Page 5 of Naughty by Nature

Katie had moved here a few years ago, settling into the new library like she’d always been here. They’d gone out as a group of girls a few times- Cheyenne, her best friend Payton, a few teachers from school and Katie. Cheyenne enjoyed her very much and she, Payton and Katie had developed a close friendship.

With a final wave they headed for the front door.

“I don’t wanna leave, Mama.”

“I know, baby, but we have to. I have ice cream in the car.”

That sent a bolt of electricity through Grace. In no time she was down the front steps and waiting at the door of Cheyenne’s SUV. Ice cream was an incredible motivator.

The other two girls weren’t due back until dinner time, so she sent Grace to the kitchen table, then started putting the rest of the groceries away. Her daughter chattered about everything that she’d done that day, though she’d just relayed everything the first time just a few minutes ago. Cheyenne listened to her with half an ear, her mind distracted by thoughts of the sheriff. After a few minutes of white noise behind her, her ear caught outside. She turned to her daughter, looking at her directly. “Listen to me, Grace Elaina, you stay in the fenced part of the yard. No excuses, young lady. And no water!”

Grace waved as she hustled through the door. “Yes, Mama!”

Cheyenne shook her head, looking out the kitchen sink window at her precocious daughter bolting through the yard to the doghouse at the far end. Daisy, the Australian Cattle dog they’d inherited, ran out to meet her, jumping joyously and nipping at the girl’s ankles. Of the two of them, she thought Daisy might be the more trustworthy one.

Savannah and Carolyn had been wonderful little children, still were, but she could see them maturing into girls. Yes, they’d been curious growing up, but they’d never given her gray hairs like Grace seemed determined to do. Just the other day the girl had literally run the well dry making mud for her ‘facials’. Cheyenne hadn’t dared do laundry for days, giving it time to recover. They were in the middle of a drought, after all.

That wasn’t as bad as the time she’d gone into the field to help a calf and been mown down by the mother, ending up with a broken leg in the process. Then, sensing freedom, the cow had guided a dozen of her best buddies through the open man gate and into Cheyenne’s already struggling garden. Daisy had been barking her head off at them, which had alerted Cheyenne. Grace had been caterwauling in pain, almost louder than Daisy. By the time they’d gotten home in the wee hours of the morning, some of the Blue Star ranch hands had gotten the cows put away, but her garden had been a total loss. The only thing that had survived were a few green bean vines.

She shook her head, smiling. Grace and her animals… almost as bad as she had been when she’d been a kid.

Anytime Cheyenne looked for sympathy from her own mother, Francine would only smile and gaze out over the back yard as she hand-washed her dishes. Usually she’d come back with an Oh Cheyenne, when you were young story, even wilder than what Grace had done. It was only appropriate that her daughter gave her as many gray hairs as she had her own mother.

Cheyenne watched her daughter spin on the swing. If she tried to do that she’d probably throw up.

She wasn’t as young as she used to be.

It wasn’t like she was getting decrepit or anything, but things were beginning to change. It was a little harder to keep the weight off, and she thought of how much something would hurt rather than how much fun it would be to do. Maybe that was why Grace was stressing her out so much. She’d been just like Grace years ago and had all the broken bones she ever wanted to talk about. In a way it had been part of her disastrous marriage too. As a girl she’d ridden barrels in the rodeo. That was where she’d met the kids’ father.

Snorting, she turned for the fridge, pulling a bag of marinated chicken from the shelf. She had better things to think about than that low-life. Kids would be home soon and maybe she could talk her mom and dad into staying for dinner. Daddy hadn’t been getting out much since his accident. But then, it had only been a couple weeks since he’d had his heart attack. She knew the entire family was happy he was getting around as well as he was. The town had been pulling for him too. Two days after the accident they’d had an entire crew show up to help them finish the spring calf round up. Cheyenne had known the family names but none of them individually. When you lived in the wilds of Texas like they did, it didn’t matter if you knew people or not. You helped out.

It had been the same when she’d been brutalized. It was a good thing her soon-to-be ex husband had been dragged away because he probably wouldn’t have survived the justice he’d have received here.

She glanced out the window, wondering why her ex was on her mind so much today. Maybe because of Grace’s question earlier. Grace was still spinning in the tire swing, oblivious to everything but how much fun she was having. Daisy danced below her, nipping at the girl’s flowing red hair.

Cheyenne was so thankful that all three of them followed her genetics more than Wade’s, though Carolyn had definitely gotten her father’s dark brown eyes and his sharp humor. The other two girls were more red haired and light eyed like Cheyenne, Grace taking after her the most. The poor girl was almost her carbon copy.

Savannah, her middle child, looked more like Francine, her grandmother. Something about the shape of her face. And her sweet, giving disposition was more like Francine’s as well, which Grace had already figured out. Poor Savannah got into so much trouble because of Grace’s shenanigans.

Cheyenne peeled and cut potatoes for mashing and put them on to boil. She was just stirring up some pudding when she heard a truck pull into the drive. Within seconds Carolyn and Savannah ran in to hug her, chattering about what was going on at the ranch. Her father came in next, leaning heavily on a silver cane. His right arm was still in the sling. When he’d fallen from the horse, he’d landed on his arm, breaking it in three places. A plate had been put in to secure the pieces together, but it was healing slowly.

His lined faced cracked into a broad smile though when he saw her. Reaching up, Cheyenne removed his tan hat and kissed his cheek. “Hi Daddy. I’ll put this by the door.”

“I forgot to do it when I came in,” he apologized.

Her mother shook her head. “You’d think he’d never set foot in a house before,” she laughed.

Cheyenne hugged her mother and gave her a kiss on her soft cheek. “Hi, Mama. The girls give you any trouble?”

Francine made a face. “Of course not. They were really helpful. We got everything sorted and ready for the sale. The spare room hasn’t been this clean in ages.”

“Good!”

She moved to the front hallway and plopped her father’s hat on a hook, then returned to the kitchen. Daddy had sat down at the head of the table, like she’d expected him to, and her mother was sniffing the mashed potatoes. “This looks lovely,” she said. “We came ready to eat.”

“Well, about ten more minutes and it’ll all be ready,” Cheyenne promised.

They had a lovely meal and the girls cleaned up afterward, then they disappeared into the depths of the house to get ready for bed. They had school tomorrow, so they all needed to get cleaned up. There was never enough time for them all to do it in the morning.

---