Sheridan didn’t get nerves very often, but today was different. Today he was going out with the woman who made his heart beat again. It had gone still after Nora had died.

As he watched Cheyenne walk out to the truck, his heart all but raced. She was a beautiful woman, her long auburn hair pulled back into clips on the sides. She didn’t wear a lot of make-up, but she didn’t need it. There was a natural, creamy-skinned beauty to her that didn’t need any enhancement.

A white skirt swirled around her long legs, and she wore a button-front shirt in a pretty lilac color.

Circling the hood of the vehicle he opened her door. With a smile she slid inside, putting her little clutch wallet on the seat beside her.

“You look beautiful, Cheyenne.”

Her pale cheeks flushed with color. “I didn’t have a lot to choose from. We might have to go back to the house at some point and change out our clothes.”

He nodded and shut her door.

“We can go get some more things after lunch if you want,” he continued, settling into his seat and stretching the seat belt across his lap.

“That would be fine.”

The left the driveway and headed toward town. The sun shone brilliant in the sky, but the heat was getting pretty harsh. The AC was turned all the way up.

Or maybe he was just feeling warm under the collar of his polo, Sheridan thought with an internal chuckle. It had been years, literally, since he’d been this nervous about a date. It wasn’t even technically a real date, but his body apparently couldn’t tell the difference.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Sheridan gave her a sideways look, and grinned. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date. No, let me correct that. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone on a date that made me feel this nervous.”

Her mouth dropped open a little. “What? Why are you nervous? I mean, you’re,” she waved a hand, “you.”

Chuckling, he shook his head, glancing at her for a moment before focusing back on the road. “Just because I’m sheriff it doesn’t mean it insulates me from emotion. And I know this date was supposed to be for a completely different reason, but sometimes it’s hard to separate the emotional from the professional. I really like you, Cheyenne. My hope today is that we don’t even see Wade or his family and we can just enjoy each other, though I have a feeling the people of Honeywell are going to have something to say about us being together.”

Cheyenne looked a little shell-shocked, her eyes wide, and he was glad that he’d jolted her like that.

Then her mouth closed and she sat straighter in the seat, as if she’d come to some decision. “I really like you too, Sheridan. And I hope we don’t see Wade for the same reason,” she laughed.

He turned back to the road, grinning. “Good.”

The lot at Sophia’s was full, but Sheridan found a space on the street. As he stepped out of the truck, he checked his sidearm before walking around the hood. He didn’t normally feel the need to carry off-duty, but he had been recently. Wade had put him on alert.

Cheyenne slipped down to the street in front of him and grabbed her little purse. Sheridan shut the door behind her, then, without even thinking about it, held out a hand.

When Cheyenne slipped her fingers into his own, a thrill went through him, and he was smiling as they walked to Sophia’s.

The cafe had had many different names over the years, many different looks. It had been rebuilt after a fire in the seventies and expanded significantly. Sophia Arlotti had bought the place about fifteen years ago and brought her Italian heritage with her. She hadn’t been very old at the time, just out of college, but she’d told them many times that the location ‘spoke’ to her, and held more appeal than the business future she’d been planning.

There were a lot of Italian recipes on the menu, but it had also become Americanized over the years with burgers and sandwiches. Then, a few years ago she had hired a baker, and there was now a full dessert case overflowing with goodness. Sophia’s was a true hotspot in Honeywell.

Sophia herself greeted them, her lipsticked mouth spread in a broad smile and her dark brown eyes smiling. “Well, hello, Sheriff. And Cheyenne. It’s wonderful to see you both. Captain Patterson just came in. He’s sitting in the back. Were you meeting him?”

Sheridan shook his head. “We’ll say hello but we’ll do a separate table, Sophia.”

Her eyes flared with surprise and she looked between them with interest. “Right this way.”

Gathering up two menus and wrapped silverware, she led them through the sunlit restaurant. It was packed, as he’d expected, and more than a few people waved and called hello. Cheyenne received as many acknowledgements as he did. But the two of them together got several double takes.

Sophia seated them, then took their drink order, promising to return in a jiffy.

Sheridan gave Paul Patterson a nod as he removed his hat, setting it on the bench seat beside him. When Sheridan wasn’t in the office, Patterson took over for the most part, unless something really big came up. He’d texted Paul this morning and asked him to hang out at Sophia’s for a while in a long lunch, aka as unofficial back-up.

Cheyenne leaned forward, a little grin on her lips. “I think we shocked some people.”

“Possibly. I think there were a few knowing looks too.”

Sophia returned with their iced teas and waved the regular waitress away. “I’ll take this one, Shayna.”

The younger woman headed back to her customers with a wave.

“So, do you know what you’d like?” She paused to look between them. “Other than each other?”

Sheridan laughed. “I’ll take the California burger with the works.”

She swung to Cheyenne. “And you?”

“I’ll take the buffalo chicken wrap with the sweet potato fries.”

Nodding, Sophia turned for the kitchen.

“I love Sophia,” Cheyenne leaned forward to whisper, “but she loves a good piece of gossip.”

Sheridan leaned forward as well. “Yes, so do Anne and Coco, over against the wall. They’re in Marlene’s NBC. Wonder if we’re boring them? They’re used to racier stuff.”

Cheyenne covered her mouth with her hand and giggled, her eyes dancing with sapphire light in the sunshine. For a moment, Sheridan completely lost track of where he was.

They talked of inconsequential things over their food, and, as expected the line between emotional and professional blurred, weighing heavily to the emotional.

“Can you tell me about your wife?” Cheyenne asked. “I didn’t know her well, only in passing.”

Taking a big drink of his tea, Sheridan sat back against the cushion. A smile creased his lips as he thought about Eleanor. “She was my college sweetheart. Met during the first semester of school in Austin. Had a class together and I dropped my book on her foot. Wasn’t a great beginning but we fell in love. We were inseparable the rest of the time we were in school. Once we got out of school we got married. Nora got a paralegal job at a local attorney’s office, and I worked Austin PD for a while. After getting our careers in line, we decided to have a baby. Olivia was easy for a first. Prettier than the average baby, I thought, and happy. But when we tried for another a few years later we went through a series of miscarriages. Then a few rounds of IVF, but nothing worked.”

“I’m so sorry,” Cheyenne gasped. She reached across to touch his hand. “You don’t have to tell me anymore.”

Shrugging, he squeezed her fingers. “It’s not as hard to talk about as it used to be and looking back, it was kind of a good thing, in a jacked-up way. We found the signs of the cancer a few years later, and if she had been pregnant when she found it, I think we both would have gone off the deep end.”

Cheyenne nodded, still holding his hand, just being there.

“She had Inflammatory Breast Cancer, which is extremely rare. It had already spread to her lymph nodes. We tried to treat it, but it just overwhelmed her. She was gone within six months.”

Tears flooded her eyes and she used her napkin to blot them away. “I’m so sorry, Sheridan. That’s terrible.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “Olivia was eight. She took it hard.”

“That poor baby, of course she did. No child should lose a parent at that age.”

“She had a lot of counseling, and I did too. I focused on the job. Olivia focused on volleyball and being difficult.”

Cheyenne chewed her lip. “You were voted in the year before Wade attacked me.”

“Yes.”

She took a drink of her tea and he could tell he’d given her a lot to think about.

Sheridan looked at his phone as it buzzed. Patterson had sent him a message.

White Chevy, blacked out windows just pulled in.

With a nod, Sheridan locked gazes with Cheyenne and reached out to grip both her hands. “I want you to look at me, honey.”

She did, a smile flirting on her lips.

“I think our ruse worked. Wade just pulled in.”

Cheyenne paled and would have jerked her hands away if she could have, but he held her strong. “Look at me.”

It took her a moment, but she did.

“I want you to remember how strong you are. You are the one in the position of power. Not him. At any point, you can file a protection order, okay?”

Blinking rapidly, she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.

“Now, smile and show him how much you enjoyed my company today.”

She grinned and he was taken aback at her enthusiasm.

“I am enjoying myself today, Sheridan, more than I ever could have imagined.”

A ripple of unease rolled through the crowd, and Sheridan could almost feel the collective inhale as Sophia’s door opened. The bell on the door jangled harshly, as if it had been jerked open.

They were perpendicular to the door, and several rows back. Sheridan didn’t even glance at the opening. He knew Patterson had an eyeball on Wade.

Wade surprised him, though, and headed to the counter over near the kitchen. And when he sat at the stool, he gave them his back.

Cheyenne’s eyes were wide with fright, but she’d allowed her hair to fall forward, shielding her expression. Sheridan gave her props for thinking smart as he watched her gain control of her emotions. She’d seen him in court, but that had been when he’d been in jailhouse orange and shackles. Now he sat less than twenty feet away from her.

“Look at me babe.”

Her eyes flitted up to his. “You’re doing great. Remember you’re doing this for your kids. And you. You can’t keep living like this.”

She panted and nodded, visibly reining her anxiety in.

“What did Grace do today to get in trouble? She came up and apologized for making a mess in my kitchen but I didn’t see anything.”

Redirecting Cheyenne’s focus worked. A smile crossed her lips. “She, uh, pranked her sister with Mentos in a Coke bottle. It spewed everywhere.”

Reaching for her phone, she showed him the picture of his kitchen. Sheridan winced and laughed. Damn…

Sophia came over and offered dessert. Sheridan looked at Cheyenne, brows raised.

“Yes,” she said firmly. “I want a piece of the white chocolate raspberry cake.”

“Two please, Sophia. Thank you.”

Sophia turned away, heading for the sweets case. In just a few minutes, she was back, setting the plates and forks in front of them. “If you all need anything at all, you just give a holler.”

“Maybe you can take Paul a piece of something.”

Sophia blinked and abruptly colored, her olive skin going pink before darting a glance at the Captain against the back wall. “Yes, Sheriff.”

Cheyenne’s mouth was hanging open as she watched Sophia leave. “Well, that was interesting.”

Sheridan grinned. “I wondered if they didn’t have something going on for a while. He was in here almost every meal for a while.”

She grinned, Wade completely forgotten for the moment. “I think they would be cute together. He’s really good looking and she is too.”

Forking up a huge bite of cake, Sheridan shrugged. “Maybe.”

Sighing in bliss, Cheyenne took her own bite of cake. “I don’t know how Alison gets this cake so light.”

* * *

Even after Wade came into the diner, she still had a good time with Sheridan. She’d been panting with anxiety, but he’d known how to put her at ease as he redirected her attention to the kids. It had totally worked. She’d known she was being manipulated, but it had been for her own good, and she knew that.

But now, as they paid the bill and got ready to walk out the door, the relief was making her jittery. Unable to help herself, she glanced at Wade.

Dark, malevolent eyes stared at her, but he smiled and tipped his head at her. His lips spread into a smile full of dangerous promise. Forcing herself to not waver, she smiled back at him, slipping her arm through Sheridan’s and exiting the restaurant.

Sheridan had to practically carry her across the street. Shifting, he looped an arm around her waist. From the outside looking in, it would have looked sweet, like they were walking together hip to hip. Sheridan was strong enough physically that he probably could have just picked her up and carried her this way, but he didn’t. He made her look like she was handling all this better than she actually was.

They were almost to the truck when her name was yelled across the street. Her heart sank. No. She couldn’t do this.

She thought about the venom that had spewed from Wade’s mouth the night he’d attacked her and left her for the town to see. They were words that she would never in her life repeat, but they had fallen from his mouth so easily because he had used them so many times before. The things he’d called her children… his own flesh and blood…

Fury ignited in her belly as she thought about all the sleepless nights she’d had, pacing the floors as she worried about supporting a family of four on her teacher’s salary, and providing a life her children would love. On making it up to her parents for marrying such a beast. Protecting her children from men like Wade. Protecting herself when he got out of prison. The endless string of worries had never ended.

But that end was in sight, if she could just … get the man to leave her alone.

Sheridan had put her behind him as soon as he’d sensed danger, but Cheyenne squeezed his arm. Catching his eye, she shook her head. “I have to do this.”

He stared at her for a moment, before he shifted slightly to the side, arms crossed over his massive chest. Now he faced Wade, but she had room to talk to her ex.

“What do you want Wade?”

Cheyenne forced herself to keep her chin up. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and planted her feet. With the Wall of Sheridan in front of her and Captain Patterson coming out through Sophia’s door, she had no fear for her physical safety.

“I just want to talk to you, doll. That’s all.”

Once upon a time the handsome smile he gave her and the endearment would have been enough to make her come running, but that had all faded away years ago, replaced with memories as corrosive as acid. Wade was still a not-too-bad looking guy, but prison had added a hard edge to his body. He looked stronger and the expression in his eyes seemed more cunning than it used to. The limp was still evident, but even that seemed to have eased a little.

“Then go ahead and talk,” she said, staying exactly where she was. Crap on a cracker, her voice shook.

Wade glanced at Sheridan and she could see a simmering anger in his eyes. “I’m not talking in front of the … him.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere with you, so you either talk here or leave.”

Cheyenne was proud of herself. She’d controlled her voice better that time.

A considering light entered his dark eyes. “Are you sure you want to talk about this in the middle of the street? Where everyone can hear?”

Shrugging, she looked around. There were a few cars, but not a lot of traffic. “You made them a witness to our destruction already. Go for it.”

“How are my pretty girls?”

Cheyenne could have lit a furnace with the fury that blazed through her. “MY girls are fine. Excellent. They’ve flourished since I got them out of the toxic environment you created.”

Wade shook his head, grinning. “Nah, I didn’t create that. You did.”

Cheyenne breathed out her anger. There was no reasoning with the man.

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s done and over years ago. I’ve moved on and you need to, too.”

Wade gave Sheridan a considering look. “So, how long did it take you to move in on my wife? You saw her all spread out and had to have her, huh? She was a nice piece when she wasn’t bitching at me all the time.”

Suddenly Cheyenne was the one holding Sheridan back. “No, don’t,” she cried. “Sheridan!”

Quicker than a flash, there was a group of men surrounding them. Captain Patterson faced off with Wade, forcing him back, Deputy Hampton at his back. Brock and another man she only vaguely recognized from the Blue Star blocked Sheridan from moving forward.

“Sheridan, this isn’t helping. Sheridan,” she snapped.

Finally, he looked down at her. His face was flushed with exertion and she could see how incredibly pissed he was. Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands. “Don’t let him sour our day. He’s nothing. Less than nothing.”

Wade was laughing in the background. “You pigs can’t do anything to me. I haven’t done anything but talked to my wife.”

“Ex-wife, Wade,” she called, looking at him. With a look at Brock to watch Sheridan, Cheyenne took a few steps across the street toward Wade. “You signed the paperwork, remember? And you signed the paperwork relinquishing all parental rights to the girls. Do you have any idea how much child support you got out of Wade? Probably close to a hundred grand. Do you have that kind of money, considering you just got out of prison? Because if you try to insert yourself into their lives again I can guarantee you I will take you to court and sue for all the back child support you’ve missed. You’ll be paying me back for the next thirty years.”

Wade had gone quiet as he stared at her over Patterson’s shoulder. Finally, something was beginning to sink into his hard head. “What are you talking about?”

Cheyenne found the first chink in his armor— money. “It’s easy. For years you said those kids weren’t yours, then you literally signed paperwork to not…claim…them. Now you want to claim them? Then it’s like land taxes. You’re going to owe.”

Cheyenne didn’t actually think he would owe if she took him to court, but it sounded plausible. There had been a reason why she’d always been the one to do the bills in the relationship. Wade had been pretty at one point, but the finer points of handling money escaped him.

Cheyenne waited to see what he would do. If he thought he would be on the hook for such an astronomical amount…

“Would the feed store give you more hours if the county garnishes your wages?”

Wade glowered at her over Patterson’s shoulder and it took everything she had in her not to smirk, to act concerned. She sensed victory.

“I think you’re lying, bitch,” he snarled suddenly, calling her bluff. “I think you’re scared shitless I’m going to demand to see my kids. If I do, I guarantee you I’m going to take really good care of them.”

With a smile promising pain, Wade turned away and stalked toward his truck. Cheyenne watched him go and wished he would just get swallowed up by Hell, where he needed to be, but it didn’t happen.

Sheridan rested a hand on her shoulder and she turned to him, dry-eyed. “I think I need to sit down before I fall down.”

With an arm around her waist again he walked her to the truck and lifted her into the passenger seat. He hit the remote button on the key fob to start the vehicle and lukewarm air started blowing. He stared up into her eyes, humor lightening the green. “Look at you, little badass. Standing up to him like you’ve been waiting to do exactly that.”

“I have been,” she admitted. “You know how you always replay conversations in your mind, and reword things so that you win the argument? I had years of that built up,” she told him ruefully.

Sheridan cupped her face and as natural as breathing, she leaned into him for a kiss. Just a light one. Then she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.

She didn’t cry— she wouldn’t let herself. But she did absorb as much of his support as she could. “I don’t like arguments like that,” she whispered. “It’s one thing between kids, it’s a natural growth stage, but adults shouldn’t resort to violence like that. It takes too much out of me to argue like that.”

“I agree,” he sighed. “And I’m sorry that I almost lost my temper. It’s not the way a man should act around a woman, and especially not the way the county sheriff should act. I’m glad Brock and Sean had a good hold on me.”

They laughed together lightly, and she pulled back to look him in the eyes. “Wade always knew how to push my buttons. If he has any talent in life, that’s it. Don’t feel bad about it. I appreciate that you were trying to protect me.”

“I promise you that I will always do my very best to protect you, Cheyenne.”

Her heart shuddered at the words, and they smiled at each other.

“Let me talk to my guys for a minute and we’ll go home.”

Cheyenne pulled her skirt in as he shut the truck door, and she tipped her head back against the rest. Home. Yes, they needed to go home.