Page 94 of High Frequency

I’ll be damned if that doesn’t set me off laughing. “You’re an idiot.”

“I think we’ve established that much,” he responds somberly, before shoving the rest of his egg salad sandwich in his mouth.

The kicker is, when we get back to work a few minutes later, I no longer feel like I’m working side by side with a stranger. If anything, it almost feels like having my old friend back, the short interlude seems to have cleared the air.

The HVAC guys have already left—they’ll be here tomorrow—but the plumber won’t be back until Monday. I’m just watching him get into his truck, when I notice Sully and his daughter walking up the driveway.

“You guys done for the day?” he asks when they reach me.

“I think so. Jackson’s already in the shower.”

I jerk a thumb over my shoulder at the motorhome. He was pretty much done half an hour ago, driving himself too hard, but I figure that’s okay. Sometimes physical pain can drown out psychological pain.

I turn my attention to Carmi. “How’s school?”

She sticks a finger in her mouth and gags. “I hate school. It’s boring.”

I glance at Sully, whose eyes roll skyward. Maybe that wasn’t the right question to ask.

“Where’s Sloane?” Carmi looks around, trying to peek inside.

“Sloane? I don’t know.”

“Dad, I thought you said she was here,” she directs at her father.

“That’s what I assumed when she came by the ranch to borrow the ATV. You haven’t seen her?”

The last is aimed at me.

“Not since last night.”

Another night that ended with both of us at least partly naked, and Sloane sneaking back home so she could wake up with Aspen. But I’m not about to share that.

“Odd. She was supposed to be over for an early dinner with Isobel and the baby. They got there twenty minutes ago, and my sister says she can’t get a hold of Sloane. So, I thought maybe Sloane got hung up here and her phone ran out of juice or something.”

I’m officially tweaked, but I keep a straight face, mostly for Carmi’s sake.

“She’s not been here. Are you sure she came this way?”

“Yeah, I saw her head down the trail here.”

Except there’s a fork in the trail and if you hang right, you end up here, but if you turn left, it takes you straight to the shallow part where we crossed the river on horseback. It should still be shallow enough to do so by ATV.

“You figure she’s gone back up the trail?” Sully asks.

“It’s the only thing I can think of,” I reply. “What time did she leave?”

Sully consults his watch. “Just after lunch, I think it was about two?”

It’s four twenty now.

“Could be work-related,” I suggest, despite the burning in my gut that tells me differently.

Sully nods and is already grabbing for his phone.

“I’ll check with Ewing.”

“In the meantime, I’m gonna go grab Will and have a look up there.”

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