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He shakes his head.“Makes sense.I hope you find her.”
“Me too.”As I step away, I glance back.“And I hope you get your complicated stuff figured out.”
“Thanks.”Kent doesn’t ask me not to say anything about his situation, but it’s understood.
We’d never been especially close, but he’s always been level-headed and focused.That’s why I asked his advice.I’m glad I did.
So much forwaiting until midweek.On Monday evening, I park in front of Ingrid’s place.There is a car parked in the driveway, and I hurry to the door, eager to get in contact with Bottle Caps.Or to at least learn her name.
After knocking, I shove my hands in my pockets and wait.
When a door creaks close by, I force myself not to roll my eyes.The neighbors here don’t miss anything.But this time, it’s a different neighbor, and she’s making her way over.
“Evening.I was just—”
“Mildred told me about you.You’re here for Jasmine, but she moved.Ingrid’s gone for a few days.I’m watering her plant.”She nods toward a potted plant on the porch that has seen better days.I’m no horticulturist, but most plants aren’t brown.
But I have a name!Jasmine.Not Jazzy.It all makes sense now.“If I leave a message with you, could you get it to Jasmine for me?”
“Best I can do is give a message to Ingrid when she gets back.”She holds out a notepad.The woman came prepared.“You seem like a nice young man.”
“I do my best.”I scrawl out my name and number, then add a note about wanting to meet again.“Thanks.”After folding the paper in half, I hand it back.
She unfolds it and reads what I wrote.“I’ll pass it along.”
I tip my hat.“Much appreciated.Have a nice evening.”
“You do the same.”She pads back to her house, her slippers slapping the ground.
Now I wait and hope my message gets to Jasmine.
I consider myself a patient man,but after a week, every last ounce of my patience has been used up.Maybe if I talk to Ingrid directly, my message will make its way to Jasmine.
In my gut, I know she wouldn’t ignore my message.But since I only spent a short time with her, it’s possible my gut is wrong.One more attempt at trying to contact her will hopefully let me know what’s true.
When I pull up in front of Jasmine’s old house, discouragement wallops me like a kangaroo in attack mode.There is a rental sign in the front yard.Bare windows expose the empty interior.I’m too late.
In the past, I’ve been dumped, ghosted, and ignored, but this level of disappointment is new.Sitting in my truck, I shift into gear.A car pulls into the neighbor’s driveway, and I slam the truck back into park.
One more short conversation with the neighbor who promised to deliver a message may help me make contact with Ingrid.Then I can ask about Jasmine.
The neighbor spots me as I walk across the lawn, and sprints toward her front door.But it’s an old-lady type sprint, which is about as fast as a wiener dog dragging a large tree limb.
“Ma’am, we spoke the other day.Do you have a second?”
She stops with her hand on the doorknob and slowly turns to face me.“Before I was able to deliver the note, I spilled some sauce on it accidentally.I wiped it off, but my dog sniffed it out and ate the paper.When I spoke to Ingrid, I couldn’t remember your name, but I told her a man stopped by asking about Jasmine.”
“Is there any way I can contact Ingrid?”
She shakes her head.“We weren’t close.I only watered the plants on her porch for her because I feel guilty when plants die.I only knew their names because mail was sometimes misdelivered to my house.”The woman’s eyes widen.“Please don’t tell them that.”
“Seeing as how I have no way to contact them, my telling them isn’t something you need to worry about.”I tip my hat.“Have a nice evening.”
“Young man, I am sorry.Scolded my dog and told him how disappointed you’d be.Jasmine looked like a nice girl.”
“Yeah.”After two steps, I remember my manners.“Thanks for trying.”
Now that all chances of connecting with Jasmine have been exhausted, I need to figure out a way to stop thinking about her.
