you kidding me? Of course I know for sure. They’re my kids. That’s not something you forget.”
“According to John, you walked out on them. That true?”
“I left them with their father for personal reasons,” Renee said, fuming. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“I’m the one asking the questions. Why’d you leave them?”
“I told you. It was personal.”
“Yeah…it usually is.” The woman regarded her shrewdly and Renee felt her jaw tense. She got the distinct impression this small-town sheriff was judging her and there was nothing Renee hated more than to be put on display just so someone else could offer their opinion. The sheriff sighed. “Well, we’ve got ourselves a situation.”
“Yes, I agree. Some hillbilly horse rancher has my children and I require your assistance to retrieve them,” Renee said.
“That’s not exactly how I see it,” the sheriff admitted with a shake of her head.
“Oh? Is there any other way to see things? Perhaps you’d like to swab my cheek for DNA to make sure I’m their mother.”
The sarcasm in her voice did little to soften the sheriff toward her but Renee was losing patience with this whole ridiculous routine. And to think she’d thought the hardest part of this mess would’ve been to find Jason and the girls, not pick them up. Noting the narrowed stare and gathering frown on the sheriff’s face, she tried again. “Listen, I’m tired and I just want to get my girls. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding but no harm done. So if you’ll just provide a police escort, we’ll be out of your hair before you know it and everything can go back to the way things were before me and my girls ever stepped foot in this godfor—” she checked that part of her sentence “—uh, town.”
The sheriff smiled but Renee felt the chill before the woman started talking. “You never answered my question.” At Renee’s blank stare, the sheriff asked again, “Why’d you leave your kids behind with a man who, by the sounds of it, wasn’t fit to water a dog much less care for three babies?”
No one hated the truth of that answer more than her, but if she lied it would only make her look worse so Renee grit her teeth and admitted her greatest shame to a total stranger. “Because I was in rehab.”
“Rehab.”
In that one word, Renee heard a wealth of condemnation and she wanted to scream. She’d get no help from the sheriff. Fine. On to Plan B. Inside she was shaking with frustration but she kept her expression calm, knowing if she had any chance of getting her girls she had to first get the hell out of this jail cell.
The sheriff sighed. “Okay, here’s the deal. John told me Gladys Stemming has temporary guardianship for the time being so until you get in front of the judge and have that amended, the order stands and I can’t let you charge out there and take the kids. But seeing as you haven’t actually committed a crime I can’t keep you here so, if I let you out of this cell, you’re going to promise me that you’re not going to rattle any more cages with your screeching and hollering. That’s not how things are done around here, you hearing me?”
Renee swallowed and nodded though it killed her to agree to those terms, especially when her first instinct was to drive straight back to that ranch and take the girls and run. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and she rationalized that once she got in court—in front of someone normal instead of these small-town hillbilly types who made up the rules as they went along—she knew she’d get her girls back and they could leave this nightmare behind.
“I hear you. Loud and clear,” Renee answered. “I’m sorry for freaking out your receptionist. I was upset. I haven’t seen my girls in months and contrary to what you may think about me, I’ve been desperately searching for them since Jason took off,” she added, with a dose of humility that wasn’t entirely fake for she really hadn’t meant to frighten anyone.
“Um-hmm. Well, just see that you keep your nose clean until you can get to court. I don’t want to have to lock you up again.”
That makes two of us.
JOHN SAT ACROSS THE TABLE from Alexis and Taylor while Chloe helped Gladys bake cookies in the kitchen.
“Was that your mama?” he asked the girls. Both were wearing solemn expressions, though there was a hint of anger in Alexis’s. He sighed. “If that woman was your mama, she’s going to come back and if the courts decide she’s fit, you’re going to have to go with her. Don’t you want to see your mama?”
Taylor looked uncertain but as she slanted a quick glance at her older sister, who had remained stoic, she chose to keep her answer locked up tight. Though her silence didn’t last long.
“I want to stay with you, Mr. John,” Taylor blurted. “I like it here. It’s warm and you’re a good cooker and I don’t mind sharing a bed with my sisters because it’s soft and I don’t get woken up by bugs running across my toes. Please don’t make us leave, Mr. John.”
That last part—delivered with a child’s earnestness—hit him square in the chest. He didn’t want to give the kid false promises but he couldn’t imagine breaking her heart like everyone else in her short life had done. “There are rules when it comes to kids,” he started, hating that it wasn’t as simple as Taylor saw it. “If your mama isn’t fit then you have to go to a court appointed something-or-another. This is a temporary thing that we got going on right now.” Tears sprang to Taylor’s eyes and Alexis pulled her closer. Ah hell…rules were meant to be broken, weren’t they? “Listen, I’ll see what I can do but if you stay here, there are rules here, too. Chores, helping out. I run a working horse ranch and I don’t have time to be chasing after three little girls who aren’t prone to listening.” He gave Alexis a short look. “Am I clear?”
Taylor nodded. “Can I help with the horses?”
John exhaled loudly, feeling as if he’d just agreed to take on the world for three little strangers. “We’ll see. In the meantime, why don’t you go help Mrs. Stemming with those cookies. I need to talk with your sister.”
He watched as Taylor hopped from her chair and skipped to help Gladys, a bright smile wreathing her small face as Gladys handed her a bowl with cookie dough and told her to start rolling it into little balls for the oven. He’d told Gladys she shouldn’t be up and about so much but the old gal wanted to feel useful and wouldn’t be deterred. He figured for now it was all right but he was going to get her to see the doctor soon.
Once Taylor was suitably occupied he gestured for Alexis to follow him into the living room, which was a far enough distance from the kitchen to allow them some privacy.
She took a seat opposite him, perched on the edge of the cowhide sofa as if poised to bolt if the need arose. Everything about Alexis, from her rigid posture to her sharp, alert and wary gaze, told him that this girl had lost her childhood somewhere along the way of her life. He could relate somewhat. He’d often felt like Evan’s father rather than just his older brother after their mom died. The weight of that responsibility had a tendency to suck the fun right out of growing up. He eyed her intently. This kid didn’t know what it was like to be coddled and so he’d talk to her straight.
“You mad at your mama? It’s okay if you are. She did a bad thing, leaving you like she did. But it seems maybe she has changed a bit since you saw her last. She
