“Mom, I want you to meet Ivy Perkins,” Ezra said.

Ivy looked from Ezra to his mother. “Mom? I thought you said I was meeting your broker.”

“He hates telling people his broker is his mother,” the woman said, laughing. She took both of Ivy’s hands in hers. “I’m Carlette Wheeler. And I’ve been dying to meet you, Ivy.”

Chapter 22

Lawrence Jones struggled to his feet. “Did you say your name is Carlette?” His voice cracked with emotion.

Ivy felt a tingle travel down her spine.

“That’s right.”

Lawrence seemed to sway slightly on his feet and she reached out an arm to steady the older man.

“Are you … are you from around here?” he croaked.

Carlette Wheeler seemed taken aback by the question. “My father’s people were from Tarburton. But after he was killed in action in Vietnam, my mother and I moved away. She remarried a couple years later. I only moved back to the area recently, after Ezra convinced me to open a brokerage in Asheville.”

The old man blinked rapidly. “Your son’s name is Ezra?” He coughed and his grip tightened on Ivy’s arm. “You don’t hear that name very often these days.”

“Tell me about it,” Ezra said. “I was always the only Ezra in my class.”

“I didn’t want you to be just another Jason or Jeremy or Justin,” Carlette said. “So I named you—”

“After your father’s father,” Lawrence said softly.

Carlette Wheeler stared at the old man. “How could you know that?”

Ivy felt his hand trembling beneath her own. “Your father’s name was Everett Jones. He was an Eagle Scout. He sang baritone and he played shortstop in high school. And he had red hair. Just like yours.”

Carlette’s hand flew to her head. She removed the hat and shook her hair loose. The auburn mane was shot through with silver. “I don’t understand.”

Lawrence Jones staggered as his legs seemed to collapse beneath him. Ezra caught him before he hit the ground, easily transferring him to the bench, where he sat beside him. “Are you all right?” He looked up at Ivy. “Should we call an ambulance or something?”

“No,” Lawrence said. He clutched Ezra’s arm, searching his face. “I’m not having a heart attack. I’m having…” He shook his head numbly and nodded at Ivy.

“I think Lawrence is probably in shock,” she told Carlette. “How old are you?”

“Me? I’m fifty-seven. Why?”

“Let me ask you another question,” Ivy said. “Do you remember going to see Santa Claus? Right here in Tarburton, when you were a little girl?”

Carlette hesitated and then nodded, looking off across the square with a faraway expression. “Mama and I moved here while Daddy was in Vietnam. I think we were only here for a year or two. We lived in my grandparents’ house, because Granddaddy’s job transferred him somewhere on the West Coast. I remember that Christmas, Mama was so sad all the time. I didn’t know it at the time, but she’d gotten word that Daddy was missing in action. Anyway, I can remember I had a beautiful dress, red plaid, I think, that my grandmother had made for me. Mama took me to this department store to see their Santa Claus. Ezra tells me the store’s been closed for years.”