“Oh, so you should be ready to go with me then.”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Sue Ann caught Floyd’s eye. “Are you going back to the station?”
“Yeah, there’s going to be a mountain of paperwork on all of this. And I don’t want to stick Hal with all of it.”
She smiled and leaned down to Penny and said, “I’ll bet you’re tired of sitting around that sheriff’s station all day. How would you like to come home with me? Andy’s home from school today so you could play with him.”
Penny looked up at Floyd and said, “Can I Dad?”
“Sure.”
So Floyd took them back to the station where Sue Ann’s car was parked then she and Penny went on to her house.
When they walked through the door, her mother met them in the kitchen. “Well if you two don’t look like something the cat drug in and couldn’t eat.”
Penny laughed and said, “Oh Grandma you say the funniest things.”
With that, she ran toward Andy’s room leaving two stunned women behind.
Wanda looked at her daughter. “Did you hear that, Sue Ann? She called me Grandma.”
Sue Ann wasn’t sure how her mother was taking that at first. “Mom? Are you okay with that?”
Wanda grinned and said, “I sure am. I’ve grown quite fond of that little girl. And you know once you and Floyd get married, I will be her grandma. She’s just jumping the gun a little.”
Sue Ann laughed along with her mother but then she thought of something else. “But are you sure you’re okay with all of this. I don’t mean just Penny calling you grandma, but me marrying Floyd and all.”
Wanda hugged Sue Ann and said, “Oh Sue Ann . . . Dear, I couldn’t be happier for you. It does my heart good to know that you’re finally getting a good man.”
They hugged again.
Sue Ann heard a sound in the hallway and turned that way. Andy and Penny were standing there with determined looks on their faces. Sue Ann had a feeling they wanted to talk about something that was very important to them.
She smiled at them and said, “Did you two want something?”
Andy elbowed Penny who jumped then said, “Yeah, could we talk to you for a minute?”
Sue Ann’s smile grew broader. “Sure, why don’t we sit on the sofa?”
The three of them settled on the sofa with Andy in the middle and Wanda sat in an armchair where her knitting was.
Penny was fidgeting and her hands were clasping and unclasping in her lap. Finally, she looked over at Sue Ann and said, “When you and Dad get married, we’re all going to live in the same house right?”
Sue Ann only nodded knowing there had to be more coming.
“Well, me and Andy want to know where we’re going to live.”
Sue Ann smiled, took a quick glance at her mother, and then turned back to the upturned faces next to her on the sofa.
“Well, your dad and I haven’t really had a chance to talk about this much but it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out.”
When they both gave her puzzled looks, she giggled and said, “You see, we’re only renting this house and it’s only on what they call a month-to-month lease.”
The looks became more puzzled.
“Well that means that all I have to do is tell our landlord that I want to move out by the end of the next month and we can move.”
The others remained silent while she collected her thoughts. “And your house will close next week. So we’ll all be able to move into your new house. Is that okay?”
Penny brightened noticeably. “It sure is. I was worried. I picked that house out and I really want to live there.”
She turned to Andy and said, “Wait ‘til you see it, Andy. It has really big bedrooms and a fun room where we can just play games or watch TV. Oh, and there’s a huge jungle gym with a playhouse on top in the backyard.”
Penny looked at Andy then back to Sue Ann and said, “Is Grandma going to live there with us too?”
Wanda smiled at Penny and said, “No, Penny. You see, I was going to be moving out anyway. I got a job at the hardware store and I’m also going to take over your dad’s apartment.”
She seemed to be thinking about that for a minute then said, “Okay.”
Penny looked back at Andy and they both jumped off the sofa and raced out of the living room leaving Sue Ann and her mother smiling at each other.
Wanda moved over to sit by her daughter on the sofa.
“I would say that they both approve of all that, wouldn’t you?”
Sue Ann just giggled. She felt good all over and couldn’t wait for their new life to start.
She suddenly thought about Floyd and how he was blaming himself for Mike getting shot. If only Floyd could get a chance to talk to Mike and find out that it really wasn’t his fault. Then she smiled to herself at how Gil had pulled Floyd out of his funk at the hospital so quickly.
Yes, she truly did love her new extended family.
* * *
When Floyd was still a few blocks from the sheriff’s station, his cell phone rang. It was Ollie Short.
“Sheriff, do you think you could come back out to the hospital any time soon. Mike is awake and he wants to talk to you.”
Floyd didn’t have to think. He quickly said, “Sure, I’m out and about and can be there in a few minutes.”
On the way to the hospital, he called dispatch to tell them were he’d be then he thought about what Mike might want to talk about.
Did he also blame Floyd for his getting shot? It was bad enough that Floyd did, he wasn’t sure he could face Bates if the man was mad at him too.
When he walked down the hall toward Bates’ room Floyd noticed immediately that there was a fed of some kind that he didn’t know sitting in a chair just outside the room. Somehow, that made him feel a little bit better.
The agent eyed Floyd’s rumpled uniform and looked directly at his badge then looked up at his red hair and motioned toward the closed door with his head.
Floyd almost laughed. From the way the red hair seemed to have clenched the identification, he knew that the agent had been given a description of him.
As he opened the door, he was surprised to see that the room was empty except for the man lying in the bed. There were tubes coming down from several IV bags, which were hanging on metal poles on the other side of the bed. Bates was covered to his armpits by a sheet with both of his arms lying beside him on the bed.
Bates’ eyes were closed as Floyd quietly approached the bed. He figured that he shouldn’t wake the guy since he probably needed lots of rest after the long surgery he’d gone through that morning.
But just as Floyd stopped at the side of the bed, Bates opened his eyes and turned his head to look up at Floyd.
After a noisy clearing of his throat, Bates said, “Have a seat Sheriff.”
Floyd pulled a chair up to the bedside and sat without saying anything. He just waited for Bates to start. After all, he was the one who had requested this meeting.
Bates took a slow and seemingly painful breath and let it out equally slowly.
“Floyd.” He stopped and cracked a little smile. “Is it okay if I call you Floyd now?”
Floyd snorted. “Sure. After all, you just saved my life this morning. A man who saves my life can call me anything he blame well pleases.”
Bates smiled at that. “Would you call me Mike?”
When Floyd could only nod Mike said, “I don’t want you thinking you were to blame in any way for me winding up here like this.”
Floyd started to protest but Mike cut him off. “No, Floyd. You didn’t even know I was going to be there. I went there on my own and the doctor said it was some kind of fluke that I even got wounded at all.”
When he paused seemingly to muster up the strength to say more, Floyd said, “Yeah, Stella that is Dr. Martin told me about how the first slug hit your vest and must have turned you sideways so the other one could go under your arm.”
> “Yeah.” He closed his eyes, swallowed, opened his eyes again, and said, “Did they tell you I don’t have any feeling in my legs?”
Floyd nodded. “Yeah. Stella said you probably wouldn’t for a while.”
Mike’s right hand was closest to Floyd and he clenched it into a fist grasping the sheet at the same time. “I will walk again. You can count on it.”
Floyd didn’t know what to say to that and was mighty glad when the door opened. He was surprised to see Bert come through the door followed closely by Daisy Thomas.
Bert went right up to the bedside and said, “Hey Mr. Mike. Are you going to be okay?”
Mike tried to smile at Bert and said, “Sure Bert. I’m going to be just fine.”
Floyd couldn’t figure out how Bert knew Mike and Daisy must have noticed the confusion on his face because she put a hand on Mike’s arm and said, “You just rest Mike. I’ll tell the sheriff how you and Bert got to know each other.”
She smiled at Bert then turned to Floyd and said, “You see Floyd, very few people really understand Bert. They don’t realize what all he’s capable of doing. You’re probably getting a little bit of an idea now since he’s helped you on two different occasions.”
“You’ve got that right. He singlehandedly solved that hit-and-run case for me and he helped us to find my daughter too.”
She smiled at him and said, “That’s right. But, you see, Bert is capable of much more. He hears what other people say when they don’t think anyone is listening.”
She laughed at the puzzled look Floyd was still giving her. “Most people ignore Bert. They think he can’t understand them so they don’t worry about what they say around him.”
Mike spoke up then. “When I figured that out, I started asking Bert what all he heard around town. In fact, he repeated a conversation to me he’d overheard between Hershel Hollis and one of his suppliers talking about the next drug shipment. If it hadn’t been for Bert, we still wouldn’t know who the ring leader is.”
Floyd was shocked. Then he had a thought. “Hey Bert?”
“Yeah, Mr. Sheriff.”
“Do you think you could start telling me what you hear around town now?”
Bert looked at Daisy then at Mike. When they both nodded, he turned back to Floyd and grinned, “Sure Mr. Sheriff. I can do that.”
Floyd and Daisy both realized at the same time that Mike was getting too tired to continue. His eyelids kept drooping.
Daisy said, “Mike. Bert and I will be leaving now. But we can come back later if you wish.”
He nodded and closed his eyes.
Floyd followed Bert and Daisy out of the room and into the hallway. Then he led them down the hall a little way so the agent by the door couldn’t hear them.
He slapped Bert on the back lightly. “Bert I’m downright proud of you, how you’ve helped not only me but Mike too.”
Bert fidgeted and shuffled his feet. “Awe Mr. Sheriff, it wasn’t nothing.”
But Floyd could tell from Bert’s grin that he was excited and proud.
Daisy said, “Bert, why don’t you wait for me down by the elevator. I need to talk to the sheriff for a minute?”
Without comment, Bert shuffled down the hall and stood in front of the elevator looking up at the floor indicator over the door.
Daisy turned back to Floyd and said, “Mike was very careful about how he used Bert to gain information. I want you to promise me that you’ll never place Bert in danger of any kind.”
As Floyd looked down into Daisy’s eyes, he realized that she was much more than just a self-sacrificing caregiver for those people at her home. She was a strong, intelligent woman who would know what she wanted and would go out and get it. She suddenly reminded him of Sue Ann.
He smiled and said, “Yes ma’am. I’ll sure look out for that little fellow. I really like him.”
She smiled back and said, “Good.” With that, she turned and walked down the hall to where Bert was waiting.
He shook his head. He wouldn’t want to cross that woman. And he sure wouldn’t want to get between her and one of her residents as she called them.
A thought just hit him. He had noticed something else when they’d all been in Mike’s room. If he wasn’t mistaken, Daisy had been looking down at Mike in a strange way.
He looked back at Mike’s door and had to wonder. But that wasn’t really any of his business.
And he had his own business to be concerned about right now. Somehow, he was going to try to talk his fiancée into a quick wedding. For now that things were settling down around here, he couldn’t wait to marry Sue Ann and start his new life with her and the kids.
Chapter Sixteen
Floyd wasn’t sure who was more nervous, him or his dad. They were sitting in a small dressing room to the side of the platform in the church sanctuary waiting for Gil to come get them to take them out to be baptized.
It reminded him of some of the times he and the others in his squad had set around waiting to go out on a mission in Iraq. This time though, he didn’t think there’d be anybody out there shooting at him. That made him snicker a little.
He looked at his dad who was giving him a puzzled look so he explained. “I was just thinking that this reminded me of something funny.”
Floyd’s dad had always been kind of your typical quiet talking farmer who was used to being by himself out in the fields from twelve to sixteen hours a day. So Floyd was surprised when his dad spoke.
“You know Son, I was just thinking too. Neither one of us would be here right now about to do what we’re going to do if it wasn’t for two really good women.”
“You’re right Dad. I really do love Sue Ann.”
That made him think of Sue Ann sitting out there with Penny on one side of her and Andy on the other. His mother would be right there as well as all the rest of his family.
Jo would be there too. He thought back to how much that little woman had done for him in the past year. She was so much more to him than just his favorite cousin.
* * *
Sue Ann was so excited she could hardly sit still. But she had to try at least for Penny’s sake. She wasn’t sure how much the little girl knew about what all was going on, but she was excited anyway. If nothing else, she was excited to be in the same place with Andy and all of her newly discovered cousins.
Sue Ann knew Penny was looking forward to the dinner afterwards that would be held in the church fellowship hall in the basement below them.
She looked over Penny’s head to Jo and found her smiling back at her. Jo waved her hand around at her extended family seated all around her with a big smile on her face.
“Oh Sue Ann, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to really be a part of all of this. But as long as I owned and ran a bar, the togetherness just wasn’t there.”
Sue Ann felt tears coming. “But Jo Jo you never wanted that bar from the first. For that matter, neither did your mom.”
“Yes, I know. I guess the biggest thing was that they all had families and I didn’t. Now though, it just feels so good.”
She patted her still flat tummy. “Now I’ve got my family too.”
She sat up in her seat and said, “Look, Gil’s stepping into the baptistry.”
* * *
Floyd sure was glad that Gil had said that it would look better if his dad went first. Not only did he want to watch his dad get baptized but he wanted to be able to see his dad’s eyes and facial expression when he came up out of that water.
He thought back to when he’d been growing up. His dad had been a good father to all four of his children. He’d worked hard to keep the farm going and he’d always treated them all fairly.
But he never would let any of them including Floyd’s mom go to church. Since he’d been watching Penny as she was learning about God in Sunday School, he realized how much he and his brothers and sister had missed out on.
But no, he wouldn’t dwell on that right now. None of that was important anymor
e. What was important was that not only his dad but he too had turned their lives over to Christ and were about to follow Him in baptism. That was what was important.
Floyd couldn’t hear the words that Gil said just before he leaned Harold McCracken back and under the water. But the look he saw on his dad’s face as he came up out of the water made Floyd almost cry. But he never cried.
Then it was his turn and as he stepped into the water to stand next to Gil he snickered and whispered. “You think you can get all of me underwater little man?”
Gil just smiled and started talking to the congregation. And before Floyd knew it, he was coming up out of the water.
* * *
When Floyd came up out of the water with a big grin on his face, Sue Ann leaped to her feet and clapped her hands together. Jo stood too then Sue Ann noticed that the whole family was standing and clapping now too.
All through the singing part of the service, Sue Ann was still so excited that she barely knew which hymn they were singing much less able to do any singing herself.
Then right before Gil was due to start preaching, Floyd and his dad came out from the back. Penny stepped past Sue Ann to sit next to Andy. So she slid over and made room for Floyd on the aisle side. She couldn’t help it. She wrapped her arms around Floyd’s neck and hugged him tight.
She heard the kids giggling beside her but she didn’t care.
* * *
Floyd could look at Sue Ann’s smiling face all day, but she elbowed him in the ribs to get him to pay attention to Gil as he began his sermon.
He didn’t hear much of that message. At least none of it stayed with him more than five minutes. He was so absorbed in all that had happened and was still going on around him.
He thought about how not very long ago he’d been caught up in feeling sorry for himself that he was so lonely and really had nobody in his life. Now. Wow! He looked all around him at his parents, sister, and brothers. Now he felt like he finally fit in with all the rest of them again. He hadn’t before because they all had families and he didn’t.
A Better Solution (Crowley County Series Book 2) Page 23
