FRIDAY, 2:45 A.M.
CIRCLE S RANCH
“I know it’s late, and I’m sorry.”
Lying in bed, she held the cell away from her while Emily gave her an earful. Harper couldn’t blame her sister for being upset. A text wasn’t always enough. Harper had been exhausted after a day that included documenting images until well after midnight, and had forgotten to call Emily.
She’d woken up suddenly with the thought. “Are you done yet?”
“No. I could keep going.”
“I can only say I’m sorry so many times.” Harper shifted her pillow.
“I’m good with you saying you’re sorry at least once more. And it’s not late, it’s early.”
“What? Oh, right. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back, but I was busy.” Harper explained everything that had happened.
Emily gave a heavy sigh. “I wish you hadn’t been there, Harper. I’m so, so sorry you had to go through that. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. A little scratched is all.” She huffed a laugh. “New scratches to add to the old ones. At least I got my stitches out.” But Harper understood Emily’s question went deeper. “I’m sorry it happened, and yes, I’m fine. Sheriff Taggart asked me to take pictures, and I did my best. It felt good to be back, even though I’m still working through the pain of what happened. But it’s late, and I should get some sleep. I might have to take more pictures.”
“Okay, but before you go, I need to ask you a favor.”
Uh-oh. “What is it?”
“I can’t stop thinking about Uncle Jerry.”
Harper tensed. She had a feeling she knew where this was going. “And?”
“He told us to come back to see him. You’re still there, Harper. Will you please stop by? Try again?”
“If this is so important to you, why didn’t you stay?”
Another sigh. “You know why I couldn’t. I mean, I didn’t know it was going to bother me so much. And now, he could have been in town and gotten hurt in that bomb, Harper. You should check on him. Besides, he’s sick. Maybe we can plan a trip back to see him later too.”
“Why is it so important to you?” Shame engulfed her. “I’m sorry. I should be more concerned about him.” But she’d had a feeling he wasn’t part of their lives for good reason, and nothing about that had changed.
“He’s our only living relative—at least that we know about. And until this week, we didn’t even know he was alive. Why didn’t we know that he was alive and living in the old house? Aren’t you curious why he and Mom weren’t close?”
Harper closed her eyes, exhaustion winning the battle in her mind. “Okay. I’ll try. But I can’t promise. I don’t know if I’ll have time. The sheriff could want more pictures, and I want to be there if he does.” Images flooded her mind.
Her pictures had captured the unexpected event forever on camera and, unfortunately, in her mind.