Dead to Rights

Je

Joa

Joa

With that, Je

“I don’t want to ride with you!” Je

Stu

Fighting back tears herself, Joa

No doubt, Je

“Damn you anyway, Andy,” Joa

Joa

Outside, the late-January chill of Arizona ’s high desert country had put a thin layer of frost over the Blazer’s wind-shield. It scraped off easily enough with one or two swipes of the wipers. A steady wind was blowing up out of the Gulf of Mexico, with the wind-chill factor making it seem far colder than the forty-five degrees the thermometer indicated. The sky up over the Mule Mountains behind High Lonesome Ranch was a deep, cloudless blue.

As the Blazer started down the rutted dirt road, Sadie was coming back from accompanying Je

Even the dogs are having a bad day, Joa

At the intersection where High Lonesome Ranch’s mile-long private road met up with the county-maintained High Lonesome Road, Joa

She looked so small, lost, and lonely standing there all by herself that Joa

Joa

“Don’t forget, you’re supposed to go to Grandma Brady’s after Brownies this afternoon,” Joa

“Okay,” Je

Je

“I’m sorry we had a disagreement,” Joa

“It’s okay,” she mumbled. “You’d better go. You’ll be late.”

“I love you,” Joa

But Je

“Have a nice day,” Joa

As Joa

For the first time, Joa

Fourteen years later, Joa