Her Small-Town Sheriff. Lissa Manley

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       Classic avoidance.

       Sighing, he went to the bottom of the stairs. Heidi sat on the top step, looking mighty worried if you asked him; she was a smart kid, and she knew she’d messed up. She had her long, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she’d changed into gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt as opposed to the jeans or legging thingies she usually wore to school. Her feet were bare, and he noticed she’d painted her toenails a funky blue. Gone were the days she used some demure shade of pink.

       “Well, come on down and at least sit with me,” he said. “You know I don’t like eating alone.” Going from a family of four to a family of two almost overnight did that to a guy.

       Heidi scrunched up her face. “Do I have to?” she groused.

       “Yup, you do.” He headed back to the kitchen. “You’ll probably get hungry when you see what Mrs. P. whipped up.”

       Just as he was loading a plate with food, Heidi appeared at the kitchen door.

       He motioned her in. “Sure you don’t want some?” he asked, holding up the serving spoon. “It looks delicious.”

       Heidi shrugged. “All right, maybe a little.” Guess she was hungry after all if she was willing to step into the fire.

       When they were seated at the table, he took a few bites, marveling at Mrs. Philpot’s cooking skills. The meal was delicious, and certainly better than the frozen pizza he would have thrown in the oven if she hadn’t made dinner.

       Heidi sat slumped in her chair and simply pushed her food around with her fork without speaking or looking at him.

       He ate and just let the silence sink in for a bit; she needed to stew for while, worry some. When she finally started fidgeting, he cleared his throat and said, “So, as you know, I had a call from Ms. Sellers from the ice cream parlor today.”

       Heidi studied her plate as if it held the magical key to getting out of the inevitable conversation. After a long silence, she huffed and put her fork down with a clank. “Yeah,” she said, her voice defiant. “So?”

       His gut burned. “So? You shoplifted, Heidi. What were you thinking?” he asked, his voice low but intense. “Ms. Sellers could have pressed charges.”

       Heidi slanted a decidedly worried glance at him, biting her lip. “So did she?”

       “No, she didn’t, luckily for you.” He swiped a hand over his eyes, wishing he could wipe away the scene playing out before him. “She could have, though, and probably should have. But she’s a nice woman, and she wanted to cut you a break.”

       “Then what’s the problem?” Heidi asked, giving him the classic eye roll.

       Dropping his jaw, he stared at her, absolutely flabbergasted. “Are you kidding me? The problem is you snuck out of the house and stole candy.”

       She said nothing, did nothing. Just sat there, blank. Unrepentant. Who was this sullen kid? What had happened to his little pigtailed daughter with two missing front teeth? The one who actually cared about what he thought? Suddenly he missed that kid, but feared he’d never have her back. Susan leaving had really knocked a hole in their lives, and he’d lost so much more than a wife that stormy winter day Susan had left.

       He looked at the ceiling, taking a moment to get ahold of the anxiety bubbling through him. Finally, he said, “Don’t you get that what you did was wrong?”

       Heidi shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

       Her nonchalance raised his blood pressure another notch. “So why did you do it?”

       Nothing.

       “Heidi?” he said firmly, resisting the urge to raise his voice. “Tell me.”

       She let out a huff. “Because Briana and Jessie dared me, okay?”

       So Phoebe had been right. Even so, he dipped his chin and just stared at Heidi, as if to say, you did this on a stupid dare?

       Her eyes glimmered, and he guessed her control was slipping. “They said that I wouldn’t have the guts because I was the sheriff’s daughter.”

       Her words hit him like well-aimed bullets, and he winced inwardly. His first instinct was to back off a bit; it probably was hard at times to be a small-town sheriff’s kid. Kind of like being the minister’s kid—expectations were higher somehow.

       But, no. He couldn’t cave and go easy on Heidi. There was a lot at stake here, and he had to be a strong father for his daughter’s sake; a statement about an inch and a mile flitted through his brain. Hopefully she’d thank him someday.

       “So you broke the law to prove you weren’t chicken,” he stated, trying to stay calm.

       Suddenly the dam broke, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Yes, I did,” she cried. “They said they’d be my friends if I did it.”

       Searing pain streaked through his heart, and he resisted the urge to scoop his baby girl into his arms and make everything all right. Poor Heidi. She’d been through so much lately, more, really, than any kid should have to bear. “So you did it to make them like you?” he got out.

       Looking at the floor, she nodded.

       His throat tightened. What could he say to that? Heidi was the new girl in town, and he knew she desperately wanted to fit in. But, again, he had to be strong, had to keep the big picture in mind. He had to do the hard thing here; parenting wasn’t for wimps, and here he was, doing it all alone.

       Grim resignation settled down around him.

       He fisted his hands, hating what he had to do. “Well, honey, I’m sorry they dangled that in front of you. That was a cruel thing for them to do.”

       She sobbed, gutting him.

       He forced himself to continue. “But you’re still responsible for your choices. And you stole, period.” He sucked in air, steeling himself. “There has to be a consequence. So Ms. Sellers and I have agreed that you will spend the rest of the week doing chores at her store after school.”

       Heidi froze, then blinked, clearing her wet eyes. “What? Are you kidding me?” Red-faced, she jumped to her feet. “It was no big deal, Dad. Why can’t you just let it go? Why do you have to make me work at some dumb ice cream store?”

       He tightened his jaw until his head ached. “Because shoplifting was wrong, that’s why.”

       She swiped the tears from her eyes. “You’re the worst dad ever!” she screamed. “Mom wouldn’t have made me do this.”

       More bullets pierced him; Susan was gone and would never make a tough parenting call again. He was on his own.

       He let Heidi’s comment go, sure she was speaking out of anger, which he couldn’t blame her for. He had a boatload of anger, too, mostly directed at himself, though he was also pretty mad at Susan for abandoning them.

       Mostly, though, he just felt betrayed.

       Heidi turned on her heel and ran out of the СКАЧАТЬ