I nodded. “Yeah, how’d you know that? Most people just think it’s a pretty flower.”
“Poppies are my favorite. It’s my birth flower. It’s a weird thing to know, I know, but it was something my mom shared with me one time when we were talking about my adoption.”
“No. It’s not weird at all.” I swallowed, and the air from inside of me was sucked right out like helium in a leaky balloon.
The birth flower. The middle name. Things were becoming too much, even for a coincidence.
“When’s your birthday?” I asked, hoping her answer would rescue me from my spiraling thoughts.
“August seventh,” she responded.
But it was like I knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
The music was too loud and everyone around us seemed to be bobbing and swaying so closely that I felt like I was suffocating.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Are you good to get to Maggie by yourself? I need to run to the bathroom really quick.”
“Yeah. Sure,” she said.
I waited until she was almost to Maggie and then I turned and bolted. The world seeming to stand still, but this time, it was just me and the truth, and that was terrifying.
The public bathroom was just that; public. The last thing I needed was for someone to notice me, let alone notice me absolutely spiraling. I shifted my feet in a different direction hoping for a miracle and for once, luck was on my side. I spotted Michael near the side of the stage, watching the show.
“Michael!” I shouted.
“Hey, Scarlett. I didn’t know you were here? Does Stetson know?” A goofy grin plastered on his face.
I shook my head. “Any chance I can take you up on your offer? The one about being backstage…”
“Of course!” he said, opening the security gate that stood between us. “Stetson will be thrilled.”
“Actually, I was just hoping you could point me in the direction of a bathroom, a more private one.” I’d done well at hiding my emotions, but they were wavering and he could tell.
Michael’s eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead and his tone shifted. “Oh. Sure. There is a bathroom just behind the stage, everyone’s up there” —he pointed to the stage—“so you should be in the clear.”
Thank you, I mouthed, quickly excusing myself.
“There’s no fucking way,” I whispered while the heavy steel door slammed behind me. “But how else do you explain August seventh and Ruby Tyler?” I violently threw my head back and forth. “This can’t be happening.”
My eyes slammed shut as I tried to decide what to do next.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“George. It’s me. I need a favor.”
“All right?” he questioned through the phone. “Are you okay? I thought you were at Stetson’s show in Nashville.”
“I am, but there’s something I’m trying to figure out. Do you think you could give me Savannah’s number?”
“Um, sure. Yeah, of course. I’ll text it to you,” he offered. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“I think it will be eventually,” I admitted. “Thank you, George.”
I clicked the call off and my phone dinged with a number, the first three being the Quincey Falls area code.
“Hello?” a voice said on the other end of the line.
“Hi. Um. Is this Savannah?” I asked.
