Page 55 of Ridin' Solo
I shook my head, silently begging her not to do this. “Oakley. I can explain everything.”
Oakley pushed off the gurney and stood on her good leg, only a slight grimace showing how painful the move was. She looked up at me and you’d never know she was a foot shorter. Disgust and anger made her at least ten feet tall.
“You have some rough friends, Wyatt Dolby,” she said quietly. “Stay away from me.”
Then she hopped up into the ambulance, and no longer looked at me. “Ready, Ace!”
Chief Waldo came stalking over, clipping me in the shoulder as he passed before climbing into the ambulance with her. I stood there, my hands useless at my sides, watching Ace close up the back of the ambulance and drive away. Sheriff Locke eventually came over and advised me to go back to the station with him to give my formal statement of what had transpired today.
“Sorry your identity came out. I know that’s not how you wanted things to go.” Sheriff clapped me on the back and walked to his car, expecting me to follow. He’d been the only one to know about my past and the efforts I’d made to leave it all behind.
How the hell had my day started on such a high note, with the woman I loved willing to risk it all to date me, and then ended with my entire life and future plans blown to bits?
I’d let my partner down.
I’d let myself down.
And there was no one to blame but myself.
25
Oakley
“Dad, I got it.” Exasperated, I grabbed my keys from his hand and got the front door open, wanting inside before I glimpsed Wyatt next door. I was sick of everyone fussing over me. My leg was stitched up and wrapped in white gauze that I’d have to replace every twelve hours until the stitches came out. The ER doc had put me in a boot to keep me immobile long enough for the muscle damage to heal, which meant I could walk, albeit a little wobbly.
“Jesus, woman. You’re worse than me. For cripe’s sake, just let me help you.” Dad shut the door and bustled around me, annoying me more than he helped. “Your mother said she’s on the way with food.”
I groaned. She probably made more food than an army could eat. Even a hint of stress sent her to the kitchen. I could only imagine the news of her eldest daughter being shot had sent her into a culinary frenzy.
“I appreciate it, but I just want to be alone,” I mumbled, hobbling to my bedroom to get out of my ruined uniform. Those pants weren’t cheap and now I’d have to buy a brand-new pair, along with new boots that didn’t have blood soaked through them.
Dad continued to chat my ear off through the bedroom door. “Listen, Oakley. I hope you know I’m proud of you.” He cleared his throat. “You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, especially me. I know I give you crap about joining the sheriff’s department instead of mine, but it’s just that. Teasing. I don’t mean it. I couldn’t be any more proud of you, kiddo.”
My throat closed and my eyes welled up. Great. You get shot once and suddenly Dad has to say all these things in case you die. It was my calf, for God’s sake. I whipped my pajama top over my head and struggled to get a pair of shorts on when I only had one good leg and two eyes that couldn’t see past the tears.
Today had been a trying day, which was putting it mildly. I was hanging by a thread here, and that was only because the ER doc insisted on giving me a narcotic before she dug around to make sure there weren’t any bullet fragments left in my leg and then sewed up my wound. Without the pain meds, I’d already be curled in the fetal position crying for my mama.
“I know I’ve set some pretty big expectations on you girls and you’ve taken that to heart, Lee.” Dad’s voice had gone rough. “I want you to know, you don’t have to be perfect. You’re human, you’ll mess up. That’s how it works. Making a mistake doesn’t make the people who matter in your life love you any less. Grabbing hold of what makes you happy in life, even if it’s messy, is what makes me happy as your father.”
I hobbled over to the door, cracking it open to see my father standing in the hallway staring at the picture on the wall of all five of us Waldo girls taken at Vee’s high school graduation. Another tear slid down my cheek. Did Dad think I messed up today, and that’s why I got shot?
Dad’s head turned toward me, and the regret I saw on his face in the shadows of the evening light made my heart crack in two.
“I saw how that boy looked at you.” Dad sucked in a deep breath and stood taller. “He’s in love with you. Now I don’t know if you’re already involved and I don’t need to know. But I do hope you let yourself bend the rules if it means you’ll be happy long term.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My dad, the guy known three counties over for being the ultimate stickler for the law, was telling me to bend the rules?
“How much Norco did they give me?” I said out loud, leaning into the door for support.
He chuckled. “You forget I was young once. Your mama was only sixteen when I started courting her. Her parents weren’t too thrilled with a nineteen-year-old hanging around their daughter.” He waggled his eyebrows and I couldn’t help but sputter out a laugh. “What I’m trying to say is that sometimes bending the rules doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you human. For what it’s worth, I may give him shit, but Wyatt’s got my blessing as long as he treats you right.”
Dad leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Glad you’re okay, peanut.” His voice broke on the endearment I hadn’t heard since I was five, and the tears I’d kept mostly at bay came back on full speed. I swiped them away as quickly as they came, but I didn’t trust myself to speak.
The front door slammed. “Ah. Your mother is here.” Dad spun around to walk down the hallway to help Mom with all the food containers she undoubtedly had. At the very end of the hall, he paused, turning back for one last thing.
“I’ve got a brand-new shovel and just the right place to bury a body. Say the word and I’ll take care of any problems with Smith or Dolby or whoever the hell he is.”
“Dad!” I sputtered through tears.
