Page 22 of An Unfinished Memory

“That one’s pretty general. I also can’t say ‘give me Dissecting the Ex’s Personality for six hundred, Alex’ anymore, since they have like two new hosts.”

“Do you still watch them?”

God, no. I hadn’t wanted to watch all the daytime and evening television I had in the first place. “I try not to. But back to Wilder.” Anything but why I shed random game show phrases like nervous corgis leaving a trail of fur in my office. “Don’t let him convince you he doesn’t need anything. And if he gets called out, follow him,” I joked.

She laughed. “Could you see us all rolling up behind him to, like, a traffic stop?”

He’d be irate that they put themselves in danger. “Make him celebrate.”

She ran her teeth over her lower lip. “I’m really glad I can talk about him to you, but tell me if it’s ever too much. Deal or no deal? Is that a saying?”

“Yes.” I laughed.Deal or No Dealwas after the bulk of my game show-watching days. If only she knew I’d had too much of her brother before she rang the doorbell this morning. “Deal.”

“Is the tester vacation still on?”

Giddiness sent my stomach aflutter. My first real, albeit short, vacation since my honeymoon. “Still on. The Friday after Labor Day, I’ll pack up the camper and do my test run for the weekend to Medora.” Oreo would ride shotgun, and I would practice closing my clinic for long weekends that weren’t just holidays. I wasn’t working my life away, nor was I waiting on anyone anymore.

“And I will be on Berry and Sylvester duty. When’s the big trip to the Black Hills again?”

“April, weather willing.” Excitement traveled up my spine. I was getting away in April of all months. Since I didn’t work with large animals as much as I used to in my practice, I didn’t have to plan to be around for calving season. I was using Easter break to helpfill in my days off so I wasn’t closed for so many business days, but that’d be a real vacation. “Thank you for taking care of the pets. I couldn’t go without your help.”

“That’s what friends are for.” She took a long pull of her lemonade and scooted toward the edge of the booth. “Can you give me ten minutes? I don’t want to cut the night short with you, but I need to get this pressure off.”

“Go before something goes wrong. I work with animal mammary glands, not human.”

She laughed and took her portable pump disguised as a cute tote with her. I scrolled through my phone. I had a few emails about appointments that I’d respond to tonight when I wasn’t half distracted by my ex-husband hookup.

“Hey, Sutton.”

I glanced up. Jennings was standing by the booth. Oh no. Would he bring up Wilder? My heart stopped and restarted when relief poured through me that Aggie was in the bathroom. If she learned I was lying to her, she’d be hurt. Then she might be upset I was messing around with Wilder. A double whammy to our friendship, yet I couldn’t bring myself to cut things off with my ex. He’d raced to the street dance to cockblock me, and the overlooked kid inside me couldn’t ignore his actions.

“You doing okay after last night?” Concern pinched his brows.

“I’m sorry, what?” I’d heard him clearly, but I needed to think of an answer. I was more than okay. I was still glowing from coming so hard.

“Last night. That guy?” Poor Jennings looked so concerned. Why couldn’t I fall for him?

“Oh, yes. No, it’s fine. We had some…talking…to do.” A hard and fast and completely unplanned conversation.

Jennings’s brows drew down. “I haven’t seen him around. You knew him though? You talked like it, but I was afraid I was letting a stranger haul you off.”

I suppressed a sigh. Crocus Valley was as nosy as Buffalo Gully. Why couldn’t Jennings take my word for it? “He’s my ex-husband. He can piss me off like no one else, but he wouldn’t hurt me.”

He also wouldn’t listen. Couldn’t understand what I wanted and needed when it differed from his wants and needs. He worked hard for everyone but his wife waiting for him at home. The man could emotionally devastate me, but I was physically safer with him than anyone else in the world.

“Oh.” Jennings looked around the restaurant, his gaze dropping on Aggie’s lemonade glass. “I guess I should leave you to it.”

“No problem,” I said brightly. “Aggie will be back any minute.”

Surprise crossed his face. “Aggie? Oh, right. The hobby farm lady.”

He must’ve thought I was here with my stranger. “Animal rescue.”

“Her husband trains horses?”

“Ansen, yes.” Many people in town knew who Aggie and I were already, and they knew we were friends, but I didn’t spread the word that I had been married to her brother. I’d rather keep the speculation about why Wilder and I failed in Buffalo Gully.

“Oh, okay.” As if he ran out of reasons to stay hovering over my booth, he knocked on the table top with a couple of fingers. “See you around. Next street dance?”

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