the church in Whitebark when the local pastor died. Her father had a widowed aunt in Miles City, Montana, but the woman passed away while we were dating. Jenny might have had family on her mother’s side, but I never met anyone. That’s all I know.”
“Give me her physical description.”
“She was five-four, about 118 pounds, slender, with brown eyes and brown hair she wore swept back in a ponytail. She had a one-inch scar above the elbow of her left arm where she once got cut on the ice as a child. Jenny was soft-spoken.”
“Good. Were you on speaking terms with her parents?”
“No. Jenny never invited me to her home. They were very strict, but I had no idea how difficult it must have been for her until the day they closed the door on me. Do you think you can find her?”
“I could, but why not hire a private investigator yourself?”
“I sought you out because I know of the connections you have with people in that field. And I’d just feel better if you handled everything.”
“Very well. I’ve worked with a PI for years. He’ll make a search. As soon as I have any information, I’ll let you know.”
Wyatt got to his feet. “I can’t ask for more than that. Thank you very much. I gave your secretary my personal information.”
Mr. Derrick stood up and shook his hand. “I hope to have some news for you soon.”
Wyatt hoped so, too. His glance fell on a framed maxim hanging on the wall as he said goodbye and left the office.
While we are postponing, life speeds by.
—Seneca 3BC–65AD.
Life was speeding by.
During Wyatt’s ride to the airport in a taxi, he realized he should have seen about this problem plaguing him long before now. But at least he’d finally done something positive.
Perhaps the attorney wouldn’t be able to learn anything, but for the first time since Jenny’s parents had closed the door in his face, he had hope. Depending on what he learned, he’d confide in his grandfather, but until he had more information he’d keep this to himself.
An hour later he was winging his way back to Jackson Hole to pick up his car in the short-term parking and drive home to the ranch in Whitebark.
* * *
“HEY, MOM, HOW are you?” Alex Dorney was walking around her small Manhattan apartment getting ready to leave on another business trip.
“Well, I’m fine. How lucky to hear from my long-lost daughter!”
“Long-lost is right. I’m sorry, but I was knee-deep finishing up another deadline for the magazine when I was in Florida.”
“Since you’re back, come on home this weekend. We’ve missed you.”
Her family, including her married brother, Jeff, and his wife, Natalie, lived in Union, New Jersey. Alex’s father was the provost at the university there. Her parents’ home was only a half-hour drive from Alex’s apartment, but it might as well have been ten hours for the amount of time she’d been able to spend with her folks.
“I wish I could, but I’m all packed and leaving from JFK in a couple of hours to do another story.”
“Oh, no, honey. You never take a break these days.”
“I like work. Mr. Goff is a great boss who gives me the latitude to do stories as I see them.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but it’s not an answer. When are we going to see you next?”
“I didn’t mean to sound flippant.”
“I know, but I’m a mother who has the right to worry about you.”
Alex knew her parents had been concerned since her broken engagement. But that had been five years ago!
Her mom suffered because there was no man in her daughter’s life, but Alex didn’t care about that anymore. Not since her fiancé had told her she was too needy and ought to do something with her life besides wait around for him.
Ken Iverson had been six years older than Alex’s twenty-two. He was a corporate attorney in a growing local law firm. He’d just gotten back from being out of town and had flung the stinging rebuke at her during a heated moment when she’d asked how soon they should set their wedding date.
His words had burned into her brain. After saying she was going to take his advice, she’d removed the diamond ring he’d given her and gotten out of his car.
Once she was inside her parents’ home, she’d backed up against the closed door, vowing never to be accused of that again. He’d followed her from the car, but no amount of pleading on his part could get her to open it or crack the ice around her heart. She was so done it was scary.
“Where are you off to this time?”
“Colorado, then Wyoming.”
“Interesting. I’ve never been to Wyoming.”
“Nor I. The boss calls it flyover country.”
“Everyone has said that for as long as I can remember. What are you working on? Is it more exciting than my latest project?”
“Indubitably. Your stuff is dull as dust,” Alex teased, though it was the truth. Her mother wrote for different software companies who needed her technical expertise to describe their products. She was fabulous at it. “No offense intended, Mom.”
Her mother chuckled. “No offense taken.”
“When I get there and am settled into some saloon where they rent rooms upstairs, I’ll call and run it by you.”
“Wouldn’t that be funny, if there was such a place these days?”
“Very funny, Mom. I’ve got quite a bit of digging to do before I begin writing this one, and I don’t want to listen to the drunks below living it up after riding into town on their trusty steeds.”
“Maybe you should do a magazine spread on the Wild West of today.”
Alex laughed. She loved her mom, who had a great sense of humor. “I can promise that Rockwell Food Business Magazine won’t be putting out an article like that anytime soon.”
“With you on board, who knows?”
Another chuckle escaped. As a student, besides garnering many awards, Alex had been given the NYU Business and Economic Reporting scholarship by the New York Financial Writers Association. The merit-based competition had been open to any graduate or undergraduate student in the New York tristate area who’d been interested in business journalism.
In time, she’d been taken on as a featured writer for the prestigious Rockwell Magazine. One of her major objectives was to stay ahead of shifting national consumer purchasing patterns and attitudes. Many CEOs
