Page 41 of An Unfinished Memory

“Nope,” Sutton said, her expert gaze stroking over the red Angus cow. “This is…Wilder.”

She left off my last name. These guys might think I was her brother or her husband, and they’d be wrong on both accounts. Any questions, and we’d have some explaining to do. People talked, and I didn’t want Sutton stressing about ending up on Aggie’s bad side.

I shook their hands. Rough, solid grips from the both of them.

“I’m Sheldon,” the younger one said. “This is my dad, Ryan. I do the bulk of the work, and he refuses to retire.”

A rancher’s creed.Won’t quit ’til you make me.

“Well,” Sutton said brightly, not-so-obviously moving on from the introductions, “can I take a look?”

“I’ll go in with you,” Sheldon said.

Ryan draped his hands over the pen rails and kicked his boot up. “I wish this could’ve waited. I hate calling her so early.”

“She doesn’t mind.” Sutton worked half days on Fridays to make up for unexpected hours. Something I was glad to see her doing after Barns had her going at all hours every day of the week. Now that she was the owner and main vet at her clinic, she needed to make sure she got time off. Especially since she insisted on being available to get called out. She had freedom now that she’d never had working for my father.

“I know it,” he said. “I could tell as soon as I met her she knows what she’s doing.” He blinked at me. One eye was cloudier than the other, but his gaze was no less sharp. “You a vet too?”

“No, just a guy who refused to let her come out here all alone.”

He grunted. “Not a bad idea. You never know about people these days.” He rubbed his face. His calloused hands audibly scraped over his gray scruff. “Dr. Jake used to date my granddaughter. Although dating’s a strong word,” he grumbled.

Sutton and Sheldon were talking back and forth, discussing how best to handle the cow. She was using hand gestures I’d seen her do before when she and Eliot were bent over a cow. I would’ve been attracted to her anyway, but seeing her work had made me determined to approach her for the first time at a horse sale. A horse had whacked its head against a trailer, nearly costing the poor animal its eye. She had waded into the fray, intent to do what it took to help the creature, cautious of the other horses but unafraid of their often picky owners.

“I imagine Dr. Jake has a lot of those stories.” If I got dirt on Dr. Jake from this guy, it’d be a bonus beyond making sure Sutton was safe.

He peered at me. “You from around here?”

“Nope.” I left it at that.

“That man’s reputation preceded him.” He shook his head. “He’s nice enough—when he’s not breaking your loved one’s heart. But I’d rather give my business to a young girl getting her start.”

I smiled. Sutton wasn’t a fresh pony out for her first horse show, but she was a good thirty-five years younger than Ryan. “She appreciates it.”

“Heard she’s divorced.”

Of course people discussed the pretty new vet, including her marital status. A prickly sense that old Ryan knew more than we thought tickled the back of my neck. “Yup.”

“I did a little research on her before I hired her. She used to work for Knight’s Arabians in Montana.”

“Sure did.” Of all people, this old guy was going to rat me out? Was he one of the guys who sat at the booths inthe grocery store or gas station and chatted some mornings? He’d tell his buddies about Sutton, and news would eventually get back to Cody via the small-town hotline. I’d be cockblocked by one of Sutton’s customers.

“Her ex is one of Barnaby Knight’s sons.” His words were pointed. He was a nosy guy who paid attention, and he’d figured out who I was. How much would he tell people? Would word spread that Sutton was bringing men who didn’t work for her to calls at all hours? Would the info be held against her, and she’d lose business like Dr. Jake with his reputation?

I couldn’t fuck up her career more than being married to me had, but lying would only dig a deeper hole. “Barns had me to thank for dragging her to Buffalo Gully to work for him.” Sutton had me to blame.

He made a non-committal noise. “WilderKnight, eh?”

My department could use his detective skills. “At your service.”

His attention was off Sutton and the cow and solely on me. “You moving to Crocus Valley too?”

“No. I’m a deputy, and I still work for the family ranch.” He could read into the rest. Figure out his own answer to why I was with Sutton this early in the day.

His unnerving stare was back on me. “My wife died five years ago.”

The change of subject was unexpected, but I gladly clutched the lifeline. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

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