“Remember last night when Jenny said she didn’t want me to win the election?”
“Yes.”
“Well, she’s worried about me, afraid something bad will happen to me, just like it did to Andy.”
“Makes sense,” Eva Lou said. “And with your face all tore up the way it is, I can see why she might have some cause.”
“what happened last night could have happened to anyone. When there is an emergency like that, you do what you have to do because you’re a person, because you care what happens to other people. It has nothing whatever to do with whether or not you’ve been elected sheriff.”
“True enough, I suppose,” Eva Lou agreed. “I mean, if a Methodist minister can end up in the hospital with a concussion, I guess it really could happen to anybody. How is Marianne, by the way?”
“They only kept her for observation. Jeff says they’ll most likely let her out sometime today.”
After that, an awkward and unusual silence seemed to spring up between the two women. Eva Lou Brady was the one who finally broke it.
“Lord knows I don’t mean to pry, Joanna, but I have to ask. Have you made any kind of arrangements for Jenny? I mean, with this new job and all, what if something awful did happen? Jim Bob and I could take Jenny in if we had to, but we shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be good for her in the long run. She needs somebody younger, someone more your age.”
Joanna dropped her gaze and didn’t answer. That in itself was answer enough. She hadn’t made any such arrangements, although she understood all too well the ramifications of not doing so. like writing her will and appointing potential guardions to care for Jennifer were two of the nagging loose ends of her life. In the awful aftermath of Andy’s death, those were two distasteful yet essential tasks she had not yet found courage enough to face.
“Maybe,” Eva Lou continued, not unkindly, “once you do get all those details straightened out, you should talk them over with Jenny. She’s a smart little girl. I think just knowing you’ve handled things and prepared for the worst would make her feel better, less alone. After all, both of your lives had been put through a wringer. I don’t blame her for being scared.”
“No,” Joanna said, with a rueful shake of her head. “I don’t blame her, either.”
The phone rang, and Eva Lou hurried to answer it. The caller was none other than Marianne Macula looking for Joanna. “When there wasn’t any answer out at the house, I figured I’d find you at the Bradys’. How’s the candidate…Excuse me, hoWs the sheriff doing this morning?”
“The sheriff-elect is stiff as a board,” Joanna returned. “Rolling around on sidewalks isn’t good for me. I hurt in places I didn’t know I owned. And I’ve got a shiner where you clipped me under the eye. How are you?”
Marianne laughed, sounding far more chipper than she should have. “Bored stiff. Ready to be out of here. If it comes down to a contest of who’s more hardheaded, it’s a toss-up. You’ve only got a black eye. They thought I had a concussion.”
“Let’s call it even,” Joanna said, laughing into the phone herself, and starting to feel a little better.
Maybe the painkillers were finally starting to do their stuff-the painkillers and, of course, a great breakfast. “What’s on your agenda today?” she asked
“The doctor says I’ll be out by noon. It’s time for me to get out of the campaign-manager business and go back to being just plain Pastor Macula,” Marianne replied. “But I wouldn’t have missed this election for the world. It’s been fun, hasn’t it?”
“I’m not sure ‘fun’ is the word that applies. How’s Linda Kimball doing?”
“Fine. They didn’t even keep her overnight. Just put her arm in a brace and a sling and sent her home,” Marianne answered. “By the way,” she added after a pause, “speaking of the Patterson van, have you heard anything more about Harold?”
“Just that they still haven’t found him. Grandpa Brady left here a little while ago to go work on organizing a search.”
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Marianne asserted quietly.
Joanna had been too preoccupied with her own concerns to give Harold Patterson’s unexplained disappearance that much thought. Marianne’s blunt pronouncement brought it home.
“Why do you say that?”
“I talked to Ivy just a little while ago. She wasn’t home last night, either. I’m not sure what’s going on, because she mentioned something about moving into an apartment. But she also said she went by the Rocking P early this morning. The city cops were getting ready to ticket Harold’s Scout, so she drove it home and discovered that no one had done the chores. Based on that alone, Burton Kimball talked Judge Moore into granting a continuance.”
“Oh,” Joanna said.
Farmers and ranchers are among the last of the world’s day-trippers. Their lives are like yo-yos with strings that stretch only as far as they can travel between morning and evening chores. If Harold Patterson had now missed both evening and morning chores, that was serious.
“You’re right,” Joanna agreed. “Either he’s dead or he’s badly hurt. He’s a tough old coot. It would take something serious to get that man down”
“Heart attack, maybe?” Marianne suggested
“I saw him yesterday morning,” Joanna said, “at the office. Now that you mention it, he did seem awfully upset.”
“I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best,” Marianne said. “Now, what about you? What are your plans?”
“Milo gave me the day off. I don’t think he wants someone who looks this awful beautifying his office. I’m due to go see Dick Voland a little later. One of the deputies took my statement last night. They’re supposed to have it
