First Part of November …
Several days later, after Doreen had had a chance to really relax, the police had gotten statements from Reggie, and, of course, he would spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murders. She’d gotten copies of the will from the lawyer and a ton of paperwork to deal with, and it would just be the tip of the iceberg.
Thankfully Nick was handling a lot of it for her, and she promised that, this time, she would pay him. He just laughed and noted that, in light of her change in circumstances, he would happily accept payment. Then he looked at her and stated, “Now just tell me that you’ll put poor Mack out of his misery.”
She looked at him. “You may find this surprising, but people say that to me all the time. Call me slow, but I’ve never really understood it.”
He chuckled. “Something else you need to figure out.”
“What now?” she asked, frustrated.
“Did you ever figure out why you don’t like the new detective?”
She glared at him. “Not you too?” she snapped.
But Nick just laughed, and, since he was walking out the door anyway, he just kept on walking.
Mack drove over a little bit later and came inside, greeting all the animals and hugging Doreen. He asked, “How’s it going?”
“Crazy,” she muttered.
His eyebrows shot up. “Crazy in what way?”
“Just all the paperwork the lawyer sent. Thankfully your brother will handle it for me, and this time I’ll pay him,” she declared, with a grin.
“I’m sure he would like that,” Mack said gently.
“I would have figured out how to pay him anyway. I just didn’t quite know how to make that happen since I didn’t really have any money,” she explained.
“Cookies?”
She burst out laughing. “That would require a lot of cookies.”
He chuckled at that. “Yeah, but who doesn’t like cookies?” Then he looked at her and asked, “Did you ever figure out why you don’t like the detective?”
She glared at him. “Not you too. That seems to be a popular topic of conversation today, and even earlier.”
“Yeah, it is in some ways.”
“I mentioned it to Nan, and she just gave me this mysterious look and said that I would figure it out eventually. I probably will,” she admitted. “How about you? Any new cases to tell me about?”
“I don’t need any new cases,” he declared, glaring at her. “I’m done with cases. So should you be.”
“What? Are you retiring and didn’t tell me? Shame on you. Besides, one doesn’t have to be working to get involved in cases. Plus, just because I have money coming in now, there is still work to be done on the cold case files. Ooh, and Solomon’s files when I don’t have anything else to work on.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. He looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, then frowned and shut up.
“What? Come on. Tell me.”
“It’s just that you’re a very wealthy woman now, and you could do a whole lot better than some country bumpkin cop like me.”
She frowned at him, walked over, and pushed him back, so he was sitting on a chair, then plunked herself down in his lap. “Yeah, and who was there for me when I didn’t know how to cook or even how to buy the most basic foods and was living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” Poking him in the chest, she continued. “Who was there when I didn’t know how to work an ATM or turn on the oven?” She sighed happily, as she looked up at the strong features of his face and the lovely expression there.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with money. True wealth is all about what’s inside,” she stated, tapping his heart. “So don’t you worry about that. I’m perfectly happy with a country bumpkin cop, exactly like you.” She leaned over, kissed him gently, and said, “But that still doesn’t mean we’re not getting cases.”
“I, for one, would very much like for this town to calm down and to not have anything else happen for quite a while.”
“Quite a while is fine with me,” she replied. “We can go like this for days and days. Hey, even weeks or a few months would be great.”