adults gathered there and tugged on her grandfather’s pants leg.
Pine looked at Tanner. “A visit? Is her mom here with her?”
The grin faded from Tanner’s mouth. “Uh, no, she’s got some…things she’s dealing with.”
Blum looked back at the house. “And she’ll be staying here? But don’t you have to work?”
“Well, I was hoping that Agnes could come over and stay with her if need be.”
“Agnes is a little old to be looking after a little kid,” said Pine.
“Was there no one else Jenny could stay with?” persisted Blum.
Tanner suddenly looked upset. “I can take care of things, okay? And I don’t remember asking for permission.” He looked at Pine. “What do y’all want anyway? I was busy.”
Pine said, “I’d like to ask some questions, but maybe not in front of Jenny.”
Tanner looked confused, but Blum stepped forward. “Jenny, have you had some breakfast?”
The little girl looked up at her grandfather, who stared down at her. He said haltingly, “I…I was gonna get to that real soon.”
“What do you have in the house?” asked Blum. “Cereal and milk, maybe some toast?”
“Yeah, I got stuff like that. But check the milk. It, you know, it, uh.…I was gonna go to the store today. But I don’t have no toaster.”
Blum got down on her haunches and looked at Jenny. “I have a bunch of granddaughters and two of them look just like you, Jenny. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Jenny shook her head.
“Would you like to see pictures of my granddaughters?”
Jenny glanced at Tanner, who nodded. She said in a small voice, “Okay.”
Blum rose and put out a hand for Jenny to take. “Now, let’s go get some food and maybe we can find something for Roscoe to chew on too, okay?”
“Okay.”
The two walked off to the house.
Pine looked after them for a moment and then turned back to Tanner.
“Cy, what the hell is going on? How did she even get here?”
Tanner sighed wearily, stuffed the safety goggles into his pants pocket, and ran a hand through his thick hair.
“My daughter’s boyfriend dropped her off just this morning.”
“Were you expecting her?”
“Hell no. I didn’t even know about the damn boyfriend. When I saw Jenny in the truck with him I ran over and was about to bust him up. I didn’t know why he would have Jenny with him. But then he explained who he was, and that Linda needed me to take Jenny for a while.”
“For a while? Where does she live?”
“Alabama. Near Tuscaloosa.”
“Tuscaloosa!” exclaimed Pine. “That’s over four hours from here.”
“Yeah, they started out real early.”
“But why would the boyfriend bring her here? Why not Linda?”
“Well, the boyfriend—hell, I forgot his name—said Linda’s gone back into rehab.”
“Drug rehab?” asked Laredo.
Tanner nodded. “She got hooked on meth a long time ago. Thought she’d kicked it. She fell off the wagon when Jenny was two. Then got clean. Thought things were good, until this morning.”
“Is the boyfriend the father?”
“No. Hell, I don’t think Linda even knows who Jenny’s father is.”
“How did they even know where you lived?” asked Pine.
“Linda and Jenny have been here to visit a few times. She gave the boyfriend the directions.”
“How long are you supposed to keep her?” asked Laredo.
“Well, that wasn’t clear.”
“And the boyfriend couldn’t do it? Or Linda’s other friends?”
“He’s an idiot who can barely take care of himself. I’m astonished he could even find my place. Linda doesn’t have any friends, least that I know of.”
“And Linda’s mother? Your wife?” asked Pine.
“Dead six years now.”
“I’m sorry,” said Pine.
“We were long since split up. Mostly my fault. She was a good lady. Drank too much sometimes, but don’t we all.”
Pine said, “But what are you going to do? You can’t care for a seven-year-old by yourself. She can’t sleep in the bean bag with you. Do you have a working toilet? A functioning kitchen? A place to shower? And there’s the matter of her going to school, too. Were you going to enroll her locally?”
Tanner scratched his chin. “Yeah, I know there’re a lot of details. But, hell, this was just dropped in my lap,” he said defensively. He added, “I did have her put on safety goggles when she was in the workshop with me.”
Pine and Laredo exchanged a worried glance. Pine said, “Let me see what I can do to help. There might be some folks in town who can…assist with the situation. Okay?”
Tanner looked relieved. “That would be mighty welcome, yeah.” He changed expressions. “So why are you here again? You said you