She returned to her class while Joy called for the principal to come down and talk to him. Mr. Hedges had been the principal for the elementary school as long as Joy had been in the office, so she had no doubt that he would remember Wade. And he would remember the scandal that had rocked the county when he’d been arrested for beating her unconscious. And all the rest of it.

The doting older man would do everything he could to keep them all safe, because he loved every teacher, janitor and child that went to school here.

The rest of the day passed in a fog for Cheyenne. She taught her kids sensibly, she thought, but couldn’t for the life of her remember what she’d said. The kids would have called her out if she’d been too discombobulated, probably.

She found herself watching out the windows almost constantly, until she recognized what she was doing. “Damn it,” she muttered.

There was a gasp behind her and she turned to see Grace standing in the doorway. The final bell had rung and kids were filing out of the front of the school, but her girls knew to come to her classroom for the ride home.

“Mama, you said a bad word in school!”

And she wanted to do it again. Only very rarely did she ever curse, and certainly never in school, but today was an exception. Her nerves were frayed. As the day had gone on, she’d gotten more and more fearful. If Wade was out there she didn’t want to run the chance of running into him. But she refused to let him rule her life anymore.

“Yes I did, baby and I apologize. Mama’s had a bad day. We need to have a family meeting when we get home.”

Grace’s eyes widened almost comically. Family meetings were big deals. The last had come when Grace herself had decided to walk to Granpa Lowell’s house. And it hadn’t ended well for her, Cheyenne remembered.

“It’s nothing you did, Grace.”

Just then the sheriff walked in, though, and Cheyenne thought Grace’s eyes were going to pop out of her head. The last time Grace had seen the sheriff he’d been hauling her home in his gold sheriff’s department truck. If the situation had been different she would have laughed.

Sheridan must have seen her reaction too because he lifted an authoritative eyebrow at her. “Miss Grace. Anything I need to know about?”

Grace shook her head until her pigtails flew. “No, sir. I been pretty good for a while. Well,” she frowned, “I broke Carolyn’s school project and told her the dog did it.”

“Grace Elaina,” Cheyenne gasped. “You lied to us? Again? We’re going to have to talk about this at the meeting young lady.”

Grace’s big eyes reddened with tears but she didn’t let them fall. “Yes ma’am.”

Poor Carolyn had worked on that project for hours.

Sheridan leaned against her heavy oak desk. “You know lying is wrong,” he murmured, deep voice rumbling. “And you know you always get caught.”

“Not always,” her daughter whispered as if she couldn’t help herself.

Cheyenne didn’t ask her to repeat that. She’d heard enough. And honestly, she probably would have laughed if she wasn’t so frustrated.

By chance she caught Sheridan’s eye. They were dancing with humor as well.

Cheyenne suddenly felt like she was part of a team. It was a hard business being both mother and father to three impressionable young girls and it was hard emotionally always having to be the disciplinarian. Sometimes when she was faced with dilemmas on how to correct them or guide them, she wished there was a parenting manual or something to help her out, because she was feeling her way blind.

Wade had left before he’d had a chance to be much of a role model. Her father and brothers were good for certain things, but they were always afraid of overstepping their bounds. And she appreciated that, but sometimes she wished they would do more.

It was probably just as hard for Sheridan right now. Olivia was sixteen, one of the most difficult ages for a girl. Cheyenne remembered that time in her life well. Emotional and hyperaware of so many things. It was amazing women survived adolescence with their wits intact.

She needed her sanity now more than ever.

Carolyn came into the room, her eyes widening when she saw the sheriff. “What did you do now, Grace?”

Grace scowled ferociously. “Nothing, Nag.”

Carolyn shifted the pack on her shoulders, thumping it onto Cheyenne’s clean desk. “Right.”

“That’s enough you two,” Cheyenne murmured absently. “Where’s your sister?”

Savannah came in then, her eyes widening behind her wire-framed glasses before turning to Grace. She widened her eyes theatrically, but didn’t say anything. Moving to stand next to her older sister, she thumped her bag on the desk as well.

Sheridan moved to pull the classroom door closed, then returned to lean against the doorjamb.

Cheyenne knew she needed to explain what was going on, because she could see the anxiety in her girls’ eyes, but she had no idea where to even start.

“Can we see that picture again, Sheriff?”

Reaching into his pocket, Sheridan removed his phone, paging through a few screens. When he found what he wanted, he handed it to her.

Cheyenne knew it was psychological, but she didn’t even want to be this close to her ex. Forcing her hand to move, to grip the phone, she took a breath. “Have you girls seen this man recently?”

She turned the phone to them. All three girls leaned in. Carolyn’s eyes flipped up to hers in alarm. “Is that…”

“That’s the man from the library,” Grace confirmed.

Cheyenne thought she was going to be sick. “Are you sure, baby?”

She nodded her head three times. “Yup. He was right outside the doors the other day, when I was helping Ms. Katie. I remember because I wanted to get closer to see his tattoos but he turned around and walked away. He must have realized it was a library and he didn’t look like a book person.”

Sheridan stepped forward. “Are you very super sure, Grace? It’s important.”

She nodded again, crossing her arms over her small chest. “I’m sure. Do you know him, Mama?”

When Cheyenne didn’t say anything, Carolyn leaned forward. “That’s our dad, twit.”