Minette chuckled. “Do that. And let me know.”

“I will, I promise.”

“You can start Monday, if you like. Do you have a cell phone?” Minette asked.

Michelle hesitated and shook her head with lowered eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get you one.”

“Oh, but...”

“I’ll have you phoning around town for news. Junior reporter stuff,” she added with a grin. “A cell’s an absolute necessity.”

“In that case, okay, but I’ll pay you back.”

“That’s a deal.”

“I’ll go over and talk to Carlie.”

“Stop back by and let me know, okay?”

“Okay!”

She didn’t normally rush, but she was so excited that her feet carried her across the street like wings.

She walked into the police station. Cash Grier was perched on Carlie’s desk, dictating from a paper he held in his hand. He stopped when he saw Michelle.

“Sorry,” Michelle said, coloring. She clutched her textbooks to her chest almost as a shield. “I just needed to ask Carlie something. I can come back later...”

“Nonsense,” Cash said, and grinned.

She managed a shy smile. “Thanks.” She hesitated. “I told a lie to my stepmother,” she blurted out. “I think you should know, because it involved you.”

His dark eyebrows arched. “Really? Did you volunteer me for the lead in a motion picture or something? Because I have to tell you, my asking price is extremely high...”

She laughed with pure delight. “No. I told her I gave you my father’s stamp collection for safekeeping.” She flushed again. “She was going to sell it. She’d already thrown away all his stuff. He and I worked on the stamp collection together as long as I can remember. It’s all I have left of him.” She swallowed. Hard.

Cash got up. He towered over her. He wasn’t laughing. “You bring it in here and I’ll put it in the safe,” he said gently. “Nobody will touch it.”

“Thanks.” She was trying not to cry. “That’s so kind...”

“Now, don’t cry or you’ll have me in tears. What would people think? I mean, I’m a big, tough cop. I can’t be seen standing around sobbing all over the place. Crime would flourish!”

That amused her. She stopped biting her lip and actually grinned.

“That’s better.” His black eyes narrowed quizzically. “Your stepmother seems to have some issues. I got an earful from your minister this morning.”

She nodded sadly. “She was so different when we lived in San Antonio. I mean, we went shopping together, we took turns cooking. Then we moved down here and she got mixed up with that Bert person.” She shivered. “He gives me cold chills, but she’s crazy about him.”

“Bert Sims?” Cash asked in a deceptively soft tone.

“That’s him.”