Page 34 of Naughty by Nature

Chapter 11

Cheyenne calledPayton on her lunch break.

The other woman answered groggily and Cheyenne felt bad about interrupting her sleep. “Sorry, dear! I wouldn’t call unless it was important.”

“Give me a minute,” Payton rasped.

Cheyenne could tell she was moving around the room, then came the sound of her friend peeing.

Cheyenne couldn’t help but laugh. “If you drop the phone in the toilet you’re going to be mad at yourself.”

“My phone is on the counter, goober. That way I can wash my hands when I’m done.”

Cheyenne laughed, loving her friend for being so normal. She was curious to see what Payton said about her current situation.

“So what’s up?”

The acoustics changed behind Payton, then Cheyenne heard the coffee pot kick on. “Wanted to let you know I’m staying at Sheridan’s house. I know you’ve been spending a lot of time with Brock, but just in case you rode over to my house, we won’t be there.”

“Wait, what?” Payton’s voice turned unnaturally sharp.

“Wade was released from prison, and they didn’t tell us about it. He’s been out for a few days now.”

Cheyenne covered the receiver of her cell phone, afraid that someone would here the foulness spewing from Payton’s inventive mouth. Mrs. Ironton, the fifth grade teacher, was also in the room but she could hardly hear the tornado siren. Cheyenne thought she was safe.

“Anyway,” she whispered, “Sheridan found where someone had been snooping around my windows, so he thought it best to move me into his house. He’s got an alarm system and stuff. And a guard dog.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. “You are in the same house as Sheriff Sheridan Lane? The man you haven’t said more than ten words to in the past, uh, seven years?”

Cheyenne shifted uncomfortably, feeling ridiculous now that Payton had laid it out that way. “Yes.”

“And the girls are with you? In the same house as Sheriff Sheridan Lane.”

“Yes.”

Cheyenne could hear her slurp scalding coffee. “And how do you feel about that?”

Cheyenne sank back into her chair. “You know, I feel pretty good about it. It makes me mad that Wade is out. He seems to think he can just wipe away the past seven years and take up where he left off. He sent the girls a note and stuffed animals, but I didn’t tell them about it.”

“I wouldn’t have either,” Payton said quickly.

Cheyenne loved that they thought alike like that. “Sheridan has been amazing, quite honestly. He’s driving us to school and picking us up, and trying to get a jump on what Wade’s up to. Tracking down information. But in general he makes me feel … strong about the situation. We’ve been talking and I’ve realized I kind of held a grudge against him.”

“Why? He was the one that rescued you.”

Her throat tightened with tears, and she turned her face away so that Mrs. Ironton couldn’t see her. “Yes,” she whispered, “but he saw me at my most vulnerable. That was the worst moment of my life.”

Payton sighed at the other end of the line. “Oh, honey. You’ve been looking at it like that all this time?” Cheyenne could almost see her shaking her head. “I always looked at that night as the strongest of your life.”

Shock reeled through Cheyenne. “What?” she gasped.

“Cheyenne, I would smack you if I was close enough! For years you struggled to give those girls a steady life, in spite of the way Wade sabotaged everything you did. I remember you would make plans and he would deliberately go out drinking so that you didn’t have a ride. It didn’t matter if it was a kid’s birthday party or something else important. He’d just leave you and the girls. And as much as I love you, you would make excuses for him.”

“Yes,” she acknowledged.

She’d been hanging on to her marriage by a fingernail back then. Every little thing would set Wade off. She’d catered to him more than she ever had any of her girls.

And also, she’d lived in fear of what might happen if she didn’t.

---