“Oh, I’m Zoey,” she says. “I’m here to set up all the social media accounts for your new business.”
“Okay...” I look around, confused. Is there a hidden camera somewhere? “Uh... who sent you?”
“Miles? Miles Westbrook?” Her smile fades just a little. “He...” And then, as if realizing, “He didn’t talk to you about this.”
“Uh, no, he didn’t,” I say, confused. He hired her? What for? “How do you know Miles?”
“I work for him,” she says.
“You work for him.”
“Yes.” She nods, eyes bright, like being here is the best thing she’s done all week.
And that’s when I realize that this isn’t the first time I’ve seen her. The first week I moved in,thisis the brunette I saw leaving his apartment.
Did he really send one of his women to my apartment?
She’s even younger up close than she was from a distance, and knowing that sheworksfor Miles and he had her there, at his apartment... Good grief, he’s crossed so many lines. My mind starts down a path but is interrupted when she says—
“I mean, full disclosure, he’s also my dad.” Zoey scrunches her nose. “I never like to tell that part because, you know, nepotism—but I promise, I’m good at my job. And also, you don’t really have to worry about it because I’m on my dad’s payroll, and I just do what he tells me. If you hate it, you don’t have to use it, and I’ll still get paid.” Her laugh is light.
My brain is still stuck on“He’s also my dad.”
“Wait.” I hold up a hand. “You’re Miles’s daughter.”
She nods. “Zoey.”
“Zoey.”
I pause. “His daughter.”
She smiles. “Yes, I’m still his daughter.” And then her expression shifts. “Is that weird? I know you guys are friends, and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable—”
“No, not at all.” But itisa lot of information to process. Thewoman I saw leaving Miles’s apartment wasn’t his employee or his date—it was his daughter.
His beautiful, sweet daughter.
“My older sister, Ava, also works for him,” she says. “I know how it looks—like we took the easy road or whatever, but he’s a really good boss, and it’s a great work environment, so... we stay.”
My brain isstillstuck on“He’s also my dad.”
“Is your sister tall and blonde?”
Zoey’s expression goes mock-annoyed. “Looks like a supermodel.” She rolls her eyes. “I’d hate her if I didn’t love her so much.”
I sit with that information... then let out a rueful laugh. “He never told me...”
“He doesn’t talk about himself a lot,” she says. “He’ll never say, but the divorce was really hard on him. People don’t always realize it because he’s so upbeat all the time. He doesn’t like to be negative.” A pause. “I think he’s been doing better lately.”
At that, I go still. Because I haven’t heard this story. Also because I can’t let her be the one to tell it to me.
I open the door a little wider. “Good grief, I’m so sorry... please, come in. Let’s talk about my nonexistent social media.”
She laughs. “Oh, it won’t be nonexistent for long.”
“So, I don’t know how much you know about the bakery,” I say. “It’s called The Porch, and the concept is—”
She silences me with an upheld hand. “My dad already filled me in, and it soundsadorable. He said you’re an amazing baker.”
