Page 6 of Letter for Two
Sophia settled into the corner, warming to the topic. “I’m going to guess she was your older sister.”
“How did you know?”
“Becauseyoungerbrothers are the worst.”
He grinned. “You have a younger brother, I'm assuming."
Sophia nodded dramatically. They talked about their families and childhoods. Dinner arrived, and they kept talking all the way through their meal. He got along with his family. He didn’t badmouth people. Sophia liked that about him. He was the kind of person you felt comfortable with, safe. He didn’t seem likely to rip into a person behind their back, and he was proving easy to get along with.
As they finished off the last of the moo goo gai pan, Ethan told her about the first time he administered an IV and how hethought he was going to pass out. She loved hearing his laugh and seeing him smile. Not only because he was ridiculously handsome, but also because she knew that he was enjoying their time together as much as she was. Maybe she should quit pretending she saw him only as a friend. Maybe she should try actually flirting, being more obvious that she was interested.
Ethan pushed his plate away and nodded toward her laptop. “Guess we better get to work finding Eleanor.”
And just like that, they were back to business. She hoped he was hanging around for more than the mystery they were solving. She almost asked him. Almost. But she wasn’t that brave.
Sophia threw herself into the search, trying not to think about how lopsided their interest in each other might very well be. The county assessor’s site was up, but no matter how they searched, they couldn’t find any historical information. Maybe it simply wasn’t available.
They ran at least a dozen Google searches, trying their address and the year, the street name and “Eleanor,” anything that came to mind. Nothing panned out.
Sophia set her feet up on the coffee table, the computer on her lap, trying everything she could think of to find the names of the people who lived in their house seventy years earlier. “This is going to be harder than we thought.”
Ethan didn’t answer. She looked over at him, and her heart fluttered just a bit. He was asleep, curled a little bit into the corner of the couch. He looked cute even sleeping. She pulled a light lap blanket out of the storage ottoman and spread it over him. She’d wake him up eventually, but after hearing of the long, difficult hours he’d put in the past three days, she couldn’t bear to now.
Sophia sat in the armchair and continued searching for Eleanor, though her eyes wandered to Ethan more than once.She liked him more than she should have, especially not knowing how he felt. Maybe it was a good thing that finding Eleanor was proving difficult. The longer it took, the more time they’d have together. Perhaps she’d convince Ethan she was whathewas looking for.
Chapter Four
The next afternoon, Ethan made himself a sandwich and sat at the table on the porch. Fall was the best time of year in Phoenix. The days were finally cool enough to sit outside in the shade. The nights were perfect.
Mrs. Garcia walked past with her daughter. Ethan waved to them.
“Lovely day, isn’t it?” Mrs. Garcias called out to him.
“Perfect.”
She was the neighborhood grandmother and treated everyone like her grandchildren. She had to be in her mid-eighties. Her daughter had moved back from Detroit a couple of years earlier to help take care of her. From what Ethan had learned over the years, the Garcia family had been in Phoenix before Phoenix even existed.
The ladies came slowly up the walk. Ethan got out of his chair and offered it and the other patio chair to them. He took a seat on the front steps.
“Any luck with that pretty friend of yours?” Mrs. Garcia was well aware of his interest in Sophia— this wasn’t the first visit they’d had on the front porch.
“I think so,” he said. “We’ve had dinner together the last two nights.”
Mrs. Garcia nodded her approval. “But have you kissed her yet?”
Mrs. Garcia’s daughter gave her mother a scolding look, but Ethan couldn’t take offense.
“I’m working up to that. I don’t even know if she’s into me yet.”
“Kiss her good, and you’ll find out soon enough.” Mrs. Garcia looked absolutely convinced of her strategy. Ethan, however, was certain it wasn’t the best.
“Anything interesting happen lately?” Mrs. Garcia’s daughter asked. Ethan realized he didn’t know her actual name. Everyone called her “Mrs. Garcia’s daughter.”
“Sophia and I got a letter,” he said. “To this address, without apartment A or B, addressed to someone named Eleanor. We couldn’t make out the last name or the return address. The postmark is from 1966. We’ve been trying to figure out who she was and if there’s any way to get it to her.”
“’66?” Mrs. Garcia’s daughter repeated. “I was a toddler, so I’m not much help.”
“The Bartletts lived here in ’66.” Mrs. Garcia’s mind was sharp as ever.
