Page 76 of An Unfinished Memory

Her phone buzzed. When she dug it out of her pocket, the screen said Mom.

“Their monthly alarm must’ve gone off,” she murmured before she answered.

“Hey, Mutton,” John said.

“Sutton,” Kelly gushed. “I wasn’t sure you were going to answer.”

With her head on my shoulder, I could hear the conversation. They were both on speaker like usual. The call brought back memories, like the way her shoulders would tighten or how she’d always look a little lost and hurt after she hung up. How I’d try to cheer her up, oblivious that I was also part of the problem.

“I’m camping.”

“That’s nice.” Her dad sounded mildly interested.

“This time of year?” her mom asked.

My blood pressure rose. Sutton told me about her camping trip, and I’d immediately thought of her safety. I’d wished I could go with her. I’d obsessed about it. Her parents were half distracted.

“And the clinic?” John’s favorite topic, according to Sutton. “You had to close shop while you’re away?”

“It’s a weekend,” Sutton explained.

“Aren’t there emergencies?”

“There might be, but they’ll just have to go to one of the bigger towns unless Dr. Jake is available.”

“Hopefully, he doesn’t poach your customers while you’re kicking around the wilderness.”

“We’re more like colleagues than competition.”

“Speaking of competition.” Kelly’s squeal was muted. “Guess which grandma and grandpa are making the trip to Poland for the Junior Grand Prix?”

“That’ll be fun,” Sutton said as if her parents traveling overseas was everyday news. They often made it to national events. Ice-skating only. Montana had been a black hole in their schedule.

“My passport’s filling up because of that girl.” Pride rang from John’s voice. “Seeing her makes it all worthwhile.”

I tensed, afraid of Sutton’s defeated reaction. I ran through my usual pick-me-up lines like when we’d been in her kitchen, but she didn’t twitch or flinch. “Give Petra my best, and tell Honey and Rolf hi.”

“Oh, we will,” Kelly reassured her. “Maybe we’ll make a trip down before the end of the year— Oh, I don’t know about Christmas. You know how winter season is.”

Were they still using that line?

“I do. Enjoy your trip. Send me pictures of Petra.”

She hung up and set the phone on my lap as if she didn’t have the energy to put it away. A sigh slowly eked out of her.

I’d known what John and Kelly were like, but witnessing their dismissal of Sutton took on several more layers after learning how Sutton was raised. They weren’t just perfectly nice people who came off as scatterbrained. Their lives weren’t built to have Sutton in them.

When we’d been married, they’d visited Buffalo Gully twice. Once for our wedding, and once a few years later when our house was built.

I hugged my arms around her. Her phone slipped tothe ground. Oreo gave it a sniff, then ignored it. “Think if we put skates on the dog, they might actually visit?”

Her body shook with her laughter. The crackling fire lit her face. Her smile was there, but her eyes were sad. “If I said yes, would you be surprised?”

“Actually, I thought you’d say he had to get at least bronze before they figured out where Crocus Valley was on a map.”

She laughed again and turned her face into me. “You know them so well for only having met them a few times. Didn’t that seem weird to you? That they never came to see us?”

“I wasn’t especially close to Barns. Cody was the oldest and most important to him. Then Eliot because he was taking over. If I moved, it wasn’t like Barns would leave the ranch to visit me.”

---