My One and Only(24)

Since Haleigh had nearly jumped back herself, she couldn’t blame the older women. “It is a bit of a shock when it spins around like that. A warning might be helpful.”

Minutes later, Lorelei passed the painting, now wrapped in brown paper, across the counter. “See you Friday night,” she said with a nod.

Haleigh had hoped the invitation would be forgotten. “I never actually agreed to go,” she clarified.

Lorelei stared at her over the painting. “What else do you have to do after the dinner with your mom?”

Her reasons for declining were none of Lorelei’s business. “I don’t have to be busy to say no,” she defended.

“How long has it been since you had a night out?” the blonde pressed, making Haleigh regret this spontaneous shopping excursion. Why hadn’t she ordered something online? All the cool kids were doing it.

Haleigh dragged the painting off the counter as she resisted the urge to explain that it was impolite to invite an alcoholic to a bar and to freaking take no for an answer already. Not that Lorelei knew she was an alcoholic. Or that Haleigh intended to tell her so.

“I’ll think about it.” A noncommittal answer that put Haleigh under no obligation to show up at the dance hall.

“Good,” Lorelei said, looking very happy with herself. “We’ll be there between eight-thirty and nine. I’ll save you a stool.”

That didn’t sound like a graceful acceptance of Haleigh’s roundabout refusal. Regardless of her efforts, Lorelei was not going to guilt Haleigh into doing something she did not want to do. And on the off chance that she ran into Lorelei again after Friday and was asked why she didn’t show, Haleigh could remind the pushy blonde that she’d never given a definitive yes.

Dammit.

Considering a call to Raquel on the way home, Haleigh left Snow’s Curiosity Shop with a troubled conscience but firm in the knowledge that she would not be visiting Brubaker’s dance hall anytime soon.



Cooper hadn’t laid eyes on Haleigh in three days, though not for lack of trying. Each evening he checked on Jessi, making sure she had what she needed and reporting his findings on her J.T. mystery man. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to report. No one Cooper had talked to had ever heard of anyone in Ardent Springs going by those initials.

On Wednesday evening, he’d been surprised to find his mother keeping watch over the new pair, but her presence had allowed the three of them—Cooper, his mom, and Jessi—to brainstorm the situation. The Ridgeway matriarch couldn’t think of anyone in town who’d ever gone by the initials J.T. And while Jessi had offered details on the kind of men her mother typically dated, her input hadn’t helped them narrow the search.

Understandably frustrated, Jessi remained convinced that someone had to know him. Cooper admired her determination, but the girl was chasing a ghost. If her father had ever lived in their little town, he hadn’t left much of an impression with the locals.

At least the young girl wasn’t relying on the rest of them to do everything. She’d completed the paperwork to get Emma into CoverKids, the Tennessee state aid insurance program for children, and during her limited free time when Emma didn’t require all of her attention, devoted herself to cleaning Abby’s house, regardless of the fact that his sister had assured her this wasn’t necessary.

Simply put, Jessi was a hard worker determined to take responsibility for her tiny family. His mother seemed to like her, and to his surprise, so did Cooper. A spunky kid with nerve and a positive attitude, Jessi had slipped into their world with less hassle than expected.

His initial motivation to find her father had been the need to get the young woman out of Abby’s house and on her way. After knowing her for five days, Cooper’s desire to help had shifted to simply wanting to give the girl the father she so desperately sought.

During his brief visits, Cooper had hoped that Haleigh would either walk through the front door or wander out of her bedroom. Neither wish came true. Short of finding another pregnant woman to rush to the hospital, he wasn’t sure how he’d run into her again without enlisting his sister.

Lost in his own thoughts, Cooper nearly missed hearing his name called from the front of the room until Spencer elbowed him in the ribs.

“Mr. Ridgeway,” Buford Stallings intoned from behind his faded brown podium. “Are you prepared to update the committee on the car rally or not?”

“Yes, sir,” Cooper said, rising to his feet.

Without looking at his notes, he repeated everything he’d told Spencer and Caleb over lunch two days before. When he finished, the group seemed satisfied, but then Mayor Jebediah Winkle raised his hand and Cooper tensed. Winkle was a born obstructionist, and had long been an opponent to the car rally idea.