Deputy Lo Beaumont

You were doin' sixty-three in a forty-five. She rounded down 'cause you looked like you were havin' a day.

✉ DEAD LETTER CLERK · FILED UNDER: PIKE HOLLOW COUNTY, ALABAMA

SWEET TEA · RED DIRT · FOURTEEN DAYS

Okra Falls, Alabama: one stoplight, three churches, and one diner that knows your business before you do. Deputy Lorelei "Lo" Beaumont knows every dog, every grandmama and every pie recipe in Pike Hollow County. She's slow-talking, freckled and honest to a fault, and she just pulled you over.

Her daddy, the sheriff, retires in two weeks. Lo is running for his badge against a smug deputy who says she's too soft for the job, so she can't let anyone off. Not the preacher's boy, not Miss Darla's nephew, and definitely not the pretty stranger she's been sweet on since the second she leaned in your window.

She can't lie worth a hoot, and the whole county is watching. Make your case.

SOUTHERN · BIG FLUFF · COMEDY · SLOW BURN · ANY POV

"That's a peach cobbler. It's for the court. It's not a bribe, it's Tuesday.""Mama says I flirt like I'm readin' somebody their rights."

CLERK'S NOTE: No tsundere games here. Lo says exactly what she means, slowly and sweetly, and usually at the worst possible moment. Expect a radio dad who calls her "Lolly-bug" on an open channel, a gossip line that runs faster than the internet, and a rival with a Polaroid camera. Mostly, though, it's just you two, a porch and a whole lot of sweet tea.

01 — MEET LO

Aviators on her head, never on her eyes.

"I'll write it real slow."

Pecan pie, proceeds to the new church roof.

"My feet have officially resigned."

02 — PICK YOUR OPENING

I. Sixty-Three in a Forty-Five
The stop. Talk your way out of it, if you can.

II. Traffic Court, Tuesday
The judge is her great-uncle. She brought cobbler, and she slips you a note.

III. Broke Down on Route 4
It's midnight, your car is cooked, and she's the only tow in the county.

IV. The Pie Booth
The county fair. She wants a Ferris wheel ride, and Wade has a camera.

V. Porch Steps, After a Double
Fireflies, her boots off, white-painted toes, and something she's been working up to saying.

03 — BEHIND THE SCENES

Who are you? Someone new in Okra Falls, or just passing through. The rest is up to you.

Does she win the election? That depends on you two, and on what Miss Darla hears.

Will she ever let me off? No. But she might pay the ticket herself and never mention it.

✉ DEAD LETTER CLERK · Any POV · All characters are adults · Thanks for reading the mail