Once the murderers of Sandy Thompson had been dealt with by the courts I had no excuse not to find my brother Walt’s replacement. I had to admit to my team that I had been putting it off but they all appreciated the extra money that they were getting in overtime. However, we all knew that we could not carry on ‘one man down’ indefinitely.

To kick the recruitment, process off, I used some of the money that we’d saved in salary since I’d fired Walt to pay for a specialist recruitment agency in Denver to find us some suitable candidates.

Even so, it was almost another month and Halloween was fast approaching before I received details of the first batch of candidates. The agency reported that even getting responses to the advert was proving difficult. It appeared that we were too far from just about anywhere or anything for most people. While that suited the people already here perfectly I knew that this was going to be a stumbling block in my quest to find a new Deputy. They had struggled to get candidates for us. They admitted that they had even tried to get some of the unsuccessful candidates for a deputy chief in a famous Colorado Ski Resort to apply here but even that hadn’t worked.

As I went through the various candidates resumes my heart sank deeper and deeper into gloom. Out of more than twenty candidates only four came up as even worth inviting to come for an interview.

I sat on them for another day before reviewing my choices once again. In the end, I had to get a second opinion.

“Sue Ellen, could you come into my office for a moment please.”

“Sure thing Sheriff,” came her reply.

“What’s up?”

“Can you take a look at these resumes?”

I handed her eight pages to read.

She scanned them looking for obvious howlers and then read each one carefully before saying.

“Why us?” she commented as she handed me one of the resume’s.

“That’s what I thought,” I replied as I saw which one she’d handed back to me.

“Why should anyone give up a Detective’s job on the NYPD to come out to the back of beyond and start working as a standard County Deputy?”

“Hey, not so hard on us grunts ok?”

“You know what I mean. So? What do you think?”

Sue-Ellen handed me back the remainder of the resumes and said,

“How many former Army MP’s are there in the NYPD, and do any of them owe you a favour?”

I smiled back. Sue-Ellen might have been Blonde, shapely and very buxom but there was no pulling the wool over her eyes. She was sharp and could read people as easily as reading the newspaper.

“So, you think that she’s worth interviewing then?”

“Do we have to pay for her airfare?”

“Well, we have enough in the kitty. The Mayor has given me a fairly decent budget but we have to get the right person. He was clear than I was to not make any mistakes or my re-election next year won’t be a formality. Well, that was what he hinted.”

“Then speak to her on the phone or call in a few favours and if everything seems ok then get her out here.”

“Yes boss…” I said grinning to Sue-Ellen.

I’d let it be known that she was my preferred successor as Sherriff. I knew in my own mind that I’d serve at most another two terms before calling it a day. By then she’d be ready to take over.

“Someday Matt but not yet,” she replied grinning.

[the next day]
By lunchtime, I’d called the four officers I’d shortlisted. Two had already found other positions so we were down to two. The agency had run the advert again even on the West Coast this time but so far it had not received any expressions of interest.

I called the remaining two candidates back and invited them to come in for an interview.

[a week later]
“Listen up team,” I said at the end of my usual Monday morning briefing.

“We have two candidates coming in this week for interview. Who wants to be my sidekick?”

The team all seemed to glance at Sue-Ellen.

“Sheriff, we think that Sue-Ellen should do the interviews with you. Just for balance so to speak,” said Billy-Joe.

“Are you ok with this Sue-Ellen?”

“I guess so,” she replied slightly reluctantly.

“Ok. The first one will be here on Wednesday. The second is coming Thursday. I’ll circulate their resumes. Any specific questions that you want us to ask please let us know in advance.”

I have tried to run a democratic and happy department. Giving the others a say would help morale.

[Wednesday]

“Hi, am I at the right place for the Interview?”

The owner of the voice was a 40yr old man with receding hair. That was all we could see of him as he stuck his head around the door to the office.

“Yes. Please come on in.”

Steve Lawrence was actually 42 years old, divorced and currently a State Trooper in Nevada. He was also fat and balding and now that I’d seen him face to face, there was no way in hell that I would recommend him for the job. He was a heart attack waiting to happen. Still now that he was here, we had to go through the motions of the interview. What irked me more than anything that the picture he’d attached to his resume showed him as he looked at least 20 years ago.

At the end of the allotted 30 minutes, I said to him,

“Thanks for coming today Steve. We have another candidate to interview tomorrow. Then we’ll make our decision.”

“I haven’t got the job have I?”

I resisted looking at Sue-Ellen before answering him.

“We have yet to make up our minds. As I said at the outset, we will do that by the weekend.”

“Thanks for being honest with me.”

Then he left.

I looked at Sue-Ellen.

“That was hard. I never want to do that again. Why do people lie on their resume? They will get found out sooner or later,” remarked Sue-Ellen.

I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment in any shape or form.

“Have you had anything back from your contact in the NYPD?” asked Sue-Ellen.

“Yes. It came in just before Steve Lawrence turned up. Let me print out a copy of the email and you can decide for yourself.”

“That sounds ominous?”

I smiled.
“Let me just say that there is a lot more to Ms Fitzpatrick than meets the eye.”

“What? Did she lie on her resume?”

“No. Everything she put down is factually correct.”

“So what’s the problem?”

I sighed.
“Read it for yourself.”

I gave her the printout and went out on patrol before she could talk to me about it.

[The following day]
“Thanks for coming this far Kelly. We do appreciate it,” I said as our second candidate, Kelly Fitzpatrick sat down in my office.

“It really was not a problem Sheriff,” came her reply.

Kelly was certainly more that I’d imagined. She wasn’t tall by my standards but there was something about her that rattled something in me. I had to fight them otherwise we would not get onto the serious stuff that we needed to cover in the next hour.

“You resume is certainly impressive so my first question is why do you want to leave the NYPD?”

She let out a small chuckle.

“To be honest with you Sheriff, I left the NYPD almost a month ago. I had already sent that version of my resume off just before I left them. My reasons for leaving are all down to my family. There has been at least one of my family in the NYPD or the FDNY for at least the last one hundred and seventy years. We came over from Cork in the 1840’s. My Great-great-great something, Sean Fitzpatrick signed up with the local Police simply because he’d been a constable in the Cork Police before jumping on a ship for New York.”

She took a deep breath.
“Sheriff, again, let me be perfectly honest with you, I am transgendered. I was born a male and christened Patrick O’Hanlon. Fitzpatrick is my grandmothers name. I transitioned last year while I was still with the Police Department. My family are very, very Catholic and couldn’t accept what I’ve done so they made life very hard for me in the NYPD. When I transitioned I had to transfer to IAD in order to keep safe. Even though IAD are off limits from my family but they made life hard for me outside the force. In the end, I had to leave both the NYPD and New York in order to keep my sanity. That was just over three weeks ago, I quit the force loaded up my car and headed west along I-80 and here I am.”

I grinned and looked at Sue-Ellen. She was smiling.

“Thank you for telling us that. We already knew a good deal about your past. You might like to read this email,” said Sue-Ellen as she handed

Kelly the printout I’d given her the previous day.

Kelly read it with eyes bulging.

“This ‘Ace’? Am I supposed to know him?”

“Yes. You know him quite well. He was my Commanding Officer when I was an Army MP. He was called ‘Ace’ because his name was the same as a well known tennis player of the time. You know him as Richard Krayjeck.”

We could see the penny drop.

“But… he was my Captain in IAD!”

“The very one and the same.”

Then I added,

“As you can see, he does not have a bad word to say about you. He echoes your statement about your family. Only the two of us know all about your family problems in the Police Force.”

With that, she visibly relaxed.

Towards the end of the interview I asked,

“Do you have any questions for us?

Kelly hesitated for a second or so before asking,

“You don’t have a problem with me being Transgendered?”

I let out a small laugh before I regained my composure.

“Kelly, we had a rather unfortunate incident here last March where a very nice woman was murdered because she hadn’t that the Gender Reassignment operation and two drunken locals wouldn’t take no for an answer. Her name was Sandy and… well was well liked around these parts. No one knew about her little secret. She was saving up for her final step before her life was so cruelly ended.”

Before she could ask what happened, Sue-Ellen added for me,

“The two men that killed her will be spending at least the next twenty-five years to life in Federal Prison for their troubles.”

Kelly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Should we offer you the job, it would be totally up to you if you tell anyone else about your past. We don’t feel the need to tell anyone else do we Sue-Ellen?”

“We certainly don’t Sheriff.”

Once Kelly had left, I sat down and tried to think. Sue-Ellen came back carrying two coffees from Harry’s Diner.

“You look as if you could do with this,” she said grinning as she gave me the drink.

“Thanks. That was hard.”

She nodded.

“When are you going to tell her?”

“What do you mean?”

She laughed again.

“I know you too well Matt. I think you decided that she was the one as soon as you saw her. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past you to actually fancy our new Officer?”

“No…. Well…. No….”

“Matt. As I said, I know you far too well. That’s why I told you many times in High School that we should never date. I know what you are going to do before you do.”

Sue-Ellen was a gazillion percent right in her reading of me. She’d always had this knack or more accurately a ‘fluence’ over me. That’s why we’d remained friends all this time while she’d been through three husbands and three children and she still had a bit of a soft spot for me in a motherly sort of way.

She didn’t wait for me to answer but disappeared to do something or other in the main office.

I sat brooding over my coffee for a good half hour. She was right of course. I had to offer her the job. There was no reason not to do so. She was if anything over qualified for the job but for some reason that didn’t even cross my mind. I wanted her as part of the team.

Just before 5pm, I closed up the station and started on my way home.

I’d just left town on the direct way to my home, which is also the shortest route from town to the Interstate when I came upon a ‘U-Haul’ trailer and a car that was hitched to it, parked by the side of the road. I pulled up behind it and switched on my Police Strobe lights as a warning to other drivers before getting out of my cruiser and seeing what the problem was.

I got a huge surprise when I saw Kelly under the hood of a 10yr old Toyota. The engine was running but only just.

“Well, hello again Kelly,” I said calmly.

She almost banged her head on the hood due to the surprise of seeing someone standing just a few feet from her. She quickly recovered her composure and stood up to face me.

“It suddenly lost all power and made a banging noise,” she exclaimed.

I didn’t need to examine the engine to know what was wrong.

“I think you have blown a head-gasket.”

Her shoulders sagged.

“Never mind,” I said.

“I’ll get Barney SWA who is our local mechanic to take a look at it tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“It is late and if it is a head gasket another one won’t get here any sooner.”

“But…”

“Did you have to be somewhere tonight?”

She thought for a bit before saying,

“Probably a Motel on the Interstate. I saw a couple when I turned off earlier today.”

“Well, you aren’t gonna make any of them in this tonight. Why don’t I tow your trailer to my place as it is only a mile or so up the road then I’ll come back and tow you there as well.”

“Where am I going to stay the night?”

I smiled.

“With us, if Ma has anything to say about it. My brother’s old room is empty.”

“I can’t impose on you like that.”

“Are you refusing our country hospitality? This isn’t the big Apple you know. Here abouts folks rally round in times of need. Why only just last month, Ricky Allen had a barn burn down. The next weekend, twenty people turned up to help him rebuild it.”

Kelly stood there pondering what to do. In the end, I decided for her.

“I’ll uncouple the trailer and get that moved first. I won’t be long.”

A few minutes later I’d hitched up the trailer to my cruiser and was towing it down the road. Kelly looked forlorn in the rear view mirror. My guess was that in the past she’d taken a lot of stick from her family others as well so, she was now enjoying being her own woman and now some man comes along and takes over leaving her in his wake. I afforded myself a little smile. Ma would soon see her right. Of that, there was no doubt.

I’d hardly gotten onto our property when the front door that was only used for guests, opened and there stood Ma with her arms crossed. Her expression said it all.

“Hi Ma. You know I said that we were interviewing another candidate today, well her car died just down the road. I’m going back to tow it and her here right now.”

“Another one for Dinner and Bed and Breakfast I assume?”

I smiled.

“I know you still cook as if Walt is here so there should be more than enough to go around.”

Her eyes narrowed as if to say, ‘how dare you take me for granted. I could still tan your hide if I needed too, Sheriff or not’.

Still smiling at the telling off I’d just received, I got back into my cruiser and went to rescue Kelly and her car.

By the time I’d gotten both vehicles and Kelly to my home, it was getting dark. The end of October was just over a week away and there was already a distinct chill in the air as the sun set ever earlier each day.

As I detached the tow rope from her car I said to her,

“We can leave your car there. I’ll call Barney SWA in the morning. What he doesn’t know about cars is not worth knowing.”

Kelly just nodded as she took her handbag and an overnight bag from her car.

“You go in and find Ma. She’ll be in the kitchen. I have a couple of chores to do before dinner.”

I turned on my heel and disappeared around the side of the house and headed for the stables. The chores I needed to do was to round up and stable my two horses, Sue and Jake. They were as ever pleased to see me but that was probably because I held their feed buckets in my hand. One shake of them and they’d follow me anywhere.

I looked at the empty stall next door with some sadness. Walt’s horse, Delilah had been there until a week before. She’d suddenly died one night. She was fifteen so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. I knew that Sue and Jake missed her after all, Delilah was their mother.

With them safely bedded down for the night, I went into the house by the side door. The kitchen was empty but I could hear voices coming from upstairs. I smiled. Ma’s bark was far worse than her bite and a damsel in distress what a chance for Ma to be… well Ma.

I used the downstairs bathroom to wash-up and remove my belt, radio and most of the other paraphernalia that law enforcement is required to carry at all times these days. I hung my belt up on the hook in the bathroom and went to find the women.

I met them coming down the stairs.

It was obvious from her expression that Ma was in her element and loving every minute of having another female about the house for the first time in years.

“Just in time,” said Ma and before I could even start to reply she added,

“You can make yourself useful and open that bottle of wine that I won at the county fair on Labor Day.”

I sighed. The wine was very, very cheap. I’d had my fair share of gut-rot wine while I was in the service. This wine was right up there with the best ‘vin de gut-rot’ served anywhere on the planet. I had to act and fast.

“Why don’t we serve our guest some of cousin Cletus’s Cider?”

Ma smiled at me.

“Make sure I only have one glass then. You know how strong he makes it.”

“Sure Ma.”

Dinner was very pleasant. Lots of gentle conversation and a little Cider all made for a very nice evening. I could sense our guest starting to relax and enjoy herself.

At dead on 9pm, Ma stood up and announced,

“I’m off to my bed. I’ll leave you two young’uns to do the dishes.”

With that, she disappeared down the corridor to her room.

Kelly looked at little bemused.

I smiled and said,

“That means Ma likes you. If she didn’t then I’d have been told to do them myself. If she likes you then as far as she’s concerned, you are one of the family and the family helps with the chores around here.”

All Kelly could do was say,

“Sorry. But…”

I waited patiently for her to continue.

“She read me within 10 seconds of me walking in the door. She said, ‘Ah, you are like that one who got herself murdered a few months back. You take good care of yourself you hear!’. That was it. From then on she treated me as a woman and as a member of the family.”

“And you got a little confused?”

She nodded.

“Don’t worry about Ma. The only time you need to worry is when she says nothing. Then a storm is about to hit and that’s for sure.”

Once we’d done the dishes and put everything away I said,

“The job’s yours if you want it. If you do, then I’ll take you and introduce you to J.T. Mitchell who is the one and only certified Realtor in the County.”

Kelly was just hanging up a towel just stopped in mid action. Then she turned and looked at me.

“Are you sure? What about your Mother?”

I laughed,

“Ma isn’t my real Mother. You might have guessed that from the age difference. She’s actually my Grandmother. The last time we heard of my real Ma was more than 5 years ago and she was married to some rich dude in Vegas or maybe it was Reno but I can’t really remember. Anyway, she left right after the birth of my brother Walt. That left Ma to bring up the two of us. If you are wondering if she’ll tell everyone about you, no she won’t. That’s for you to do if and when you decide to do so. That is if you still want to now, that you have seen a bit of life here in this part of our country.”

“Y… Yes, I’ll take the job but I’m sure that it will be hard to adjust after New York.”

“Adjusting to life here is easy. Everything here runs at about half the pace of a Snapping Turtle crossing the road in a hurry. Going the other way is the problem. I did it once. Never again.”

We did the dishes together. As I washed them I explained what ‘Snapping Turtles’ were, and why the always seem to cross the road right in front of you when you are in a hurry. Kelly laughed and shook her head at the same time.

---

Barney SWA came by the following morning and confirmed my diagnosis of a blown head gasket on Kelly’s car.

“I’ll order the new one plus the other bits I’ll need as soon as I tow it back to my shop. If I get the order in by midday, UPS should deliver it all tomorrow afternoon. Then I’ll need a day to do the work unless the head needs skimming,” he explained.

Kelly looked suitably baffled although I doubted if she really was. Kudos to her.

“How much will this all cost me?” she asked quietly.

“Are you going to take the job?” asked Barney.

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Law Enforcement get a twenty percent discount on all shop work. We gotta keep the upholders of law and order mobile haven’t we? That’s all.”

“Kelly has accepted my offer of a job.”

“That’s good so the final cost should be around four hundred give or take a couple of twenties.”

Kelly’s face lit up.

“Ok, that’s a deal.”

“Barney, aren’t you missing something?”

He looked at me, gave a little shrug and then smiled back at her.

“If you come with me when I tow your car, I’ll let you borrow one of the cars on my lot until yours is ready.”

Kelly looked at him and then at me before saying,

“I’m not asking for charity you know?”

Barney grinned back at her.

“No special favours. I let all of my customers drive one of my old clunkers when theirs is in the shop. People in these parts can’t get around much without wheels. This isn’t the big city with a bus service to all parts of town. The last one left here at least twenty years ago. So? Are you game?”

“Ok, but I only drive a manual shift,” came her immediate reply.

“I’d noticed that. You’d better get used to Automatics. That’s all we drive around here. You’d better get Matt here to give you a course in driving an All-Wheel-Drive Truck because as soon as Winter sets in that all that anyone with any sense around here drives. Especially if you get one with traction control.”

I watched her take this in. Then she looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.

“Barney’s right. Half the roads in the county are dirt and when there is snow and ice around it can be fun to drive them especially if you have to be somewhere in a hurry."

Kelly arrived back an hour later driving a 2012 Silverado.

“Well? Can you drive that thing?”

“Barney gave me a good lot of instructions. That will get me going. As for the rest, then I’ll have to learn on the job, now won’t I?”
I let out a small laugh.

“Barney was very coy about his obvious relationship with you. All he’d say was, ‘let Matt tell you’. So what about it Boss?”

“Very well but first we have some police work to do. We received a report of some rustlers from the ‘Lazy-T’ Ranch. Up for it?”

“You bet, but I don’t have a uniform.”

“You aren’t officially on the job yet. I have to submit your acceptance to the Police Oversight Team, or POTTY Committee. When they have approved it you will get an official start date and a form to submit for requisitioning a uniform and a gun and other items of kit. So look, learn and don’t get in the way, understand?”

“I’m not some rookie straight out of the Academy you know?”

“Sorry Kelly, but out here, you are just that, a rookie. We do things differently to the NYPD. My advice is to just take your time and see how we do things. My Brother tried to do things by the book. He only succeeded in getting people’s back’s up. To a lot of people in the county, his departure was a cause for rejoice and thanking God in their prayers. We do a lot of looking the other way at times because we all have to live in the community. We can’t just disappear to a different part of the city at the end of our shift. If someone deserves a charge or a ticket then they get it. Don’t rush into things. We don’t have a Captain or a DA pressing for charges to be laid ten minutes into an investigation. Do your job and do it properly."

“That bad eh?” she replied smiling.

I smiled.

“It remains to be seen. I’ll let you make up your own mind on the matter.”

We climbed into my Police SUV and headed off.

“Barney is a strange guy,” said Kelly as we hit the main road.

“He’s strange all right. He’s a full bloodied Lakota Sioux but he wants nothing to with his people. He has no time for all that tribal stuff. He grows on you and he’s a good guy. One that I was glad to have at my back more than once. Let’s change the subject ok?”

She said nothing so I did it for us.

“Rustling can be a problem here. Most farmers let their steers run on the range for months at the time….”

[Two weeks Later]
“Listen up everybody. As you all know, Kelly is joining us officially today. So make her welcome and see that she eases into her role. You have all worked with her at some point over the last two weeks so she won’t be a complete newbie on how we tackle Law Enforcement in these parts. You can also learn a thing or two from her given her experience and record in the NYPD. But… most of all, please be gentle on her until she really knows the ropes. Us Country Folk can be a bit… shall we say awkward towards City Folk at times. Don’t let the locals go too far with their cold shoulders ok? Any questions?”

“Who will she be partnering with?” asked Tom.

“Kelly will be a bit of a floater for a couple of weeks. Like before, she’ll work with all of you. Then if a team starts to develop then we can work from there. Until now we have largely been operating individually but I want to try pairing us up until the freeze sets in. So for this week, she’ll be with you Tom. You can take the north of the County. Sue-Ellen and I will deal with the south.”

I turned to look at the remaining two officers.

“Billy-Joe, you are on Office Duty this week. It is about time you did it.”

The aforementioned Billy-Joe groaned.

“That leaves you Stan. Town Patrol. That way you can be close by if Mary-Joe comes a hollering when her water breaks so you have to take her to the Hospital.”

“Thanks boss, I know that Mary-Joe will appreciate me being close by at this time.”

“The downside is that it is time for a crime-prevention visit to the High School. They are expecting you tomorrow at 10am.”

This time it was Stan’s turn to groan. No one liked that particular duty but it had to be done.

---

[The following weekend]

“Careful with that!” said Kelly for the hundredth time as a phalanx of willing volunteers helped unload her U-Haul trailer and take her stuff into the house that she was renting.

Soon there was only one thing left to move. So one in town really had any idea about how to move a ‘baby-grand’ piano or even if it would fit through the door way to her new home.

In the end, the Parker twins who had a combined I.Q. of around 100 on a good day but had hearts of gold just lifted the thing up and carried onto the house.

As the sun was setting, a barbeque was set alight and beers were cracked open to celebrate a job well done. The finale of the evening was for Kelly to play a little Country Music on the Piano. Everyone went home happy. It was just as well because when they woke up the next day, a light dusting of snow was carpeting Custer County.

Fall was over and winter was gently reminding us that it was here in all but name.

[A week before Christmas]
I was alone in the Station catching up on some paperwork when I had an unexpected visitor.

“Hi Ma! This is an unexpected pleasure.”

“Cut the crap Matt Beecher. You know as well as I do that I told you that I would be calling by today to ask Kelly to come over for Dinner on Christmas Day.”

Bummer! I thought to myself. She had mentioned something about that when I saw her over a hurriedly grabbed breakfast. I’d been up a good part of the night helping the State Troopers out deal with a multi-truck crash on the Interstate. Two 18-wheelers had fishtailed on some ice at the same time. The result was a nice mess but thankfully none of the drivers had been badly hurt.

“Sorry Ma. I was probably still half asleep. I didn’t get home till nearly four.”

“I know. You crashed about in the bathroom for what seemed an age.”

“Sorry.”

“Well?”

I knew that she was asking where Kelly was.

“Kelly is over on route 10. There were a couple of reports of cattle on the loose.”

“When is she expected back? You know I only come into town once or twice a week. I don’t know what I’ll do when you tell me that I’m a danger on the road.”

I let out a small chuckle.

“You are nowhere near as bad a driver as Maudy was. Thankfully she finally saw sense and moved into Green Pastures.”

Ma gave me a dirty look.

“Are you suggesting that I’m past it and that I should move into the place where they are all waiting for God to come calling?”

I couldn’t help myself from letting out a little snigger.

“You are, aren’t you?”

“No Ma. You know that it will be your decision. You just used an unfortunate set of words. There used to be a TV series called ‘Waiting for God’. It was about a bunch of elderly people living in a retirement home.”

“What? Why would anybody be interested in that?”

“It was a comedy show. I saw it on cable when I was posted to Germany in the Service. I think it came from England. The residents of this Retirement Home were not going to take getting old gracefully. They got up to all sorts of mischief. At times, they acted like little kids again.”

“Well, it is not on any of my channels,” she replied indignantly.

Then she looked at the clock.

“I must be getting back otherwise I’ll miss my programs”.

To my mind watching the 100th re-run of ‘The Golden Girls’ or ‘Jeopardy’ was not even worth getting out of bed for let alone rushing home for. But Ma was of that age so I shouldn’t decry her enjoyment.

“Ok. I’ll be sure to ask Kelly as soon as I see her.”

“Good. But be sure you do just that. I don’t want her spending her first Christmas with us in her own. Understand!”

“I get it. But what if she has plans?”

“Then get her to break them. I’m cooking for three and Walt isn’t invited.”

I laughed.
“The last I heard he was off to somewhere hot for the Winter with his fairy god mother.”

Ma gave a shudder.

“He’s no toy boy. Never in a million years.”

“No matter Ma. He won’t be welcome at home this Christmas.”

“But Kelly will be. Go it?”

“Yes Ma.”

 
Kelly was as ever, her modest self when I asked her about Christmas Day.

“I was going to volunteer for Duty. Then everyone else can be with their families.”

“And so can you.”

She looked at me with a puzzled expression of her face.

“Have you forgotten that Ma made it very clear that you were part of our family?”

“Yes… but… I thought she was being polite?”

“Polite my ass. Ma only ever says that when she really means it. Besides, I’d kinda like it if you came over.”

Kelly looked at me awkwardly.

“Sheriff?

“Matt please.”

“Matt please, are you sort of asking me on a date?”

I was stuck. I wanted to get to know her a lot more. I’d sort of painted myself into a corner.

“Ma is asking you to share our hospitality over the Holiday, and I’m asking as well. Is this so wrong?”
I hoped that I’d dodged her question.

She grinned back at me.

“Matt. I’d be pleased to come to your place for dinner on the 25th. “

Then she grinned.

“There is only one proviso.”

“What?”

“Don’t ever serve me any more of that Cider. It took me a whole week to get that stuff out of my system. I’ll bring some wine. Harry at the store will put me right.”

“Deal,” I responded smiling.

I went home happy that night. Happy in the knowledge that my good news would get Ma off my back.

---

[February the next year]
Time just flew by in my County. Kelly had fitted in right away. Ma took a shine to her as well. This meant the Kelly came out to our place for Sunday Lunch after Church just about every week. A few people started to talk about us being a couple but that was not the case. We’d become good friends and she was a valuable asset to the department.

I was in the office catching up on some paperwork when my phone rang., I could see that it was Kelly. I wondered why she hadn’t called on the radio because she was on town patrol today.

“Hello Kelly. What’s up?”

“You are where? What are you doing there?”

“Oh. I see.”

“Yes. I’d like to meet them. I’ll be there in ten.”

I hung up the phone and sat for a few seconds.

Kelly was calling from the town cemetery. She’d met a couple of strangers who apparently were the parents of Sandy Thompson. Then it hit me. Today was the first anniversary of her death. A small shiver ran down my spine.

It was close to fifteen minutes before I arrived at the Cemetery. When I left the office I found that I was blocked in by a pickup that was also parked right in front of a fire hydrant. I simply pushed the offending vehicle out of the way with my Bronco and gave it two tickets. One for parking illegally and the other for having an outdated licence plate. I could have had it towed but I was needed elsewhere so they got off lucky on that count.

But, I knew that I’d get a lot of grief from the owner, Jeb Carter who by chance ran the local paper but it would be an order of magnitude less than what he’d give me if I let him off.

As I got out of my SVU, a cold gust of wind caught my coat. It was getting colder by the day. I looked towards the north west and realised that it would not be long before it snowed again and by the looks of it, we were in for a lot more than a dusting of the white stuff.

I saw Kelly and two people standing by Sandy’s grave. I walked towards them zipping up my coat as I walked.

“Sheriff Matt, I’d like you to meet Jerry and Nancy Thompson. They are Sandy’s parents.”

I let a small smile come onto my face. I’d always hated situations like this in the Army. This was worse. I’d found that a small smile often helped in these situations.

“I am very pleased to meet you both.”

I suck out my hand in greeting.

“I only wish that it could have been in better circumstances.”

Jerry looked at his wife who was close to tears.

“I am too,” he said quietly.

“I was putting some flowers on her grave when Jerry and Nancy arrived,” said Kelly.

That simple statement momentarily stunned me. Then it suddenly made sense.

“At least we know that our S… Daughter has not been forgotten,” said Nancy.

“She was well liked in the town. More than one hundred people turned out to her funeral.”

Nancy looked at me with a startled expression on her face.

“Did they know… About her?”

“Folk around here generally take people as they see them. Sandy was kind and considerate to everyone she met. She was going to be made
manager of the store and bar once she’d had … Well, completed her transition.”

This visibly shocked her parents.

“We had no idea… No idea at all,” said Jerry.

“You can be proud of her. She’d found a home where she was accepted without question. She became a part of this town by being herself.”

“Even when it came out that… she was a man?” asked Nancy.

“Even then. People here only knew her as Sandy. No one deserved to die like that. When those two were sentenced to a very long time in Prison, many people here said a few prayers on her behalf. The Sermon that week in Church was on the subject of Acceptance. I am sure you could write one yourself.”

This put Jerry on the spot. I knew that he was a preacher in a church that was generally not very accepting to LGBT people.

“I know what you mean. We debated coming here many times this past year. If we could not have found forgiveness in our hearts, we would not have come all this way to… well to be here on this day of all days.”

I smiled at the two of them.

“I for one am very glad to see you.”

Then Kelly chimed in.

“I never knew her but, by all accounts she was a fine person.”

“But… why are you putting flowers on the grave of someone you never met?” asked Nancy.

“Shh… Can’t you see why?” said her husband.

Nancy looked at Kelly who smiled back at them.

Then she gave a small nod.

Just then the first snowflake decided to land on Nancy’s dark coat.

“If you don’t mind me saying, it is time for you two good people to hit the road. I think that we are in for a lot of snow in the next few hours,” I suggested as I looked up at the sky.

“We had hoped to stay…,” said Nancy.

“Come on Dear. The Sheriff is only trying to help. You know how you hate driving in snow.”

Kelly chimed in,

“If you want to stay, I have a spare room. You would be very welcome at our Church service tomorrow. Several people have told me that Sandy was a regular attendee.”

This visibly shook her parents.

“We never knew. We both thought that she’d lost her faith when… when she left home,” said her father.

Nancy looked at her husband with soft eyes and said,

“Why don’t we stay so that we can thank the people of the town properly?”

“If you are sure that it won’t be too much trouble for you?”

“And you will be more than welcome to come to my place for Lunch. Ma always cooks enough to feed six.”

They looked at each other. Nancy gave a small nod to her husband.

---

[Two days later]
“They seemed to get some sort of closure from being here,” said Kelly as they watch Sandy’s parents drive away. Thankfully, the snow that had threatened did not amount to much and the roads were clear.

“They did that. “

“Boss…”

I looked at her.

“Did you give me this job to make up for not saving Sandy?”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

“It was just a thought that came into my mind talking to Nancy last night.”

I looked at her and smiled.

“If you want to see the resumes of the other applicants you are more than welcome. You were by far the best person for the job and I won't let anyone say otherwise.”

“Phyllis Jenks said something about us after Church on Sunday. She wondered when you were going to ask me out.”

“Phyllis Jenks should mind her own business. How would she like it if I spread the word about her and Mike Parks?”

Kelly let out a little giggle.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to ask me out?”

This was the moment I’d been dreading.

“I’d like too but there is a problem.”

“You being my Boss?”

I nodded.

“I looked at the rules and there is nothing in them about what the NYPD calls fraternisation between members of the same squad.”

“That’s as maybe but I have to stand for re-election in November.”

“Retire and look after the farm. I’ve seen those plans you have.”

“What! Ma showed you? She shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why. She wants you to be happy and running the farm is in your heart.”

I looked at the floor and nodded back to her.

“Then there wouldn’t be a problem with us…?”

“There is another one before your grand plan for me can come to fruition.”

“Ma?”

I nodded.

“She has told me more times than I care to remember that she’s not going into a retirement home until she turns seventy and that my Deputy is not yet.”

“Ok, I get the hint. Back to work.”

“Yes. Before people start to talk….”

I laughed.

[The End of this Episode]