“Dakota has my number?”
“Yeah. Of course. But I was calling to see if it would be cool to call your friend.”
In all the time I’d been in Portland, Dakota had never called me. I’d assumed Dad had actuallyhonored my request and kept my number private, but clearly that wasn’t the case. If Dakota was half as sprung on me as he pretended to be, he should have been blowing up my cell phone. His years of silence made no sense whatsoever.
“Dylan?”
I shook myself and tried to remember what Wyatt had just asked me. “Addison?” I set my laptop aside. “She left her card, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m not needin’to call her about the missing jewelry.”
“Oh...ooooh, it’s like that, huh?”
“Like what?” he asked, chuckling.
“Like that summer you asked me to take Suzie Knight to the caves so you could ‘talk’ to her.”
“Damn, girl, you remember everything.”
Even though he couldn’t see me, I tapped my head. “Steel trap right here.”
“I’m counting on it. I need you to find that thief before they steal frommy grandma.”
“Oh, so that’s what this is about,” I joked. “You don’t need to whore yourself out to Addie, Wyatt, we’ll look out for your grandma anyway.”
Wyatt was such a great guy. Like Dakota, he was like a brother to me, but come to think of it, I could say that about most of the guys I knew growing up. Every guy felt like a sibling until Asher. Come to think about it, that was probablywhy my grandmother kept questioning my sexual orientation.
Wyatt laughed. “I see the city hasn’t taught you to pull your punches. Good. Okay, I’ll be straight with you, your friend’s a looker and I’d like to get to know her better if she’s available.”
I bit my lip. “Well, she’s technically free, but she’s fresh out of a pretty heavy relationship, so I don’t know how available she is.”
“Letme worry about that,” he said.
“I have always liked your confidence, Wyatt.”
“Appreciate that.”
“While I have you on the line, do you have a place you’d recommend to ride?”
“Horses or cowboys?”
I snorted. “You know how I feel about cowboys. Horses smell better and aren’t nearly as much trouble.”
He laughed. “You’re probably right about that. You don’t want to ask your dad?”
“I’d ratherhave my eyeballs plucked out by crows,” I admitted.
“Can’t say I blame you. I’m not sure what you’ve been told, but his drinkin’ is gettin’ worse. Lots worse. And he’s a mean drunk, Dylan.”
I dropped my head to my hands. “Thanks for the warning. I appreciate it.”
“But you knew,” he said.
“Yeah. It’s why I’ve distanced myself from him and from this place. I can’t deal with it.”
“I hear ya,but you gotta remember there’s good folks here, too. We’re not all like your old man.”
That made me smile. “Yeah. I see that. Thanks for the reminder.”
