Alone in my cabin, I angrily refreshed my email. God, maybe I’d just get an amazing job offer to, I dunno, redesign the façade of Charleston’s ugliest building, the Holiday Inn in West Ashley. Though honestly, that building should just have some carefully laid charges and be put out of its misery. I dialed my mom’s number, unsure if she’d answer. It had been weeks since we’d spoken. Meredith had set her up with an app so I could call over Wi-Fi.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded small and vast at once. She sounded like home.

My ears and nose stung with instant homesickness. “Ma?”

“Josie. Sweetheart. Is that you? Hello? Hello?”

“Yes, Ma. I’m here.” I smiled, my eyes flooding. “I’m here. How are you?”

“Gosh, darling. I almost didn’t hear this blasted thing bleating at me. I thought it was another weather report. How do you all live with these constant beeps and buzzes going on telling me about everything. I’ve got no interest in whether Wappoo Cut is going to flood its banks in high tide. Wait, I’m so sorry, this is probably costing you a fortune and I’m prattling on. How are you, love?”

My face hurt from smiling so wide from the joy of hearing her voice. I grabbed a tissue and wiped my eyes and nose. “It’s good to hear your voice, Ma. I’m good. It’s beautiful here. And I’m calling over the internet so it’s free, okay? Don’t worry. Though, there might be a bad signal sometimes because we’re on a yacht.”

“You hate boats!”

“I do. But this one … well, it’s as big as a house. Let me tell you about Dauphine, the little girl I look after.” I picked at the cuticles on my toes as I told her all about Dauphine and the water in the Mediterranean, the food and the crew.

“Sounds like a fun little diversion,” my mother said when I was done, and I smarted a bit at her dismissal. “Have you been working on your resume? I spoke with a lady in my bridge club. And she thinks her husband might know of a position at the Historic Charleston Foundation. I know it’s not an architectural firm. But it’s respectable and it fits well in your resume … unlike this, this, what do you call yourself? An Au Pair? A nanny?”

“Either.”

“Yes, well, we’ll pretend you took a long vacation or something, and then after a while maybe no one will notice the gap on your resume.”

“Ma. I appreciate you trying to help. But I’m concerned enough for the both of us. You trying to get me a job is just stressing me out more. I’ve actually applied for several positions at real architectural firms. And it’s my career, okay?”

“I’m just trying to help.”