on numerous occasions. I’d assured him I’d discussed things many times with the sheriff but that nothing changed.
“Then I told him what happened at the store. He seemed shocked, and when I told him I’d confronted the sheriff, and that he and I had...words, Homer was not happy. I may lose my job over this.” She groaned and shook her head. “I can’t believe I lost control that way. I never fly off the handle like that.”
“No one is perfect,” Gracie said. “And maybe if the mayor talks to Colt, he’ll be forced to do something about Cilla and Brady’s behavior.”
“I pray you’re right.”
“Well, I’m glad you told Colt just how dreadful his kids can be,” Ellie said. “I told him as much, too. And having been a victim myself, I can only imagine what you’ve been dealing with the past year. I dread the thought of coping with those two all day.”
“Surely they can’t be that bad,” Gracie said. “I mean, I’ve heard rumors, but...”
Ellie pressed her pretty lips together to keep from saying something she shouldn’t, and gave Allison a pointed look.
“Well, Priscilla disrupts class at least two or three times a day, and must be either stood in the corner or given extra work to do. She is sarcastic, argumentative, and at times her behavior verges on outright defiance.”
“Never say it!”
Allison nodded. “In general, Brady is a sweet enough child, but he falls more and more behind every day, since he can’t seem to grasp any part of the concept of reading. As you know, if you can’t read, you have trouble with other subjects and even some mathematical problems.”
“That’s true,” Gracie said, frowning.
“When I comment on an incorrect answer, he becomes resentful and belligerent and often refuses to do anything I ask of him for the remainder of the day. He’d rather stand in the corner than comply with any request I might make.”
“What does the sheriff say?” Gracie asked.
“That he’ll take care of things, but he doesn’t.”
“The thing is,” Ellie chimed in, “Colt is smart, dedicated and honorable. He really cares about people and he’s very hardworking, but when it comes to those kids, he’s a total failure. They rule the Garrett roost.”
Allison nodded in agreement. “I told him he needed to take more control.” She made a disgusted face. “He didn’t appreciate it much.”
“Well, if they’re as bad as all that, don’t you think someone should try to find out why?” Gracie said, looking from one friend to the other.
A little surprised by the logic of the comment, Allison and Ellie stared at each other. Leave it to Gracie to cut to the chase.
“Let’s face it, men don’t relate to children the way women do. Don’t you imagine it’s been hard for them growing up without a mother?” Gracie asked, ever the one to see the other side.
“I suppose so,” Ellie conceded.
Allison shifted in her seat, as a wave of shame and failure swept through her. “I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never given it more than passing thought,” she said. “I’ve been more concerned about their behavior and Brady’s grades.”
“I’m no alienist,” Gracie said, “but I would venture to say that the reason they’re so mean to the women Colt shows interest in is that they’re afraid someone might come between them and their father.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ellie said at last. “They should know that he will love them no matter what.”
“Actually, it does, Ellie,” Allison said, acknowledging her own oversight and latching on to the levelheaded Gracie’s theory.
“Well, why were they so terrible to you?” Ellie asked. “There’s nothing going on between you and Colt.”
Not that I wouldn’t like there to be.
Without warning, the thought flashed through Allison’s mind, and she stifled a little gasp of surprise. Now, where did that come from? Not once since Jesse had she felt any serious attraction to a man, and Colt Garrett was not the sort of man who could ever interest her!
“Oh,” Gracie said. “You’re right. Allison is their teacher, not the sheriff’s lady love.”
“Who knows what goes through the minds of children?” Allison said, warming to this new viewpoint. “Especially Sheriff Garrett’s children. You could be onto something with the notion that they don’t want anyone upsetting the status quo. I’m not sure children understand the different kinds of love or that it’s possible to love more than one person.”
She took a final sip of her cooling coffee and drew her purse closer, ending the conversation. “Homer said he’d think things over and decide on a course of action.”
She pulled some coins from her purse to pay for the coffee, but Ellie pushed them aside. “It’s on the house.”
“Thank you. I’d better start pinching pennies since I may soon be without employment. You don’t need a waitress, do you?” The expression in Allison’s eyes belied the lightness of her voice.
“Not really,” Ellie said with a laugh. She gave Allison’s hand a pat. “I know you’re worried, sister dear,” she said, falling back on the childhood term for Allison. “I can’t imagine it coming to that. Homer is one of your most loyal fans.”
“Maybe so,” Allison said, “but everyone knows that he’s very pleased with Colt as our sheriff, too.”
Colt scraped the fingers of both hands through his light brown, sun-bleached hair, rested his elbows on the desktop and clutched his aching head. The minute Allison Grainger was out of his sight, his anger had more or less dissolved. He resented her audacity, but he couldn’t deny that what she’d said, combined with what Ellie had told him, brought sharp focus to something he’d known for a while: he had a problem.
He wasn’t totally oblivious. He’d heard the whispers that accompanied the kids wherever they went. The people he considered true friends, like the Gentry brothers, had come straight out and told him pretty much what the teacher had—that he’d best get them in check before it was too late. As hard as it was to swallow, he knew they were all right. Something had to give. He didn’t want Brady to be illiterate or Cilla to be a shrew. Patrice certainly hadn’t been, and Colt didn’t think he was too cantankerous...except maybe when he dealt with the oh-so-prim Miss Grainger.
Why was he such a hopeless parent? He loved his kids. Would die for them. He tried to balance his time at home with work and gave them pretty much whatever they wanted, but according to Miss Grainger, they wanted boundaries. In other words, rules. Oh, he’d made lots of rules through the years. The problem was that he was much better at enforcing the laws of the land than he was at enforcing his own regulations.
He admitted to being bad about threatening them with dire consequences
