My One and Only(21)

“Am I dreaming?” Jessi asked, standing outside her bedroom.

“Linda has been hoping for a grandchild for nearly a decade. Emma is in capable hands, and if you’re smart, you’ll sleep as long as she’ll let you.”

“I don’t know. It feels kind of weird to hand my baby over to a total stranger.”

“You’re living with strangers, Jessi. How much weirder could it get?” Haleigh blamed that zinger on lack of sleep. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ve known Abby and Cooper’s mom my whole life. I promise that Emma will be fine.”

Jessi tugged on the hem of her faded black T-shirt. “I am really tired.”

“You and me both,” Haleigh said, and disappeared into her own room with a casual wave. As her head hit the pillow, she sent her brain a cease and desist order on dreams about Cooper Ridgeway. Unfortunately, her brain had other ideas. All of them X-rated.

Within an hour, she gave up and faced the day.



Lunch had ended and the three men were lingering outside Mamacita’s when Cooper remembered to ask about Jessi’s father. “Spencer, do you remember anyone in town going by the initials J.T.?”

“Doesn’t sound familiar. Why?”

“That girl I found in my storage building the other night is looking for her biological father, and all she knows is that he’s supposedly from here and gave her mother the initials J.T.”

“Did her mother meet him here?” Caleb asked.

“No. Up in Bowling Green,” Cooper answered. “Her mom was eighteen at the time and recently told Jessi that the man was older and already had a family.”

“Sounds like an upstanding guy,” Spencer observed. “Why is she looking for him now? Not that I don’t get wanting to meet your father, but does she have a reason?”

Spencer grew up not knowing so much as his father’s name, and only learned the facts last year, shortly after the man had passed away.

“I’m not sure.” Cooper hadn’t thought to ask what Jessi intended to do if she found this mystery man. Was she going to hit him up for money? Break up his family? Expect to move in with him? Or did she simply want to get to know him?

“Gerald would know,” Caleb said.

“Gerald Nichols?” Spencer asked.

“Yeah. He’s lived here all his life except for a few years spent in Korea during the war. If someone named J.T. lived in Ardent Springs, he’d be the man to ask.”

“I should have thought of old Mr. Nichols,” Cooper said. “He might be the last of his generation around here. Could you ask him for me?”

Caleb grimaced. “I would, but he and his wife are over in Napa Valley for the rest of the month. The poor man thought retirement would give him a chance to sit still, but Dolly’s kept him on the road since a week after his goodbye party. Says she’s waited their entire marriage for it to be her turn and she’s taking it.”

“Can’t blame her for that, I guess.” So much for solving the mystery on the first try. Jessi’s one- to two-week stay with Abby was starting to look like a month, at least. “I’ll keep asking around, and if we don’t find an answer before he gets back, I’d appreciate it if you could see what Nichols knows.”

“Consider it done,” Caleb said. “Are we all still on for Brubaker’s after the meeting on Friday?”

Spencer pressed the key fob to unlock his truck. “Lorelei has reminded me twice, so I’m guessing yes.” Turning to Cooper, he pressed his hand to his forehead to block the sun. “You should bring Haleigh Rae.”

Not back to this again. “I don’t think so.” If he convinced Haleigh to go out on a date, Cooper wasn’t going to drag her to the loudest, most obnoxious place in town.

“I admit,” Spencer said, “your terrible dancing could run her off before you make the first move, but maybe she’ll feel bad and take pity on you.”

“I’m not bringing Haleigh to Brubaker’s,” Cooper argued. “She’s too good for that place.”

Caleb and Spencer both looked offended.

“We take our women there all the time,” Spencer said. “What are you trying to say?”

“Come on, guys. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t think we do,” Caleb said, crossing his arms as he squared his stance. “Explain it to us.”

Shit fire. Cooper hadn’t meant to insult Lorelei and Snow. And he sure didn’t mean to piss off their other halves.

“I’m not saying that Haleigh is better than Snow or Lorelei. She’s just . . . different.” The tick in Spencer’s jaw proved Cooper was digging himself a deeper hole. “Forget the too-good-for stuff,” he said. “If I take Haleigh out on a date, I want to be able to talk to her without yelling over loud music, okay?”