Page 98 of An Unfinished Memory

“You with your ex-wife who lives in another state. Residents of the county might worry that if they elect you in, they’ll be faced with an interim sheriff shortly after. They might worry you’re going to leave to be with her.”

“They might worry?” I echoed, disbelief swirling inside my chest, followed by dismay. He was right. The Cleavers would start the speculation themselves.

He dipped his chin. “Kaplan’s happily married. He’s lived in Buffalo Gully for years with his family. He’ll be seen as more dedicated.”

“The election isn’t until next year.”

“I told you campaigning starts?—”

“What are you saying, Ray?” I snapped. The job might’ve run my life, but the election was taking over when I was a year out from even entering my name as a candidate. I would be interim for over a year before the election.

He sat forward, leaning his elbows on his desk, his face a mask of calm. “I’m saying that Sutton is a liability.”

Was Ray so focused on helping me attain my career aspirations, he’d forgotten I was also a man? He’d been teaching me how to be a politician. Time to say what he wanted to hear so I didn’t have to justify my private life to him. “Ray, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I know you’re concerned about me and how things with my ex-wife will affect my time in office. I promise you this job is on my mind at all times.” Like a magnet stuck inside my skull.

He studied me again, his gaze contemplative. That damn tapping continued. “Good to hear. You’d better make the next game. The kids notice when you’re gone—and so do their parents.”

I took my out to leave his office, otherwise he’d start on the coroner side of his job tonight, and usually when he did that, he bitched about lawyers and the legal aspects of the job beyond what I dealt with as a deputy, and that wasn’t a conversation for this late at night.

I’d rather go home and find out if I could call and catch Sutton in the bathtub. I got the best sleep when I drifted off after having her breathy moans in my ear.

Snow had been falling while I’d been in Ray’s office. My work boots crunched through the untouched layer. It was almost ten. Ray had ordered a pizza from the gas station. I had passed on a slice. Since seeing Sutton again,I’d taken better care of myself. I hadn’t realized how much gas station pizza I’d been consuming or that I rarely had more than beer and cereal in my kitchen.

Instead of meandering through a few blocks to see if anyone needed a hand, I went straight home. My nights were for cooking and talking with Sutton.

I pulled into the garage. Inside, the house was empty as usual. I dropped the papers on the table in a spot neither Sutton nor I had ever sat in and went through my routine, hanging up my vest, locking up my sidearm, and putting my uniform in the wash. I wasn’t officially on this weekend, and I wouldn’t wear the damn thing when I met with Ray tomorrow and Sunday.

As I was veering into the kitchen, my doorbell rang. My stomach sank. Did someone go in the ditch and need a tow? Being hit up for aid at my house wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. I swung the front door open without looking and was met with the most beautiful sight.

Sutton gave me a nervous finger wave. “Hey.”

She was here. In the house she’d left. I tugged her to me, pulling her flush with my body.

“Does that mean you don’t mind me dropping in?” Her voice was muffled pressed against my shoulder. Her coat was puffy around her, and her stocking hat tickled my nose, but I didn’t fucking care. She was here.

“Hell no, I don’t mind.” I kissed her and lifted her, backing up so I could shut the door and block out the cold air. Her weight in my arms felt so right.

Holding her in this house was…odd. We couldn’t return to how we had been, but I hadn’t realized how cozy her house was. How much I missed the natural clutter that came with it. My place was always clean. Always organized.

I pulled away to give us both air. “Hey.”

Her smile was everything I needed now. It’d been over two months since I’d seen her last, and video calls only did so much.

“Catherine and Vienne are going to take care of Berry and Oreo, and Catherine’s fascinated by Sylvester. Well, I’m paying Catherine, but Vienne’s going to oversee the job and make sure no crickets escape.”

She’d planned a getaway. To a place I never thought she’d return to. “Why’d you come?”

She flattened her still-gloved hands on my chest. “You’ve been making all the trips, and everyone important to us knows we’re seeing each other again. So, I figured why not? I told my tech and admin that we’re taking the weekend off and to change the voicemail.”

She was willing to miss out on business to spend the day with me. A deep part of my brain suggested she might move back in, but the rest of me didn’t feel right. This place wasn’t her. She wouldn’t have stories about Walter, the Maine coon, or corgis that peed when they were excited.

“I’ll be in meetings all weekend. Coroner duties and lawyers.”

She lifted a brow. “A rollicking fun weekend.”

“None of it’s new. Nothing I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.” Or figured out for myself. Work was the last thing I wanted to discuss. I pressed another kiss to her lips and stroked a thumb over her cheek. “Give me your keys. I’ll park your pickup in the garage. Have you eaten yet?”

“I figured you’d be working late, and I deliberated about letting myself in, so I had a sandwich after work.”

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