He had a degree in physical education but all he had been able to find here was a job doing maintenance at a local ranch.
“Nah. I like this one. Working outside, nobody to hassle me. And it keeps me in shape.” He moved to the refrigerator and took out a can of flavored seltzer. “You want anything?”
“No, thanks.” She closed the cabinet, then stood by the counter, unable to think what to do next.
“Is something wrong?” Gary asked.
“What makes you ask that?”
“You look upset.” He took a drink of seltzer, gaze fixed on her. “Did something happen at the clinic yesterday?”
“We had a bad search and rescue call this morning. A guy drove his car off Dixon Pass. They think he did it deliberately.”
“Wow. That’s rough. Was he really messed up?”
“No. I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t see him.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do this search and rescue stuff if it’s going to upset you so much.”
“It’s not the call that upset me.”
He frowned. Before he could ask any more questions, she added, “I saw Aaron today. He was at the scene. He’s a sheriff’s deputy. Here, in Eagle Mountain.” There. She had told him. She hated to upset him, but he needed to know. Better to hear the news from her than to run into Aaron somewhere in town.
But Gary didn’t look upset. “Yeah, I know.”
“You knew?” Her vision grayed at the edges for a moment, she was so shocked. “And you didn’t tell me?”
He shrugged. “Because I knew it would upset you. And see, it has.” He gestured to her with the seltzer can.
“When did you see him? Did he say anything to you?”
“I was at the hardware store, and I saw him outside, talking to someone. He didn’t see me. Then I saw him one other time, at Mo’s Pub. We never spoke. It was no big deal. Did he say anything to you?”
“He said he was sorry.”
“Maybe he really is.”
She hugged her arms across her stomach. “I don’t care if he’s sorry or not. I can’t forgive him for believing you would ever do something so horrible.”
“What did you expect? He’s a cop. That’s how they’re trained to think.” He drained the rest of the can of seltzer and tossed it into the recycling bin.
“But there wasn’t any evidence against you.”
“There wasn’t any evidence against anyone else, either. And two people saw me talking to Rachel that night.”
“How can you be so calm about something so horrible?”
He had spent time in jail because of police insistence on focusing on him as their only suspect in Rachel Sherman’s murder. The two of them had had to leave everything behind and start over because of that terrible mistake.
Gary shrugged. “I don’t see any sense in brooding over something that happened in the past that was completely out of my control. I’d rather get on with my life.”
It was a sensible attitude. A healthy one. But one she couldn’t adopt. “Aaron should have given you the benefit of the doubt,” she said.
“I don’t think that’s how these things ever work. And it’s not like he was the only cop pointing the finger at me. He wasn’t even a detective or an investigator. The important thing is that the DA didn’t file charges and I’m a free man now.” He opened the refrigerator again. “Spaghetti sound good for dinner? I’ll make it.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
But he didn’t start dinner right away. He continued to study her. “Don’t let Aaron get to you,” he said. “He made a mistake and he paid for it. He lost you. Someone else will step up to the plate and realize how great you are. In case you haven’t noticed, this place is crawling with single men. Seriously, I can’t believe you don’t have guys standing in line to ask you out.”
