I liked this Ted.

“Thanks, Ted,” I said. With that, he tipped his hat and put the shotgun away. He went back to his polishing as if Biker Ted had never been there, slipping easily back into the role of Hardware Store Ted.

“You tell him I said hello,” He added, as if I just came in to buy a quart of oil.

I was touched by Ted’s offer, but what I really needed right then was someone who had a connection.

A way in.

There was only one person I knew who could help me. With one last wave to Ted I rushed out the door in search of the only person in Jessep who had such a connection.

And who may or may not hate my guts.

* * *

I FOUND BUCK in his cruiser behind the diner, exactly where Ted had said he would be. He wore mirrored aviator sunglasses, and although I couldn’t see his eyes, I knew they were shut. His head was tilted back against the reclined seat, his mouth wide open as he snored away. The sun reflected off his badge as he breathed in and out, making it look as if it were a light bulb being turned on and off.

“Bucky!” I shouted, slamming my open palm on the roof of the cruiser, startling him back to consciousness. His head connected with the headliner as he jumped up in surprise.

“It’s Deputy Douglas,” he mumbled the familiar correction as he came out of his haze, catching his sunglasses as they fell off his face and rubbing the top of his head. “Thia?” he asked, squinting against the sun.

“The one and only,” I said, leaning up against the cruiser. Buck reached for the handle and I stepped back to let him out, but before he did so he put on his ridiculous wide-brimmed sheriff’s hat that made him look like Deputy Dog from the cartoon we used to watch as kids.

“So, the prodigal daughter returns,” Buck said in his slowest and thickest southern drawl. He hung his sunglasses from the collar of his shirt and assumed a very wide “I’m a police officer” stance, tucking his thumbs into his gun belt. “You know, last time you left I thought I’d never see you again, especially after your boyfriend decided to try and kill me,” he said the word boyfriend like he was waiting for me to correct him, and although I didn’t think that word was accurate enough to describe what we were, I didn’t have time to go over the specifics of our relationship.

“In all fairness Buck, you were being an ass by locking me in that cell, but never mind. There isn’t time for that. I need your help. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh, now you need my help? We used to be friends, but six months ago I get a call that your parents are dead and that you’re on the run, but I didn’t hear it from you. I had to hear it from the sheriff himself. Then I find out that the guy you ran off with last time is now in jail for murder and you still never came to me. So tell me, Thia, why I should help you now, when my oldest friend couldn’t be bothered to come to me in the first place?” This time he didn’t seem pissed. The sarcasm that he put up when I first banged on the roof had faded away. His shoulders fell. The front he tried so hard to put in place was shattering.

Buck wasn’t angry.

He was hurt.

Suddenly, I felt bad, although what he was saying wasn’t entirely true. “We’d grown apart, Buck. It wasn’t like you were the best of friend to me either. Once my family started falling apart and the entire town started calling me Crazy Thia Andrews, it was like I didn’t exist to you anymore.”

“I might be the law, but you could have come to me.” Buck dropped the official stance, mirroring me and leaning up against the cruiser. “You have to have known you could have come to me, Thia.” Buck and I used to share everything, and me not going to him when my parents died was because of one very simple reason. I never thought to. I thought of Bear, getting to him, and nothing else.

“I’m here now,” I said. “And I promise, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“Might be too late for that now,” Buck said, scratching his head and looking down at his feet.

“Just listen, and if you don’t want anything to do with me ever again, I’ll disappear and you won’t ever see me again.” I put my hand on his shoulder, a gesture I hoped would be reassuring. He looked up at me, his dark brown eyes searched mine. “I’ll disappear for good this time.”

“Get in,” Buck said, opening the driver’s side door. I rounded the cruiser, barely able to contain my excitement. I got into the passenger seat while he took off his hat and settled into the driver’s seat. I opened my mouth to start to tell him the truth, in hopes that he’d return the favor, when he held up his hand to stop me. “Something we got to get out of the way first,” he said with a straight face. My stomach sank. Every second that ticked by was another second too many.

“What?” I asked with as much calmness as I could muster.

“First, you have to pinkie swear,” Buck said, holding out his pinkie. I took it in my own and we both kissed the backs of our hands, like we had a thousand times before.

“I promise I will tell you the truth if you promise to keep an open mind,” I said.

“Deal,” Buck agreed, a small smile creeping onto his face. We dropped pinkies and I began to tell him everything, from my parents’ death—the real story—to Bear, to the club. The entire time, I clutched the ring I no longer hid under my shirt for support. I had to force the words from my mouth, but I kept my part of the deal while Buck kept his, listening to every word. After a few minutes it got less difficult and the words flowed smoother. The air around us grew lighter, reminding me of the once easy going friendship we used to have.

When I was done talking and the truth was out there, I sat back against the seat and waited for Buck to say something. “Do you love him?” he asked, surprising me. Of all the questions he could have asked about what I’d just said, that’s the first one that sprang to his mind?

“Yeah, I do,” I admitted. “Very much.”

Buck sighed and scratched the stubble on his chin. “Then where do we go from here?” he asked, meeting my gaze for the first time since I’d arrived.

“You’ll help me?” I asked, trying to combat the hope that was threatening to explode inside of me.

“I pinkie swore, didn’t I?” Buck asked, wagging his pinkie in the air.

“Thank you!” I squealed, launching myself at him and hugging him close.