Naughty by Nature

by J. M. Madden

  Sheridan had deployed every deputy he’d had at the time, but he had been the one to find Wade’s truck at a motel twenty miles away from Honeywell. He’d called in backup, then gone inside to speak to the manager. The man was more than happy to tell Sheridan the room number, and in seconds it seemed like he was pounding on the door. When Wade didn’t answer, he had the manager open the door.

  Wade had been sprawled on the bed passed out, the t-shirt he still wore spattered with Cheyenne’s blood. A haze of red had gone over Sheridan’s vision, and he’d gone ballistic. He didn’t remember dragging Wade out to the parking lot, or fending off the blows the man rained on him when he finally became aware, but he did remember fists flying as they tried to control the man. Patterson, the veteran sergeant at the time, pulled him off the man. Wade ended up going to the hospital that night as well, but his injuries hadn’t been as devastating as Cheyenne’s.

  Sheridan’s heart was thudding. He wasn’t sure if he came across Wade that he wouldn’t beat the shit out of him again.

  That was another reason for his guilt. Sheridan prided himself on being a good cop, but what Wade had done to Cheyenne pushed him over a line he’d never crossed before. For the first time in his career he hadn’t been able to control his emotions.

  After years of thinking about it and dwelling on it, he knew why, but it didn’t make it any easier.

  Pulling into the department’s lot, he secured his vehicle and headed inside. Perhaps if he applied himself to other work it would give his emotions a while to even out.

  Cheyenne waited, breath held, it seemed, all day. It felt like the other shoe was just … about… to drop.

  The kids were good and kept her interested. She liked working with smaller classes. It gave the teacher more time to work one-on-one with the students, which increased their learning potential astronomically. Already her seven kids, all third graders, were doing things that they hadn’t been able to before.

  At lunch time she took a break from the kids and headed up to the main office. Joy smiled at her when she came in. “You received a package dear. I was just going to call you. Do you think we should call the sheriff?”

  Cheyenne’s heart raced with anxiety as she looked at the plain brown box. Wade’s distinctive scrawl marked the top. It looked like the envelopes that had arrived for her at the Blue Star, that she’d always sent back unopened. “Where did it come from?”

  Joy pointed at the front door. “A young man just dropped it off, as well as those.” She pointed at the little glass of carnations at the end of the counter.

  Cheyenne stared for a moment, wondering if she’d been knocked into a twilight zone and just didn’t realize it. Wade had never brought her flowers. She tried to think who else it could be, but no one came to mind.

  The thought of crossing the space to the counter and actually opening the box made her nauseous.

  “Let’s call Sheridan,” she decided. “I don’t want any part of that.”

  Joy nodded with understanding and reached for the phone. Cheyenne sent Joy’s granddaughter down to her class to tell them to read quietly until she returned. Then she paced, and looked out the glass front of the school.

  Sheridan was there within just a few minutes, the gold Sheriff’s Department truck gleaming in the sun. As soon as she saw his big, confident body walking up the sidewalk, some knot of tension eased deep within her. She didn’t walk into his arms, but as soon as he walked in the doors she moved near him.

  He gave her a smile and rested a hand on her shoulder, which was enough for her to walk into the office with him.

  “When did the box get here?” he asked Joy.

  “Eight twenty-one. It was a delivery boy that used to go to school here. I knew him.”

  Sheridan pulled a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and pulled them on, before reaching for the card on the flowers. “Did you read this yet?”

  Cheyenne shook her head. She hadn’t even noticed the card.

  Sheridan gave the flowers a good look before plucking the card from the post. Once again, Cheyenne’s heart was racing and she felt like she was going to be sick.

  Sheridan turned the card so that she could read it.

  I’m sorry. I miss you, wife. W

  Wow. She snorted in disbelief. Only very rarely had Wade ever said he was sorry for anything, and that had mostly been in the beginning of their marriage when she’d actually meant something to him. Later on, he hadn’t spoken a word of apology for anything. She shook her head at the ridiculous thing.

  Wife? Seriously? Her emotions began to boil.

  Sheridan replaced the card and reached for the box. He cut the flaps open with a slice of his knife. Blue tissue paper poked from the hole, and he started pulling it out, letting it fall to the floor. Inside was another envelope, this one business size. On the front it said, ‘To my Girls’.

  Fury seized Cheyenne as she read the words. “No way! He did not write that!”

  Sheridan opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of plain stationery. His eyes flicked over it quickly before he turned the page for Cheyenne to read.

  ‘To Caroline, Savanna and Grace,’ she read.

  “He can’t even spell their names right,” she snapped.

  “I know I haven’t been the best dad, but I hope you’ll forgive me for that. I’ve had a long time to think about my actions towards you and your mother, and I feel bad. Real bad. I never meant for any of it to happen. I was a rodeo star and a bull horned me, ruining my career. As soon as I wasn’t on top no more, people forgot about me.

  Your mother was always a wonderful woman and I hope she told you good stories about me. Someday we’ll get together and reconect. I’ll be in Honeywell with my family for a while. When you’d like to talk, call my parents number, your grandparents, listed below.

  Love, You Dad’

  Frustrated, shaking, Cheyenne could only stare in horror at what he’d written. “That son-of-a-cracker! How dare he? He signed away all parental rights when he signed the divorce papers. He said there was no way he was paying child support for those three brats. Those were his exact words.”

  Her cheeks were wet and her eyes were blurry. She was so royally pissed that she was crying, which made her all the madder.

  Sheridan folded the note and slipped it back into the envelope before reaching into the box. He withdrew three stuffed animals: an elephant, a seal and a wolf.

  “Looks like that’s all that’s in there,” Sheridan said softly. He peeled the gloves from his hands.

  Cheyenne felt ridiculous for calling him out to open a box of stuffed animals. Embarrassed and angry, she stomped into the meeting room off the main office. Sheridan followed her and shut the door behind them. Immediately, she began to pace.

  “How dare he expect to come back like nothing happened? That’s typical Wade right there, the golden boy who had it all.” Her voice turned mocking. “Yeah, I went to jail, but that was no big deal. They’ll forget about all that when I come back.”

  Sheridan leaned his butt against the conference table, arms crossed over his chest. With a spark of humor, she noticed that he stayed out of her pacing and flailing arm range.

  “And the girls’ ‘grandparents’?” she asked scornfully. “They’ve never even acknowledged them. I’m the bad guy because I sent their boy to prison, so the girls are bad, too. I’ve sent them messages and even called a couple of times to try to talk to them, and they refused to answer me.”

  “I think you’re better off,” he told her softly. “Wade wasn’t the only one with addiction problems.”

  She stared at him, shocked. “Really?”

  He nodded, removing his hat to drop onto the table beside him. “Yes. They keep it pretty quiet but Wade’s father has been picked up for possession several times, mostly in Amarillo. And his mother had children’s services called on her years ago, long before I was sheriff. Probably when Wade was a kid. Didn’t he have a brother?”

  Cheyenne nodded. “I
think so. Several years older. I never met him. He lived in a mental home or something.”

  “I think he was removed from the home when he was a kid and adopted out.”

  This just kept getting more and more effed up. So, it was a good thing she’d never connected with his family then.

  She paused at the window, looking out. “What the hell am I going to say to my girls?” she whispered.

  Sheridan sighed and she felt him move up beside her. “Why do you need to say anything?”

  She looked at him blankly.

  “You’re protecting your daughters from an unstable person. What’s wrong with that?”

  Cheyenne looked back out the window, her thoughts reeling. Maybe he was right. Why did she have to say anything? They had no idea what the man’s plans were, but it sounded like he wanted to try to worm his way back into their world.

  Which she had no intention of allowing.

  Slowly, she nodded. “I think you’re right. Maybe if we ignore his advances he’ll get the point and just fade away.”

  Sheridan gave her a slight smile. “You could be right, but I have a feeling you’re eventually going to have to confront him.”

  Cheyenne could feel the blood leave her face. Her jaw suddenly throbbed with remembered pain. It had taken her jaw two months to heal enough to be able to eat normally. She could feel the blows raining down upon her, merciless. And she could feel the sharp Texas grass beneath her naked body as she looked up at the night sky, helpless.

  “Hey, look at me.”

  Sheridan loomed in her face, his kind hazel green eyes fierce. He made her look at him and recognize him before he reached out to cup her face in his hands. “I want you to remember that you’re safe. I didn’t protect you like I should have last time, but there’s no way on earth he’s getting to you this time. You control the situation Cheyenne. You do. Not him. He’s trying to put you off balance by sending you those things, but you’re better than he is. We are better than he is. Do you hear me?”

  She nodded, her hands reaching up to grip his broad wrists. “I hear you. I do.”

  Cheyenne wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly she was in his arms and he was holding her tight, and it wasn’t freaking her out like she’d expected. Sheridan’s body was solid and warm, and she had no doubt that he would protect her at all cost.

  For the first time in a long time, she allowed some of the never-ending fear and tension to ease. The thing about being a single parent was that you had to be on all the time. You served double duty, so to speak, and there were no breaks, no time off. Sheridan understood that, and he was giving her as much support as she would take.

  She felt him press a kiss to her head before he pulled back. “I’m going to check his parole papers, but I’m almost positive there will be something in his release about having no contact with you. I’ll check the details and we can make a determination if you want me to charge him on that violation. Or, if you feel like we need to approach this a different way, we can.”

  She nodded, his words flowing through her. If she wanted she could have him picked up and charged again, but that wouldn’t really get them anywhere. When he got out he’d still want to contact the girls.

  “I wonder if I shouldn’t talk to him,” she murmured, her throat thick with emotion. It was exactly what she didn’t want to do, but maybe it would show him how serious she was. Life had always been a game to Wade, and he still thought he was playing.

  Sheridan tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “Whatever you think you want to do. I can speak to the judge on your behalf. We’ll check on the paperwork and go from there.”

  Cheyenne nodded, her eyes burning with tears.

  Sheridan cupped her face again and leaned down to smile at her gently. “We’ll get you through this, Cheyenne, and you’ll be coming from the position of power this time.”

  She blinked, surprised, and realized he was right. At this moment, she held all the cards. A smile spread across her lips at the unfamiliar feeling. “Okay. Thank you, Sheridan.”

  He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Don’t thank me. Not right now.”

  Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he led her to the door. “I’m going to head back to the office and check out the restrictions on his release. Finish out your day and I’ll be here to pick y’all up at three.”

  “Okay. We’ll be waiting for you.”

  Settling his hat on his head, he left the school, and Cheyenne realized suddenly that it was just as nice to watch him walk away when he left.

  Chapter 10

  Sheridan thought it would be nice to pick up the Lowell females with a treat, so he stopped at the coffee shop on his way to the school. He got himself one of the milkshake things, Cheyenne one of those macchiatos and the girls bottles of chocolate milk. He left the truck running for the AC but took his key fob to lock the door while he walked into the school to meet them. All four were waiting patiently. Cheyenne, he noticed, did not have the box or flowers in hand, and none of the girls carried a stuffed animal. Well, like he’d told her before, it was up to her how she wanted to proceed.

  One of his many psychology classes had expounded on the fact that rape survivors needed to have control of something. This would be her stand.

  They walked out and he asked the girls about their day, his eyes scanning the area. No cars moved at all right now. The summer school kids had been bussed home and there must have been a lull in the employees leaving.

  They climbed into the truck and Grace squealed happily to find the chocolate milk. Cheyenne got a pretty flush to her cheeks as she saw the coffee in the cup holder, and he shrugged. “I wanted one of those milkshake things and I felt bad not getting you guys anything.”

  She laughed lightly as she ripped open the straw and plunged it into the drink, taking a healthy swallow. “We’re going to get fat drinking these things.”

  He made a face at her. “Whatever. You can stand to gain a few pounds. You’ve been worrying too much.”

  Her expression softened as if she agreed, but she turned to look at the girls and make sure they were buckled in.

  “We need some groceries, Sheridan. Meats and vegetables.”

  “I’ll come back in to town after I drop you guys off at the house.”

  He could tell she didn’t like the idea, but she didn’t say anything about it until they got to the house. “Do you mind of I go to the store with you? Can we ask and see if Olivia would watch the girls for an hour or so?”

  Sheridan was surprised, but agreeable. And so was Olivia, once he’d offered enough cash. Before they walked out the door, Cheyenne asked Olivia what kind of dinners she liked.

  For a moment, an incredibly vulnerable look rippled over the girl’s face. “Mom used to make the most amazing lasagna.”

  Cheyenne smiled at her, nodding her head. “I can make a decent lasagna,” she promised. “I don’t have time tonight, but I will this week.”

  Olivia shrugged like it wasn’t important and turned away.

  Sheridan had changed clothes and pulled his personal truck from the garage. As Cheyenne climbed into the cab, it felt very … close. Almost like they were on a date.

  Sheridan shook off the feeling. They were going to get groceries. That wasn’t anyone’s idea of a date.

  The feeling persisted, though, as they drove through town toward the market. They chatted about inconsequential things and Sheridan tried to keep everything light.

  The market was packed, as he’d expected. Obviously people leaving work had the same idea, to pick up something for dinner. With a determined shake of her head, Cheyenne pulled a cart from the line and started wading through people.

  Sheridan followed her, not saying anything. He was kind of curious, though, because she put things into the cart he’d never even heard of before. Sheridan found himself curious to try them.

  “Do you have a grill?”

  He gave her an affronted look that made her laugh.

/>   “Did you seriously just ask this Texan if he had a grill?”

  She shrugged lightly, and he loved seeing the color in her cheeks and the excitement in her eyes.

  They checked out after a small scuffle about who was paying and were back in the truck within about forty minutes.

  Dinner that night was surprisingly warm and friendly. Olivia came up from her dungeon and joined them. She didn’t say much, but she did smile several times at the younger girls’ antics.

  Sheridan thought that she enjoyed being part of the temporary ‘family’.

  Cheyenne had sent him outside to grill a chunk of pork, then managed to pull together one of the most amazing Mexican dinners he’d ever had.

  Sheridan rocked back in his chair and folded his hands over his belly. Man, that was good. His belly hadn’t been so stuffed in a long time.

  And as he looked around, he realized that the house felt more like a home right now than it ever had.

  Cheyenne laughed at something Carolyn said, and some of Sheridan’s worry eased. She'd been very quiet since they’d opened the box from Wade. Almost stewing. He could tell she wanted to do something, but wasn’t sure what.

  Sheridan didn’t think the meal could be any better until Savannah retrieved a plate of cinnamon and sugar sopapillas from the microwave, where Cheyenne had placed them to keep them warm.

  Olivia groaned with pleasure as she bit into the fried dough, and Sheridan

  realized that she hadn’t been this animated and seemingly happy for a long time. Having the Lowells in the house seemed to be good for everyone.

  After dinner he went to his office to do some computer work. Cheyenne joined him there a few minutes later, sitting on the couch on the opposite wall. She folded her legs elegantly beneath her, then propped one elbow along the top of the couch, resting her head on her hand.