Page 11 of Starting Anew

“Well, I’m sure I was a difficult kid to handle, too. I got into a lot of fights in school. One of my teachers really got to me when I was sixteen, and I tried to punch him. He could’ve punished me or even had me suspended. Instead, he convinced my dad to enroll me in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class. Honestly, it was the best thing anyone ever did for me.” Nathan thought back on how he used to act. His life could have turned out badly if it weren’t for that teacher who took the time to make a difference. “It turned out I had a lot of anger I needed to work out. My instructor there stuck with me, and he’s the one who gave me a referral to the job here.”

Her burger forgotten, Lynn leaned back in her chair and shook her head in amazement. “I guess it goes to show how much of a difference one person can make in someone else’s life. I’m glad you had that.”

“Me, too.” Mia had finished eating and was beginning to fidget. Nathan pushed his chair away from the table and lifted her out of the highchair before settling her in his lap. “You never did answer my question, though. About breakfast on Saturday.” He grinned when she blinked at him, and her cheeks turned pink. “You know, if you decide to wear some comfortable clothes, you could always come to the academy and try out a free class afterward.”

“I think you’d end up regretting that offer if I showed up.”

“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t.” He raised an eyebrow in challenge. He watched her face as he waited for a response, all the while hoping she’d agree.

“Breakfast, huh?”

Nathan flashed her a grin. “I’m buying.”

Lynn chuckled then as she brushed some hair away from her face. “Okay. Breakfast on Saturday sounds great.”

“Awesome. And the class?”

“The jury’s still out on that one.” Lynn smiled.

“That’s okay. I have five days to change your mind.”

~*~

Jeb had gone through his social media routine every night for more nights than he dared to count. At this moment, he was performing the usual searches while watching a show stream on television and eating a frozen dinner straight from the microwave.

He finally looked up from a particularly funny part of the show and stopped as his eyes scanned the computer screen.

Someone had shared a picture along with the post, “I may have just seen Bethany Truitt eating at a burger joint in Fort Worth.” The photo itself was terrible. It was taken from what appeared to be the drive-through and the reflections on the restaurant window made it nearly impossible to tell the person in question was even a woman.

Jeb still marked the information down in his notebook, did a specific search for Bethany in Fort Worth, and then leaned back in his chair.

He’d traveled on a less detailed possibility.

A memory nagged at him from the back of his mind. Wasn’t there an interview with Bethany back when her group first formed where she said she was from Texas?

The possibility of a connection had him setting his meal aside and leafing through one of his notebooks dedicated to all things Bethany. If he could just find that reference, he might be able to…

Aha! Not only had he written down that little detail, but he’d written the date of the interview.

Giddy with excitement, he searched online until he located a copy. Hands shaking, he started the video clip. Jeb had forgotten how much more she smiled back then compared to the interviews toward the end of her career.

Oh, there it is. He turned the volume up and leaned closer.

The reporter conducting the interview smiled. “So what’s it like to travel from town to town on tour?”

Bethany chuckled. “I have to admit, it’s taking a lot of getting used to. I’m just a small-town Texas girl. I’m not used to all of this.”

Jeb rewound the video and listened to her response three times before letting the interview finish.

Fort Worth was anything but a small town. That said, if she used to live in Texas, maybe that’s where she went back to when she quit performing. There could be any number of reasons why she chose to move to Fort Worth.

It was one of the best leads he’d had in a long, long time.

Still, the last time he took off, he’d nearly lost his job. He couldn’t risk that without more proof that Bethany might be there. For now, he’d wait and watch social media. If someone truly saw her, then another sighting was bound to occur.

He snatched up his meal, stuck it back in the microwave, and leaned against the counter with satisfaction.

“Bethany, I will find you again.”

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