fuonlyknew

“Oh, my goodness. Jerod Garfield drained his pond and found a body.” Tempe had been reading the local news on her phone while her husband read the Dennison Banner.Hutch folded the Banner and put in on the kitchen table where they’d been drinking their morning coffee. “Nothing in here about it.”

“I don’t know why we bother with the paper. Now that it’s delivered by mail, the news is at least a day late.”

“I like it because it has positive articles about the schools, sports, and kids as well as others’ achievements. And I’ve always read the paper with my morning coffee.”

True, and Tempe once had done the same, but these days, it was easier and quicker to check her phone.

Her husband clung to his habits of the past. He refilled his mug from the coffee pot on the table. “Who is the deceased?”

“Authorities don’t know yet.”

“You have any idea who it might be?”

She shrugged. “If I were still on the job, I’d find out who has gone missing in the past few years.” Tempe had recently retired as the resident deputy of Bear Creek. She hadn’t been replaced. Instead, deputies from Dennison were assigned to patrol Bear Creek on different shifts, or were sent to respond in the case of an emergency.

These days, unless they planned to do something special, Tempe’s daily attire during the cooler fall temperatures consisted of a sweater, good jeans, and a comfortable pair of sneakers. Like she’d always done, she wore her still all-black hair in a long, thick single braid. Hutch usually donned his favorite well-worn Levi’s, a long-sleeved flannel shirt, and cowboy boots.