Page 34 of Wild Justice

“I don’t suppose you’d show me the Elvis room,” Kai requested. “I think this is something I need to see.”

“You do. Follow me.”

In the beginning, the Elvis room had been in a spare bedroom, but eventually, there was simply too much, and the grandparents had moved everything into the large “rec” room at the back of the house. Previously, that room held a pool table, television, and furniture the kids could beat to death with their friends, and no one would care. That was pared down and moved to the bedroom, and the Elvis memorabilia now had a place of pride and a wide-open space of its own.

“Holy…moley,” Kai breathed in when he crossed the threshold. “This is amazing.”

Lulu loved seeing the face of a person walking into the room for the first time. There was awe, amazement, and yes, a bit of amusement, too.

“Gran and Grandpa were serious collectors,” she explained. “They had Elvis collector contacts all over the world. There’s some really rare stuff in here.”

Kai moved slowly around the room from one display to the other, shaking his head in amazement. The collection was eclectic with record albums, autographed photos, mugs, candles, plates, jewelry, lamps, wall clocks, and that was only the beginning. Lulu’s personal favorite was the black velvet painting of Elvis hanging on the wall.

She wasn’t as huge a fan as her grandparents, but she had an Elvis playlist on her phone. It was especially fun on a road trip with Chase. They’d both sing at the top of their lungs.

“I’d love to write an article about this,” Kai said. “This is fascinating.”

“I’m not sure it would be news,” she replied ruefully. “Everyone within four counties knows that they collected, and they always let people come in that were interested in seeing it.”

Kai’s expression turned horrified.

“They could have been robbed. Or worse.”

“They believed in trusting people,” Lulu said with a shrug. “Besides, Granddad had a shotgun, and even Gran knew how to use it. All my uncles had one, too, along with the ranch hands. A visitor with ill intentions could find themselves surrounded pretty darn quick. And in this county, I doubt they’d get far. My dad was the sheriff, after all. He would have dropped everything and gone after them. They wouldn’t make it to Springwood.”

“Still, there are valuables here. Isn’t your brother afraid he might get robbed?”

Chase never seemed afraid of anything, and he made it a point to not worry about stuff too much.

“You’ll have to ask him, but I think the answer would be no. He has a shotgun, too. But he did put in an alarm system when he moved here. He wanted to keep their collection safe.”

“That sounds like a smart thing to do.”

The conversation waned as Kai explored the record collection, leafing through the albums with a smile on his face.

“I remember this movie,” he said with a chuckle, holding up aBlue Hawaiialbum. “It was on television, and my mom sat down to watch so I did, too. I liked it, although I can’t say that I’m an Elvis fan on the level of your grandparents.”

Kai placed the album back and moved on to a bookshelf of photos from their trips to Graceland.

“These are your grandparents? They look happy,” he observed. “And you were a pretty cute kid.”

“Oh please, I was in an awkward phase for many of those vacations.”

She’d had a particularly horrid summer when she was thirteen, flat-chested, and wore braces on her teeth.

“Naw, you look like a regular kid. And your grandparents and parents look like they’re having the time of their lives.”

“You’re right, they were. They adored each other. My grandparents were married for more than sixty years, same with my great-grandparents and the great-greats, too. My parents are looking to beat that record if they can. My dad used to say that he came from a long line of love. That’s what I like to describe it as. So much love. That’s why I won’t settle for just anyone or any relationship. I want one like my parents and grandparents. So, I’ll probably be single forever.”

Why on earth had she said that out loud? To him? All she needed was that quote to end up in the local paper. She was talking to him like they were friends, but they barely knew one another.

“I think…that’s wonderful,” Kai replied, his gaze on the photos. “My parents are divorced, but my mom seems very happy with my stepdad. Grandpa Mitch and Grandma Lois seemed happy, too. It was tough seeing him so lonely after she passed on.”

“I remember your grandma. She used to pass out cookies to the neighborhood kids. Her peanut butter blossoms were legendary.”

“They were,” he agreed with a smile. “But my favorite was her oatmeal with chocolate chips. The absolute best. I’m still trying to find one even half as good.”

“I’m sorry about your parents,” Lulu said. “I didn’t realize they were divorced.”

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