Page 215 of Rangers Last Promise

“Quiet.”

“That sounds lonely.”

“It was.”

“Why?”

“Because I made it that way.”

She doesn't argue.

I appreciate that.

“I thought if I let people matter again, I'd eventually lose them.”

Mara looks toward the street.

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It was efficient.”

She laughs softly.

“Of course you would describe loneliness as efficient.”

I smile.

Then she becomes serious.

“Grant mattered.”

“Yes.”

“And you lost him.”

“Yes.”

“So you decided nobody else got to matter.”

I don't answer.

“You know that's stupid, right?”

I look at her.

“Your bedside manner needs work.”

“I'm a deputy, not a therapist.”

“Thank God.”

She bumps my shoulder with hers.

Carefully.

Avoiding my injured side.

I notice.