End of June

“Mama, what did Daddy look like?”

Cheyenne cringed at the sweetly voiced question from Grace. “Well,” she said slowly, “he was a good looking man. Brown hair and brown eyes with thick lashes. A big man. He used to ride rodeo.”

“Did he have tattoos?”

She looked at her daughter out of the corner of her eyes. “Um, no, he didn’t, baby.”

Grace looked appeased and skipped off toward the children’s section of the Floyd County Library. Cheyenne shook her head, wondering what that had been about.

She’d gotten used to doling out details to her girls. Carolyn was eleven now, and was the least curious. Over the years she’d learned everything she’d needed to about her derelict father.

Grace, eight and Savannah, nine, were both still curious though. They hadn’t had a man in their lives for years, other than their uncles and their grandfather. Kids at school used to tease them about it, and Cheyenne was honestly surprised that they hadn’t come home bearing stories about their wandering father. Lord knows he’d been the talk around the county for years. And there was more than one person around that he’d cheated.

Over the years, Cheyenne had done her best to make things right with everyone. She’d never had a lot of money to spare, but she’d done her best to square things with those he’d wronged. Her family still had a well- respected name in the area and she planned on keeping it that way.

She glanced at the woman standing at the counter smiling at her. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry Katie. I was daydreamin’.”

Katie laughed and shook her head. “You’re fine, Cheyenne. I don’t know how you have a spare brain cell to do anything the way you work. Are all three girls here? It seems too quiet.”

“No, two are with Mama and Daddy. It’s just Gracie and me today, thank goodness. I might have enough time to get everything done on my list before I head home.”

Katie laughed and gave her a raised eyebrow. “Do you really think so?”

Cheyenne laughed with her and leaned against the counter. “No, probably not. I am run ragged.”

Katie reached out and squeezed her hand. “I know you are, hon. It’s pretty quiet today. You can leave Grace here if you have more to do in town.”

Hope blossomed in her. “Really? You don’t mind?”

Katie gave her a wink. “Are you kidding? The way that girl loves books? I’ll teach her how to put returns back. I have a feeling she’ll love it.”

“Oh, my gosh, she would!”

So, Katie was left to deal with an ecstatic Grace, who was literally jumping up and down in exuberance.

“Don’t come back for a long time, Mama! Ms. Katie and I will be busy.”

Cheyenne gave Katie a thankful look. “I really owe you.”

The librarian waved a hand. “No, you don’t. Take your time. Maybe you can stop down at that new coffee shop that’s been taking my customers from me and check them out.”

She tossed Cheyenne a wink, laughing. Cheyenne laughed with her, wishing she had more time to spend with her friend. Summer break was coming soon. They would have time then. “I will do that,” she promised.

Grace didn’t even look at her as she left the library. The girl had more ‘importantly’ things to do.

As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, Cheyenne took a deep breath of the cool morning air. The birds were chirping and the trees were swaying, and she was ashamed to realize this was the first time she’d actually stopped long enough to look around in what felt like forever. It seemed like she and the girls were always together. Literally. She taught at the school they all went to, so they rode to school together; she saw them during class, and they rode home together. She had very little time alone.

Feeling a little naughty, Cheyenne decided to take Katie up on her offer. She headed down the street to the new coffee shop. It had just opened a few weeks ago and seemed to be doing a brisk business. It was one of only two places in town that had free Wi-Fi, the other being the library, which was big news in Honeywell, Texas. If it had been Cheyenne’s business, she probably would have chosen a different name, though. Ground Zero seemed a little ominous.

But as soon as she stepped inside, she fell in love. Decorated with rustic charm, it was very different from everything else in town. This was a trendy little spot. There was soft music playing that wasn’t… country, gasp!

Several of the patrons were younger kids, and for just a moment she worried she was too old to be here, then she saw several more mature people at tables. The young woman that waited on her looked familiar, but Cheyenne couldn’t place her. Probably one of her former students. When she asked what Cheyenne would like, she stalled out.

“I’m not sure. What do you suggest?”

“Do you like caramel?”

Cheyenne nodded.

“Can I make you an iced caramel macchiato? It’s creamy and sweet.”

Cheyenne thought about it a moment before nodding her head. “Please.”

She paid the bill and watched the girl put the coffee together. There were magazines and newspapers on a counter for customer use, so when her coffee was done she grabbed a magazine and headed to a soft looking leather chair.

As soon as she took a sip of the creamy concoction, she knew she was in trouble. It was delicious. And the chair was so comfy. If she didn’t feel like she was cheating on Katie and the library, Cheyenne had a feeling she could fall in love with this place.

For a solid, blissful half hour, she let herself just sit and waste time. It was such a strange thing to do. Every day she had a list of chores five miles long to get done before she crashed. As the girls had gotten older, they’d gotten a little easier to care for, but they still needed to be watched as carefully as wranglers watched over a whole herd of cattle. It seemed like the older they got the more devious they got, and darned if that Grace wasn’t going to give her a heart attack before she even went to middle school. That girl had the devil’s own knack for finding trouble.

Guilt began to eat at Cheyenne, though, the longer she sat there. This time she’d been given was a gift, so she needed to take advantage of it. With that thought in mind, she got to her feet. She returned the magazine to the rack and threw away the empty plastic cup, wondering when she’d be able to get another one. It had been so delicious.

As she pushed through the door to the street, it opened quicker than she expected and she stumbled out. A broad hand caught her arm gently and fear ripped through her at the implacable hold. With a cry, expecting to be struck, she looked up and up into mirrored sunglasses.

It took her entirely too long to recognize the county sheriff, Sheridan Lane.

The friendly expression he normally wore had shifted into shocked hurt, and Cheyenne couldn’t blame him. He held his hands palms up in the universal ‘no weapon’ sign, and for a moment she wanted to burst into hysterical laughter. The man was massive, almost a foot taller than her, muscled, the county sheriff for God’s sake, and he was holding his hands up like she was going to hurt him.

Glancing around, she straightened, trying to see if anyone had noticed her freak out. There were people up and down Main Street but there was no one in the immediate area.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Clearing her throat, she straightened her spine and took a deep breath. There was nothing here to hurt her. It was the middle of the day and she knew Sheridan, for crying out loud.

But as she looked at the surprise on his devastatingly handsome face, she acknowledged something she’d been aware of for a long time. Sheridan Lane had been a friend of the family for many years and she’d treated him like the plague for a long time. It wasn’t his fault he’d witnessed the worst night of her life.

It also wasn’t his fault she thought about that night every time she saw him. That needed to change.

Reaching out, she waited for him to take her hand. “I’m so sorry I did that. I was very relaxed in the coffee shop and it must have affected my defenses or something. You didn’t deserve that reaction.”

Sheridan finally took her hand and Cheyenne almost gasped. What was it about him that made her heart take off? It wasn’t fear now, but something else altogether that made her heart race just as fast. She really was going to have a heart attack today.

This unreasonable fear needed to change.

Taking her courage in hand, and a heavy, deep breath, she waved toward the coffee shop. “Can I get you a coffee?”

The big man stared at her as if trying to decide the safest answer to her question, but she didn’t let it deter her. “You were heading into the shop, right?”

“I was,” he agreed carefully, taking off his sunglasses. “You don’t have to buy me a coffee though.”

“I insist,” she said firmly.

Without arguing, he turned to pull the door open for her. Cheyenne skirted his broad body and headed back to the counter, where the girl looked up with a smile.

“Another caramel macchiato?”

Cheyenne pursed her lips, but decided what the heck. “Yes, but a small one this time, and whatever the sheriff wants.”

The girl looked up at Sheriff Lane and that familiar look slid over her face, just like every other female in Floyd County that interacted with him. That softening and deep, sighing breath that said she would love to take care of anything for the sheriff she possibly could. Cheyenne had seen it many times before, but the sheriff had never given any indication of interest.

“What can I get you, Sheriff? Your regular? Do you want the chocolate chip or the cotton candy cafefrappe?” She pronounced it cafefrap.

The big man blinked and winced a little, his cheeks taking on the lightest hint of pink. “No, Alicia. How about just give me whatever Cheyenne ordered?”

Shrugging, she punched a couple of keys on the cash register and gave Cheyenne the total. She paid the barista and moved down to the end of the counter before she turned to glance at him. They didn’t say anything as they waited for their drinks, and the silence was starting to get a little uncomfortable.

Finally, Alicia set the drinks on the counter in front of them and they moved toward the tables. Desperately, Cheyenne looked for something on the bigger side, but these were all cozy little spaces meant for single occupants with computers or tablets. The sheriff was a big man, and she was tall. They would be bumping constantly.

Finally, she settled at a table and turned a little sideways in her chair so that she could cross her legs to the side. It put her in the aisle a little, but it allowed him to have the legroom he needed. He dropped his cream colored hat with the sheriff’s badge to the tabletop beside them.

He took a swallow of the cold coffee and grimaced. Cheyenne had thought it was pretty sweet, but maybe not. “You have a sweet tooth, huh?”

He glanced up, a smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. Cheyenne had never realized what nice lips he had. They looked exceptionally soft.

She jerked her gaze back to his face, but he was looking at the coffee. He hadn’t seen her ogling him like the rest of the women in town did.

“Yeah, I’m partial to those frap things. They’re basically milk shakes.”

“I’ve never tried one. They sound good.”

“Olivia got me started on them. Seems like she’s hanging out in here every day after school.”

Ah, yes. Olivia Lane looked very much like her father, with thick, dark walnut colored hair and bright green hazel eyes. She was a beautiful girl and would be an even more beautiful young woman. It had been several years since Cheyenne had seen her because the girl had moved on to the high school. She had to be at least fifteen or sixteen now. “Is she driving yet?”

The sheriff grimaced. “Not yet, and you ought to hear the raft of grief I’m getting because of it. She still has to take her final test and I’m dragging my feet.” He gave her a sheepish look as he took a drink from the coffee. “The idea of her driving scares me to death, though.”

Cheyenne nodded. “Well, you know as well as I do that crashes are the number one killer of teens. That young couple died over in Carter County just a few months ago.”

He nodded and swiped a big hand through his thick hair. “I know. I was called in to help with the accident reconstruction. It was a little beyond the local constable’s training.”

That made her heart ache for him. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

“Part of the job,” he murmured, looking down to stir his drink.

Yes, it was. As well as coming to the rescue of women.

Cheyenne shut that line of thinking off, then she allowed it to flow again. This moment in time needed to be positive. It was time they all moved on from the mess her life had been.

“I’m sorry I jumped out there,” she told him abruptly. “I was pretty relaxed in here and you startled me when you grabbed my arm. It wasn’t you, specifically, though. I just wanted you to know that.”

He narrowed his eyes in thought, before nodding. “I know that. I’m a little shocked you’re even talking to me right now, though. What’s changed?”

Cheyenne turned to look out the window. Cars drove by slowly, trucks mostly, hauling feed or wire. There were a few people walking, but not very many. What had changed?

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m just tired of not being normal, I guess. It’s been six years. No, seven now. And I’ve realized how ridiculous I was being, jumping every time I see you.”

Sheridan cocked his head at her. “You can’t always make things better just because you want to.”

There was a glint of humor in his eyes that really appealed to her. She’d missed seeing him and talking to him. They’d been friendly years ago. “I know. We might just have to be happy with this little step for a while.”

They both smiled and took a drink of their coffees.

“Well, when you’re ready for more let me know.”