“Actually, when I learned that Tobias had become the mayor back when Dad was sheriff, I couldn’t imagine a worse person to lead this town,” Gage said, leaning back in his chair. “But I have to confess, he’s done a pretty good job with all these wild things happening and the new influx of money, jobs and residents.”
Deke nodded his head. “You’re right. He has stepped up. Got to confess though, when I first saw that round table in the conference room, I thought Geez, he’s still back in his Camelot fantasy days.”
“Camelot fantasy?” Daniel asked, confused.
Gage and Deke exchanged grins.
“When we were in high school, Deke and I played sports. Tobias was in the drama club. Pretty good, too. But when they put on the play Camelot and he got to play King Arthur, let’s just say he went a little off the deep end.”
“And then he found out there was a renaissance fair in the southern part of the state every summer.” Deke shook his head, trying to sober up from what was apparently a funny memory to him. “Took some heavy-handed arm-twisting by his father, Judge Rawlins, to keep Tobias on the path to college and law school and off the road to Broadway.”
“So, he has a round table for the council meetings?” Daniel asked, trying not to think of the Mayor standing in chainmail and wielding a sword.
“Sure does,” Gage said. “It’s actually a good idea. Makes everyone equal. No one sitting at the head of the table in charge. He follows the standard Robert’s Rules of Order, but otherwise, everyone has equal time to speak their opinions and ideas.”
Deke nodded, his face settling into its normal stoic look. The scars on the left side from a fire years ago, always made him appear worried. “And it wasn’t just the council at today’s meeting. Sandy Blair, the high school principal, Doc Clint and my wife, Libby were there to talk about the impact of the heroin epidemic on the schools, the healthcare and social aspect of the community.”
“Anything going on here?” Gage asked then looked at Bobby’s empty chair, his brows lowering in worry. “And where is my wife?”
“She’s fine, boss. Went to take lunch out to the Westen House.”
“Oh? Something going on over there?”
“Not really. I asked her yesterday what it was like to suddenly find yourself raising teenagers, like she did with her sisters. Thought maybe she could talk with Melissa…”
“Melissa, is it?” Gage said, exchanging a knowing look with Deke.
Daniel wasn’t biting and continued. “Who is doing a good job with all those kids at the house, but she’s basically been thrown in the deep end of the pool. Thought she could use some encouragement from someone who was sort of in the same situation is all.”
“Yeah, he’s being helpful, is all,” Deke said.
All three of them chuckled and Daniel relaxed. Good-natured ribbing about him was okay. As long as no one said anything bad about Melissa, he could take anything these guys dished out.
“And the rest of the crew?”
“Cleetus is making the rounds in the cruiser, should be back after lunch. Wes is on evening shift tonight, but is coming in a little early. I have a thing I have to do.” And he wasn’t explaining he had to go in search of a pint-size baseball mitt or for who. “And Jason is on nights. Said he’d come in about eight to cruise the parks, especially the one out by the river.”
“Oh? What’s up with that?”
“Earl spent the night in the back cell, said the park felt dangerous lately, didn’t want to be out there. I suspect he’ll be back again tonight. On my way home last night I drove by and observed the comings and goings. Didn’t see anything unusual. Looked like usual vagrants finding a place for the night before moving on. No one shooting up or dealing, that I could tell. But given the dead bodies lately, thought we needed to keep an eye out there.”
Gage ran his hand over his face, all levity gone. “This damn shit. Bobby’s right, it is like mold. Suddenly in every corner of our lives.”
“Hate to break it to you, Gunslinger,” Deke said, his gravelly voice ominous. “But with the ugliness of heroin addiction, things are only going to get worse, before they get better.”
Bobby pulled her car into the drive leading up to the Westen House and once more admired the welcoming curb appeal. She’d been here before, when Banyon had been in charge. Amazing how fresh paint, pots full of spring flowers and a porch swing transformed a place from a prison to a home.
It was a turn-of-the-last-century farmhouse, built by the owners of the farm this part of town once belonged to. It was three stories high, with gables over the upper windows and a charming front porch that invited people to stop by for a chat. The town purchased it a few years back and renovated it when a need for housing teens in need of supervision arose. Judge Rawlins sat on the board of directors and when they needed extra funding, had set up a network of like-minded judges in the state who felt some kids could benefit from a non-institutionalized placement until they rejoined their families or moved on as adults.
Seeing the big wolf-dog Wöden sitting on the steps, she glanced around expecting to see either her sister or Wes Strong’s cars in the area. Neither were.
How odd. Ever since Wöden nearly died saving her sister’s life, he’d been her white shadow.
She climbed out of her car, leaving her service weapon locked in the gun safe Gage had installed in it. Grabbing her bag and the box from the Yeast & West Bakery, she headed up to the door. Wöden immediately came down to meet her, his tail wagging like a big old puppy.
“Hey, boy, what are you doing here?” she asked, reaching down to scratch him behind the ear.
“He comes over to have lunch with me every day,” a little voice said from somewhere on the porch.
Bobby leaned to one side, seeing bits of bright pink through the porch railing. She walked up the steps, stopping just before stepping onto the porch and peeked around the wood and brick column to see the little girl— her long hair up in two pigtails, dressed in a pink tutu skirt, jean leggings, pink tennis shoes and a puffy pink coat—sitting on the porch. “You must be Lexie.”
The little girl’s big blue eyes widened, and she nodded. In front of her lie a towel. Two plates and cups were set out across from each other. Wöden padded around from behind Bobby, laid down politely opposite Lexie in front of one of the plates and waited.
“Are you having a tea party?” Bobby asked, sitting on the top step.
Lexie shook her head. “Just a snack.” She pulled out a plastic bag full of fish crackers and put three in her plate and three on the other one. “Go ahead, Wöden.”
The big animal slurped up all three crackers on his plate, then waited patiently for Lexie to eat hers and serve them both more. Even though Bobby was well acquainted with the wolf-dog, having him accompany her sister everywhere, it was a little unsettling to see such a wild animal sharing a snack with the little girl. Yet, she saw how much Lexie trusted him.
“Ever since your sister came to visit us, Wöden spends part of his day here with Lexie,” Melissa said, holding open the screen door. “Would you like to come inside? She’s perfectly safe with him.”
Bobby stood and held up her hands holding the bag and box. “I’d love to. I brought some cookies from the bakery and chicken salad sandwiches from the Peaches ’N Cream, if you haven’t had lunch yet.”
“I love cookies,” Lexie said, scrambling to her feet.
“You’ll need to bring everything inside and wash your hands first, please,” Melissa said, waiting patiently for the little girl to clean up her “tea table”. Lexie, with the big grey and white animal at her heels, led the way into the kitchen where she deposited her towel and dishes on the counter.
“Come on, boy,” she said patting her companion on the head. “We have to go wash our hands.”
Melissa laughed. “He’ll come back with two wet front paws.”
“She’s fearless,” Bobby said, shaking her head and setting her offerings on the table.
; “Only with those she trusts.” Melissa opened the cupboard to get plates and cups. “She’s talking to you because her friend Wöden likes you and greeted you as a friendly person. Otherwise she tends to be shy among strangers.”
“Given the state of the house where she was found, I’d say being a little wary isn’t a bad thing.” Bobby removed her sheriff’s jacket and took a seat at the table, just as Lexie came skipping back into the room with Wöden trailing behind her. Bobby checked out his paws and smiled. They were indeed wet.
“Told you,” Melissa said with a lift of her brows and a soft smile for the little girl.
They served up the chicken salad sandwiches, cutting Lexie’s in smaller triangles and drank fresh made lemonade. While they ate, Bobby learned many things from Lexie, like who all the boys were in the house, which one liked video games the most and who was the best, who liked to talk about stuff like physics and math with her, who thought history was important and which one was going to be a painter—houses, not pictures, although Lexie believed he made good pictures, too. She also filled her in on the house members’ new interest in baseball and how Deputy Daniel promised to teach Lexie to play, too. Something that didn’t seem to sit well with Melissa, if the tightening of her facial muscles and the thin line of her lips were any indication.
“Lexie, why don’t you take Wöden out back and run around a little while I talk with Mrs. Justice?” Melissa suggested when they’d finished their meal.
“Please call me Bobby,” she said, hoping to put the other woman at ease. “I’m really here to see how you’re doing. Nothing formal going on, I promise.”
Once Lexie was running around the backyard with her four-legged friend, Melissa poured them both more lemonade and relaxed with her chair angled so she could keep an eye on the yard. “Thank you for bringing lunch. I do get a little tired of peanut butter and jelly. That and grilled cheese are Lexie’s favorite lunch items.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Bobby said with a little chuckle. “When my parents died and I took over raising my sisters, PB&J was a great budget stretcher. Luckily for me, both Chloe and Dylan loved the stuff, still do. Along with junk food snacks. They practically exist on the stuff.”
“Chloe does?” Melissa asked, surprise in her eyes. “But she’s so thin.”
Bobby made a disgusted face. “I know. The girl loves taco flavored chips and eats them by the bag, not to mention chocolate chip cookies. Willie Mae down at the Yeast & West says her profits have gone up just since my sister came to town.”
“She must work out then to stay so thin.”
Bobby shook her head. “Nope. She just has the metabolism of a hummingbird on crack.”
Melissa laughed. “I’ve never heard that before.”
Bobby grinned and took a drink of the lemonade, which was perking her up more than her beloved and much-missed caffeine.
“So, you raised your sisters?” Melissa asked. “You’re not that much older than Chloe.”
“My parents were both killed in a car accident when I was nineteen, almost twenty, really. Chloe was twelve, Dylan, ten. The state wanted to split them up into foster homes. I had enough credits in college at the time to get a teaching certificate in pre-school education, so the state gave me temporary custody of the girls with a re-evaluation when I turned twenty-one. With the money our parents left us and my salary, I managed to keep us together and finish my bachelor’s degree and become a teacher.”
“You were able to go back to school, work full time and raise two teen-agers?”
“Don’t look so shocked. I hear you’re doing some course work over the internet.” When Melissa’s eyes widened and she blushed, Bobby leaned in a little closer. “I hope it wasn’t a secret, Chloe would never divulge something told her in confidence.”
“Oh, no, it’s not a secret. I’ve been taking courses since I took over running this place. I figured if I was going to help these kids adjust to the world and deal with the problems that landed them here, I ought to get all the tools to help me.” She took a long drink of her lemonade. “Never having kids of my own, and suddenly finding myself in charge of a houseful, I figure I need all the helpful advice I can get.”
“I so understand that feeling. And I didn’t have the luxury of the internet like you do, with free information and online classes. Mind if I ask what you are taking?”
“I started with basic English and child development last semester. They weren’t too hard, but I was finding my footing here with the boys and I haven’t been in school in years, so I thought I should start out slow.”
“Good idea. Sort of dipping your toes into the water.”
“I got a four-point, so this semester I’m taking a writing course, child development two and introduction to psychology. Since I had lots of time when the boys were at school and work, I’d thought to take more, but didn’t want to push it.” She paused to look out the window, her eyes scanning the yard until she found Lexie, then she relaxed, just like any mother would do. Bobby noted that strong maternal instinct. “Good thing. They’re all I can handle. Now that I have Lexie, my days are a bit busier.”
“Daniel told me Lexie’s never been to school.” Bobby said as casually as possible. She’d seen how her friend’s face lit up when he talked about Melissa, Lexie and the boys at Westen House.
A light pink hit the other woman’s cheeks at the mention of his name. “He’s right. Best we can tell she learned to read at an early age before her mother…”
“Became an addict? It’s okay to say it.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to get in the habit of speaking badly of Lexie’s mother, in case she may hear. She needs to have some good memories of her. Reading was one of them.” Another quick glance out the window to check on the little girl. “Do you know she reads and understands Trent’s high school physics book?”
Bobby chuckled. “I gathered that from our conversation. She’ll need to be tested.”
“She was by the counselor we saw last week. She hasn’t called with the results…” She paused again, sadness and tears filling her eyes. “But then, I don’t suppose they will tell me if she’s placed somewhere else, will they?”
“You know, there’s no guarantee Judge Rawlins will find in favor of leaving Lexie here,” Bobby said, laying her hand on the other woman’s arm. “But there’s no law that says he can’t. You’re doing a great job with her and the boys. Everyone in town says so. The hearing is tomorrow?”
Melissa nodded, dashing at the tears with her free hand. “We’re meeting your sister at the courthouse at ten a.m.”
Bobby patted her arm again, then reached for another cookie. “Well, let’s just keep good thoughts going out. You never know what will happen between now and then.”
15
Melissa had just cleaned up the lunch dishes and was listening to Lexie read to her from an American History book one of the boys left behind. She enjoyed this time with the little girl. They’d read a little bit and Lexie would ask questions that Melissa was thankfully able to answer. She’d always loved history as a young girl and didn’t feel out of her element on the subject. Earlier in the day they’d done simple math problems from a workbook for fourth graders. It wasn’t the new math, just basic multiplication. Even though Lexie was six, Melissa had quickly learned kindergarten through third grade lessons were not enough to keep her busy.
A vehicle pulling into the gravel driveway caught her attention. Bobby left earlier and Wöden had wandered off as was his usual pattern after lunch.
“Mark your spot so we don’t lose it,” she told Lexie as she stood to look out the window, her heart fluttering just a little as Daniel climbed out of his SUV. “Deputy Daniel is here.”
“Oh boy!” Lexie said, putting her pink and purple butterfly bookmark into the book and closed it before darting for the front door.
Melissa hurried out onto the porch, watching Daniel squat down to talk to Lexie face to face, his hands holding something behind his bac
k.
“Remember my promise to you yesterday?” he asked.
She nodded so enthusiastically that her pig tails bobbed up and down. “You promised to teach me to play baseball.”
“That’s right,” he said with a smile, that warmed Melissa’s heart all the way up on the porch. “And the first thing you have to do to play baseball is learn to throw a baseball.”
“Like the tosters were playing yesterday?”
Daniel shot Melissa a confused look.
She laughed. “She means the boys. Toster is short for testosterone crew.”
“Ah,” he said with a nod and less confusion, switching his attention back to Lexie. “Yes. And you know what you need in order to learn to throw?”
“A baseball.” Even Melissa heard the no-duh-tone of the little girl’s voice.
He chuckled. “Well, yes, you’re right, we do need a ball. But there’s something else you need. Remember what the boys had on their hands?”
“Mitts?”
“Yeah, leather mitts. But I think the ones they had were a little too big for your hands, don’t you?”
Again, she nodded, this time trying to peek around behind him. “What’s in the bag?”
“I went over to the store today and got a mitt that would fit you. You’ll have to tell me what you think.” He brought the bag in front of him, reached in and pulled out a pink leather baseball mitt.
A squeal erupted out of the bouncing six-year-old as Daniel tore off the dangling price tag and handed the mitt to her. He helped her fit it on her left hand, which wasn’t easy considering she could hardly stand still with her excitement.
“Look, Melissa!” Lexie ran up the porch, brandishing her new gift over her head. “Deputy Daniel got me a pink mitt! Now I can play ball with the tosters!”
“I can see,” Melissa said, laughing at her enthusiasm. “Perhaps you should go back down there and let him show you how to use it?”
Lexie twirled, her tutu flying out as she did, and sprinted down the steps to where Daniel, who’d retrieved two baseballs and his own glove from the SUV, stood waiting for her. Then he waved Melissa down. “We’re going to need some help.”
Close To The Heart (Westen Series Book 5) Page 15
