Page 38 of Out Of A Fix

“My lunch—oh!” Dar was suddenly excited. “We’re going to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle today!”

Tatum rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe you forgot,” Griff said, smiling at him.

“I was thinking about Minecraft tonight and how I’m gonna build my aquarium.”

I didn’t want him to become a kid who never left the house, but I also liked him spending time with his brother and sister—though now screen time was limited to two hours and stopped at nine for Darwin and Tatum, and at ten for Griff. He was still battered and bruised on the outside, but his energy had returned by that Tuesday, and when he went back to school on Wednesday, he’d been greeted like a hero by his classmates. That made me happy.

Chief Wilson was fired, and not simply because of his treatment of Griff. There was a “preponderance of evidence” against him. He had taken bribes, terrorized minors, and was facing jail time if convicted. Weston Kinney had been disappointed he would not get to sue the city of Eena, as that was not what Griff wanted. If they didn’t have money, how could they hire a good chief of police? As I found his logic sound, we dropped our lawsuit. We would retain Mr. Kinney and his firm, however, as there were still criminal charges brought by Newcastle PD against Wilson, and Griff needed his own counsel if called to testify.

“Remember to call,” Weston reminded me before he left the house on Friday.

“That guy needs to give it a rest,” Tatum groused with a scowl.

“He thinks I’m cute,” I teased her.

She grunted. “Everyone thinks you’re handsome, not cute.”

“Oh yeah? Like who?”

“Like my teacher and Anya’s mom.”

I had met her friend Anya and her mother and liked them both.

“But you can’t go to Anya’s house. You have to stay here.”

I made sure not to smile.

“And my principal asked me if you were married.”

“Tell me all about her.”

“Him,” she corrected. “Now go away. Don’t you have fruit to cube?”

I hugged the stuffing out of her, and apparently her irritation left too.

Chief Wilson’s wife and daughter went to stay with her sister Gail in Portland, Oregon, and the house was put on the market. I got all that information from the next-door neighbor Tabitha, whom I met when I brought in her recycling and trash cans. When she saw me on Saturday morning, she hit me with all the hot gossip and gave me a coffee cake she’d made. She was very kind, and I thanked her for looking out for Tatum the Friday and Saturday she was alone in the house.

“That family has been struggling.” She smiled and patted my hand. “But not since you got here, sweetheart.”

I had a real soft spot for older women who called me pet names. Also, I was thinking Miss Tabitha and Miss Melody had been in love a long time, as they were both in their mid-seventies.

“Everyone thinks you two are just friends, huh?”

She winked at me. “But not a hotshot fixer from the big city.”

I scoffed, and she smiled wide.

Mr. Simmons on the other side—call me Burt—was also very nice.

“That kid was skin and bones before you got here, Nash. But it’s better already. I was this close to calling the police to have ’em do a wellness check, but in hindsight, thank God I didn’t.”

Yes. It was a very good thing. Ex-Chief Wilson seemed to be a vengeful man if the way he treated Griff was any indication.

Later that morning, we participated in the annual fall yard sale on the street, and surprisingly, long tables and tablecloths were brought right to our front yard. It was so efficiently organized that when Mrs. Alvarez stopped by to say hello as we were setting up under a tent they had also provided, as it was raining again, I made sure to let her know she was freaking amazing.

“Oh!” She sounded surprised. “Thank you. No one ever says a word.”