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“I did.”
Past tense.
“Because there were rules and strictures. Now, without the lines to color in, I’m not sure I can do this.”
I take a shaky breath. “Constance, please?—”
“Hey, Con—oh!” Kate’s voice interjects.
Constance tears herself from me and gets to her feet.
“I’m sorry, did I interrupt?” Kate asks nervously, standing in the doorway of the station.
“No, not at all,” I say. “Good to see you, Kate.”
Kate doesn’t look convinced, her eyes flipping between Constance and me. But blessedly, she doesn’t push. “You too, Sheriff. You ready, Con?”
Constance gives me one last look. “Goodnight, Sheriff.”
And just like that, we are the people we were a week ago. Not people falling for each other, not even friends.
Just two strangers in a small town.
21
Constance
“Well, that’s a nice banner.”
I squeeze my dad’s arm as he looks up at the Bicentennial banner in the front hall of the museum. “Thanks, Dad.”
He smiles down at me. Today has been a good day for him, thank goodness, which means I brought him along to the Bicentennial celebration.
“Why don’t we go take a look at Constance’s new exhibit, Mr. C?” Kate asks from my dad’s other side.
“That’s a great idea,” Dad says, then gives me a worried look. “Will you be okay on your own?”
I smile and kiss his cheek. “Yes, I won’t get lost.”
“Good. Good.”
Kate gives me a friendly wink before leading my dad deeper into the museum toward the special exhibition room. Her husband joins them and I can breathe a sigh of relief that Dad has not just one but two caretakers to keep an eye on him while I make my rounds.
Downtown Horace is bustling today. There’s an artisan craft sale, farmers market, even a midway of carnival games for the kids. All the businesses have their doors wide open and the foot traffic is astonishing.
The museum is fuller than it’s been in a long time, maybe ever. Not only do we have the traffic from the Bicentennial, but due to all the hubbub around the case, the return of the bones has been prime for marketing. Guess I shouldn’t have had my panties in too much of a bunch over it.
I go into the prehistoric wing where a family is taking in the newly assembled deer skeleton.
“That was once adeer?” their little boy asks, his face screwed together in confusion.
“Yes it is. And that deer lived thousands of years ago,” the mother explains, reading off the placard.
They’re not dinosaur bones, which leaves some kids disappointed. But the little boy turns to his sister with his jaw open and fists clenched. “Aweeeesommmme!”
I can’t disguise a small laugh. I’m laughing more these days. Since…
I don’t want to think about it. It’s been a week since I last saw Rory and I can’t shake the feeling of him. I know I made the right call for both of us. It would have been rash to leap into something after only, what, a week? However, I haven’t been able to get my mom’s voice out of my head. She doesn’t visit a lot. It’s been so many years. She always seems to show up when I’m making big decisions.
