I didn’t trust men. Not for more than the few minutes it took for them to get me off. They were good for something. Sex. Not relationships and definitely not love. Because a husband was supposed to stick. Like Dan. A father was supposed to… do fatherly things, but mine sure as hell hadn’t.
I wasn’t falling for any man, no matter how talented his dick was.
Dan waved his finger in a little salute, which had me returning to my report and off my stupid thoughts. He asked Mary what she wanted on his way. The Seed ‘n Feed had been just that, the usual farmer supply store, until Holly Martin had added on a coffee shop. Locals stopped in to buy the ranch supplies they needed and now had a place to visit.
That reminded me of my call this morning, the report I was working on now.
It’d been a welfare check at a ranch south of town. The man who ran the place was in his eighties and lived alone. He hadn’t stopped by the Seed ‘n Feed like he usually did every morning, and his friends had been worried. I’d gone to see if he was okay, but it turned out, he got a flat tire on the way. I turned into an auto mechanic and put on his spare. I knew how to change a tire on my own, but Mr. Dozer ensured I followed his every direction. Fortunately, the report on a welfare check that became a civilian assist wasn’t all that complicated.
Neither was typing, but I wasn’t going to win any awards. I had to guess Dan had a few on a shelf somewhere he polished weekly.
I was about to hit submit on the report when my computer chimed, indicating my news feed had found a match. I hit the button, not wanting to lose what I’d worked so hard to type out then switched screens to my search results. I’d set up a feed to search for references to my name, Colin Hager, Rebecca Hager, Rexford Juvenile Detention Center, and Empress Sapphire so if an Internet article or even an online magazine included those terms, I’d know.
My hand shook as if I’d had a triple espresso from the Seed ‘n Feed as I clicked on the single result. It was for my dad. Dreading what I’d read, but content knowing Dan was occupied and I could skim it undisturbed, I opened it.
Colin Hager was injured in a car accident on the interstate near Jefferson City, Washington. Hager, fifty-five, received minor injuries when a semi changed lanes and struck his vehicle. Per the truck driver, who was not injured, the late model sedan was in his blind spot. The truck driver was issued a citation and released at the scene.
The date of the article was three days ago.
“Great,” I muttered, saving the article to a folder on an external thumb drive with everything else that came up. Not much appeared about me personally, and I hadn’t seen anything about my mom in fifteen years. I figured she was still alive–otherwise, I was sure to have read an obituary–but I had no idea where she’d gone since that day she walked out on us with another man.
My dad, though, popped up on occasion. Not just on the internet searches but in my life, usually a few years in-between visits. Based on the article, he had been in eastern Washington state three days ago, which wasn’t good. He was nearby, and the only reason he’d ever return to Montana and especially to Sparks was me.
CHAPTER
THREE
HAYES
“Three minutes, forty-two seconds,” Ford announced as I streaked under the last trip wire in the obstacle course. “That’s your best yet.”
The course had been set up so it cut through the mountain and made for a really fucking hard workout. It was a rugged path that went up steep inclines then back down them. There were fallen logs to jump, even crossing a damned stream and all kinds of other natural obstacles. The only thing it didn’t have was an ocean swim. It wasn’t fun, but I was a SEAL, and if it was fun, it’d be boring.
I accepted Kennedy’s high-five as I walked off the exertion, setting my hands on my hips. They’d already had their turns and were clocking us.
Taft, our youngest team member, came in behind me, his injured knee not slowing his time because he was too fucking fast, but he’d slid down the steep section and veered off course. On his ass. After a knee injury had ended his military career, he was getting stronger by the day and already lapped us all, the fucker. “Four twenty-four.”
Ford tossed him his water bottle.
My new time had everything to do with the set of blue balls I’d had since hooking up with Megan three days ago. I’d never been so frustrated after being so thoroughly satisfied in my life. One taste of her, and I wasn’t the same. Rubbing one out in the shower, several times a day, wasn’t cutting it.