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stopped being stubborn. I wanted to hear her voice. So I called her. I had the number of her cellular. Left her a message, but she didn’t get back to me. I did that a few times, leaving messages. She never answered. I figured, when her phone rang, she could tell it was me and was still being stubborn. So I stopped trying for a while. Figured I could be as stubborn as her.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t, though. Nobody’s as stubborn as Cassie. So I started calling again. Tried to keep my messages light, you know, even though my heart was thumpin’ in my chest, just prayin’ I’d say the right thing and she’d call me back. ‘Hi, honey,’ I’d say. ‘How you doin’? I know you’re probably pretty busy and all, but maybe you could give your old daddy a call if you get a chance, okay?’ ” He shrugged. “She ain’t done it yet.” He shrugged. “A year and a half.”
    â€œThat’s pretty rough,” I said. I was thinking of my own two boys, Billy and Joey, and how crazy it would make me if they refused to talk to me.
    Moze stared down at the floor. “A year and a half, Brady,” he said softly. “That’s a long time for an old man.” He sighed. “Okay, so anyway, I tried calling her again the other night—the night before I called you—and I was going to just spill it all out, the hell with keeping it light. I was going to tell her I hoped to hell she was okay, and if I’d done something or said something to upset her, make her mad, I was sorry, but that was a long time ago and it was time to make things right again between us. I was going to ask her please to call me back, tell her I missed her something fierce, but then this recorded voice comes on, tells me her mailbox is full, so I can’t even tell her what I want to tell her.”
    â€œThat was the first time her mailbox was full?”
    He nodded.
    â€œWhen was the last time you tried her that you were able to leave a message?”
    He shut his eyes for a moment. “Three weeks, maybe a month ago.”
    â€œAnd you find it worrisome.”
    â€œI guess I do,” he said. “I sure do miss her, but mainly, I just want to know she’s all right.”
    â€œYou want me to find out what’s going on, is that it?”
    â€œIt ain’t fair to ask you.”
    â€œUncle Moze,” I said, “I’m a lawyer. I’m pretty good at finding things out. And besides, I live pretty close to Madison. That’s what you were thinking, right?”
    â€œI guess I was.”
    I looked at him. “So why now?”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œIt’s been a year and a half since you talked with Cassie, you said. Why did you wait ’til now to talk to me? Is it because her voice-mail box was full?”
    He shrugged. “I s’pose. I can’t even leave her a message. It makes me think something’s happened to her. Makes me miss her even more. I need to talk with her, Brady. In the worst way. It’s eatin’ me up. I feel like I’ve got to clear the air. Make things right with her. Apologize for anything I might’ve said. I want us to be in touch again, talk on Sunday nights, maybe get together once in a while, meet her husband, have dinner or something, you know? I can’t hardly stand being on the outs with her like this.”
    â€œHave you tried calling the dentist’s house?”
    He nodded. “I finally did. I didn’t want to. Didn’t feel like talking to that dentist if I didn’t have to. But when I found Cassie’s voice-mail box full, I did it. I called his house. This was the day I called you. It’s what decided me to give you a call.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œThe dentist answered the phone,” he said. “I was hoping it would be Cassie, but it was him. Hurley. Richard Hurley’s his name. I said I wanted to talk to