Jersey Six(91)

“No. Do you have it?”

Natasha chuckled. “Are we back to talking about the rock star?”

“Yes.”

“Sure. I can probably track down an address and get you to his house. Shall I pick you up after work?”

“Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”

Natasha stood, shaking her head while grinning. “Oh girl … you sure are entertaining.” She set a twenty-dollar bill on the table. “What time are you off?”

“Seven.”

“Then I’ll see you at seven.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE





“That’s his house.” Natasha pointed past the gate from the street. “I’m not sure he’s living there since there’s still construction going on.” She narrowed her eyes a fraction at Jersey, clearly still not buying the Ian Cooper story but indulging Jersey just the same.

“He was staying at his neighbor’s house.” Jersey pointed across the street. “But it appears like they’re home again from the looks of the kids playing with their toys out front. Hmm … this is fine.” She opened her door. “I’ll get out and see what I can find out. If he’s not around, I’ll find my way back or call for a ride.”

“You sure? I don’t mind staying.”

Jersey poked her head back into the car. “Because you don’t believe me?”

Natasha shook her head and laughed. “No judgment here.”

“Go home. I’ll send you photos for proof if I find him.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

As Natasha drove off, Jersey typed in the code to Ian’s gate, and it opened. She surveyed the perimeter before ringing the doorbell. No one answered. She tried to open it. It was locked.

Traipsing across the street, she waved at the neighbor whom she’d never met, but Chris had. “Hi. I’m a friend of Ian’s. Jersey. I stayed here with him for a while right after the fire.” She gripped the iron bars to their gate. She knew their code too but decided not to freak them out quite yet.

The short-haired brunette nodded, padding toward the gate while messing with her phone. The gate opened. “Hi. I’m Eve Blevins. It’s nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, and Jersey shook it.

“You too. Say, I’m looking for Ian. He’s not still staying with you by any chance, is he?”

“No. He’s renting a place now, I believe.”

“I see. Do you happen to know where that is?”

“No. Sorry.” She gave Jersey a sad smile.

“Do you happen to have his phone number? I had it in my old phone, but I left it behind a couple of months ago, so I don’t have his number now.”

Eve bit her lower lip and nodded slowly. “Um … don’t take this personally, but I’m not really comfortable giving out his personal information.”

“Oh. Sure. Yeah, um …” Jersey glanced around, looking for another solution.

“But if you have a new phone now, I’d be willing to send him your number, and he can contact you if he wants to.”

“Okay. That works.”

Eve brought up another screen on her phone and typed in Jersey’s name. “Okay, what is it?”

She gave Eve her number. “Tell him I just want to leave things good between us. Karma or something like that according to my new friend.”

New friend.

Jersey inwardly smiled. She had a job, and she wasn’t screwing her boss. She had normal hours. Coworkers who weren’t jealous of her relationship with their boss. A phone that she bought on her own. And money in the bank to go toward rent at some point. And most nights she found a place to sleep at a shelter. Oh … and she had a friend.

“I’ll just tell him you’d like him to call you when he gets a chance.”

“Thanks.” Jersey smiled.

Eve’s thumbs moved across the screen of her phone. Then she held it up for Jersey to see. “There. Message sent.”

Nerves teased Jersey’s stomach like they did when she arrived in the neighborhood, like they did when she rang his doorbell, like they did when she first met him.

Message sent.

She hoped to get the chance to talk to him again, and suddenly that made her body do really crazy things inside.



Jersey meandered down the winding road of the valley, finally ordering a ride before the sun set any lower in the sky. It took her back to the diner where she had a locker to keep her things until she found something permanent. After retrieving her bag, she hopped on the bus to head to the shelter.

Her phone chimed as she stared out the window. She didn’t recognize the number which meant it had to be Ian. Her tummy flipped in one direction and then the other direction as her pulse doubled in response.

“Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello?” she repeated.

“Hey.”

Nothing could have prepared her for hearing his voice after so long—months that felt like years.

“Hi. Um … I went to your house. I see it’s still not fixed.”

“Not yet.” He sounded tired.

She bit the end of her thumbnail, fighting the nerves. Why so many nerves? It was closure. Making things right. Finding good Karma, whatever that meant. “So I was talking to my friend, Natasha. She goes to college and she helped me get a job, but that’s not my point.” She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Who was the blubbering girl failing to articulate her reason for contacting him?