Page 84 of Three-Inch Teeth

They were in Marybeth’s office in the Twelve Sleep County Library. Marybeth was seated behind the desk and Joe had taken the hardback chair across from her. His hat was crown-down on a side table and he’d come to fill her in on everything that had happened that morning and to find out what she’d heard as well. The door was closed and Marybeth had disconnected with Sheridan just a few minutes before.

For Joe, it was the last bit of information he would have dreamed of receiving at the moment, and he felt like he’d been gut-punched.

“She goes by Katy Cotton now,” Marybeth said. “Apparently she married a man named Cotton and they moved to Michigan years ago, but now it appears that she’s turned up on this ranch in Walden where Sheridan had a job.”

Joe looked at the ceiling tiles. He was speechless.

“When is the last time you saw her?” Marybeth asked.

He grunted instead of responding. He didn’t want to think about it.

“Joe?”

“I don’t know. Over forty years ago, I guess. Victor woke me up and told me Mom was gone. George was in the kitchen drinking coffee and trying to get over his usual morning hangover. It’s not like she said goodbye or left a note or anything.”

Marybeth raised her hands and placed them on the sides of her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Joe,” she said. “You never talk about her.”

“There’s nothing to say. She was just gone from our lives, just like that. I barely remember her.”

“She was there for your first ten years. You have to remember something.”

Joe shook his head. “She and my dad were bad news together, I’ve told you that. It was like they had their own thing going and they didn’t let anyone else in, including Victor and me. They loved each other like teenagers one minute and hated each other’s guts the next. They were very loud about both. My brother and I sort of raised ourselves, anyway, so when she left I guess it wasn’t all that different.”

“Do you miss her?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“You might want to think about that now.”

“Why?”

“I’m not really sure,” Marybeth said. “I guess because now we know she’s out there. At least, Sheridan thinks she met her.”

“Sheridan might be wrong, though,” Joe said.

“It’s possible. Here, she took a couple of photos.”

Marybeth slid her phone across her desk. Pained, Joe picked it up and scrolled through all four shots. They were hurried and not in sharp focus.

“She looks like a mean old lady,” Joe said. “I can’t be sure of it.” But it was jarring to see her face, her white hair, the pinched mouth. She looked familiar, he thought. Like she could still easily lurch across the table and smack his ear with a cupped hand like she used to do when she was drinking or angry with George, which was most of the time.

“Sheridan said she was mean,” Marybeth said.

“That tracks with what I remember,” Joe responded. “Still, I hope it isn’t her. Sheridan doesn’t deserve to get sucked into this stupid thing. She’s got enough on her plate.”

“Your daughters are naturally curious about their relatives on your side,” Marybeth said. “They’ve always kind of wondered how their parents came to be.”

“They should know we aren’t the product of our parents,” Joe said, without mentioning his mother-in-law, Missy, by name. “Of all people, you should know that. When I think about what you went through growing up … I still can’t believe you made it through.”

He sat back in the chair and sighed. He said, “I’m not sure I even care about this right now. I don’t want to focus on it. There’s too much going on.”

“I understand,” Marybeth said. “But I’m going to fire up my database programs and start doing some research. I want to see if I can confirm Katy’s trail from Wyoming to Michigan to Colorado. Aren’t you just a little bit curious?”

“Nope.”

“What if you have half brothers or sisters out there that you’ve never met? Wouldn’t it be interesting to know about that?”

“Nope.”

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