Page 23 of An Unfinished Memory

I didn’t even know when it was. “We’ll see.” I willedhim to leave. Aggie breezed out of the bathroom, digging in her bag like she was triple-checking she’d grabbed everything.

Jennings smiled. “Promise me a dance?”

“We’ll see,” I said again, adding a touch of flirtation to get him to move his ass before Aggie got close. Then he’d want to small talk, and he might mentionthat guy.

He nodded and finally—finally—walked away. He passed Aggie, giving her a tip of his ball cap.

She slid into the booth. “Were you getting hit on while I was away?”

“I think so. He’s nice, but he’s not my type.” Jennings had close-cropped hair, but it wasn’t dark and thick with a hint of unruly curl. He wasn’t sporting a five o’clock shadow when it was three p.m. His shoulders weren’t as wide, his thighs didn’t look nearly as powerful, and when he walked, he didn’t stalk his prey. His swagger didn’t make my pulse jump. I didn’t get a steady throb between my thighs looking at him. He didn’t look like he could swing me over his shoulder when I teased him about being a big, bad cop. He didn’t appear half pissed off most of the time. And he probably didn’t make the bed as soon as I got out of it or put the dishes away as soon as the dishwasher was done or fold laundry with military precision.

Thatwas my type.

I needed to remember why I divorced Wilder, how I wanted him to be with me and how he wasn’t, or I was going to nurse a raging crush on my ex-husband and fracture my already broken heart all over again.

Five

Wilder

I needed to get out of town. I had to hit the road and get to Sutton’s before she thought I’d canceled. But I was twenty miles out of Buffalo Gully, talking to my fellow deputy Kaplan. I’d assisted him and another deputy on a traffic stop that turned into a drug bust.

The deputy who had made the stop was off already, taking the guy to jail. I was left behind with Kaplan. He was older than me, and he’d been with the department almost as long as I had, having moved to Buffalo Gully from a county in western Montana.

“I’m almost done.” I patted the top of my car. The sun was setting and bugs buzzed around us. I had plenty of the evening left, and I had so many plans for how to use it. “I’m gonna head back.”

He followed me to the driver’s door. “Hey, can you take call for me tonight? The wife made plans, and if she has to cancel because I get called out, all hell’s goingto break loose. She’s still pissed about the Fourth of July.”

The night of fireworks and grass fires. That’d been a long fucking weekend. “I can’t tonight.”

“Come on, Knight. Throw me a bone. Even a few hours?”

In a few hours, I’d be pulling into Sutton’s garage. “I’m heading out of town.”

“Oh, yeah? Where?” He shook his head like he knew the answer. “Crocus Valley?”

Shit. “Yeah.” Kaplan wasn’t buddies with Eliot, but the less I had to lie, the better. I knew how much the details could fuck up a good fib, only I was usually the one sussing out the truth. “Sorry, I can’t help. Maybe it’ll be slow.”

“Knight,” Kaplan groaned. “You’ve screwed me now. You never say that.”

I opened my door, laughing. “Only if you’re superstitious.”

“I’m blaming you if I get called. Hey,” he said before I climbed in. “Did you hear the boss is talking retirement?”

Ray hadn’t talked any more about it since our phone conversation. His week had been busy, and he’d mentioned retirement before, and it’d gone nowhere. How’d Kaplan know?

“He’s been meaning to retire for years,” I joked.

Kaplan’s smile was quick. “I suppose you’ll be who they appoint for interim sheriff.”

“Maybe.” Was Kaplan interested? I could be made interim sheriff, but the election would be after the term. Whoever was in office would have a clear advantage. “Are you thinking of tossing your hat in the ring?”

He rolled his shoulders and looked into the distance,his gaze skipping over the rocky hills and sparse green pastures. The sun was sinking lower. I still had a twenty-minute drive to town, and I had to change.

“No call. More control over the schedule.” He cited the same reasons I wanted the job when I was married. I couldn’t blame the guy.

“But there’s the politics,” I said. I was too much like Barns to get embroiled in politics. I didn’t like to play games, but I also wanted to be a benefit to the place I lived and not a tyrant.

“Eh, I can handle the politics. Whatever. It’s something to think about, right?” He gave me a measuring look, and I understood. We were two guys who weren’t being completely truthful. Just like I was going out of town, but it wasn’t to help my siblings like he assumed. And he wasn’t taking as casual an attitude toward the sheriff’s position as I was.

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