Page 29 of Naughty by Nature

“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.”

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