Page 19 of Naughty by Nature

“Hey, honey. You remember Cheyenne and her girls, right? Grace, Savannah and Carolyn.”

“Yes, Dad, I remember,” Olivia replied, her voice flat.

“We saved you some pizza,” he told her.

Olivia looked up and almost seemed interested, then her gaze fell to Savannah’s hand on Wulf’s head, sitting right beside her. The younger girl was scratching the dog’s ears, and he was almost swaying, his eyes closed in pleasure. Sheridan noted that the dog did not get up to greet her.

With a closed-down expression on her pretty face, Olivia turned and headed for the stairs down to the basement. She didn’t slam the door as she disappeared, but it was a near thing.

Two years ago he’d come home from a difficult shift to find that she’d left her normal bedroom on this floor, and moved all her things downstairs. She had said that she didn’t want to bother him with her music, but that excuse didn’t hold water. She’d had headphones attached to her ears most of her teenaged life. Only very rarely did he ever hear her music.

But he’d let her stay down there. If she was more comfortable than that was the main thing. Even though it left him rambling around in the upper house, more lonely than ever.

He looked at Cheyenne. She gave him a small smile. “I can tell having teenagers is going to be fun.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Okay. Keep telling yourself that.”

He ate his pizza and tried not to be put out that Olivia hadn’t joined them.

* * *

Cheyenne felt terrible.It was obvious that Olivia had felt misplaced in her own home, and that was the last thing Cheyenne wanted.

After they ate, Sheridan excused himself to go make a phone call in his office. Cheyenne took the time to put a few slices of pizza on a plate and walk down the stairs. She hadn’t been down here before, but the layout was pretty open, like the upstairs. There was a bathroom on the right and an entertainment area on the left. An expansive projection screen covered most of the pale wall, with several recliners arranged in front of it. There was a little kitchenette snugged into one corner, obviously for snacks. On the back wall was another doorway, closed tight.

Cheyenne headed that way.

She could hear murmuring behind the door, like Olivia was on the phone. She hated to interrupt her, but the pizza was already cooling.

Cheyenne knocked firmly.

“Go away, Dad. I’m working.”

“It’s not your dad.”

Cheyenne heard rustling beyond the panel before it opened a crack. Olivia’s thick walnut colored hair, the exact shade as her father’s, hung down in a long, sleek curtain. Her hazel eyes were narrowed. “Yes?”

Cheyenne held the plate of food out temptingly. “Brought you some dinner.”

Olivia stared at her for a long moment before widening the door crack a little more and reaching for the plate. Beyond her shoulder Cheyenne could see typical girl bedroom clutter, clothes scattered everywhere, a cell phone waiting for her to return, screen lit. Obviously she’d been talking to someone.

“I didn’t bring you anything to drink, sorry.”

“I’ve got something,” the girl said quietly, looking at the pizza.

“I want to apologize.”

Her eyes flicked up in surprise. “Why?”

“Well, we’ve kind of invaded your home. I know your dad invited us, but it’s still probably hard to see us up there like that, eating your food, around your table, petting your dog.”

The girl’s mouth curled. “Whatever.”

Cheyenne didn’t know where to proceed.

“We won’t be here any longer than we have to, okay?”

Olivia shrugged and backed into the room, closing the door in Cheyenne’s face.

---