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I wanted to call her.
Abey was busy though. She’d taken the sheriff promotion, and I hadn’t seen much of her the last couple days. Today would be my last day at The Red Wild Outdoors. I couldn’t say I’d learned much from my time there, at least not about Red’s way of life, but from everything Theo had said, the arrangement had turned out to be good for Red.
I was glad of that. I mean, not that I thought his entire belief system could’ve changed in the span of a few days, but at least now he had an understanding of what we did at Ace’s House, how we were simply a soft place for people like Sylvie to land when they didn’t even know they’d been falling.
Rolling onto my side, the box springs beneath me creaked as I looked at my phone on my rickety pressboard bedside table. I reached for it and clicked till I saw Abey’s contact info on the screen. The heart emojis on both sides of her name made me blush. If she ever saw them, I’d die of embarrassment. I thought about changing it just in case that ever happened, but I liked the little yellow hearts. They reminded me of her hair when the sun shone down it.
If she was busy, she wouldn’t answer. Maybe she’d call me back on her lunch break, but at least she’d know I’d been thinking about her.
I hit the “Dial” button and waited.
“Hi,” she said when she answered on the second ring.
“Hi.”
A minute of silence passed between us.
“Did you call just to listen to me breathe?”
I laughed. No one had ever made me laugh the way Abey did. There was just something in the tone of her voice. A teasing. I loved the sound of it.
“No. I… I was thinkin’ about you. About how you’re doin’ after the thing with Sylvie.”
“Oh. You were? Why?”
I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “Your mom…”
“Yeah—my ol’ mama. But y’know, as awful as she can be, she’d never lay a hand on me. She never kicked me out of my own home. Sometimes, I think she says the things she does ’cause it’s all she knows to do. Like, maybe she just thinks she can’t relate to me. And maybe that scares her.”
“What about your dad? Did he know you’re gay?”
She didn’t say anything for a minute. “He knew.” Two little words, but somehow, from them I understood that my suspicions were right on, and Abey’s dad hadn’t been supportive.
It made me want to run into my mom’s room, jump into her bed, and hug her. I was so lucky to have been given the gift of acceptance, of true, unconditional love. A lot of people weren’t so lucky.
Abey wasn’t.
“Where are you right now? I wish I could see you.” I wanted to wrap my arms around her, wanted to rest my head against her chest and breathe with her. How funny that, only two months ago, if I’d thought about her, besides subconsciously registering how beautiful she was, I probably would’ve wanted to yell at her.
She smiled. I heard it in her voice when she said, “I’m sittin’ in my truck, takin’ a nonscheduled break. Needed a minute.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just… Yesterday was hard. And there’s a lot to this sheriff thing. It’s only, what, eight a.m., and there’s paperwork up the wazoo already, and everybody wants my attention, and everybody thinks their problem is more important than anybody else’s.” She paused. “Not to say I don’t like it. I do. I wasn’t sure if I would, but I do, at least parts of it. I like bein’ the one who decides how things are gonna go down, y’know?
“So many times in the past, I had ideas about how we should handle a call or a problem, and Carey was always good about hearin’ me out, but ultimately, it was his decision. Now it’s mine. It’s kinda cool.” She laughed. “As long as what I decide works. If it doesn’t, I’ll probably find myself in a shitstorm of epic proportions.
“Teton County is big. I stay near Wisper usually, but we get called out to other places sometimes, if we need to help another officer. Carey put me up to this to focus on Wisper and Barton mostly, and the surrounding areas, while he’s away, but those are enough. I don’t know if I could handle the entire county. Part of Yellowstone? I mean, we work with the rangers there, and the National Park Service guys, but still. It’s a lot.”
“I can’t even imagine,” I said. “I’ve never even been to Yellowstone.”
“What? Girl, that’s nuts. You live right here!”
I giggled at her outrage. I loved when she called me “girl.” I’d never admit it to anyone, but when Abey said it, it felt like she meant her girl. Like I was hers. Like she’d claimed me too.
I wanted to be claimed by Abey Lee.
“I know, but it’s always busy with tourists, and honestly, it’s expensive. Until I got the job at the center, I never had extra money to spend on a day at the park. I bet a hot dog costs twenty bucks there.”
