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turned to me. “Now, you got some ’splaining to do, Miz Baxley. Why are you holding out on your best friend? Bernard would have scooped me if I hadn’t been glued to my new police scanner. He and the sheriff are like this.” She crossed her fingers to demonstrate the intimate connection.
    The mental image of virile Wayne spooning with crusty Bernard tickled me. I laughed from deep within my belly, shooting a spurt of tea out my nose, barely missing Larissa, who still occupied my lap. I clamped my hand over my face and caught Charlotte’s eye. She threw her head back and let out a peal of laughter, which infected all of us.
    When we pulled ourselves together again, Mama nodded encouragingly. “It’s like old times to hear you girls laughing like that. We need more laughter in this house.”
    I hugged my daughter and realized Mama was right. Laughing took the knots right out of my stomach. The weight on my chest lifted as well, and I felt human again.
    “So? You gonna tell me what happened or am I supposed to connect the invisible dots?” Charlotte asked.
    I made an empty-handed gesture. “Nothing to tell. I was finishing up a landscaping job at the north end and dug up a human skull.”
    “Sounds like something to me.” My friend slapped a narrow notepad on the table. “Tell me more.”
    My newfound lightness of heart subsided. “I want you to be successful, Charlotte, but I have to look out for myself. My client, Carolina Byrd, is very low profile. She doesn’t like to be in the news. She will be upset enough as it is.”
    “Have you told her yet?”
    “No. And I’m not saying another word until you put that pad of paper away. Get the official incident report from the sheriff.”
    Charlotte’s lower lip jutted out. I could imagine the wheels of pros and cons whirling in her brain. She wanted the story, but I was her best friend. Friendship won out, and she stuffed the notepad back in her purse. Only the mugs of tea remained on the worn table.
    Charlotte leaned forward, expectation pulsing from her in waves. “Reporter mode is turned off. Dish.”
    “Promise this won’t go in the paper.”
    “Do you see me writing anything down?”
    “What’s the capital of Montana?”
    “Helena. What’s that got to do with anything?”
    “Everything. You remember stuff. Unless you promise, my lips are sealed.”
    “Come on, Aunt Charlotte, promise,” Larissa urged. “I want to hear what happened.”
    “All right already. I surrender.” Charlotte’s hands stabbed the air. “Y’all are relentless. Come visit me in the poorhouse because Bernard will crush me under his scrawny heel.”
    “You can handle Bernard,” I said with confidence. “But never turn your back on Virg Burkhead. He tased me today.”
    I heard my father’s sharp intake of breath from across the room, felt Larissa stiffen in my lap. Since both of them had enhanced perceptions, they knew that short-circuiting someone with heightened senses would be awful. Every nerve ending, normal and paranormal, would short out, leaving the recipient blind, deaf, dumb, and mute. Mama had mentioned Daddy knew something had happened, so maybe he had an inkling of the distress I felt.
    My fingers sought the smooth stone in my pocket.
    “Get out!” Charlotte exclaimed. “We’ve got a trigger-happy deputy and I can’t write about it? No fair.”
    “I’m fine, thanks.” I shot my friend a sharp look. It crossed my mind that she might not be strong enough to refrain from betraying my confidence. I could have stopped right there. But I told them about my deal with the sheriff to become a consultant. “If you write about this, it could mess things up for me. I need this extra income. Larissa needs braces, and my house needs a new well pump.”
    “Dang.” Charlotte guzzled her tea. “How soon will you know if you got the job? I can write about it then, right?”
    “My arrangement with the sheriff is private. I don’t want to call attention to myself.