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“So, she went by her middle name to throw people off?” Gia closed her eyes as she processed. It was late, and she had to be at the market at eight in the morning. Her lids were heavy and might not re-open if she thought too long. A few blinks brought her back to the present. “It could be. Could be. But we need more information.”
“I’ll do some research on the address tomorrow. I can find out when the home was purchased, who the legal owner is, that sort of thing. But I need my work computer for that. Maybe the answer is in the title. You’d be amazed what I can find out from a home title.”
“That’s a great plan. You know, this has been fun. Even if we don’t find her, I’ve enjoyed looking with you. Thanks for being so open.”
“It’s nothing. Got my mind off my troubles for a while. And it reminded me—I want a love worth fighting for in sixty years. Jude can take a long hike in Joshua Tree and not come back for all I care.” Maybe it was the late hour talking—truths had a way of being clearer as the night became morning. Maybe searching for Jennifer’s long-lost love had brought out the hopeless romantic in him. Or, maybe focusing on something other than himself was a service to his friend andherfriend—and not about Derrick at all.
“You deserve a love like that. We all do. It’s a shame that so few of us find it. Or when we do, we let it go.” Gia stood and opened her arms wide. An invitation. “Come here. I need some love, too.”
As they hugged, Gia smelled his cologne—fresh, oceany—and rested her head on his shoulder. Was Derrick the first friend she’d made without the underlying premise of partying and/or hooking up? He was. At least since high school. And he was comforting.
“I hope we find her.” Derrick stepped out of the hug and yawned. “And now I need to find the bed. Haven’t been up this late in a while.”
“Me, too. It’s Jude’s loss, you know. You’re a good person and good friend. I’m so glad we met.”
“Thanks, G. I’m glad we met, too.”
Driving home in the darkness of a desert morning, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” played on her single radio station, and Gia’s mind spun circles around the idea that they had a lead. It wasn’t a guarantee—not even close. But there was a lead. Someone who could be the someone they were searching for.
???
Call me after work.
Derrick. Had he found her? Gia had at least three more hours of ordering to do before she could make a personal call, and sleep deprivation zapped her focus.Can’t you text me?
I could, but I’m not going to. Too much. Talk to you tonight.Derrick was responsive, but not forthcoming. It must’ve meant he’d found her, right? That the address aligned to a home title that verified Lorrainne Mitchell was actually Emily? That she’d never married—or at least changed her surname—and like that, they’d located Jennifer’s one true love? Why else would he be so coy?
“Gia Barone, can you come to the service desk?” The market’s PA system crackled to life and interrupted her daydream about telling Jennifer they’d found Emily, and them reuniting and spending the rest of their days in a starry-eyed, joyous reunion. “Gia, to the service desk. There’s a customer waiting.”
Gia hurried downstairs from the managers’ office, nearly tripping twice. What could be needed of the assistant stock manager? The store manager and assistant manager handled customer complaints—and she liked it that way.
At the service counter, she found an elderly man leaning on a cane as he explained he wanted two dozen lamb shanks—in three days. Gia wasn’t sure she could deliver on the request and wondered—what kind of party was he throwing that he needed that volume of lamb? Full of doubt and low on sleep, she agreed anyway, and hurried back to her office. The sooner she located the lamb and the other items on her list, the sooner she could find out what Derrick knew.
???
Gia sat the driver’s seat of her car and the far end of the market’s parking lot—in her usual spot beside a planter strip filled with round, squat prickly pear cactus. The taller cacti about town—the Mexican cardóns—got all the attention for their statue-like presence, but Gia liked the little guys. The cacti underdogs.
A deep breath led to another, and when she dialed, her pulse beat through her fingertips. He answered on the first ring, and she skipped the pleasantries. “What did you find out? Did we find Emily?”
“Hi. And—I don’t know,” Derrick said.
“Sorry, hi. Oh.” All that build up, all the excitement and wondering for,I don’t know.
“The house was purchased in 1978 by the Mitchell Trust. It hasn’t been for sale since. I called a banker friend to see if we could trace the trust.”
“And?”
“She hasn’t called me back yet.”
“Damn.” Gia slumped in the seat. This wasn’t at all how she imagined the conversation. In her mind, Derrick had confirmed the home’s owner to be the one and only Emily Lorrainne Mitchell, had found her phone number, and had talked to her. Not, the home belonged to a trust, and he wasn’t sure who owned the trust.
“Yeah, I know. But give Leah a chance to call back. She’s busy. The good news is, we haven’t ruled Lorrainne out as an option.” There Derrick went again, being comforting.
“Crap. I was hoping the cards would fall just right, and she’d be our person. And then we’d just call her and she’d want to reunite and it would be those rainbows and unicorns you were taking about. That would be too easy, huh?”
“When is love ever that easy?”
Gia thought of the two times in her life she’d been in love. The first, she was twenty-four and wild as an unbroken horse. As unpredictable, too. Her girlfriend, Jamie, wanted to settle down. Put down roots. Do the responsible thing and go to community college—both of them. Gia couldn’t see herself settled down—or in college. She’d left Jamie out of fear, not lack of love. That was back in New Jersey, nearly ten years prior. She’d avoided committed relationships for years, for fear of needing someone else. And then she met Roxi. Who she didn’t need, but definitely wanted. Who she could see herself settling down with, creating a life together. Except settling down was the opposite of what Roxi was about to do. And Gia still had six months remaining on her pledge to remain single and celibate.
