little about it?”
Ben launched into the story he’d concocted, devoting equal detail to the truths, half-truths, andoutright lies. When he finished, Buzz turned to Lily. “You got a copy of Charlotte’s will on you, honey?”
Lily winced at the unsolicited endearment, but retrieved a photocopy of the will from her bag.
Buzz scanned the document, sucking his teeth. “Well,” he said finally, “it’s all here in black and white,ain’t it?” He slipped the document back into its envelope. “Well, first I’m gonna tell you kids what Ialways tell people. If you got a problem, the best way to settle it is out of court.”
Particularly with a lawyer like you, Lily thought, but she kept her lips clamped shut.
“My advice,” Buzz continued, “is invite Charlotte’s momma and daddy up to Versailles. Have ’emto supper at your new house, or even better, invite ’em over to the big McGilly place that oughta impressthe hell out of ’em. Grill ’em some steaks, let ’em see that Mimi’s being taken care of and that y’all arejust regular folks like anybody else. My hope is that when they see their granddaughter in a normal,family atmosphere, they’ll give up on this foolishness and let you alone.”
Lily looked Buzz in the eye. “And if they don’t?”
“If they don’t, then guess we’ll see ‘em in court.” Buzz glanced over at Big Ben, then looked backat Lily. “Let me put it to you this way, honey. When Big Ben and me played on the same team back inhigh school, we never lost a game.”
“I know what you’re thinking, Lily,” Big Ben said, as they got into Lily’s new ship of a car.
“Really?” She didn’t mean to sound snippy, but she still did.
“Uh-huh,” Big Ben said, “you’re thinking you and Benny Jack woulda fared better if you’d stayedin Atlanta and hired you some hot-shot lawyer.”
“Well,” Lily admitted, “when I look at Buzz Dobson, hot shot isn’t exactly a phrase that pops tomind.”
Big Ben laughed. “Well, I reckon not. The ole boy can’t even hit his mouth with his fork abouthalf the time. But I’ll tell you this, Lily. He’s a fine feller, and he means well.”
Lily pulled out of the parking space and aimed her new tank in the direction of the ConfederateSock Mill. “I’ll try to bear that in mind when I lose custody of my daughter.”
To her surprise, Big Ben laughed. “She just don’t get it, does she, Benny Jack?”
Ben joined his father laughing. “She’s a city girl, Daddy. She’s not used to how things work inFaulkner County.”
“You see, Lily,” Big Ben intoned, “it don’t matter that Buzz Dobson barely graduated from afourth-rate law school. We could hire a damn chimpanzee for a lawyer, and we’d still win. We’re