“She was just saying that to be nice. We’re not going and that’s final.”
Cheyenne’s boots hit the concrete floor with a loud crack. “You just don’t want me to have any fun, do you? You’re fine working all the time and never doing anything but eating microwavable dinners and watching television in our depressing little apartment and you expect me to be fine with that too. Well, I’m not, Daddy. I want more from life. I want to live! You might not want to go to Boone and Emma’s for Thanksgiving, but I do. And I’m going to get a boyfriend too. I’m going to kiss Joey Mac if it’s the last thing I do!”
In a staccato of clicking boot heels, she stormed into the office and slammed the door.
Cal didn’t go after her. He had learned that it was best to let her cool off after one of herdramatic explosions. Usually, Cheyenne came back on her own and apologized. Of course, this time maybe he was the one who needed to apologize. Hehadbeen working an awful lot lately. And not just lately. Ever since Clarissa left. Working seemed to numb his emotions. But he couldn’t keep numbing his emotions at the expense of his own daughter’s happiness.
Cheyenne was right. He was all work and no play. While he might not want to get into another relationship, that didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun with his daughter. She was fifteen and would be leaving for college soon. Then it would just be him sitting all alone in a depressing little apartment wallowing in self-pity. Which was why Cheyenne was so insistent that he remarry. She just didn’t want her old dad being lonely. He didn’t know how he had managed it, but he’d raised a sweet girl.
A sweet girl who had set her sights on Joey Mac.
Cal knew the kid and didn’t like him. Joey worked at the Simple Pharmacy soda fountain and drove a souped up Ford Mustang that he’d brought in for Cal to work on. The entire time Cal was fixing the fuel injector, Joey had been looking at himself in one of the hubcaps Cal had hung on the wall and talking on his cellphone with one girl after the other. The boy was a player. And Cal wasn’t about to let him play with Cheyenne.
But how could he stop it? And what if Cheyenne wasn’t just thinking about kissing Joey? AllCal had thought about when he was fifteen was sex. Did girls have the same thoughts? Damn, he thought he’d covered the sex talk with Cheyenne when she was in sixth grade. It looked like he still had some work to do. He wished she would talk to her mom about these things. But Cheyenne was still angry at Clarissa for leaving and even broaching the subject of talking with her mom would start an argument. He could ask Emma Murphy or Sheriff Dixie Leigh for help. Both women had taken Cheyenne under their wings. But he was Cheyenne’s parent. He should be the one who broached the subject, no matter how uncomfortable it was.
The click of heels on concrete pulled him out of his thoughts. Before Cheyenne could speak, he did.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t let your grumpy father keep you from having fun. Life is short, and no matter what age you are, you should live it to the fullest. That being said, you shouldn’t jump into things that you’re not ready for either.” Here, he wanted to say, “You’re not ready for sex. Don’t have it.” But Cheyenne had just gotten ticked at him for telling her what she couldn’t do, so he figured he needed to be a little more subtle . . . and sensitive.
He cleared his throat and tried to find the right words. “I know your body is changing and it’s perfectly natural to be feeling a lot of new physical desires. But that doesn’t mean you should race out and try to fulfill those desires with some random guy. Take your first kiss for example. Yourfirst kiss is a gift that shouldn’t be given to just anyone. It should be given to someone you care about and trust. Someone you don’t ever want to forget. Because everyone remembers their first kiss. And you don’t want to remember some jerk who kisses every girl who wanders by. You want to remember a good person. A caring person who deserved that kiss.
“And the same goes for the first person you . . . make love to. You should choose someone who’s worthy of such a special gift. Someone who will make that moment as wonderful as it should be. And finding someone like that takes time. Years, in fact. I jumped into things with your mama and look how that turned out. You don’t want that happening to you. Your first time should be with someone who loves you as much as you love them.”
When he was finished, he couldn’t help feeling pretty damn proud of the speech. He pushed the caster cart out from under the car so he could see Cheyenne’s reaction. But it wasn’t Cheyenne standing there looking down at him.
It was Jolene Applegate.
He had grown up with Jolene, or Miss Applegate as he always thought of her. She was only a couple years older than he was, but whenever he was around her, he always felt like a guilty kid standing in front of his teacher. Some of it had to do with the frumpy clothes she wore. Some had to do with her stern expression. The rest had to do with the fact that she had never acted like a kid. She’d always acted like an aloof and distantadult. Like she was above everyone else. Money could do that to a person. Maybe that’s why Cal had always felt beneath her. She and her sister had been the richest kids in town while Cal had been one of the poorest.
It was obvious by her face, which was as bright red as the motor oil sign on the wall next to her, that she’d heard his sappy speech. But he was a little too old to play guilty schoolboy to her stern teacher.
He got to his feet. “Sorry about that, Miss Applegate. I thought you were Cheyenne.” He pulled the bandana out of the back pocket of his jeans to wipe the grease from his hands. She watched him intently, and he was sure she was disgusted by his grease-lined nails and rough, scarred hands. But he wasn’t about to apologize for who he was. He slipped the bandana back in his pocket. “How can I help you?”
Miss Applegate’s gaze lifted. She wasn’t a stunner. Her forehead was a little too high and her nose a little too long. But she had always had pretty eyes. The irises were a bright blue with a starburst of soft golden brown around the pupil. They had always reminded him of a tropical ocean washing up on a sandy beach.
She looked away from his direct perusal and fiddled with the string of pearls she always wore. “No need to apologize, Mr. Daily. I should’ve interrupted you right away. I was just . . .” She let the sentence drift off and Cal figured he could finish it for her. She was just too appalled by the subject matter. Miss Applegate struck him asone of those self-righteous, uptight women who didn’t think about sex, much less talk about it.
“I still should’ve made sure it was Cheyenne before I spoke,” he said. “Now what can I do for you?”
She glanced out the open bay door. “I was hoping you could take a look at my tire. It seems to be losing air. But if you don’t have time today, I completely understand. I should’ve called first.”
“No problem. Just pull it into that empty bay and I’ll see what’s—”
Cheyenne came waltzing out of the office and cut him off. “Okay, I’m sorry I was such a—oh, Miss Applegate. I didn’t realize you were here. How are you doing today, ma’am?”
Miss Applegate turned to Cheyenne and smiled. Cal was more than a little taken aback. He didn’t think the woman knew how to smile. He certainly had never seen her do it until now. Of course, his daughter could get a smile out of anyone.
“I’m fine. Thank you,” Miss Applegate said. “How are you, Cheyenne?”
“Good.” She glanced at Cal guiltily. “If not a little too sassy.”
Miss Applegate’s smile slipped. “There’s nothing wrong with having a little fire in your personality. It’s much better than being too timid.” She glanced at Cal. “I’ll go get my car and pull it in.”
Cheyenne watched her leave. “I feel so sorry for her having to live with her father. Otis Applegate reminds me of the Grinch with his sour face and grumpy ways.”
“Sorta like your daddy?”
Cheyenne turned to him with apologetic eyes. “You’re not a Grinch. You’re a great daddy.” She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him close. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. If you want to have Thanksgiving with just the two us, that’s fine with me.”
