by Ace Atkins
“That’s easy,” Lillie said. “Because I said I would.”
“Nothing more.”
“Not a damn thing, kid.”
* * *
* * *
Johnny Stagg walked out of Frontier Village, the front entrance covered with red, white, and blue balloons, one of those big inflatable dancing men rocking to and fro in the parking lot, beckoning in the family travelers off Highway 45. Outside, he spotted a middle-aged man with graying hair and sad brown eyes, standing talking to some woman and two teenage girls. All them laughing and laughing at something he’d said. The man’s hand rested on one of the girl’s bare arms, a real light touch.
Lovemaiden followed and stood by Stagg as the man turned to him. He was wearing a gray fleece sweater, some of those fancy jeans with nice stitching, and high-dollar ankle boots. He had leather bracelets on his wrists and kept the humbled expression of a man who liked to tell folks about his grand and great adventures with his old buddy Jesus Christ. Oh, hell. Stagg didn’t ask any questions. But he did respect the man for all he’d done up in Memphis after his most humble beginnings down here in Tibbehah County.
“Sheriff,” Stagg said. “This is Pastor Ben Quick. I know you mentioned you’d been wanting to meet him.”
“Yes, sir,” Lovemaiden said, sticking out his hand. “Me and my wife come to see you last Easter at your service up in Memphis. And we watched them Bible studies you got online, too. I love that one you have about generosity and love. How random acts of kindness can come on back to you like a gosh-darn boomerang. You ain’t giving nothing away. It’s all gonna come out to roost. Help all of us prosper.”
“That’s the idea, Sheriff,” he said, shaking his hand. “Sure is an honor to meet you.”
“I ain’t no one,” Lovemaiden said. “Just a humble servant.”
“Aren’t we all,” Pastor Quick said, his face all lit up like Christmas morning, taking in the new Frontier Village, the bustling Rebel Truck Stop, and the big Tibbehah Cross planted huge and tall on the hill by Ole Man Skinner. Lord bless his crooked and wretched ole soul.
“You mind me asking what you’re doing back in town?” Lovemaiden asked.
Stagg grinned so big that he could feel the wind on his teeth. He reached for a mint in his pocket and plopped it into his mouth, savoring this very moment. The grand and beautiful moment of a new era down in Tibbehah County.
“Well, sir,” Quick said. “I came back to express my sincere appreciation and welcome back to the world my dear brother in Christ, Mr. Stagg. I’m proud to call him a friend and proud to see him putting his talents to work here back in my hometown.”
Lovemaiden just beamed, hitching up his britches, the white cowboy hat looking like he’d just swiped it off some poor child’s head. To think he was gonna be his go-to man over in Parsham County. Thank Jesus Stagg had a sensible crook like Ben Quick to partner with on everything else in north Mississippi.
“You plan on sticking around some?” Lovemaiden said.
Pastor Ben Quick smiled, his face softening, a cool light in his sad brown eyes, like a man who knew and understood all the mysteries of the universe. “Mr. Stagg and I’ve been discussing that for the last few years,” he said. “Even before he came back home. And now, I just came into some land from the late Mr. Skinner that fronts the highway.”
“You thinking of building another church?” Lovemaiden asked.
“Right across the Jericho Road on that hill by the cross,” Quick said. “Not as big as Memphis, but outreach for the folks in Tibbehah and all the surrounding counties. A place for everyone.”
“Heck, Pastor Quick,” Lovemaiden said. “Doesn’t that beat all. Just tell me where to sign up.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ace Atkins is the author of twenty-eight books, including eleven Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which, The Ranger and The Lost Ones, were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he has a third Edgar nomination for his short story "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"). He is the author of nine New York Times-bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times and a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and he played defensive end for Auburn University football.
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