Page 227 of The Bluffing Game

“Has Brett made any headway?”

“I’m not sure. I spoke to Dalton about it recently and haven’t had any updates. I’ll ask him tonight when I see him. Thank you, Rosie, for being so understanding.”

“You know I’ve always got you. Shit, do I need to become an investigator myself to find him for you so he can see what he’s been missing out on? Oh my gosh, what if your dad is Bill Gates?”

“My dad is not Bill Gates.” I start laughing. “I look nothing like Bill Gates.”

“I know, but isn’t he, like, one of the richest men in the world? Wouldn’t that be so cool if your dad was a billionaire?”

“That would be cool. Come on,” I say as I stand up. “Let’s get going.”

We walk out of the break room and pass the bar. Jimmy the Fish is working.

“Hey, girls,” he says, gracing us with a small smile.

“Hey, Jimmy,” Rosie says as she goes ahead of me.

“Hey, Sage. I was meaning to ask you something.” He leans forward on the bar, his eyes taking in my face.

“If it’s about Dalton, I’m not going to talk about it,” I say.

His expression changes. “Sorry, what?”

“If you’re asking if anything is going on between Dalton and me, I don’t know if people are talking or …”

“No, no, that’s not it. Not at all. You just⁠—”

He looks like he’s tongue-tied and shakes his head. His eyes stare into mine as if he’s searching for something, and for a few moments, I’m nervous that he’s going to ask me out, but then I know I’m being ridiculous because Jimmy has never shown any interest in me or ever looked at me in a way that would make me think he was interested in dating me.

“Is everything okay, Jimmy?” I step toward the bar. “You look like you are a little flustered.”

“I just heard some things. I spoke to Brett recently.”

“Oh, okay. About my birth dad? I didn’t realize he’d told you.”

“Yeah, I guess, seeing as I’ve lived in town most of my life and know a lot of the guys, and, well, it seems like he thinks I might possibly know your dad.” He shrugs. “I was just curious what you know about him.”

“Nothing much,” I say, smiling. “Just what my mom said, and she didn’t really know him. She wanted to keep things on the down-low, I suppose.”

“Whoever this man was, he wasn’t really looking for anything but a couple of nights, or maybe he was a dangerous man, and he just wanted to keep your mom safe, you know?” he says.

“Yeah, I guess, perhaps. I don’t know. I guess maybe I’ll find out. It would be cool if you knew him though. If it turns out that you do know him, I’m going to come to you for all the details, okay?”

“Yeah,” he grunts. “You can do that. Anyway, I should get working on these two Bloody Marys. They’re not going to make themselves. You and your sister have a great evening.”

“Thanks, Jimmy. I’ll see you later.”

I head to the front of the restaurant, where Rosie’s waiting, and she smiles at me.

“So, any good tea?”

“From who, Jimmy?”

“I don’t know. He likes to gossip with the best of them.”

“No, he was just saying that Brett asked him a couple of questions because he’s lived in town so long and there’s a possibility he might know who my birth dad is.”

“Oh, cool,” Rosie says. “Well, I hope Brett gets the answers you need. Are you going to see him anytime soon?” she adds coyly. “Hey, a girl’s got to ask.”