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“Everything okay with Mia?” Lucas asked, lacing his fingers behind his head.
“That’s one fine youngin’ you got there,” the Chief said, pushing the swing with one booted foot on the floorboards of the porch. “That kind of upbringing doesn’t occur by accident. She’s had good parents.”
“Who would’ve ever thought strong parenting skills would be in the same sentence as the name Birdie Wellborn?”
“Lorraine, for one.”
Lucas looked at the Chief. “Really?”
“She always fretted about that child. Don’t get me wrong, she was mad as tar at her when she skipped town. But she also knew her mama was messed up in the head, just like the town knew it. Regretted never doing anything about it. Thank the Lord for people like Bernadette.”
Lucas smiled at the memory. “I was so mad when Bernadette offered to watch Birdie after school. Sure would’ve saved me a lot of turmoil if she hadn’t.”
“But then you probably wouldn’t have had Mia.”
“You don’t know that.”
“The Lord has a way of bringing people together in his way and for a reason. Besides, Lorraine believes Birdie was a lost soul for many years, a soul that Bernadette, for a short time managed to save.”
“How do you save a soul for a short time?”
“By letting it come and go without judgment or criticism.”
“Why do I get the feeling this conversation is more about me and Birdie than me and Mia?”
“Because you can’t have one without the other.”
“What if I don’t want the other?”
The Chief laughed, and then coughed again, the porch swing moving perpendicular as opposed to front and back as he gathered himself. “For a supposedly super-smart mayor, there are times you don’t know nothing about nothing.”
Lucas yawned, not taking offense to the Chief’s words. “Mia’s going to be staying here for a while longer.”
“Just let me know if you need us to watch her. I’ve got to be at the station during the day, but Lorraine would love spending more time with her.”
“Birdie’s staying too. Believe it or not, she’s going to be hanging her hat at Folsom’s old service station for a while.”
That seemed to catch the older man’s attention.
“Why there? I heard tell she married into money. Not a little bit but big-time money. She should be able to write a check for the Wayward Inn to stay for a year without a blink of an eye.”
“None of my business really.”
“It’s your business if she’s coming for back child support.”
“Claims that’s not the case. But we’ll see. We know how these things can go.”
Being part of a tight-knit community, both men had seen some pretty nasty domestic disputes over the years. Those you would least suspect of pure greed and animosity were usually the worst offenders.
“Mentioned something about her accounts still being in probate. That’s just between you and me, by the way. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention that to Lorraine,” Lucas added, even though he didn’t need to. The Chief was a vault. Lorraine, not so much. She hung out with the Pinkie Posse upon occasion, and Lucas didn’t want her spreading rumors.
“You read up on her?” the Chief asked.
“Some.” A lie. He had pulled several things up online. “You?”
“Naw, but Lorraine did. Ugly family stuff going on after the death of her husband. Papers were making her out to be quite the gold digger. Was run out of her own company for dirty deals and her stepsons had gone after her inheritance like rabid thieves. Looks to have been pretty successful.”
“Didn’t her husband have a will or a trust?”
