Even from across the miles, her momma’s warmth filtered through the phone and wrapped around her like a blanket. “Hi, Momma.”
“Is everything okay? It’s the middle of the night where you are.”
She could picture her mom settling into the couch, pulling one of her knitted Afghan blankets around her, and settling in to chat with her. This was one of the reasons she loved talking to her mom. There was nobody else on the planet who made each and every person they spoke to feel like all their attention was on you. While it had been annoying while she was a child, now that she was older, she appreciated it more than she could say. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“You mean your brain is running a hundred miles an hour again?”
Even though it was said fondly, she could hear the concern in her mom’s voice. “Something like that. I have a work problem I was trying to figure out.”
“Ah, is there anything I can help you brainstorm?”
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my mom. Who hasn’t got the foggiest idea of computers but is happy to listen to me ramble on if it helps me work out a problem with them.“I’m not sure, Momma.” This better not backfire, but if anyone knew anything about the McKinleys, it was Momma. “Do you remember the McKinley boys from school?”
Her mom didn’t answer for a heartbeat and Jorja just knew her mom was trying to figure out why she was asking about them. But bless her, she didn’t immediately jump to any conclusions. “I do. They still live over on Oak and Sixth. I bumped into one of them shopping with their grandpa over Christmas. Such a handsome boy.”
“Are they all back living at home?”
“Oh, no, no,” her mom replied. “I believe they have a business in Europe. In Italy, I think.”
“Italy?”
“Yes. At least that’s what their momma said. Why?”
“I just need to get some information, and I think Gunnar, that’s the oldest one, right? Might be able to give it to me.” She held her breath.
“Yes, Gunnar. He got divorced a couple of years ago. I’m thinking that’s a good thing as that wife of his was running around with every man old enough to wear long pants while he was deployed,” Momma said. “He’s better off without that one, that’s for sure. All them boys are divorced now. The younger ones are Colt, Remi, and Talon. I don’t know why they got divorced, but I’m guessing it was for similar reasons to the oldest boy. Why these women marry soldiers then carry on like they aren’t married while their men are off risking their lives for our country is beyond me.”
She could tell her mom was gearing up for a rant and tried to steer her back on track. “Me too, Momma. Do you know how I can find them?”
“Why don’t you look them up on that computer of yours?”
“I tried that…”
“I suppose they are still doing that secret stuff,” her momma mused. “They have a business name. Let me see if I can find it.”
Jorja knew without being told that her mom was flipping through the notepad she kept next to the couch. Her mom wrote everything down. If she heard gossip or a tidbit of news, it went into that notebook. She’d been promising her mom that when she died, the first thing she’d dispose of would be her notebooks. While her mom loved to knowwhat was going on, she was also a vault who didn’t like to pass that information on.
“There it is.” Her mom must have found what she was looking for. “Their business is called quadruple X, that’s four X’s.”
“Isn’t that like a mint or something?”
Her mom snorted. “I said that too.” Her laugh was contagious. “Why on earth would they call a company Four X’s?”
Jorja had no idea what they’d been thinking. “Maybe one of them used XXXX as a place filler and it stuck.”
“They are boys, so that’s more than possible,” Momma agreed. “If you can’t find them with that name, call me back and I’ll phone their momma and ask her for an email or a phone number, as I know you don’t really like talking on the phone.”
“You, Momma, are a genius.” She could send Gunnar and his brothers an email. “I’m going to go see if I can find them. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Everything else is okay, right?”
“Yes, Momma, I promise.” She leaned back against the pillows; she could spare a couple of more minutes to chat with her mom.
“Good, good,” Momma replied. “Now I know you are itching to get back to work. One of my shows is about to start, so I don’t want to keep you longer than you have to spare.”
“I love you, Momma.”
“I love you too, child. Call me again soon, okay?”
