situation. Nerves fluttered wildly in her stomach as they left their rooms.
“Everything is going to be okay, Angie,” Kiara said as she looped her arm through Angela’s.
“Is it?”
“Duncan has already made it clear that he’s not going to force you to have a relationship with Jill,” Kiara reminded her. “So go into it hoping for the best, but with the knowledge that if it doesn’t go well, you can walk away with Duncan’s blessing.”
Except that Angela felt like she’d be failing if she couldn’t establish a relationship with her mother. Herrealmother.
“Let’s go,” Kiara said. “Jude will be waiting for us.”
