Girl Scout Troop, who were still awake to celebrate with us. “Honestly, I thought they would’ve fired me after my battery charge. Not to mention I kind of skipped out on my Christmas shift in the back-country in order to help with the fundraising last week.”
“But you’ll be back in time to lead us on a hike in the canyon,” Sandy asked pointedly. “Right?”
“Oh yeah, don’t sweat it. I’ll be back in time for sure.” He poked her in the shoulder. “You should focus on training. I’m not sure you can handle the canyon.”
Sandy made a scoffing noise. “If Christie can do it, so can I.” She glanced at me. “Um. No offense.”
“None taken,” I said with a laugh. “I’d say the same thing. If I can do it, you definitely can. All of you.”
The other girls grinned at each other.
“So was jail tough?” Sandy asked.
Logan took a sip of his New Year’s Eve cocktail and shrugged casually. “Depends on your definition of tough. I had to kill a guy.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Sure I did.” He made a stabbing motion. “I shivved a guy with a reindeer antler.”
“You’re making that up!” Sandy said.
I put an arm around Logan. “Maybe we shouldn’t joke about stuff like that around the Girl Scouts.”
“They can handle the truth.” He winked at Sandy. “Because it is the truth. Remember that the next time you give me any attitude.”
Sandy stuck her tongue out at him, then laughed.
“The girls can’t thank you enough for the donation,” Sandy’s mom told me. “They’re already talking about all the activities they want to spend the money on. After the Grand Canyon hike, of course.”
“Well, they certainly earned it,” I said. “We wouldn’t have raised half as much without their help.”
“Speaking of raising funds,” she said, “I reviewed most of the documents you sent me yesterday. I think we have a very strong case against Pierce.”
“Really?” I asked.
She nodded. “We’re filing an injunction on Monday morning to freeze Pierce’s accounts. My paralegals are gathering all of the relevant case precedent, but I’m confident the judge will see things our way. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but the money he stole might be returned by Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s amazing!” I said.
She smiled. “I will also be passing along the information to the local district attorney. He’s an old friend of mine. Pierce broke a bunch of laws by doing what he did. And if he’s been stealing from your non-profit, then he might be using his position at the courthouse to break other laws. I suspect there will be an investigation.”
I closed my eyes and smiled. “This is amazing. It really is. Be sure to send me the bill for your services when you get a chance.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “I will do no such thing! I can write-off the hours spent working for a non-profit on my taxes. It will lower my AGI. Trust me, it’s a win-win for me. Come on girls, it’s past your bedtimes.”
“But we want to stay up for the fireworks!” Sandy protested.
“You can watch them from home. Your Troop is volunteering at the park tomorrow, remember?”
Everyone said their goodbyes, and then she ushered the Girl Scouts away. A few of the dogs trotted after them to receive some goodbye attention, then went running across the field again.
“Go on!” Bubba was shouting by the food table. The German Shepherd was standing on her haunches to reach the tray of food. “Go on, git!”
The dog dropped down and sprinted away with a chicken wing in her mouth. Bubba gave me a look: what can you do?
I smiled and glanced at my watch.
Logan frowned. “Waiting for something?”
“No, I was just wondering how long until midnight.”
Logan pointed at the barn projection. “There’s a giant clock on every feed we’ve watched. It’s eleven-fifteen.” He squinted suspiciously.
“She was probably wondering where Riley is,” Harper said as he joined us. He rubbed his hands together and stood underneath one of the heat lamps. He shrugged at me to indicate he didn’t know what was taking Riley so long.
Logan looked around. “He’s still not back? He left to get more beer when the east coast was celebrating.”
“Must be busy,” I said. “Everyone grabbing last-minute beer…”
“There he is!” Harper said.
His headlights swept across my driveway. I cleared my throat and said, “Logan, can you do me a favor? Run into the barn and grab another box of dog bones?”
“Another one? We just gave everyone new bones an hour ago…”
I smiled sweetly at him