As soon as we got in the car-Jill driving her deputy's cruiser while I took the passenger's seat-I started in on a fumbling attempt to reassure my friend that I had no intention whatsoever of actually keeping the sheriff's job.

I think I was making things worse, not better, as she stayed intensely quiet and withdrawn. I finally mumbled my way to a pathetic halt and fell silent, not sure what to do or say as she pulled into the parking lot at Curtis County General and ...