Page 17 of An Unfinished Memory

I hit the button to open the garage door. Sutton had parked behind the other bay last night, leaving space for me to get the hell out.

“Oreo!” I called.

Several seconds went by, then a skittering of claws on concrete was heard. Laughter sputtered out of me as the brown-and-white dog barreled into me. He jumped to lick and sniff me. We’d trained him not to jump on people, but he forgot his manners, and I didn’t fucking care.

Oreo danced on his hind feet and attempted to take the first two layers of skin off my face with his tongue. “Down, boy,” I said, still laughing.

It took a couple of times before he lowered to all fours. His hind end wiggled as he circled at my feet,happily panting. I gave him pets and scratches, and goddammit, I hugged him.

“I miss you.”

His tongue lolled out, and he watched me like he was listening. I used to get greeted as soon as I got out of my vehicle, be it the work SUV or my pickup. Another thing I missed like crazy.

“I didn’t want to give you up,” I said gruffly, like he knew about divorces and separating assets and deciding where pets went. “I miss you,” I said again.

He snapped his mouth shut and glanced out the door, then turned back to me. I bent to give him more pets and the side thumps that he liked.

When I straightened, he whipped around again, going still. A second later, he raced out of the garage, barking at what was likely a ground squirrel. Oreo had a personal vendetta against those things.

Either I’d stand and wait for the dog to come back and make me feel special, or I’d get back to Buffalo Gully. I had to help Jeremy with towing his daughter’s car. My luck, Eliot had probably left at the crack of dawn and was hard at work already on the ranch.

I got in the pickup. I had a long drive to ignore the sensation that I wanted more than an exes-with-benefits arrangement. I wanted Sutton back, but her house said she wasn’t going anywhere.

After I pulled out of the garage, a pull-behind Coachmen camper was visibly parked next to the garage. I hadn’t seen it in the dark last night, or I hadn’t cared because I was focused on when I could get Sutton naked. I put my foot on the brake and stared at it for a good ten minutes.

Sutton wanted to go camping?

Who would she camp with?

Would she be alone?

She could take care of herself, but women went missing on the trails, and it wasn’t because they’d gotten lost. She was smart. She wouldn’t go alone.

Then who’d go with her, jackwagon?

The questions and any possible answers gnawed at me as I pulled away. I pushed the speed limit and made up excuses in my head for if I were to get pulled over. None of them would be valid. The truth would land like a ton of bricks.

Why, yes, I was speeding.I had a ton of sex with my ex-wife and then had to hide in her bedroom so my sister didn’t catch me before I could leave. My brother counts on me to help around the ranch, and I kind of have to anyway because it’s the only way I can get my inheritance. Did I mention I’m a deputy in Montana?

Not one sentence of that would help me out.

I calculated when I’d get back. I’d have enough time to grab Ray and tow Emily’s car. I voice activated my phone to call Ray.

He answered with his gruff “Sheriff Dahlen” even though he knew it was me.

“I can swing by in a few hours, and we can grab the car.”

“I’m just weeding the garden.” That explained his breathless speech. Most of his garden was weeds. “Want me to come by and get you?”

“No, I’m…” I couldn’t spill the news to Ray after Sutton and I just promised to keep our families out of it. Lying to the sheriff would leave an acrid taste on my tongue. “I had to run to Miles City for a lawn mower part.”

I winced at the echoes of a flimsy teenage excuse. He hadn’t bought them then.

“Miles City, huh?” His skepticism was thick.

He saw right through me. The guy had witnessed most of my teen transgressions and gave me a better future than my father had ever cared to.

“I had to get away.” That was the truth.

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