The older woman gave Maggie the once over again. “Are you J.D. and Alicia’s daughter?” She asked.
Maggie nodded and said, “Yes ma’am.”
Liz smiled warmly. “You remind me of your mom. How’s she doing?”
Maggie was surprised but didn’t know why. Everyone in Crystal Springs it seemed knew one or both of her parents.
“She’s doing fine. We came down for the weekend and we’re heading back to Louisville today,” she said.
“Too bad, I’d love to see her. Tell her I said hello,” Liz said.
“I will,” Maggie said.
“Has anyone given you the nickel tour yet?” Liz asked.
Maggie shook her head.
“Mallorie, would you do the honors? I’m waiting on a call from the bank,” Liz said.
“I’d be glad to. Let’s go Maggie and I’ll show you around,” Mallorie said.
Maggie looked at the awards and pictures that lined the hall. Though impressed by the awards, the pictures reminded her of a museum.
One black and white photo caught her eye. It was one of two football players laughing, obviously celebrating after a win. It was her dad and Jett. Mallorie noticed her staring at the picture.
“That’s your dad isn’t it?” She asked.
“Yes. He and Uncle Jett look so...young and happy,” Maggie said as they continued walking.
“This is the newsroom. That will be your desk over there,” Mallorie pointed to the empty desk in the corner. It was the only empty desk in the newsroom at the moment.
Maggie walked over and ran her hand across it and the computer and keyboard. She fought the urge to start opening desk drawers and searching to see if the previous occupant left anything behind. Maggie said down in well-worn rolling chair. She guessed its age to be the same as hers but it was comfortable nonetheless.
“Does it feel like home?” Mallorie asked with a wide smile.
“I think it will do nicely,” Maggie said.
“C’mon, let me show you the break room,” Mallorie said they started walking again. “Unless you go out or eat at your desk this is where you’ll enjoy your meals,” she said as they entered the break room.
It actually looked like a large kitchen, complete with a full size refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, double-bowl sink, microwave oven, and a very long conference table with light gray Formica top. Cabinets lined the walls and the countertops matched the tabletop. The floor was covered in tile about the same color - maybe a shade darker - than the tabletop. Two soft drink machines and one snack machine lined the back wall.
“This is actually more than I was expecting,” Maggie said.
“I’ll be honest, I was impressed the first time I saw it. Bud takes care of his people,” Mallorie said.
“You could make dinner in here,” Maggie said.
“We cook lunch about once a month. Everyone chips in for groceries and Bud will buy a large pot roast, chicken, or whatever and we have a nice meal together. Liz does the cooking. Bud said her Thanksgiving dinners are the best,” Mallorie said.
“Wow. Now I’m impressed,” Maggie said.
Mallorie sat on the edge of the table.
“When will you be back to start work?” She asked.
“In a couple of weeks,” Maggie said.
Mallorie smiled.
“You miss him already,” she said.
“Yes, I do. But we have our phones and the internet. Social media can be helpful,” Maggie said.
“And it’s only two weeks,” Mallorie added.
“I know...but I feel like crying every time I think of it. I know that sounds silly,” Maggie said as she looked off to her right.
“Not at all,” Mallorie said softly. “It sounds natural. That’s the way it should be.”
Maggie nodded at her words and then slowly shook her head.
“I think of Danny and I being apart for two weeks and how awful that will be for both of us. And I feel so selfish when I remember that mom lost dad two years ago and Uncle Jett lost Aunt Rose ten years ago – especially when you consider that Danny and I can communicate,” she said.
“You shouldn’t feel guilty. I’d bet if your dad or Dan’s mom were her, they’d tell you the same thing. Try to enjoy the fact that you have each other,” Mallorie said.
Maggie thought it over.
“You’re right. And that does make me feel better,” She said.
“It’s a cryin’ shame when the publisher has to walk all the back to the break room to get his own coffee when his receptionist and his newest intern are standing in said break room gossiping,” Bud said in mock frustration.
Maggie froze unsure of what to say.
“Relax kid. I’m only joking,” he said.
Maggie breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
“You ought to be ashamed,” Mallorie chided.
“You know, I’ve heard that all of my life and I still don’t believe it,” Bud said.
Maggie only smiled again as Mallorie rolled her eyes.
“That I believe,” Mallorie said.
“What do you think of the place?” Bud asked Maggie.
“I think I’ll be happy here,” she said.
Bud looked at Mallorie.
“She hasn’t met Ed yet has she?” He asked.
“No,” Mallorie said with a giggle.
“In that case, you might want to reserve judgment Maggie,” Bud said.
A short heavyset man with gray hair and a matching goatee walked into the break room.
“Hey Bud. How’s semi-retirement?” He asked.
“Let me see Brock, since it’s my first day of it, I’d say so far, so good,” Bud said.
Mallorie spoke up.
“Maggie, this is Brock Hampton, our sports editor. Brock, this is our new intern, Maggie Blake,” she said.
He extended his hand to her.
“Yes, J.D.’s daughter. Jett was just telling us about you,” Brock said as they shook hands.
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Likewise,” he said.
“So you knew dad?” She asked.
“Yes I did. He was my first interview for the school paper. Great guy and a hellu-heckuva quarterback,” Brock said.
“I thought so too,” Maggie said.
“I take it the staff meeting is over,” Bud said.
“Oh yeah. Jett went over the weekly assignments pretty quickly. Kind of a refreshing change,” Brock said as he poured a cup of coffee.
“Very funny,” Bud said.
“Since you’re here, I’ll go back up front,” Mallorie said.
“I think Maggie and I will take a walk over to the courthouse and city hall – I want to introduce her to a few people,” Bud said.
***
Mallorie made her way back up the hall and saw Jett’s office door open. She gently knocked on the door.
“Are you busy?” She asked.
He looked up from his keyboard.
“Not really, just checking out our website. I’m trying to decide if we need to tweak it,” Jett waved her in. “What can I do for you?”
“This might seem like an odd request. But I found out – just yesterday in fact – that your wife helped take care of me when I was a baby,” Mallorie said as he nodded.
“Yes, I recently learned that as well,” Jett said.
“So you’re aware of my family history,” she said.
“Let’s say I’m familiar with it. I am curious. I know it’s none of my business but is that why you use your middle name as a last name?” he asked.
“I didn’t think it would help anybody to stir up old memories,” she said.
“You might be right. Now, what was your request?” Jett asked.
“My granny doesn’t have many pictures of me as a baby. Most of my pictures start at preschool age. I was wondering if you would mind looking through your old photos – when you have time – and see if there might be any pictures of your wife with me. Bud said that she
might have had some,” Mallorie said.
“I’ll do you one better than that. When I get home this afternoon, I’ll pull the albums out and you can go through them whenever you like. In fact, if you’re free this evening, you can start then. But I warn you, Rose kept tons of pictures,” Jett said.
“I’ll be there. Thank you. I really do appreciate it,” she said.
***
Bud and Maggie walked up the steps and into the Fuson County Courthouse. The building was built in 1910 and had been renovated several times. It was a beautiful old structure with the traditional design.
It had four sides with covered porches on the north and south sides with large concrete pillars. A clock was nestled in the eave of the roof on each of those sides.
The first office they came to was the circuit court clerk. One of the secretaries – a very overweight older lady with dark brown hair with streaks of gray looked up at them from her keyboard and grinned quickly.
“I thought you retired,” she said.
“Nell! You oughta know better than that. I semi-retired. That means I have more time to spend with you,” he said.
“Heh. You wish,” Nell said.
“Nell, this is Maggie Blake. She’s going to be working with us this summer. Maggie this is Nell Miller. This office couldn’t function without her. If you need to know anything going on in this courthouse, see her,” Bud said.
She threw her head back and laughed again.
“You’re so full of it your eyes are brown,” Nell said to Bud. “Nice to meet you hon,” she said Maggie, who smiled and nodded.
“Is Bill around?” He asked.
“He sure ain’t square,” Nell laughed at her own joke and Bud joined her as Maggie smiled politely. Nell wiped her eyes. “He’s in his office, go on in,” she said.
They strolled into the private office of Bill Kantrell, the circuit court clerk. A rotund man with thinning wisps dark hair. It was nearly impossible to determine the color as it was slick with hair cream. His face was bright red and he wore thick glasses with black frames. Bud always wondered if this might have been what Buddy Holly would have looked like at 60.
Bill looked at his desk and spotted Maggie first and gave her a confused look before recognizing Bud.
“Oh, hello Bud. How are you this morning?” He asked.
“Fine Bill. I just wanted to introduce you to Maggie Blake – J.D.’s daughter. She’s coming to work for the paper in a couple of weeks,” Bud said.
Bill stood with what appeared to be great effort and walked over and shook her hand.
“Young lady, your daddy was a fine lawyer and one of the better judges I’ve ever known,” Bill said.
“It’s so nice to meet you. And thank you on dad’s behalf,” Maggie said.
The heavy man smiled. His dentures were stained by tobacco smoke. His cheap cologne couldn’t mask the smell of even cheaper cigars.
Bill looked at Bud.
“I ran into Jett the other day. I’m glad to see him back in Crystal Springs,” he said.
“I think he’s glad to be back,” Bud said.
Turning his attention back to Maggie, Bill said, “You listen to this man and Jett too. They’re two of the best and I’m not just saying that because Bud is standing here.”
“I appreciate that Bill and the feeling is mutual. Since Earl Atkins had to retire, you’re the only truly honest politician left in this county. That’s why I brought Maggie to meet you first. She needs to know who she can trust,” Bud said.
“I’ll shoot straight with you and all I ask in return is the same from you,” Bill said to Maggie. He then turned back to Bud. “Speaking of Earl, have you talked to him lately?”
“It’s been a while. I hear he’s having trouble sleeping,” Bud said.
Bill shook his head sadly.
“I really hate to hear that. I owe Earl a lot. I need to try to get out there to see him if Edna will let me. I have a feeling I won’t get many more opportunities. The last time I saw him he looked bad,” Bill said.
“Yeah, I hear he’s lost a lot of weight in the past year and after the heart attack, he couldn’t afford to lose too much,” Bud said.
“It’s a shame. That man has been through so much,” Bill said.
“Yes he has but I don’t mean to stand and take up your time. Looks like you’ve got a desk full of indictments to sign,” Bud said.
“That I do. Ms. Blake, I look forward to working with you. Bud, you’re always welcome,” Bill said as he shook hands with each of them.
Bud and Maggie exited the office and eventually made their way out of the main office as Bud stopped to chat and/or flirt with every female employee.
They made their way through the courthouse, stopping by office after office with Bud introducing Maggie to as many people as possible. As they walked down the courthouse steps on their way to city hall, Maggie looked over at Bud.
“You and Mr. Kantrell seem to be pretty close,” she said.
“We’ve known each other for a long time. I first got to know Bill when he was a city police officer back in the early ‘80s. You might not believe it to look at him, but he’s one of the brightest men you’ll ever meet and one hell of an investigator,” Bud said as they reached the sidewalk.
“I don’t doubt what you’re saying but how did he wind up as an administrator in the courthouse?” Maggie asked.
Bud smiled as they walked up the sidewalk.
“That’s kind of a hard question to answer. Bill was a good police officer but he knew he would always be just an officer in the city police department. You see Earl Atkins – Mallorie’s grandfather – was the mayor. He appointed McKinley Patterson as chief when he was first elected. McKinley did a solid job and Earl was loyal to him. He saw that Bill had a bright future but not in the city police department. McKinley was going to be chief until he wanted to step down. He pulled some political strings and got Bill a job as a deputy with the sheriff’s department,” Bud said.
“And he rose through the ranks of the department?” Maggie asked.
Bud chuckled.
“No. He constantly clashed with the sheriff and the chief deputy; so much so that he was taken off of the road and made a bailiff. It was as a bailiff he came to know and learn the courts, the judges, and the way things work in the local justice system. When the office of clerk became vacant about – oh, 22 years ago I believe. The previous clerk passed away. Anyway, 11 people filed to run. Bill was one of them and with the field so splintered he got enough votes to win. He carried every precinct in Crystal Springs thanks in no small part to the support of the mayor,” Bud said.
“Earl Atkins,” Maggie said.
“And now you see why he thinks so much of Earl. Bill does a fantastic job in that office and once people saw what he could do, he had no trouble getting reelected,” Bud said.
“And what happened with Mr. Atkins?” Maggie asked.
“About 15 years ago he had a massive heart attack and had to retire. His health has been in steady decline since,” Bud said.
“That’s too bad. Sounds like a good guy,” Maggie said as they crossed Virginia Avenue on their way to city hall.
“One of the best – at least he was once,” Bud said.
“So what do you think of the current mayor?” She asked.
“Shorty? He does a good job but he’s too willing to play it safe. He doesn’t rock the boat, if you will. Earl would fight the city council for what he thought was best. Shorty doesn’t. He’ll settle for less to avoid conflict,” he said.
Maggie merely listened and nodded.
As they reached the glass double doors to walk into city hall, they were startled by a hulking presence in a navy blue uniform that suddenly emerged through the doors.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you folks. I – Bud? Is that you?” The big man asked.
“Alvin Anderson! Jett said you were back in town!” Bud said as he reached out to shake the rather large right hand in front of h
im. “I understand congratulations are in order, Chief Anderson,” he continued.
“Thank you. I’m just happy to be back here,” Al said.
“I want to introduce you to someone. This is Maggie Blake,” Bud said.
“You’re beautiful - just like your mom. J.D. was a lucky man,” he said with a warm smile as he shook her hand.
“Thank you,” she said nervously. Maggie worried that he might tell Bud about their brief encounter less than 24 hours earlier.
“You know we’ve met before,” Al said as Maggie braced herself. “When you were just an infant. Your parents came back for homecoming at SKU. My wife, our oldest daughter, Nicole, and I attended a get-together at Jett and Rose’s house. That’s the first time I met his boys,” he said as he looked at Bud. “I look forward to seeing them again.”
“They’re men now and good ones. And pretty good football players I might add. You’ll like them,” Bud said nodding to Maggie, “Of course some likes one of them more than the rest of us.”
Before Maggie could react, Al spoke up.
“I’m sure he feels the same way. I’d even bet he would be willing to climb out on a roof and shout it to the world,” Al said as Maggie blushed.
Bud chuckled.
“Boy, you don’t know Dan,” he said.
Al laughed.
“I guess not,” he said as Maggie breathed a sigh of relief.
“I hate to gab and run but I need to run over to the board of education and talk about school resource officers for next year and then I’m meeting Jett for lunch over at the drug store. If y’all are free, why don’t you join us?” Al asked.
“I appreciate the offer but I have a couple of sales calls to make and I think Maggie has to meet Alicia,” Bud said.
“It was good to see you again Bud. And it was nice to meet you again. Tell your mom I said hi and I’d love to see her,” Al said to Maggie.
“I’ll do that,” Maggie said.
“I’ll see you around Al,” Bud said.
As he walked away, Bud looked at Maggie.
“That’s one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet,” he said.
“I believe you,” she said.
***
Alicia packed her bags and carried them downstairs. As soon as Maggie got back they would load the car. She took a seat on the couch and pulled out her tablet.
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