Sylvia smiled at her. “You don’t just look like her, you get all wound up like her, too!” She shook her head and considered for a moment, then went on. “I don’t know if any ghosts turned up, but I do know this: Lori showed up late here at the tavern one night. After everyone else had gone home. She was all shaken up and she asked if she could spend the night at my place, said she couldn’t go home, that Dustin—your dad—was real mad at her for something. I asked her what for, and she said it didn’t matter, that none of it mattered anymore.” Sylvia looked over at the men watching baseball stats flashing on the TV. Then she leaned in closer, lowered her voice and whispered, “Your mom, she had a few drinks here with me that night and, to be honest, she got a little tipsy. She told me that she had a secret, and I had to swear not to tell a living soul. Of course I promised. And she told me she’d found it. Hattie’s treasure. She knew just where it was, but she hadn’t dug it up yet.”

“What?” Olive nearly tipped over her Coke. “When was this? Did she say where it was? Did she dig it up?”

Sylvia smiled again. She was enjoying herself now, enjoying the reaction her story got.

“It wasn’t long before she went away. And no, she didn’t tell me where it was. I don’t know if she dug it up. Hell, I don’t even know if she really found it. You know how your mama is. Always telling stories. Especially with a few drinks in her. She likes to pull your leg, you know? See what she can make you believe.”

Olive nodded. Mama did like to fool people, to tell tall tales. She was always testing people, to see how gullible they were, what crazy story they might believe.

“Did she stay with you that night?” Olive asked.

“Yeah. But she was gone when I got up the next morning.”

“And did you see her again after that?”

Sylvia frowned, the lines around her mouth deepening like little canyons. “No. That was the last time. Like I said, it was just a day or two before she took off.”

“And you haven’t heard from her? Or heard anything about her from anyone?”

Sylvia shook her head, dangly turquoise earrings swaying. She reached up, touched one, tugged on it a little. “No.” She stared out across the room, her eyes on the glowing EXIT sign above the door. “Sometimes I think that maybe she did find it. Hattie’s treasure. I never believed it existed, but maybe it did and your mama found it and she took that money and got as far away from here as she possibly could.”