Their puzzle solving went on until Tina presented them with plates of cheesy scrambled eggs and toast. “How come you know so much about all these old-time songs and musicians?” Mitch asked. “They’re our generation, not yours.”

“Well, for one thing, they’re classics. And… I learned them from my mom.” That was part of why she loved those songs and it was one of her most important memories.

“We only met Reba a few times,” Tina said.

“You would’ve loved her if you’d had a chance to really know her.”

Tina nodded, a thoughtful nod, then changed the subject. “I see that Russ, over at the motel, is getting out more. He knew Reba from way back. You met him, remember? That night at Cord’s?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s a little…odd, but—”

“Always was.”

“But he seems decent.”

“He is. He’s just kept to himself too much. I’m glad to see him discovering life again.”

“I’ll bet what made the difference is Shallie coming back to town,” Carly suggested.

“I’ll bet you’re right.”

“What time is Meg expecting us?”

“Around ten,” Tina replied, “so we’ll leave at nine thirty. Anything you need to do before we go?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.” Mitch clasped his hands on the table. “Give us a quick rundown on the Eric Worth situation.”

“If you’re okay with doing that,” Tina said, “we’d like to hear.”

Their request startled Carly, but she realized Shallie must have talked to Cord yesterday afternoon, and he’d probably told Mitch some of it, and naturally Mitch had told Tina.

She began with her visit to the coffee shop, ending with the trip to Eli’s office. They asked the occasional question, then congratulated her on taking action. “Smart and brave,” they agreed, which embarrassed Carly, who thought Lindsey had been the brave one. It also reminded her of Eli’s remark about courage.

By now, it was almost time to leave. Carly went to retrieve her purse, tore a few pages from her “journal” to make notes if needed and put on a little makeup. She and Tina got into the SUV, chatting in their usual friendly manner. Carly recognized again how much she loved her, loved Shallie—and that suddenly made her miss Reba so much more.

She tried not to let herself dwell on her loss very often. She didn’t understand why her mom had never mentioned Shallie, at least by name, and why Reba had never explained how she’d ended up in this small town, in that dump of a motel. But their meeting—hers and Shallie’s—seemed…fated. She gathered from Cord that Reba had been Shallie’s protector, a mentor of sorts, for the months she’d been in Painted Pony Creek. And now Shallie was doing the same for her.