The following day, Jennifer tried calling her mother’s cousin, Arthur Teddington. She knew he was a caretaker at a school in Dallas, so she got up early to call him, setting an alarm to wake her. But there was no answer at his house. She tried his cell phone and it kept going to voicemail. It was driving her mad. In despair, she called her mother.
“He probably switched if off at school,” Angela said. “You’ll have to wait until he gets home.”
Jennifer went to town, whiling away the time by looking around in the shops. She didn’t want to spend any money but in the end, decided to have her hair done at the local salon. She had a few hours to kill before she could call Arthur again and she decided to have a proper blowout.
“What’s it like in New York City?” the hairdresser, a local woman, asked, barely able to contain her curiosity. “I’ve always wanted to visit but, you know…” her voice trailed away.
Jennifer did know, though. Life had a way of throwing a spanner in one’s plans. She had plans to go to college, but here she was, spending all her money looking for Joanne. Even though something serious might have happened to her, Jennifer had a feeling it was nothing like that at all. Joanne had always been impulsive and emotional, inclined to make decisions without thinking them through. She often changed her mind, about everything from her favorite color to the kind of man she wanted to be dating.
In the late afternoon, Jennifer went back to her motel room and tried calling Arthur again. When she could not get hold of him in the evening again, she rung her mother for his physical address. She was not going to waste another day. She was going to go to Dallas and talk to him herself. And Sean Perry was going to take her. He had offered to help her, and she might as well take him up on it, there was no need to make any more of it. She had to stop this silly romantic nonsense. He was having a bit of fun, but it was time to put a stop to it. She had to find Joanne and go back home, get her life on track.
She called Sean in the evening and arranged for him to pick her up early the next morning. He did not seem surprised to hear from her. As soon as she mentioned that she wanted to go to Dallas, he immediately offered to take her to the city.
“I am convinced that Arthur holds the key to what happened to Joanne,” Jennifer said.
“Then we must find him,” Sean agreed.
Before they said goodbye, he added, “See you tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Don’t,” Jennifer said quickly. “This is about Joanna. Let’s keep it simple, okay?”
“Okay,” Sean said after a moment’s hesitation.
She was up early the next morning, and she was ready when she saw the lights of Sean’s truck swing into the parking lot. She got in and Sean smiled at her.
“I like your hair,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
Jennifer bit her lip. “Listen, Sean, this has got to stop.”
Sean pretended not to know what she was talking about. “What?
"The flirting, the kissing…no more, please? I want to find my sister, not have a fling with an ex-party cowboy wannabe."
Sean sat back in his seat. “Ouch,” he said.
Jennifer wondered if perhaps she had been too harsh. But Sean was quiet for the rest of the trip, and she was relieved to see that he seemed to drop his flirtatious manner. As soon as they arrived on the outskirts of the city, Jennifer gave him the address and Sean seemed to know where to go.
Her mother told her that Arthur was married to a woman named Catalina. They had two sons, Aaron and George, both grown up. At around mid-morning, they arrived at an old, weather-beaten house with a tidy garden. They got out and went up to the house.
An older woman opened the door. “Are you Mrs. Catalina Teddington?” Jennifer asked. “My name is Jennifer Keys, my mother Angela is Arthur’s cousin? This is my…uhm…friend, Sean. ”
Catalina immediately invited her inside and offered them a cup of tea. Jennifer explained about her sister's disappearance, and Catalina shook her head.
“Nasty business, nasty,” she repeated. “Arthur told me about your mother calling, asking him to go over there, checkin’ up on her. But he didn’t find out anything.”
She said he had dropped his mobile phone, breaking it, and that was why she had not been able to get hold of him. He was at work now, of course, but he would be back for lunch, Catalina said. Jennifer and Sean decided to wait for him.
“I’m sorry about all this,” Jennifer said to Sean. “It’s going to take all day, I think. I’m keeping you from the farm.”
Sean nodded curtly.
Jennifer felt she had to apologize. “Sorry, about what I said.”
Sean shook his head. “That is what you think of me, you don’t have to apologize for that.”
“I didn’t have to put it quite like that though,” Jennifer conceded.
Sean gave a rueful smile. “I suppose you’re not all wrong. But it does sound kind of unattractive when you say it like that.”
Jennifer looked down. There was nothing unattractive about Sean Perry. But it was the last thing she could say to him, now that she finally had gotten him to behave more properly towards her.
Around one o'clock, they heard the front door close and a man's voice in the kitchen. Shortly afterward, Arthur came into the living room. "Jennifer! How long have you been waiting?"
She had not seen her uncle in some time and they hugged.
“I don’t know what more I can tell you,” Arthur said, after he had a sandwich and some coffee. “I picked her up from the airport and took her to town, that was it. Nothing happened.”
Jennifer leaned forward, “Did she say anything to you about getting married?”
Arthur looked at Sean.
Sean got up. “I’m going outside for a bit. Please don’t mind me.”
As soon as he was gone, Arthur said in a low voice. “She wasn’t sure about him. I told her marriage was for a long time, asked her if she was ready. She said she still loved her other guy. I said then marrying another was a mistake.”
Jennifer said, “What other guy?”
She tried to remember his name. “Was he called Ken?”
Arthur nodded, “I think so. She said to me she had only started up with this farmer to get him jealous, but when that didn’t seem to work, she thought about marrying him to get away.”
He muttered, “Uh-huh. I said to her, this is a mistake you’re making’.”
“And then what?”
Arthur thought back and recalled that they had made one stop for gas and that Joanne had made a phone call.
“I dunno who she’s talkin’ to. Couldn’t hear. But after that, she was quiet.”
Jennifer leaned forward and hugged him.
“Thanks so much, Uncle Arthur!”
Then she rushed out to get Sean.
“I think I know where Joanne is!” Jennifer rushed outside, excited about her sudden revelation. Sean turned to her, his eyes lighting up and Jennifer stopped short of jumping into his arms.