Every time we returned to Bridgewater for a family visit we always asked around, but no one seemed to know what became of Ivy. Word must have spread, because Jessie was giving Rory a knowing smile.
“You two still hung up on that girl?” She looked up and waved to someone who’d come through the front door. “It’s been years now since she left this town behind.”
Jessie turned to me and I did my best impersonation of the old Cooper—the one without the scars and the nightmares. I gave her my best slow, lazy smile. “Yes, ma’am. We’ve had our heart set on Ivy for a long time now. We just can’t seem to track her down.”
Something shifted in Jessie’s expression. Some of the teasing faded and she seemed to be studying me closely. Too closely. But whatever she saw seemed to make an impression. “You know, I don’t normally gossip—”
I ignored the smirk Rory shot my way from behind her back. Everyone knew Jessie had all the news in town and wasn’t afraid to share it. But apparently she had a code of ethics when it came to gossip.
“Normally I wouldn’t share that girl’s business with anybody, but I know you boys and I do believe you’re only asking because you care about Ivy.”
I shot Rory a quick look and saw the same shock in his eyes. Was this it? Had we finally gotten a lead on our lady?
“That’s the truth,” Rory said, holding up his fingers like he was still a Boy Scout. “That girl stole our hearts back when we were kids, and we aim to make her ours.”
Rory might have been laying it on thick, but he was telling the truth and Jessie must have seen that because her gaze softened until she looked downright emotional. “That’s what I was hoping you would say.”
I gripped my mug tight to keep from showing my impatience, but God almighty, we’d been waiting seven years to find Ivy. “Do you know where she is, Jessie?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I sure do.” She paused and I thought for sure I’d have to sweet talk it out of her, but then she said in a rush, “She’s in Seattle.”
I hadn’t realized just how hopeful I’d become until those hopes came crashing down. I saw Rory’s shoulders sag as well. He still mustered a small smile. “We tried Seattle. She said she was going to school there, but she only registered for one semester. We couldn’t track her down after that.”
He looked my way and it didn’t take a psychic to read his mind. Another dead end.
Jessie made a sound of disgust that had us looking up at her once more.
“My goodness, for two grown men who’ve seen something of the world, you sure are dense.”
I stared up at her in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“If you’d asked the right questions all these years, you would have gotten the answer straight away.”
Rory leaned forward over the table and I could tell he was fighting the same battle to avoid losing patience with the older woman. “And what questions would that be?”
Jessie talked slowly as if to two morons. “After her grandmother passed, what other family did she have left?”
Rory and I shared a blank look, one that said who the hell knows?
Everyone knew that Ivy’s parents split when she was a baby. Her mama was young when she got knocked up and she and Ivy’s dad didn’t want the burden. They hadn’t wanted to be trapped in Bridgewater, from what I heard. So they dropped Ivy off at her grandma’s and never came back. I remembered hearing that story for the first time when I was a kid and wondered how in hell Ivy could be so sweet and trusting with parents like that. Her grandmother must have done something right to keep her from feeling bitter and abandoned.
Rory was the first to answer. “Her parents, I suppose. But I thought she didn’t have anything to do with them.”
Jessie sighed and glanced over as the chimes above the door signaled another new customer. The mealtime rush was coming in. “She doesn’t. No one’s heard from her mother and that fool boyfriend of hers in years. They didn’t even show up for her grandmother’s funeral.” Jessie scowled at the thought. “Probably too ashamed to show their faces.”
I saw the customers take a seat and knew we were running out of time before Jessie had to get back to work. “She didn’t have any other family, did she?”
“Not immediate family, no,” Jessie said. The way she stressed immediate made it instantly clear. I sat up straight and tried not to get my hopes up too much. Who knew how accurate town gossip was? And that’s what this was. Rumors. Yet I wanted to reach out and shake Jessie to get her to spit it out. She was enjoying this way too much.
“She has a great aunt,” Jessie said. “Her grandmother’s sister. In Seattle.”
For the first time in what felt like forever, some of the weight I’d been carrying slipped away. We might have returned to town and started a business, started to put down some roots. But they would mean nothing without Ivy.
After a million dead ends, we finally had a lead. We had fucking hope and I hadn’t had that in a long, long time.
Rory gave me a shit-eating grin, stood and kissed Jessie on the cheek. The woman smiled and preened at the surprising burst of affection. “Jessie, if we didn’t have our hearts set on Ivy, you’d be the one for us.”
Jessie sputtered, then patted him on the shoulder before going off to fill more coffee cups down the line of booths.