Page 72 of An Unfinished Memory

My phone buzzed, and I nearly dropped it. Eliot’s name flashed across the screen.

I looked around as if my family was lurking behind the prickly bushes behind the trees. I answered with a “What?”

“You did get laid.”

“You said I was lying.”

“And you didn’t argue,” he said smugly. “So you really did, and you want me to drop it.”

“What do you care?” I ground into the phone. Campers and vehicle doors were shutting, and voices were ringing across the campground.

“Because I’ve been worried about you, and then I find out you left for a weekend—which you never do—without telling anyone but Ray.” Another way to tell those of us who grew up with Ray. He was only Sheriff Dahlen if you worked under him or were in trouble. Otherwise, he was Ray. “I worried you were going off the deep end. And then after our talk at the bar about how celibate you are, you announce you laid pipe.”

“Grow up.”

“Ah—deflection. Who is it?” He didn’t sound like he wanted gossip. His tone didn’t come off as me having random sex was a good thing in his opinion. Had that been part of their worry after the divorce? I’d be a hermit or a man-whore? Neither one was me, but either one should be fine.

Okay, maybe I’d been the hermit. “Stay out of it, Eliot.”

“Does anyone know where you’re at? Ray was surprised to hear you weren’t at home.”

Figured they’d run into each other the one time I did not want my location speculated about. “No. I’m fine.”

“Safety first, Deputy. Where are you?”

I could hang up, but then he’d call incessantly. Worse, he’d call Cody, and I’d have more siblings in my business. “I’m camping, and that’s all you’re getting.”

“Camping,” he echoed.

“Yeah, and I’ve gotta get ready for a hike or?—”

“I talked to Aggie yesterday. She mentioned takingcare of Sutton’s animals all weekend. Because, you know, she’s camping.”

My stomach sank like a stone. I’d ruined everything by being a terrible liar. “Eliot, leave off.”

“You son of a bitch!” I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “You’re with Sutton!”

“Goddammit, Eliot.”

“Are you two getting back together? I can’t see her moving. She has that clinic. If you’re going to be sheriff, you’ll still have long hours. Then there’s?—”

“No, all right? We don’t know. We’re figuring it out.”

He went quiet again. I stuffed the tip of my boot into the gravel. The only footwear I’d brought. Oreo tugged me to go sniff at a tree.

“You sure this is a good idea?” he finally asked.

He wasn’t upset at Sutton, so that was a good sign, but the information was only just sinking in.

“No, but we can’t help it.” I told him about the street dance and our first arrangement, how I’d fucked that up, and then when we started calling again. I skipped the phone sex part. “So we know it’s a bad idea. She’s terrified you, Cody, and Aggie will be upset with her if we don’t work again.” Probably Austen, too, but he only visited a couple times a year. “They live in the same town, and you all are family to her.”

“Ifyou don’t work out, Wilder?” he said flatly.

“It’s a long-distance thing. And that’s just how it’s going to be until…Until we can’t anymore. Okay?”

After a moment, he finally said, “Okay. I wish nothing more than that you two would work out. But…”

“I know. My future’s been decided.”

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