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She huffed a laugh. “You ain’t far off. But it’s beautiful. There’s so much to see, and most of the tourists don’t know about any of the good backcountry spots.”

Rolling onto my back and kicking my sheet down to my feet, I breathed deeply, trying to picture it: spending a day out in the mountains with Abey, having a picnic lunch, and playing in a waterfall somewhere in Yellowstone. Just listening to her voice relaxed me. I wished I could snuggle up to her while she talked. “I’ve seen pictures.”

“It’s not the same thing. Not even close.”

I smiled at the wistfulness in her voice and wished I could see her eyes, blue as the sky over Wyoming. “Maybe we can go sometime.”

“I’ll take you,” she said. “I’d love to take you. Plus, I don’t have to pay. Got me a shiny law enforcement pass, but I’ll save my pennies and buy you two hot dogs.”

“A Yellowstone date?” I asked, noticing how my voice had gone from sleepy and raspy to a high-pitched swoony sound when I thought about going on a date with her, just the two of us.

“Yeah. By the way, you know what I like to do, but what do you do when you get a day off?”

“Mm, dunno. I mean, usually I run errands or help my mom around the house. That kinda thing. But… Well, do you promise not to laugh?”

In her most serious voice, she said, “Not on your life.”

“Gee, thanks,” I teased, smiling to myself because I knew she wouldn’t laugh. “I like to… garden.”

“Why would I laugh at that?”

“I’m not very good at it. If I can keep a plant alive longer than a month, it’s a miracle. Actually, they usually do okay outside, but it’s when I bring them indoors that shit goes sideways.”

She laughed then. “What kinda plants?”

“I like growing food. Vegetables and herbs and stuff like that. I worked in fast food for a little while at this awful chicken place, and it made me insane to see how much food is thrown away and wasted when there are people literally starving right here in our backyard. Ugh!”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm Devo the Devil. “But it’s so satisfyin’ when I eat somethin’ I’ve grown myself. I’ve been thinkin’ I’d like to… I dunno. I’d like to learn more about it. Maybe start a small farm. I could grow food for the community. There’s this one farm I found when I gave a kid a ride home from the center. He lives out here, past Barton in the sticks. Anyway, the place is beautiful, and they do this CSA program where they grow the veggies and then they box it all up and give ’em out. People pledge money to the farm, then you grow the food, and the donors benefit, but there’s a portion of the food that goes to the community. Everybody wins.”

“Wow,” Abey said. “That’s really cool. Sounds like a lot of work though.”

“Yeah,” I admitted. It would be a ton of work. Not that I couldn’t put in the hours, but by myself? “And I have my job at the center.” But the more I read and thought about it, I really wanted to try it. “It was just a thought.”

“It’s a good one, and I think you’d be a pretty hot farmer.” I chuckled at that, then she said, “Ah, well, a dream for another day?”

“Yeah,” I said. Man, the way she thought all my ideas were amazing made me want to kiss her. She accepted me as is. “When’s your next day off?”

“Probably next year.” I didn’t need to see her to know she’d rolled her eyes. “Speaking of, I gotta go.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. But thanks for callin’. You made this whole ‘park my truck down an alley and avoid my responsibilities’ thing fun.”

“When can I see you? I want to see you.”

“Are you back at Ace’s House today?”

“No.” I sighed. “One more day.”

“If I get a minute, I’ll stop in.”

“Promise?”

“I can’t, but I’ll try my damnedest.”

* * *

Pulling into the alley next to Red Wild early, I’d been hoping to catch a glimpse of Abey around town. Yeah, yeah, she was busy, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get a gander of her ass and legs in her fine-fitting uniform. A girl could only hope.