Jenna Night - Lost Rodeo Memories

“Yes.” Melanie glanced at Anna, feeling bad for having just snapped at her. “I’ve lived here for the last year.”

Luke turned to Anna. “So, you know for certain that Melanie has been in town for the last two weeks, even though she doesn’t remember it?”

“Yes.” Anna nodded. “You came straight back here after your trip to Wyoming,” she said, directing the rest of her response to Melanie. “You arrived on time. You were happy. You’d sold some jewelry and that oak-dresser-and-nightstand set you’d restored. The one you bought from the Wilsons.”

“I remember that,” Melanie said, feeling like recalling it was some kind of triumph. “I remember arriving in Leopold early and going to the big flea market in the parking lot outside the rodeo, looking for things I could buy and fix up and then resell. I remember getting my booth set up inside the rodeo grounds and talking to customers. And I remember selling that oak-dresser-and-nightstand set to a newlywed couple.” Why was it that she could remember being at the rodeo in Wyoming, remember making that sale, remember packing up when it was all over and then...nothing?

“Stop it,” her cousin commanded in a kind tone. Anna glanced at Luke. “Her doctor told her not to try too hard to remember that missing stretch of time and risk getting herself upset. She’s supposed to relax and let her mind and body heal.”

“I’d like to see you relax after going through what I’ve been through,” Melanie grumbled. “I just think something must have happened after I packed up in Wyoming. Otherwise, why does my memory end there?”

“The doctor said recent memories sometimes disappear after a head injury like yours,” Anna said. “That trip was recent. Doesn’t mean anything significant happened there. And the doctor said there’s a good chance your memory will come back.”

Anna turned to Luke. “If you look at the security video from the bank and from several different stores in town, you’ll see she was here. And we can find plenty of witnesses if we need to.” She looked at Melanie. “You’ve got a hard head. Getting hit by a tree branch couldn’t have done that much damage. You’ll be fine. Give it time.”

Despite feeling miserable, Melanie mustered a slight smile. She didn’t have much family living around Bowen anymore, just a couple of cousins on her mother’s side and her dad’s widower uncle, and sometimes that bothered her. But the family she did have always came through in a pinch. Then she glanced down at her hands. They had scrapes all over them. She swallowed thickly. “Why do you think the guy who attacked me today didn’t just shoot me?” she asked Luke. “Apparently shooting me wasn’t a problem for him last night.”

“I don’t know. My best guess would be that he was afraid of witnesses. It was broad daylight. In the center of town. The sound of gunshots would have drawn a lot of attention.”

The doorbell chimed and Melanie’s heart sank. It could be some kind soul coming by to check up on her. And with her emotions all over the place and her strength fading, she wasn’t sure how polite she could be.

Luke got to his feet. “You expecting anyone?”

“No,” Anna said, walking to the door. Luke followed behind her. She pulled aside the narrow gauze curtain covering the strip of glass beside the door and looked out. “It’s a police officer,” she said.

It was a patrol officer stopping by to deliver the message that the chief of police wanted to make certain Melanie understood the police department would be working with the sheriff’s department to find the person who’d attacked her. Since the first attack took place in county jurisdiction, the sheriff’s department was taking the lead in the investigation. “But then I guess you already knew all this,” the officer said, glancing at Luke. “Since Lieutenant Baxter is officially in charge of your case.”

No, Melanie hadn’t known that. She glanced at Luke and he gave her a slight nod. From what she’d seen so far, the lieutenant was capable and compassionate. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she felt a flutter of attraction and the whisper of some deeper emotion in the center of her chest. Was it possible he’d had himself put in charge of her case because he felt something like that, too?

The officer didn’t stay long. As soon as he left, Anna ran upstairs to Melanie’s office to look for her beige lockbox. She came back a few minutes later, carrying it. There was a big dent in it, and as soon as Melanie saw it, she remembered dropping it in the parking lot behind The Mercantile.

“That’s right. It got dented and I remember buying the new blue one,” Melanie said to Luke, thrilled at the inkling of memory. “But I planned to use it the same way I did the old one. I didn’t keep drugs or secret government files or anything else you might be imagining in there. Just money. Not even very much, really. And a little jewelry.” Yet someone tried to take her life over that. It was hard to fathom.

Luke nodded and got to his feet.

He glanced around. “I don’t see any signs of a security system for the house,” he said. “I’d strongly suggest you invest in one. The police will patrol by here as often as they can,” he added. “Make sure you keep your doors and windows locked.”

A look of panic flashed across Anna’s face. “Let me check the back doors,” she said, heading for the kitchen.

Melanie stood up and walked with Luke to the front door.

“Tell me something,” she said, her words stopping him before he opened the door. “Both attacks must be related. Why do you think the guy came after me a second time?”

He hesitated, obviously thinking over his answer before he spoke. “Well, since he shot at you, it could be argued that the initial attack was attempted murder and not simply a robbery. And that could mean a pretty lengthy prison sentence. He’d have no way of knowing you were having trouble with your memory and couldn’t identify him. So maybe he came after you because he was afraid you’d identify him and send him to prison.”

“But that seems irrational. Even if I could recognize his face, what are the odds I’d ever see the guy again?”

“Apparently he thought the odds were pretty good,” Luke said. “Which makes me think he is someone you know.”

Luke stepped outside. Melanie closed and locked the door behind him. All the while a chill passed through her. Was it really possible someone she’d known had attacked her twice ?

* * *

“Uncle Luke, come out here! Billy Clyde is in the mud again!”

Luke stood inside the stables at his family’s ranch. At the sound of his five-year-old niece Kayla’s voice, he turned toward the big open door to look at her standing in the sunlight. “Come on!” She waved impatiently at him.

Luke finished drying his hands on a tattered red shop towel and walked outside. His niece was already running ahead of him. She stopped and called out “Billy Clyde!” while slapping her thigh.

Billy Clyde, a scruffy brown-and-black dog of uncertain breed, was happily rolling in something on the ground in the corral. A couple of horses had been in that corral until an hour ago. Luke was fairly certain it wasn’t mud the dog was rolling in. And he was doing it right after they’d given Billy Clyde a bath.

“Billy Clyde!” Jake Baxter, Luke’s younger brother, walked from the ranch house, down the slight hill, and hollered to his dog. “Billy Clyde, come here!”

The dog paused, looked at him, then went right back to rolling around.

“I think that dog’s going deaf,” Jake said when he got up alongside Luke.

“There’s nothing wrong with him,” Luke said as both men watched Kayla and her seven-year-old brother, Alan, race over to the dog. At their approach, Billy Clyde jumped up and started barking and playfully running away from them. “That dog’s getting up in years and he’s going to do what he wants to do,” Luke added.