Nicole spoke before she thought. “Then the sheriff is your brother too?”
“Yes, I’m afraid both of those big lugs are my brothers.” She laughed again. “I’ve got another one, my baby brother who works with my dad on the farm and he’s bigger than either of the others.”
Shelly looked up at the big clock behind Nicole’s desk. “Well, I’d better get back to the office. I always have a lot of work to do on Mondays.”
“Wait a moment, would you please Shelly?”
When Shelly turned back to face her, Nicole tried to think of the best way to ask. “Do you know how the money was found?”
“Oh, that’s easy. Heather Mitchell found it and it was exactly where she said she remembered putting it.”
“How convenient.”
Did she say that aloud?
“That’s what I told Roger, and he just laughed and said he’d known that would happen.” She got a puzzled look on her face. “I wonder how he knew that.”
Nicole didn’t dare say more. She’d already let too much slip. She watched Shelly as she rushed out of the room.
Nicole’s morning went by rather quickly and when lunch came, she pulled her lunch out of her bag and prepared to eat it at her desk as she always did.
She’d just placed her salad and fruit on the desk when the door opened enough for a head with shoulder-length red hair to appear. Shelly Walker again.
“Hello again Nicole, is it okay if I join you for lunch? I’ve noticed you always eat in here, alone. I sure don’t blame you. After three hours of the noisy kids, I need a little quiet time too.”
As Shelly came the rest of the way into the room, Nicole took that time to observe her. Yes, she was redheaded just like her brothers and she was tall too. She thought the woman had to be close to six feet tall. Her complexion was pale and freckled the way many redheads were.
Shelly caught Nicole looking at her hair. “If I could trade with you for your beautiful blond hair, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’m just lucky my husband, David, says he loves red hair.”
Nicole had never spent much time with Shelly before, just a few minutes at a time when she needed to do something in the office. She’d never realized how talkative the woman was. My, could she ever talk. Not that Nicole minded though. She wasn’t one to talk a lot anyway, so it was refreshing to sit and listen without being expected to enter into the conversation.
Nicole learned all about Shelly’s husband and two children, a boy and a girl and all about how it had been growing up on a farm with an older brother and two younger ones.
“That must have been rough on you to only have brothers.”
Shelly shook her head vigorously. “No, it wasn’t really. They all three stood up for me and being older than Roger and Myron, I could push them around quite a bit, at least until they outgrew me.”
Nicole smiled in spite of her efforts not to. “But how did you get along with Floyd?”
Shelly laughed again. “Now Floyd was a different story. What you see of him now is pretty much what he was like back then. He stands up to everybody and takes nothing off anybody. And since he was three years older than me, he was more my bodyguard than tormentor the way the two younger ones were.”
Nicole had to laugh at that. She could just see Roger McCracken being a tormentor to his older sister.
When Shelly finally left, Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. But then as she thought about it, she had enjoyed her time with Shelly and didn’t even argue when as she was leaving, Shelly said she’d see her tomorrow.
Chapter Three
Roger had resisted the temptation to call Miss Fuller and brag about how quickly he had solved her problem. But he decided to let Shelly handle the notification. She was much better at that than he was. He and Floyd had always been the quiet ones of the four siblings, though he thought they had the best sense of humor. Shelly and Myron both took most things way too seriously.
When he arrived at his office that Monday morning, he was surprised to see someone already waiting for him in the lobby of his building. When he walked across the lobby, the man stood and approached him.
Roger had a few seconds to look the guy over. He was about average height but was very thin. The guy couldn’t weigh more than a hundred and forty pounds. That made him look much taller than he was. But as soon as he was standing next to Roger who was easily seven inches taller that illusion disappeared.
“Mr. McCracken. I’m Vance Robertson. Could I have a few minutes of your time, please?”
Roger fought off excitement at the possibility of another client so soon but as he led the way down the hallway to his office, the name finally clicked. This was the man Floyd said was running for mayor. Now what?
Roger liked to consider himself an apt student of human nature. He felt it was a quality that would definitely come in handy as a lawyer. He spent as much time as he could, observing the people he had to work with, trying to see, not only what made them tick, but what gave away their thoughts and plans.
He had quite a list of actions, mannerisms and speech patterns he watched for. From these, he could determine how people would act and react in any given situation or set of circumstances.
One of his measures was the three guest chairs in front of his desk. If a person came in and sat where the chair was without moving it in any way, he knew they would be less of a problem and not try to push him around. But, on the other hand, if the person came in and moved the chair before sitting down, that person would be difficult to deal with for he or she would want all things to go exactly the way they wanted them to.
He even had different classifications for how far they moved the chair and in which direction.
Well, needless to say, Mr. Robertson, not only moved his chair a full six inches, but he swung it around, so he could look directly at Roger. Interesting but look out. This guy was used to having everything his way.
They both sat there staring at the other for a full beat then Roger smiled. “What can I do for you Mr. Robertson?”
Even then, the man continued to stare at Roger for a few more seconds. Finally, he smiled, but it didn’t quite make it to his eyes which continued to stare at Roger.
A lesser man might have fidgeted by then, but not Roger. He’d been stared at by the best and this small-town bully would not get the best of him.
“You’re even bigger than your brother.”
Roger laughed loudly. “No, I’m afraid not. I may be an inch taller than Floyd, but he outweighs me by twenty-five pounds. But you should see our little brother. He’s six feet seven and weighs about three hundred.”
Robertson was quiet for another long moment. “I hear you’re running against me in the election for mayor.”
At first, Roger had planned to treat this guy as carefully as he could, in case he might ever become a client. But as he observed Robertson, he decided that would probably never happen. For some reason, other than the mayor and police department thing, this guy didn’t like Floyd and by the process of association, he didn’t like Roger either.
So, he decided to go for broke.
“You know, Mr. Robertson, it’s interesting. I sure would like to know where you heard that little story.”
When no sound came from the other side of the desk and Robertson’s eyes even hardened more, Roger went on. “I was just asked yesterday to consider running for mayor and told them I needed to think about it. And it’s funny, but I hadn’t even thought about it at all since then.
In that moment, Roger realized he had a ruthless opponent sitting across his desk from him. Robertson was trying to read him the same way Roger was reading Robertson. Interesting.
“But you know what? Even though I hadn’t decided yet, you just made the decision for me.”
He paused on purpose. He wanted to see just how disciplined the man was. Would he jump in now or wait until Roger finished?
He waited and when Robertson didn’t move a muscle even in his face, Roger ended the conversation
quickly then.
“You coming here has shown me that my brother was right about you and I for one would not like to see you as mayor of Crowleyville. So, yes, I am running against you as soon as I can get down to city hall and file my candidacy.”
Roger leaned back then, watching and waiting for the fireworks but there weren’t any, at least not verbal ones. The guy’s eyes grew harder, and he was clenching his jaw so tightly Roger thought he might break it.
Without a word, Robertson stood, glared down at Roger, then turned and walked out of the office.
Wow! Was that ever an intense confrontation. There went a dangerous man. Roger knew he’d just made an enemy, but he was certain that just because he was Floyd’s brother, he’d already been the man’s enemy.
He sat there for another five minutes going over in his mind what had just happened. Then he reminded himself to write it all down. He found that if he kept copious notes on every meeting he had, even one-on-one conversations, it always came back to benefit him later.
He spent the next ten minutes writing it all down. Then he was reaching for the telephone on his desk when there was a loud knock on his open door. He looked up to see Floyd standing there in his sheriff’s uniform.
“I saw Robertson come out of here a little while ago.”
That was Floyd. He knew he didn’t have to say anything more. He didn’t even ask the question, but Roger answered it anyway.
“I’m in Floyd.”
“Ha! I knew it. I was even going to suggest that you meet the man before you decided not to run against him. I’m glad he came to you first.”
Roger shook his head. “That man is a piece of work all right. I sure don’t want him as my mayor.”
Floyd boomed out his laugh and left without another word. After all, everything important had already been said.
* * *
The rest of that week went by in a blur for Nicole. The only change in routine was that Shelly was now eating lunch with her in her classroom almost every day. Some days she couldn’t get away, but she was there every chance she got. It seemed to Nicole that Shelly had decided they would be friends whether or not Nicole liked it.
But the funny part of it was, she did like it. She liked Shelly, a lot. She had a gentling effect on Nicole that had been missing from her life since she left home at eighteen. The woman had grown up on a farm and had never lived anywhere else and was about as naïve as they come but Nicole genuinely liked the sweet woman.
Sweet? Was that even a word in Nicole’s vocabulary before she met Shelly? To Shelly, everything and everybody was sweet and good. Nicole sure hoped nothing ever happened to disillusion her.
Finally, it was Friday and for once, Nicole was more than glad to see a school week over and done with. It had been a hectic week with all that the Student Council was doing for the Halloween dance next Saturday night. She dreaded next week even more.
So, when Shelly breezed into Nicole’s classroom at noon, she was more than happy to see her. She needed to be cheered up the way Shelly usually did for her.
Between bites of her large sandwich, Shelly stopped and looked closely at Nicole. “You don’t have to answer this Nicole, but do you have a church?”
Nicole didn’t think of the ramifications of her response before answering. “No. My family never went to any kind of church.”
Nicole had discovered that Shelly was one who always seemed to say whatever popped into her mind.
“Oh my! That’s terrible. You simply must come with us Sunday to our church.”
Nicole didn’t know what to say. She did not want to go to Shelly’s church, any church for that matter. She avoided all situations where large groups of unfamiliar people were. They always stared at her and at best felt sorry for her or at worse made fun of her behind her back. No, she didn’t want to go to church with Shelly.
But how was she going to get out of it without hurting the dear woman’s feelings?
Shelly, as usual, kept on going. “I just know you’ll love it. The pastor, Gil Turner, came to town two years ago and has since married my cousin, Jo Early. They’re the greatest.”
Maybe she could get out of it if the church was one of those that was so stuck up, they didn’t welcome new people.
As if she was reading Nicole’s mind, Shelly grinned back at her. “We’re not one of those stuffed shirt kinds of churches. Very few men even wear ties much less suits. And Gil only wears a tie.”
Well, there went that excuse. Okay, what if it was one of those, they called holy roller churches where everybody was shouting and running around all the time?
Again, Shelly seemed to know what she was thinking.
“And we’re not on the other end either. We don’t make all that noise like some churches do. It’s First Baptist Church and we have a praise team leading the music part of our worship and I just know you’ll love to hear them.”
Shelly turned red. “Oops! I’m sorry Nicole. I sometimes speak before I think.”
Nicole ignored that. “Wait Shelly, you said you didn’t have that wild stuff, yet you said it was a Baptist church.”
Shelly laughed. “Oh, there are some kinds of Baptists who get a little that way, but our church never does. Like I said before, we’re about half-way between the two extremes.”
Finally, Nicole decided to give the woman a break. “Okay, I’ll consent to try it once. But that’s all I’ll agree too up front.”
When Shelly clapped her hands together, Nicole held up her right hand in front of her. “But you’ve got to promise me that if I don’t like it, you won’t get upset with me.”
Shelly’s expression changed to one of almost shock. “Oh no, Nicole. I would never do that. I know that not everyone will like our service, but I’m convinced that you will.”
Nicole laughed despite trying not to. “Okay, I’ll try it. Once.”
After that, they talked about the preparations for the Halloween dance and then Shelly left to go back to the office.
* * *
For some unknown reason, Roger was suddenly swamped with clients. Granted, they were almost all little things like wills and such. But there was one case that had promise. Several farmers were suing a fertilizer company for mislabeling some fertilizer that wound up killing some of their crops.
So, he had been quite busy since his little intervention on behalf of Miss Nicole Fuller. He hadn’t even seen her in the last week. He didn’t stop to think about why he was sorry that he hadn’t seen her.
He’d been working all morning without a break and suddenly realized he was starving. Then he remembered he’d skipped breakfast that morning. So, he decided to go to the Best Friends Coffee Shop for lunch. He usually went there if he had lunch out. After all, one owner was his little cousin Jo, and the other was Floyd’s wife Sue Ann.
By the time Roger cleared his desk enough to go to lunch, it was almost one so when he walked into the coffee shop, there were only a few lunch customers left. Even those looked like they were finishing their meals.
As soon as he closed the door behind him and turned toward the counter, a short redheaded tornado hit him. He laughed as his little cousin Jo almost threw herself into his arms. He caught her, and they hugged.
When he placed her back on the floor, he looked down at her and grinned. “At five months, you look like you’re almost ready to deliver. Did you get that big with Luke?”
Jo laughed. “That’s right, you weren’t around when I was carrying Luke. To answer your question, yes, by the time he decided to grace us with his presence, I looked like I needed a wheelbarrow just for my stomach.”
They both laughed as she led him up to the counter.
“Why don’t you sit here at the counter, so we can talk while I do some bookwork by the register?”
He smiled and gladly followed her to the counter.
Just as he got situated on a stool, Sue Ann came out of the kitchen and hit him on the shoulder.
“What was that for?”
/> She laughed, and he was reminded why she was so good a match for his big brother. She laughed almost as loudly as Floyd did. There were many other ways in which the two were perfect for each other. Roger had always thought they’d wind up together even though they’d both married someone else first.
“Don’t you think I’ve got a lot more catching up to do with you than just one little punch in the shoulder. Remember all the times you tormented me when we were growing up?”
Roger didn’t argue with that assessment. He and Sue Ann were the same age and Jo was a year younger. So, yeah, he had tormented both of them more than a little when they were growing up.
Just then, Luke, Jo’s nineteen-month-old son, came waddling out from the kitchen.
Jo shrieked. “There he is again Sue Ann. I don’t know what I’m going to have to do to keep him in that playpen now. He keeps climbing out all the time.”
They all three laughed as Jo leaned over to pick up her son but Sue Ann stopped her.
“Oh no you don’t Jo. You know Stella said you can’t lift him anymore until after the new one is born.”
Jo laughed and turned back to Roger. “What can we get for you today Roger?”
He gave her his order and sat there sipping his coke while he watched the circus going on behind the counter and on into the kitchen. Sue Ann went into the kitchen with Luke and came back out with her own five-month-old, Mary Ann.
He was enjoying himself. It was almost like Sunday afternoons out at the farmhouse. He looked around at the few remaining customers and could tell they were enjoying it as much as he was. In fact, one older lady came up and took Mary Ann from Sue Ann, so she could fix Roger’s sandwich.
Twenty minutes later, Roger was the only customer left and both Sue Ann and Jo were sitting on the other side of the counter talking to him when Jo suddenly hit him with something totally unexpected.
“Say, Roger.”
He looked over at her as he placed his empty coke glass on the counter. He suddenly had a feeling he would not like what she was about to say. He knew that look and that tone of voice.
Not My Solution Page 4
