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Thank baby Jesus Mister Johnson came looking.

It wasn’t long before Billy opened his eyes and saw me sitting there. He managed a crooked smile.

“You’re here, Travis.”

Billy’s voice told me how weak he was. “Can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.”

“Good to see you too, Billy. I saw the mess you made of the woodpile.”

“Funny. I wouldn’t be here in this bed if my dad hadn’t been calling me and come looking for me.”

“That’s what I heard. I owe him a beer.”

“Can you help me at the station?”

“Don’t think I’ve got the juice anymore to stick my nose in county business.”

“Yeah, but you will. I already talked to the new county supervisor—Lyndell Gibson—and he wants you to pop into his office for a little chat.”

“What did you do, Billy? You didn’t tell him I’d take over, did you?”

“I might have hinted at it, but when he was here, I was on a high dosage of drugs. I wish they were still pumping that much into me. I could use it.”

“And if I decide to stay and help y’all out for a while, is there stuff pending?”

“Got a notebook? We need to make a list.”

“Yeah, I guess I can dig up paper and a pen. What have you got going on?”

After we went over all the things Billy was worried about, Billy rested for a while. When he opened his eyes again, I asked him if he would talk to Tammy on the phone. “I left her behind with Annie for the sake of speed and she’s a little upset with me.”

“Sure. I want to talk to her,” said Billy. “I miss her, but not as much as I miss you.” He gave me a weak chuckle.

I called Tammy’s cell and handed off my phone to Billy. While he talked to Tammy, I went in search of Billy’s doctor to get the lowdown from the horse’s mouth.

I found Doctor Kramer in the cafeteria eating a bagel and he filled me in. The news was depressing with barely any upside and hearing the truth made me feel worse for Billy. I headed back to his room, and he was only then ending the call.

“Holy hell, man, did you talk all that time to Tammy?”

“No, only part of the time. Tammy started crying and I got to talk to Annie.” Billy’s eyes danced as he grinned wide.

“What do you know that I don’t?”

“She might come up here when Marilyn Pellegrino’s lessons start for the barrel racers.”

“Oh, yeah? She never mentioned that to me.”

“That’s because she’s coming to see me and not you.”

I laughed because it was good to see Billy smiling—even if it was at my expense. “How are things going with you and Brenda?”

“Not going for much longer. The heat’s gone and there’s nothing left for me. Sex once in a while would be okay, but she’s not the person I can spend days with. A boring person with a nagging side to her.”

“What about the other one? Can you switch twins?”

Billy laughed. “Hell no. Bad to worse. Glenda is even more boring than her sister. I’m sure you know that already.” Billy glanced at the time on his phone. “You’d better get going. Mister Gibson is waiting to talk to you.”

I got to my feet. “I’ll talk to him, but I’m not making any promises.”