The moment they reached the bottom step in front of the building, she opened her phone.
“What are you doing?” her mother asked.
“Please, Mom. I just have to make this quick phone call. Give me two minutes.” Not waiting for approval, she walked several feet away and placed the call.
Cooper picked up on the second ring. “You are not going to believe what I found out,” he said in way of greeting.
“Whatever it is, I can top it.”
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Haleigh made sure her mother was out of earshot. “Cooper, I know who Jessi’s father is.”
“I know,” Cooper said. “It’s freaking Jebediah Winkle.”
Totally let down, she hissed, “How do you know that when I just figured it out myself?”
“Caleb found out that Winkle has those initials and that back when he was a youth minister, he made trips for the church up to Bowling Green. The time frame fits perfectly.” As if just realizing what Haleigh had said, he paused. “Wait. How do you know?”
Now he asked about her mad sleuth skills. “While sitting in his office, I noticed his full name on his degrees—Jebediah Thomas. Remembering Lorelei’s observation about Jessi and Becky looking alike, I asked if he’d ever been to Bowling Green.”
“Just like that?” Cooper asked. “Didn’t that seem weird?”
“I didn’t say I was smooth at this. It’s not like I solve mysteries every day,” Haleigh huffed. “Anyway, he said he’s been there but not for nearly twenty years. Again, the time frame fits.”
“Haleigh, you need to get off the phone,” her mother said.
“One more second, Mom.” Stepping farther away, she said, “Now what do we do?”
“Tell Jessi,” he answered. “Your shift starts at six, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then let’s meet at Abby’s place at five and we’ll tell her then.”
“Haleigh Rae, you’re ruining your surprise,” her mother snapped.
Spinning to ask for another minute, she saw the surprise strolling her way. “Oh, mother of God, you didn’t.”
“What’s happening?” Cooper asked through the phone, but Haleigh was too busy dealing with her mother’s diabolically poor timing.
“Mother, what did you do?”
“What you should have done months ago,” the older woman replied. “Now get off that phone.”
“Cooper, I need to go,” she said, eager to end the call before the wrong person was overheard. “I’ll call you later.”
The second she broke the connection, Marcus said, “Hey there, beautiful.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, too shocked to be civil.
“For you,” he said, as if the answer was obvious. “I told you. I miss you.”
“Isn’t it sweet of him to come all the way from Los Angeles to see you?” her mother asked.
“Sweet is not the word that comes to mind,” Haleigh said. Asinine was more like it. Unnecessary. Unwanted. “I’m sorry that you came all this way, Marcus, but we have nothing to say to each other.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” her mother cut in, the pleasant cordiality of a moment ago gone. “Marcus came all this way and the least you can do is spend some time with him. Now you two go eat. Talk. Have a nice evening.”
Waving toward his rented Mercedes, he said, “Come on, babe. Give me a chance.”
Standing smack-dab in the middle of the town square—which was actually a circle—Haleigh felt blindsided and on the verge of panic. Assessing the situation, she weighed her options. Option one, telling her mother that she didn’t want Marcus because she had Cooper, held little appeal considering the scene that would follow. A scene that would no doubt play out in front of the entire town. On the other hand, she had two hours until she needed to meet Cooper at Abby’s. Surely she could get rid of her ex-fiancé in two hours.
Haleigh climbed into the rental car, and as her mother waved them off from the sidewalk, she said, “I agree to one quick meal and then you’re gone. Where are we going?”
“I found this great Italian place,” Marcus said, resting his hand on her thigh.
Haleigh put the hand back on the gear shift. “You mean Main Street Pizzeria?” She wouldn’t call the little pizza joint great Italian, but there wasn’t anything else in Ardent Springs that might fit the description.
“Of course not,” he said, pointing the Mercedes toward the interstate. “We’re going down to Nashville.”