My One and Only(42)

“Please,” she said as she caught up to him. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”

Cooper shook his head as he turned. “No, you shouldn’t have. But you’re right, I don’t know a damn thing about what you’re going through.”

“Maybe not,” she agreed, “but you’re right about Kyle. He’d hate to see me hiding away like this. I just need more time, okay?”

“Okay.” Cooper hugged his sister tight before dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m here for you, sis. Whether you want to talk or yell or punch something, I’m here.”

She sniffed as she pulled away. “I appreciate that.”

As he tugged on his sister’s ponytail, Jessi stepped into the foyer and hesitated. “I’m sorry. Am I interrupting a family moment?”

Abby laughed. “We were just getting something straight,” she said. “You guys better go or you’re going to be late.”

“I changed her as fast as I could.” Jessi handed the baby-filled car seat over to Cooper. “She wouldn’t stop squirming long enough to get her legs in the holes.”

“Like I said, I’ll get you there on time.”

Cooper and Jessi rushed out the door as Abby yelled, “No speeding, little brother.”

Jessi snorted. “Did she just call you little brother?”

“She beat me by a minute,” he explained while locking Emma into the backseat. “And she’s never let me forget it.”

“It must be cool to have a twin,” she said wistfully as she buckled herself in.

“It has its moments,” he answered. “Don’t you have any siblings?”

Shaking her head, she said, “Nah. Mama got herself fixed when I was a kid. Said I crimped her style enough.”

Just when Cooper thought he knew how having a crappy parent felt, Jessi went and proved him wrong. Aware that the kid would rather stick another hole in her face than accept his sympathy, he said, “If that’s the example you had to follow, I’d say you turned out pretty good, short stuff.”

Looking both embarrassed and pleased, Jessi said, “Thanks, dude. Do you think my dad will feel the same way?”

Cooper hadn’t seen that question coming. One week into their search and they’d yet to catch a lead. Caleb had asked Hattie Silvester, who owned the newspaper and had grown up in Ardent Springs, but the initials hadn’t rung a bell with her. Spencer had consulted Lorelei’s grandmother as well as Buford Stallings and Lorelei’s father, Mike Lowry, both of whom could be around the age Jessi’s father might be today.

But again, no one remembered anyone going by J.T. It was looking more and more like Jessi’s mom had sent her on a wild-goose chase for a man who didn’t exist.

“Are you sure you want to keep looking?” Cooper asked. “The guy bailed on you and your mom. That doesn’t sound like a good guy to me.”

Keeping her head up, Jessi stared out the windshield as she said, “I need to do this, Cooper. I really appreciate y’all taking me in, but I’ve gotta see this through. This might be my only shot to have a real family.”

Feeling like a protective big brother, he said, “I know we called this stay at Abby’s temporary, but you know nobody is kicking you out, right?”

“I still feel bad for crashing like this. I tried to get Abby to leave that laundry alone. She shouldn’t have to fold Emma’s clothes on her day off.” Leaning an elbow on the door ledge, she added, “And my funds are running out. I need to get a job somewhere.”

Jessi had been carrying more money than any of them had expected when she’d come to town. It turned out she’d been saving through her entire pregnancy. His mother had organized a diaper collection among her friends, which left Jessi’s funds to cover all of Emma’s formula so far. With the clothing and blanket donations from Carrie, plus the car seat Cooper bought, the baby was well taken care of.

For now.

“Aren’t new moms supposed to wait like six weeks before doing anything?”

“Broke new moms don’t have that luxury,” she said. “And maybe if I get a job I’ll come across someone who knows this J.T. person.”

He had to admire her staunch determination. “I’m asking everyone I can think of,” he said, assuring her that they were taking the search seriously. “If he’s around, we’ll find him.”

She nodded. “He’s here. I can feel it.”

Growing certain that the opposite was true, Cooper held his tongue. If they didn’t get lucky in the next week, their only alternative would be to go public with the search. Something he was reluctant to do. Regardless of how things had gone down, learning a man had a long-lost daughter could have a less than positive effect on a family.