I’d like to believe that’s true.
Agent Reed was there. So was Monica, carrying Moody in his urn. And Rose. And Violet. And Jeannie Samper and all of her kids. And Dad, looking handsome in his suit. I wished he could understand that the long mystery had come to an end, but he was already deep into his own mystery.
Everyone was there except the one person I wanted to see. Every time the door opened, I kept hoping, but the service began and ended without her.
Anna didn’t come.
Later that same day, my own life took a turn I wasn’t expecting.
I was back at the Nowhere Café with Monica and Dad, and Violet came through the door and made her way straight to the booth where we were sitting. She sat down next to my father, and he smiled and called her “young lady,” because he didn’t remember who she was. Violet nodded at Monica, who didn’t look at all surprised to see her there.
“Deputy Lake,” she said to me.
I tried not to roll my eyes at the formal greeting. “Hello, Violet.”
“I know the congresswoman has already thanked you, but I wanted to say thank you myself for everything you did on her behalf.”
“That’s not necessary, but I appreciate it.”
And I did. Violet and I were never going to be friends, but she was looking at me with something I’d never seen from her before.
Respect.
“Obviously, I’m not on the county board anymore,” she went on, “but my former colleagues thought I’d be the best person to sound you out about something.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
Violet took another quick glance at Monica before focusing on me again.
“The board would like you to consider an appointment as interim sheriff. They also wanted you to know that if you’d consider running for the position in the November election, you’d have their full support.”
“Me? Sheriff?”
“Well, you’ve pretty much been filling the role anyway since Adam’s death,” Violet pointed out. “So I assume you’ve thought about it.”
In fact, I hadn’t thought about it at all. I know I should have, but I really hadn’t had time to think about the future. There were too many details filling up the present. The trouble was, now that the opportunity was staring me in the face, I did think about it, and I knew what my answer had to be.
“Tell the board how much I appreciate their confidence,” I replied, “but no.”
“No?”
“I’m sorry. No. I’d love to do it, but I can’t.”
Violet didn’t ask me why. She seemed to know why. She got out of the booth and then bent down and put a hand on my father’s shoulder. “Tom? Mr. Ginn? I wonder if you’d mind giving me just a moment alone with Shelby and Monica. Would that be okay?”
“Violet,” I said in protest, but Dad simply slid his big body out of the booth.
“Why, certainly, I know how women like to chat.”
I watched him make his way to the counter, where Patty brought him a slice of tollhouse pie.
Violet sat down across from me again. “I assume Tom’s the reason?”
“Yes.”
“You have your own life to live, Shelby.”
“I know that, but my father is everything to me. I’m not going to put him in a facility. I’m going to take care of him myself.”
“At some point, you won’t have a choice.”
“Well, for right now, I do, and my choice is to be with him. I can’t do that and be sheriff at the same time. It’s hard enough the way things are.”
“You could get help,” Violet said. “You could find someone to live with you and look after Tom when you’re gone.”
I had to laugh. “Live-in help? Are you kidding? Do you know how much that costs?”
As I said this, Monica reached over and took my hand. It was as if she’d been waiting for that moment. “In fact, Shelby, it will cost you nothing at all.”
“What do you mean?”
She continued to hold my hand with the calmness of someone who would never let go. “I’m quitting my job, dear. It’s time for me to retire. If you can find a place for me — and Moody, of course — then let me move in with you and Tom. That’s where my heart is. That’s where I can be most useful at this stage of my life. With me around, I think you should be able to balance your career and your devotion to your father, don’t you think?”
The offer took my breath away. I shook my head and tried not to cry. “Monica, I can’t believe you. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes,” she replied. “And say yes to Violet.”
“I don’t know if this will work. It’s still too much.”
“Well, we won’t know until we try, will we?”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Tom always wanted you to be the sheriff.”
“I know he did.”
“If you’re honest with yourself, I think you’ll realize that you’ve wanted this, too. And you’ll be good at it. Truth be told, you were made to do this, Shelby. Everyone I talk to in town says the same thing. They all want you.”
“She’s right,” Violet said.
I glanced at my father, who was sitting at the counter with his cup of coffee and his pie. Yes, this was what he’d always wanted for me. And yes, as a girl, I’d imagined the day when Dad would hand me his badge, and I would take over. I just never thought the circumstances would be like this.
I extended my arm to Violet, and we shook hands. “Okay. I can’t promise to run in November. Let’s see how the year goes. But for now, you can tell the board I’ll take the interim post.”
Violet looked pleased with herself. She had a way of getting what she wanted, and I was pretty sure she’d worked this all out with Monica in advance.
“Congratulations, Shelby. You’re the new sheriff of Mittel County.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Slowly, the town of Everywhere exhaled.
The media and the strangers went away and left us alone. February became March, and the snow began to melt. March became April, and buds appeared on the trees. Life returned to normal day by day. My own life was a constant juggling act, but Monica and I became master jugglers. Somehow, I found time to wear my many hats. I was a daughter. I was a sheriff. I was a volunteer helping Lucas and Jeannie with the owls. I was a girl with a guitar.
I had everything I needed, but I couldn’t get past my biggest disappointment.
You see, I’d lost Anna. I’d failed.
Yes, I’d wrested her away from Will Gruder. She was back home with me, but the fire had gone out of her eyes. I actually missed her defiance. Ever since we’d found Jeremiah’s body, she’d become an empty shell, drained of passion. Her father, Karl, reached out to her, but she pushed him out of her life the way she did everyone who tried to help her. She wouldn’t go to therapy. Her drinking got worse, and the physical signs told me she was using drugs, too, as if the chemicals would deaden her.
She was a beautiful girl, only twenty years old, but she acted as if her life was over. I tried to talk to her, but she simply dug a hole for herself that got deeper each day. Now that Jeremiah was safe, it seemed as if Anna was the one buried in the woods.
Sometimes the dead are easier to find than the living.
This went on for weeks. I was losing hope that it would ever change.
Then, on May 1, I brought home a package from Agent Reed, and I thought what was inside might be what I needed to open up a little door into Anna’s heart. It was like a message from her childhood.
Midnight had come and gone by the time I got home that day. I often got back late in my new job. Thank God for Monica, who put up with my hours without a single complaint and was always there for Dad. I checked on both of them. Monica was asleep in her room, with Moody on the nightstand beside her, and my father was asleep in his. But I knew that Anna hardly ever slept. She’d be awake for hours. In the middle of the night, I would hear her moving around downstairs like a fitful ghost.