News of Ma’s passing seemed to spread like wildfire around the town. Once the presence of California Bureau of Investigation vehicles and a Medical Examiners wagon outside Nancy’s house was known, it would be hard to her death a secret.

Kelly had done exactly what I would have done and called in the appropriate State Police agency to handle the case. Until Ma’s death was ruled natural causes, she decided to not only recuse herself but went one step further than was legally required and kept her whole department right out of the case.

Two of her temporary deputies saw that as a sign of strength. The other one thought that it should have been kept in-house. I saw it as Kelly stepping up to the plate at the bottom of the ninth with the scores even, the bases loaded and hitting a home run on the first pitch. Keeping well out of the inevitable mess was a smart move.

Kelly and Nancy bore the brunt of the questions from the locals and the media. It was left to me to handle officialdom. Kelly issued a statement to the media explaining why her department was keeping well away from the case pending the results of the Post Mortem examination. The local newspaper ran an editorial which to my surprise was 100% behind the new Chief. To me, that was just like what would have happened in Custer County if the sad event had happened when I was Sheriff.

A PM was deemed necessary because Ma, while well into her 80’s, was not taking any medication and as far as I knew had not been to see a doctor in well over ten years.

The two days it took for the PM to be completed and the results made available were the longest 48 hours in my life… in our life. Kelly due to her new position in the town was taking it hard. Being new on the job, she was under the microscope and this made it ten times worse. She shut herself away in her office to avoid the two leeches otherwise known as ‘stringers’ that were camped outside her office building. They worked for more salacious media outfits in San Francisco and Sacramento. Tell them one thing and they'd report the opposite. Even a few locals told them to get lost but they were stubborn SOB's.

Nancy had given her a heads up on them and their ‘we don’t take prisoners especially when it comes to people in authority’ way of reporting. Thankfully, the majority of her team had gained enough respect for her to fill in for her with the public and to continue with their normal duties.

A blanket ‘No comment until the PM results’ statement would only go so far in placating the public. The media other than the local press were ignoring the story which helped a lot. They had meatier things to speculate on when a state senator was caught in bed with his current intern who while legally an adult, was well under half his age. Things took a turn for the worse when three former interns came out of the woodwork and accused him of sexual assault.

When the PM results came, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Ma’s passing was due to natural causes. In this case, a coronary embolism. If it had been caught early enough, it would have been treatable but Ma… being Ma, she would not hear about going to the Doctors even for a checkup. Both Kelly and I had tried until we were blue in the face to get her to go but with Ma being Ma, it all fell on deaf ears.

That evening, Kelly and I sat down to talk things over. She was relieved that it was going to be ruled as natural causes pending the results of Toxicology screen that would be available in a few days. That was not what was worrying me. Life after Ma was going to be different. She had been there for me ever since my real Ma had bailed out before I was ten years old. She’d been there for Kelly ever since she’d become one of my deputies. The fact that she was my brother Walt’s replacement was never an issue. Ma had washed her hands with him long before Kelly came on the scene.

Walt was somewhere in the ether. Just before I’d retired, I had a heads up from the Miami PD that he’d been seen in Florida. There were at last count, six states and two FBI offices wanting to speak to him. There were also two active arrest warrants outstanding from New Mexico.

It was clear to both of us that he would not be easy to find. I wanted to let him know about Ma but other than putting something on the Custer County’s Facebook page, I was at a loss about what to do. Now that I was no longer Sheriff, I did not have access to the account to post this sort of thing.

The CBI people had been very professional in their dealings with us. That pleased me no end. I’d always tried to be that way in my dealings with everyone that I came into contact with during my time as a cop and an MP. Even so, I could not help wonder if their courtesy was down to Kelly’s position in Law Enforcement.

Nancy was the worst affected. She’d just started to bond with Ma. That was now all gone and it showed in her whole demeanor. It was up to me to arrange the funeral, but first I needed to let a few people back in Custer County know about Ma. It wasn’t going to be an easy job.

First up was Danny SWA.
“Hi Danny. How’s the handover going?”

“No, my friend, this is not a social call. Ma passed away a few days ago. Heart problems.”

“I’ve not told the PD yet. Sue-Ellen is my next call. I’ll get her to tell the world of Custer County.”

“I don’t know when or where the funeral will be. Logic says here but emotion tells me that it should be in Custer County but Kelly wants it here. Ma told her while I was taking the horse box back to you part of the world that she was done with Custer County. You know Ma. When she says something like that… well, you don’t argue and win.”

“Thanks for that input. It was very welcome. When will you be moving west?”

I managed a smile as Danny told me of his troubles with Bart Maddocks. In my thankfully infrequent dealings with him, I found him to be an idiot trying to be a bozo. Telling him anything of importance and trying to get him to remember it was next to an impossibility. The problem was his father. He doted on his boys. Bart had one redeeming feature and that he was a brilliant recovery truck driver. He could get a crashed truck back on its wheels when most other operators would literally run a mile.

“I’ll let you know when I decide about the funeral.”

“Thanks Danny, I’ll pass on your thoughts to Kelly and Nancy.”

After the call to Danny, I sat for a few minutes before making the next call. I hoped that this one would be a bit easier.

“Good evening, Sheriff,” I said as Sue-Ellen answered the phone.

“I’m good. You?”

“That’s good to know. Kelly is getting her feet under the table and so far, it seems to be going well.”

“This isn’t exactly a social call. Ma passed a few days ago. It was heart failure. You know how ornery she was when it came to going to the Doctors.”

“No, she died in her sleep so she didn’t suffer but I think that she knew that her time was near.”

“Please. Some people will be glad to see the back of her tongue but most will be thankful that she didn’t suffer.”

“At the moment, I don’t know where it will be. I’m leaning towards holding the funeral there. As you know, Ma was not one to be fussed over. A simple ceremony would suit her down to the ground but Custer was her home for most of her life but I think Ma had been trying to tell us not only that her time was up but that her funeral should be here.”

“Walt? I have no idea where Walt is and to be honest, I don’t care. He deserted us for a life of crime. If by some miracle, he turns up at the service, I’ll let him pay his last respects but then I’m sure Kelly will want him gone right afterwards that is if he can deter you from cuffing him.”

“Thanks Sue-Ellen. I’ll pass on your thoughts to everyone here.”

I ended the call with mixed feelings. I would have to make a decision about where the funeral was to be held very soon.

---

I made that decision during the night. I was still half asleep when I said to myself, ‘Custer County it would be if… if we could organize shipping her body without breaking the bank.

Those last words made me sit bolt upright and tell myself to stop being such a fool.

My sudden movement woke up Kelly. She wrapped her arms around me and made me lay down on the bed. Then she climbed on top of me.

“Now darling, you are going to tell me what you have decided. Then I’m going to tell you that you are 100% wrong and that Ma would love to have her ashes thrown into the ocean right here. Then she’ll be close to us.”

I sighed and relaxed. Dam Kelly. Dam her for knowing me better than I knew myself.

“Am I right,” she whispered in my ear. Then she proceeded to nibble it gently.

“You are right… As usual Kelly.”

She gave me a brief kiss on my right cheek.
“That’s what I am here for,” she whispered in my ear.

I didn’t answer. There was no need. The decision had been made.

---

Ma’s death was officially ruled ‘Natural Causes’ two days later following a negative toxicology screen. That allowed Kelly and her team to take over the wrapping up of Ma’s death, not that there was much to do now that the death had been certified.

Ma had left a will. That was with a lawyer back in King County. I called her to arrange for it to be sent here for a formal reading. At first, there was a little reluctance for her to send it but after an email exchange containing the certification of her death, it was sent by express mail the next day.

I knew what was in the will. Ma and I had discussed the changes that she was going to make now that Kelly was part of the family. Ma’s bank was in King County, so I asked the lawyer back there, deal with them.

Her reaction was to remind me how much her charges were per hour. I gently reminded her to just send me the bill once all funds from Ma’s account had been sent to the lawyer here. There are times when I wished that every lawyer in the country was lined up and shot at dawn. Nothing they ever did other than a few very rare exceptions was for the benefit of the country. In my opinion, the only thing they cared about was how much money they could screw from us normal folk.

I put my hatred for the legal profession to one side and started to plan Ma’s funeral. There was just the one Funeral Parlor in town and that was my first call.

Sadly, I let my frustration from dealing with lawyers get the better of me. Thankfully, the man in charge, Robert Greaves, took it all on the chin.

“Mr. Beecher, my job description means that I see people who are at their most vulnerable so please don’t worry about letting off steam on me. It is all part of the service of compassion and understanding that we offer to all our clients.”

“I’m so sorry Mr. Greaves. Thank you for your compassion. I only wish that that lawyers in times like these showed the same behavior. Instead, they only want to talk about money.”

He gave me a warm but emotionless smile.
“That’s why we get our fees settled up front. With us, what is agreed, is what you pay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Greaves. Ma was not into fancy caskets especially as she wanted to be cremated. The simpler the better. She was not a person who liked people fussing over her. If you tried, you would end up on the wrong end of a tongue lashing. I know… I know that she will be looking down on me and tut-tutting any extravagance if you get my meaning.”

“Thank you for such an honest description of your mother.”

“Ma wasn’t my mom. I don’t have the faintest idea where she is. Ma is… was my grandmother, but she was more of a mother to me and my brother than the real one.”

“Your brother? Will he be attending the service?”

I didn’t know what to do. He saw my hesitation.

“I will take that as a no then.”

I managed a small smile.
“If he does attend, he will be leaving in handcuffs. The Cops in at least five states have arrest warrants out for my dear brother.”

“May I suggest this casket?” he said wisely changing the subject.

I emerged from the funeral parlor feeling unclean. It takes a special sort of person to work in that industry and it is one that we can’t do without them. After a brief walk, I found myself outside Nancy’s Café and the Bakery. For half a second, I thought about going into the Bakery but I decided that I needed some strong coffee. Nancy’s it was.

Nancy had seen me ‘loitering with indecision’ outside and was already preparing me a cup of my favorite brew.

“You look as if you have the world on your shoulders. Take a seat and I’ll bring you your drink.”

I smiled.
“Thanks Nancy.”

I went and sat at the same table that Kelly and I had used on our first visit to the town. I could watch the world go by and ignore the people in the Café. Even though we had only been in town a short while, I was already known as ‘The Chief’s Partner’.

Nancy put my drink down in front of me. Then she hovered.

“I know that this is an awkward time, but there is someone I think that you should meet.”

“Nancy?”

She managed a small smile.
“They won’t bite you know.”

“They?”

“Sean and Ingrid.”
Then she came close to me and said,
“Sean is like Kelly but hasn’t fully come out of the closet yet and would be a great asset to the Bakery. He is a great cook.”

I saw what she was trying to do. I was sort of working. For the first time since I’d found out about Ma’s death, I wasn’t concentrating on it and the funeral.

“Thanks Nancy but…”

“This is the right time. I didn’t get to know Ma for very long but there is one thing that I do know and that is, she wanted the move here to be a fresh start for you and Kelly as a proper couple and that she would not want you to get stuck in a rut over her death. Now that you have arranged the funeral, it is time to think of the future, time to move on.”

For a moment, I almost thought that it was Ma speaking.

She was right. It would soon be time to start thinking about life after Ma. It is what she would have wanted for both of us. When her husband passed, she grieved until the day after his funeral. Then the black was put away and that was it. No more mourning and thereafter, life went on. I was determined to follow her example. It was the least I could do for my Ma…

[to be continued]

Authors note.
Sean and Ingrid are the two main characters from ‘The Summer Ball’. The conclusion of this story will appear here in due course.