“Once I’d contacted everyone I could think of from the party…” She forges on, ignoring my admission. “I tried tracking you down at UT. It was a long shot, but I called the school asking for any student named Tyler. Of course they refused because of privacy.” She shrugs. “I spent the next year searching every graduation announcement from your school. Do you know how many Tylers there were? I looked up every single one on social media, but none were you.”
I sigh, resting my head against the back of the couch, digesting her words. “Not long after our night together, Austingot signed. I helped him and finished my degree in night classes. I graduated a bit later than expected.”
She nods at my explanation. Clearly, she really tried to find me. I marinate in this information for a minute. Then I’m struck by another thought. She swore she’d lose her mind if she stayed in Singing River. But here she is.
“So why are you here in Singing River? You seemed hell-bent on getting out of this town.”
Josie opens her mouth to speak, then closes it again. Her mouth twists to the side like she’s formulating a response. After a second, she shrugs and raises both hands, motioning around the room. “I guess you could say life happened. I needed to be back here. Raising kids is easier with family nearby. Luckily, the school was hiring an art teacher, and they hired me.” Josie pauses, her expression softening. “This town’s grown on me, though. It’s special. With age and maturity came an appreciation for what I have here. My friends got me through a lot.”
“Jo,” I say softly, pausing to blow out a long breath, “it looks like you’ve built a beautiful life for yourself and your kids.”
“Well…thank you.” She looks away, like she’s not used to compliments. “So, um”—she clears her throat—“what’s your last name? Guess that would have helped to know back then.”
“Kent. My last name is Kent.”
A full-bodied laugh erupts from Josie. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I literally called you Clark Kent and still never learned your last name.”
We chuckle at the irony of the situation.
“Jo—Josie,” I correct.
“You can call me Jo.”
Nodding, I go on. “Jo, I tried finding you, too. We were in the same boat with no last name, but I had my roommate ask around since he met more people at the party. I met exactly one person.” Our eyes catch and she doesn’t look away. “No one was willing to fess up your last name or phone number to some stranger, and a few said what I already knew. You were in Chattanoogaworking on your art. But please believe me, like you, I tried. Not hearing from you, though…well, eventually I gave up.”
My phone pings from my back pocket with a text, interrupting us. I take a look and turn it over.
“Do you need to check on that?” Jo asks, glancing at my phone and back to me.
Releasing a breath, I pick up my phone and read the text.
Austin
Come to our place when you’re done. We’re all here.
Who’s we?
Austin
Just the family.
I’ll catch up with you guys later. I might be here a while.
Austin
You still at Josie’s?
Yes.
Austin
Yeah, I’m gonna need that story.
I know damn well it’s a good one.
Setting my phone on the arm of the couch, I shift to give Jo my undivided attention. We spend the next hour filling each other in on bits and pieces of our lives over the years. We laugh about the great lengths I’ve gone to stay out of the spotlight as Austin’s manager, including retreating to the nearest corner with a book and avoiding all social media, which is why she never found me online throughout her search. I did everything I could to appear as uninteresting as possible, and it worked.
It worked so well, in fact, Jo was never able to find me again.
