Page 87 of Call it Reckless

Matt was presented with a special plaque and then he sat down.

“Until the election this fall, I’ve appointed Monroe Sinclair to temporarily take over the position. I know you all will support Interim Sheriff Sinclair, as well as the rest of our amazing sheriff’s department.”

“And you knew about that, too?” Bristol whispered to me.

I nodded.

“You’re not happy?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

“He’ll do okay.”

“Did you want it?” she persisted.

“I would have taken the position, yes.”

She hesitated, then blurted in a whisper, “You should run.”

“Huh?”

“For sheriff. You should run for sheriff this fall. I don’t know what’s his name, who’s the interim, but I know no one cares more about Sterling Mill than you. You should run.”

I saw nothing but sincerity and belief in me in her eyes. “You really think so?”

She rested her hand on my thigh. “I know so.”

My hand rested on top of hers, entwining our fingers.

“Now, we’ll open the floor to other concerns,” Rich Bowen was saying.

An older woman stood. “Mayor, I’ve mentioned this before, but no one has come up with a solution. The long fence that borders the Laurel View community is an eyesore. It’s the first thing people see as they come toward town, but it’s always spray-painted with graffiti, some of it quite vulgar. We need to remove that fence or be better about keeping up with it.”

Clapping sounded throughout the room until another man stood. “For what it’s worth, I don’t want the fence removed. Before it was built, we had problems with headlights shining into our houses and people throwing trash out their windows that would blow into our yards. It’s why the town built it in the first place. You just need to keep it painted.”

Another round of murmured agreements.

Mayor Bowen held up his hand. “What you’re asking for costs money and time for our Utilities Department that they don’t have. Maybe your neighborhood could create a paint party once a month or something.”

“So, you’re asking us to spend our money to take care of something the town is responsible for? We have to pay more than other people in this town just because we live there?”

A chorus of boos echoed this time.

“Loser.” Sterling fluffed his feathers and flitted to the farthest side of his cage as if trying to disassociate from Rich.

Bristol stood, surprising me as she climbed over my lap to speak in the microphone.

“Bristol!” Sterling squawked. He let out a catcall, same as last time. “Where the hell you been?”

Everyone, including her, laughed. “Hi, Sterling.”

Squawk.“Mayor Sterling.”

She grinned. “Mayor Sterling, Mayor Bowen, I have another suggestion for this fence. Why not section it off and open it up to artists to paint murals in their section.”

“Ms. Allen, are you suggesting we cover up graffiti with more graffiti?” Rich sputtered.

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