Page 2 of Wild Justice

Now he was grasping at straws.

“Dad, how many times did you come home from work and tell us how bored you were? You’ve told us - multiple times - that ninety-nine percent of the time you were bored as hell.”

“It’s the other one percent that can kill you.”

“I’m not planning on chasing down serial killers with my buddies like you did,” Lulu replied, keeping her tone even. She wanted to be the reasonable one for a change. “Your deputies are trained. And I’ve trained, too. I know the manuals inside and out. I’ve had firearms training, and self-defense. I want to do this. I can do this. It hurts that you don’t believe in me at all.”

Her mother had always said that Lulu was most like her dad. Seth Reilly had been a wild one in his youth until the day his best friend died while doing a dangerous stunt they’d done a hundred times before. After that, he’d been a changed man. Uptight. Careful. Cautious. From what she’d heard, he’d loosened up a bit after meeting her mother, but he’d never returned to his previous devil-may-care ways.

Consequently, he hadn’t been all that patient with Lulu when she was going through the same phase. He’d come down hard while her mother had been more sedate about things. It wasn’t a surprise that he was having a cow about her new job.

He still thought of her as that wild teenager, but frankly, she hadn’t done anything stupid in a long time.

Okay, define stupid. A person has to take a few chances now and then.

“Seth,” her mother said softly, intervening in the heated conversation. “This is important to Lulu. Of course, I’m worried, too. I would be no matter which of our children took this job. But we have to believe in our daughter. I think she can do amazing things, if she’s given a chance. I know you do, too.”

As always, Presley’s magic worked on her husband. Lulu could visibly see her dad softening, if only just a bit.

“Fine,” he replied, his jaw still tight. “I won’t retire yet. I’ll stay on and train her. When I think she’s ready, I’ll retire then.”

“Dad, you have a flight to go on a two-week cruise,” Chase reminded him. “You’re retired already. It’s done. You got the gold watch and a party.”

“I’ll give it back.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Lulu sighed. “Is this what you really think of me? That I’m so stupid and helpless that I can’t do this job? Wow, thanks. I now know exactly how little you think of me. Poor, Lulu. She’s such a screwup. Too bad she can’t be more like her brothers or cousins. Hopefully, she can get a crappy job until she can find a man to take care of her.”

Lulu’s mother gave her husbandthe look.They all knew it well, and she didn’t bring it out very often. But when she did…

Henry and Chase had even grown more attentive once they’d seen it, too. Both of them appeared to be holding their breath as they waited for Seth to respond.

“I believe my baby girl can do anything she wants to do.”

The statement should have made Lulu feel better, but all it did was make her want to cry. He still saw her as a child. Did he see Ben and Chase the same way? She didn’t think so. Was this more father-daughter bullshit?

“Dad, Lulu isn’t a little girl,” Chase said with a shake of his head. “She’s a grown woman, and she’s set herself a challenge here. She knows what she’s doing, and everyone starts without experience. She’ll learn, just like I did when I took over the coffee shop from Mom.”

“They don’t usually get to be sheriff without experience,” Seth pointed out. “They don’t get to be in charge on day one.”

“Well, no one wanted the job,” Chase replied. “Including your own deputies, which is sort of telling. I think Lulu is going to do a good job. I think she’s got this. She cares about this town, and the residents care about her.”

Lulu gave her brother a grateful look. She hadn’t known where he stood on this, but it was good to know he was on her side. He believed in her even if no one else did. Scratch that. Henry believed in her, too. She had the two of them in her corner.

“I agree with Chase,” her mother said. “Lulu loves this town, and I know she believes in keeping the peace here. I think she’s going to do quite well.”

Ray Ramsey and Ellen Dunphy nodded in agreement as well.

Her dad’s attention swung to Henry, still sitting on the sofa.

“Do you want to chime in here, too? Tell me how wrong I am?”

“I think you know my opinion,” Henry said with a mischievous grin. “Lulu is awesome, and she’s going to kick some ass and take some names. Not necessarily in that order though. Seriously, she’s going to do great. And you know why? Because she cares about doing a good job. Not many people do, but she does. That’s why she’s going to succeed.”

Lulu had hit the jackpot when it came to best friends when she’d met Henry. He could be a little strange at times, but he had a heart of gold.

“I guess I’m beat,” her father conceded, throwing up his hands in defeat. “But I want to go on record saying that I don’t think this is a good idea. If you want to be in law enforcement, that’s fine. But you should get more experience before taking on an entire town. But that’s just my two cents.”

“She’s going to be fine, Seth,” Ramsey said. “Don’t worry.”

---