Signs Point to Yes (8 page)

“It really wasn't anything.”

“No, but it was,” Jane said, looking him in the eye.

He turned away a little. “Anytime,” he said. He waved over his shoulder and slipped out the back door.

Jane gazed after him for a second, thinking about how she could show him her appreciation.

Piper came over and pulled on Jane's hand. “We're hungry,” she said.

Jane knelt down. “I know, buddy. How about you guys clean up the golf course and I'll get lunch ready so we can go to story time?”

“Okay,” Piper said, skipping off. “You guys, it's time to clean up!”

In the middle of story time, as Jane was sitting in a child-size chair reading
People
magazine, it hit her. She knew exactly how she could help Teo—she would find his dad for him.

She was practically an Internet expert, thanks to all her fandom experience. You learn a lot of tricks about searching when you're desperate for your next fan fiction fix. Particularly when the fan fiction you read is a little off center. She wasn't a SuperWhoLock or something.

Jane wanted to give Teo a hand. It was the least she could do, considering how much he had already helped with the girls—and it was barely two weeks into summer.

This would be a great way to thank him.

 

Chapter 8

Jane spent the next week trying to find hints and clues about Teo's parentage somewhere in the house. She felt weird about snooping, but she told herself she wouldn't dig too deep. She would just look around, superficially.

But after several days of glancing into drawers and peeking in photo albums, she had to give in and take a look through the filing cabinet in the family office in the hope of finding Teo's birth certificate. She needed confirmation of his dad's name. There was no other choice in the matter. She comforted herself with the idea that birth certificates were public record, even though she had no clue whether that was true.

It so happened that on Wednesday afternoon, the twins were out on a playdate and Keegan was playing happily by herself in the basement. Jane took the opportunity as it was presented to her.

She tiptoed into the study under the pretext of running upstairs to get drinks for Keegan and herself. There was a tall filing cabinet in there that Jane hoped would hold the answers she was looking for.

She pulled open the top drawer and was relieved to find that the Garcia-Buchanans were the kind of family who labeled their files. Some of the folders were labeled in Buck's handwriting and some in Connie's. She focused on the latter but still ended up having to go through every drawer to find what she was looking for.

Of course, the drawers were the loudest, squeakiest drawers on earth, and she was already imagining the made-for-TV movie that would be made about her:
Telltale Filing Cabinet: The Jane Connelly Story
. She needed to be quieter or Keegan would come to investigate.

In the bottom drawer she hit the jackpot. There was Teo's birth certificate.

Jose Rodriguez
, it read on the line for father's name. Jane wondered for a second whether it was a fake name. She made sure to note the hospital where Teo was born, then slid the drawer closed. She ran back downstairs and was out of breath when she threw herself onto the sectional sofa.

Keegan looked over at her from where she had set up a hair salon for all of the girls' dolls. “Where are our drinks?” she asked.

“Oh, duh,” Jane said, still breathless. “I forgot.”

“What were you doing up there?”

“I was texting my friend.”

“Why were there so many drawers opening and shutting?”

“What are you, a detective?”

Keegan laughed. “No,” she said.

“I'll go get us those drinks.”

Jane spent the rest of the afternoon trying to search on her phone for information on finding biological parents, but she kept losing the Wi-Fi signal. It didn't help that almost all the information had to do with finding biological parents of people who'd been adopted. Jane wasn't sure whether that information could really help in Teo's situation.

Since Jane didn't have any background in solving mysteries, she decided to talk to her Magic 8 Ball while streaming multiple episodes of
Veronica Mars
.

“Does Teo's dad want to be found?” she asked the Magic 8.

Don't count on it
, it said.

“Hmm,” Jane said. “That's not exactly a firm no. I shouldn't count on it, so I won't. What do you think, Veronica?”

Veronica obviously didn't answer, so Jane went back to the Magic 8.

“Can I find Teo's dad?”

Most likely
, it said.

“Should I start somewhere besides the Internet?”

It is decidedly so.

“But where?”

The ball couldn't answer questions that didn't have yes-or-no responses, so Jane was left to figure that one out on her own.

She sat down and made a list of who might know anything about Teo's dad.

1. Connie

2. Buck

The list didn't get any longer that night because her favorite
Veronica Mars
episode came on and Jane decided to give it her full attention.

For research, of course.

The next morning, she didn't wake up thinking about Teo; instead, she woke up with an answer. There was someone who probably knew at least a little more than she did about Teo's dad, and they just so happened to live in the same house. Her mom might be able to help.

It was risky, but potentially worth it in the long run. It was all about making the right approach and asking the right questions to get the answers she needed.

The problem was that these days any conversation she had with her mother could potentially spiral into yet another argument about college. Jane had gotten really good at avoiding her mother entirely. But an argument with her mom might be worth it to help Teo.

It was Saturday morning, so Jane didn't have to run off to babysit. She found her mom in the backyard, pulling weeds from the rock garden.

Jane was about to sit down in one of the patio chairs but then thought better of it. She meandered across the yard and knelt down in the grass next to her mom.

“So which ones are we yanking and which ones are we saving?” Jane asked.

Her mom looked at her doubtfully. “Well, I would highly recommend not yanking the ones with flowers.”

“What about this one? This is a weed, right?”

“It is! Good girl,” her mom said.

“I'm positive that you're not supposed to talk to your kids like they're dogs.”

Her mom smiled and pulled a weed.

Jane pulled a weed, sucked in a deep breath, and dove in. “I've been thinking a lot lately about Connie.”

“About what exactly?” Her mom leaned back on her haunches and looked at Jane appraisingly.

“I don't want to be nosy, but I really, really can't help being curious about Teo's dad.”

“Oh.” Her mom nodded and pursed her lips.

“I guess I wondered if you ever met him.”

“Have you talked to Teo about his father?”

“It hasn't come up.” Jane licked her lips. “The girls were missing Buck the other day when he was away on business, and I guess it got me thinking about Teo's dad. What happened there?”

“Their lives aren't a soap opera for you to enjoy, Jane.”

“Oh, I know. It's just that maybe if I knew a little bit more, I might know when to tread lightly with certain topics.”

“That's very thoughtful of you, Jane,” her mom said. “I have to admit I don't know much.”

“It's fine, no big deal.” But she knew that she'd hit the right tone when her mother continued.

“Connie and I bonded over being pregnant with you and Teo more than anything else. She was wary of telling people too much. I know she was happy that her aunt was so supportive.”

“Her aunt?”

“Yeah, don't you remember Connie's aunt Marta? They lived with her until Marta went into assisted living right around the time Connie and Buck got married.”

“Is Aunt Marta still alive?”

“Yes. I think they all go to see her at least once a month.”

“But that's Connie's aunt? Not anyone from Teo's dad's side of the family?”

“No, I don't know of anyone from Teo's dad's side. Really, Janie, this isn't something Connie and I talked about much. She didn't want anything to do with him for whatever reason.” Her mom started digging into the bed with more vigor.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I do understand your curiosity,” she said, glancing at Jane.

“You do?”

Her mom shrugged. “Of course. When you start to spend time with a family like that on a daily basis, you learn a lot about them—more than you would have otherwise.”

Jane nodded, relief flooding through her. Now she just had to make her getaway, and she could chalk this whole conversation up to a success. The end was in sight.

“Thanks, Mom. Now I feel like I won't blurt out the wrong question at the wrong moment.” Jane had already stood up when her mother turned to look at her, shading her eyes from the sun.

“I do feel like I have to point something out.”

“What?” Jane asked, even though she
knew
it was a trick.

“Connie hasn't had it easy. Do you remember when you were little and Teo would come over in the evenings while Connie finished her undergrad degree?”

“Maybe?” Jane said. “I'm not sure.”

“She's worked very hard. She's really a role model.”

“She is,” Jane agreed, looking longingly toward the house, hopeful that if she played along for one more second, she could make her escape.

“And maybe you need to keep her mind when making your own decisions.”

Jane huffed out a frustrated breath.

“I'm serious, Janie. Don't put off your education. Do you really want to have to go to college the way Connie did? At night, after work.”

“But I don't even know if a traditional four-year college is really for me,” Jane said quietly.

“It's for everyone,” her mother said, standing up and wiping her brow with the back of her wrist. “You have absolutely no reason not to go, and I don't understand why you're so stubborn about it.”

“Maybe if you let me explain,” Jane said.

Her mother crossed her arms. “Explain.”

But this wasn't right. This wasn't the moment. Jane didn't have any of her ideas laid out in her head. She had only prepared for the first part of the conversation, not the inevitable second part.

She should have a PowerPoint presentation and index cards. That would be a way to get her mom's attention. Then she might see that while Jane didn't want to go to college, at least she had a plan.

“Not right this second.”

“When, Jane? Every time this comes up, you act like you have something better to do. You run away and hide in your room. Isn't it time to face this topic?”

“Why can't we ever talk about something else?”

“Because you need to make some decisions,” her mother said, her voice rising to a volume that scared a nearby squirrel.

“It's too hard.”

“What is too hard?” Her mother's eyes were steely, and Jane knew there was nothing she could say at this point that would make her mother listen.

“It's too hard to explain it right now.”

Her mother's expression said,
I told you so
.

Jane wiped her hands on her shorts. “I do have a plan. It's just not ready yet.”

“Well, I'll be waiting to hear all about it.”

Jane walked away, hating the way her mother had spoken to her, like she was a child and they were discussing Jane's letter to Santa. Next time she would be ready.

 

Chapter 9

The Fourth of July was one of Jane's favorite holidays. There was a huge all-day block party on her street, and then the neighbors would watch the fireworks together at the pool. But this year was a little disappointing.

Jane was at a weird, in-between age. She was too old to participate in the little-kid games, but she hadn't made any plans outside the neighborhood, not having realized that all the kids her age had other things to do, like barbecues with friends or a day at the beach. Margo was one of those people who had plans with friends. She'd invited Jane to go with her, but Jane didn't feel much like tagging along.

She perked up a bit when she ran into Connie as they were setting out the food at the block party.

“Hello, Jane! Gorgeous day,” Connie said.

Jane nodded in agreement. “Is Teo going to make an appearance?” She did her best to sound casual, but Teo's presence could definitely turn the day around for her.

“Oh, he had to work. But he should be home later. The pool closes around five or six so they can get ready for the fireworks.”

Jane felt her hopes of a fun Fourth of July deflate.

Hours later she sat at a picnic table by herself, consuming a large plate of chocolate chip cookies and contemplating her next fan fiction plot. It might involve Eleven taking Veronica Mars to back to 1776 for some convoluted mystery solving. She just needed to figure out why the Doctor would care about American history, being British and all. But she wouldn't know until she tried.

Testing out that plot sounded better than hanging out at the block party for even one more minute. She polished off the last cookie and was about to stand up when Teo straddled the bench next to her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she said, brushing crumbs off her shirt and praying that she didn't have chocolate on her mouth. “I thought you weren't going to be home until six.”

“Checking up on me?” he asked.

“For sure. I want to make sure you don't drown.”