Cheyenne called her mother the next morning and explained what was going on.

“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell us this sooner. You know you always have a place here.”

Cheyenne hated to hear the hurt in her mother’s voice.

“Mama, I didn’t want Daddy, or you, to be stressed out. I know you would have welcomed us, but Daddy needs time to recover. The wedding date is coming up soon and I know he’s been focusing on that. Sheridan has a lot of security around his house, and he has a guard dog.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And his house is huge. He moved into Loveland, remember?”

Her mother laughed. “Ridiculous name. I remember when that old man moved out there and plastered that name on the fence. We laughed about that for weeks.”

Cheyenne snorted. “I remember.”

“Does Brock know that Wade is out of prison?”

“Yes. Sheridan called him.”

There was silence on the line. “Okay. I’m not going to say I’m not hurt that you didn’t call us sooner, but I understand you were worried about your father.”

“I was,” Cheyenne confirmed. “And you, Mama. I know you’ve been working hard taking care of Daddy and getting the house ready.”

“What about the wedding shower? Chad and Lora are coming down at the end of the month.”

“We’ll be ready for them, don’t worry. Payton is handling some of the details for me, like the walk-through. Everything will work out.”

“Okay, Cheyenne. I love you, baby. Keep me posted on Wade.”

“I will, Mama. And you let us know if you see him around too. He’s driving a white truck with blacked out windows.”

“Will do. Give my babies a kiss for me. And if you still want me to take Grace while the other girls are away, you let me know.”

“Okay, Mama. Bye.”

Cheyenne decided a few minutes later that her mother was an angel sent from heaven since she’d offered to take her youngest hellion for a while, and she would be getting a call taking her up on that offer directly. Cheyenne breathed deeply, trying not to lose her patience. “Grace Elaina, what have you done?”

Grace looked shame-faced, but Cheyenne could also see humor dancing in her bright blue eyes. Carolyn stood beside her, arms crossed over her chest. Carolyn’s beautiful strawberry blond hair was wet and lank, and her t-shirt and jeans were soaked, her expression furious.

On the floor of the kitchen was a huge pool of black soda. The counters dripped. Everything within a ten-foot radius was wet.

“She pranked me, Mama,” Carolyn cried.

Grace snickered, and Carolyn shoved her in the shoulder.

“Grace,” Cheyenne said as sternly as she could. “What did you do? I’m not going to ask you again. This is not our house, and you’ve made an incredible mess.”

Finally, some of the amusement left her face. “I’m sorry, Mama. I thought it would be funny to prank someone, so I put Mentos on a string and put them inside the Coke bottle, in the lid, and cut off the string. My friend Abby told me how to do it. Then when Carolyn took the lid off the Mentos fell in the pop and fizz exploded all over her. It was awesome!”

Cheyenne took another breath and fought to keep her face stern. It was kind of an awesome prank, but blazes, what a mess. “I give you points for doing a science experiment, but you need to apologize to your sister and start cleaning this up. Then you’re going to apologize to the sheriff because this is his house.”

“Yes, Mama.” Grace looked down at her feet.

“And you’re probably going to have to clean this a couple of times, because you know how sticky Coke gets. Now, apologize.”

“Sorry, Carolyn,” Grace said reluctantly.

Carolyn looked a little appeased, but still aggravated. “Why do you always do these things to me?”

Grace shrugged, looking at her feet again.

“Carolyn, go take a shower. Grace, while the sheriff and I are out, Carolyn is going to be the one to decide if the kitchen is clean enough. Do you understand?”

Cheyenne tried not to be moved by the tears in her eyes.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“There are extra paper towels in the pantry, as well as rags you can wet down to clean the cupboards. And there’s a wet Swiffer for the floor when you’re done with the rest of the mess.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Carolyn left for the shower and Grace for the walk-in pantry and the cleaning supplies, giving Cheyenne just enough time to snap a picture of the mess with her phone. She left the kitchen laughing quietly to herself and sent the picture to Payton. She would get a kick out of the girl’s antics.

She returned to her room to continue looking at the pile of clothes on her bed. She’d only packed enough for a few days, so he was going to have to see her in one of the shirts she wore for school. She had a casual white peasant skirt she could pair it with, though, and her brown sandals. Not especially dressed up, but better than school slacks.

Breakfast this morning had been a rousing affair. All of the kids, including Olivia, tried to help with the pancakes, and they ended up making more of a mess than necessary. Sheridan’s poor, beautiful kitchen was never going to recover from them. But the food was good and the companionship even better. Cheyenne found herself watching Sheridan a lot. No, take that back. She found herself watching his talented mouth all morning. At one point Olivia shoved something in front of her gaze, deliberately it seemed, to get Cheyenne to look at her. Sheridan didn’t seem to notice the little interaction, though, which she was extremely thankful for.

All she could think about was kissing him again.

But what moved her besides the physical reaction he stoked in her, was her emotional response to him. Sheridan made her feel like what she did was valued. Wade had never given her that. He’d only belittled her, no matter what she’d done. Even after he’d been injured and she’d cared for him almost twenty-four/ seven, then continued to work to keep food on the table. Thinking back now, she could see how ego-deflating it would be for a man like Wade to have to rely upon a woman for everything, but he’d been such an asshole about it.

Sheridan made her feel everything that she’d wanted to feel in a true-committed marriage, and all he’d done was kiss her. Those kisses though … damn. Did she dare believe he was as incredible as she thought? At one point she’d thought Wade was amazing too, but that hadn’t turned out the way she’d expected. Looking back, she knew she’d been blinded by Wade’s flashiness, his enthusiasm for life, his success in a glittery sport. After he’d been gored and all of that had gone away, she’d stayed in the marriage because that was what you did in a marriage, you stayed for your spouse in thick and thin, healthy or not. If Wade hadn’t eventually resorted to physical abuse and the pill addiction, there was a chance she’d still be stuck in the marriage.

A chill shuddered through her. That would have killed her. And her daughters wouldn’t be the amazing, strong young women they were.

Cheyenne looked down at the skirt in her hand, realizing she’d been standing there forever thinking about the differences in the two men. There was no comparison, not at all.

Cheyenne glanced at the time on her phone. She needed to get moving.

For her date.