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“So sorry, Travis. I didn’t mean to do that. I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry.”
“It’s our last day together, Molly, and I’m going to miss you so much. You are the shining star in this station and Billy is lucky to have you.”
“I’m hoping and praying that Billy wins,” said Molly.
“I am too.”
Molly said, “I’m too old to get used to a new sheriff and I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. If Billy doesn’t win, I’m going to retire. It would be the perfect time to walk away.”
“Billy is going to win,” I said. “Have you voted?”
“Yes. I voted on the way here and the polling station was crowded. They were lined up to cast their ballots.”
“I’m going to run over to the courthouse now, and maybe I can get him a few more votes.”
“A great idea. Before you go, I wanted to give you this.” Molly handed me a gift-wrapped package with a big blue bow on it. “It’s not for you because you’re not the kind of person who would want a parting gift. It’s for the dogs.”
I ripped off the wrapping paper that was covered in different dog breeds and opened the box. Inside were two beautiful hand-made leather dog collars with names carved into each one. One for Max and one for Sarge.
“These are beautiful, Molly. I can’t thank you enough.” I hugged her and then we took the old worn collars off the dogs and put their new ones on.
The dogs bounced around and wagged their tails and seemed excited to have new collars.
“They love their new collars, Molly. You know how to make them happy.”
“The two of them have given me a lot of happy moments too. I’ll miss them so much, I might have to get a dog.” She laughed with tears in her eyes.
“I’d better get to the courthouse before we’re both crying in our beer, Molly.”
Harrison County Courthouse.
Two young to vote but Tammy came with me anyway. Molly was right about the lineup to vote. A great turnout.
Billy was standing in a group of people in the hallway and he introduced me to his parents. I shook their hands and assured them that their son was going to be the next sheriff of the county.
“We’re so proud of Billy,” said Mrs. Johnson. “He’ll make a wonderful sheriff and he’s learned so much from you, Sheriff Frost.”
“How long were you a Texas Ranger?” asked Billy’s father.
“Too many years to count. When I got out of the Marines, I became a private investigator first, then joined the Texas Rangers.”
I left Billy with his parents and milled around a bit, advocating on his behalf. Then I lined up and cast my vote, and with that done, I left the building.
There were things I had to clean up at the office and then I wanted to get back to the ranch to finish packing and loading the truck. Billy and I had already lifted my Harley into the load bed, secured it and tarped it.
Wild Stallion Ranch.
Tammy and I worked our butts off when we got back to the ranch. Tammy washed all of our dirty clothes, the bedding and towels we were taking—leaving enough for Billy to manage.
When the loads came out of the dryer, she packed all of into cardboard cartons and taped them.
We weren’t taking any of the kitchen stuff because it was all there when I took over the ranch. Tammy could shop for what we needed when we got to San Angelo. She might enjoy shopping. I don’t think she’d ever had the chance to do it.
We’d had several long talks about her going to the safehouse and she got upset each time she thought we would be separated. She wanted to stay with me. The only problem with that was the danger involved. I wasn’t a safe person to be around.
“What about food for Outlaw to eat in his trailer?” asked Tammy. “We need to take that and the dog food too.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t thinking of Outlaw’s food, but you’re right. We’ll have to take enough for the trip. I can tell Cutter to order hay and straw for the new barn. I’ll do that.”
