“Hey, Daddy, what’s taking so long?” She rested her elbows on his desk and cupped her face, those big eyes sparkling like the rarest of gems. He’d never thought it possible to love someone so much, so deeply, but he did—the same way he had loved her mother. There was nothing on this earth he wouldn’t do for his daughter. He’d give his life for her in a heartbeat. She was everything to him and would be until the day he died.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I have a situation here at the jail.” Glancing outside, he saw her bicycle. “Does Grandma know where you are?” Usually his mother called when Jody was on her way to his office.
Jody shrugged. “Grandma doesn’t know where I’m at half the time.”
“Really?” He leaned back in his chair.
“Shoot.” Jody snapped her fingers. “Ramrod says I’m the sharpest knife in the drawer and sometimes I cut my own self.”
Everyone in town knew Jody and she wasn’t in any danger. But it was against the rules for Jody to leave the house without permission. His daughter spent too much time at the local barbershop owned by Virgil and Ramrod Crebbs. They were old cowboys who had grown tired of the long hours in the saddle and had moved to town. They opened the one and only barbershop. Jody loved to hear their tales and she’d picked up their lingo.
Disciplining his daughter was hard. She had him wrapped so tight around her little finger that he let her get away with just about everything. He had to be stronger where Jody was concerned.
How many times had he told himself that? Just last week he had been called to the school because Jody had punched a boy in her class. The boy had told her she was a pretty girl. Apparently, those were fighting words. Jody was a tomboy and refused to admit she was a girl. Although the two of them has talked about this often Jody stuck to her stance that she was just Jody, not a girl.
He sucked in the fatherhood department.
Jody was a loner and that bothered him. She didn’t have friends her own age—all her friends were adults. He had to address that problem soon, too.
Dolittle came around the desk and nuzzled Wyatt’s leg. Wyatt scratched the dog’s head. “So you left the house without telling Grandma?”
“Well, Daddy, it was like this.” Her brown eyes grew serious and he just wanted to kiss her sweet, pixie face. “Grandma was having her Sunday poker game and she was telling Gladys that she needed to get her cataracts removed because she couldn’t see squat. You know how Gladys hates it when Grandma tells her what to do. They were having a loud argument about mind-your-own business types of things when I shouted that I was going to see what was keeping you so long.”
“I see.” Wyatt realized he had no control over any of the women in his life. His mother played the organ in church on Sunday mornings and then played poker with her friends in the afternoon.
Gambling was illegal in Texas, so he’d told them they couldn’t play for money. But the winner bowled free on Tuesdays and also got a free lunch; the others paid, at least that was what his mother told him. Half the time he didn’t know what the ladies were up to, and most of the time he’d rather not know. He’d prefer not to have to lock up his own mother.
Trying to look as stern as possible, he pointed a finger at Jody. “Next time, make sure Grandma hears you.”
At the firmness of Wyatt’s voice, Dolittle became rigid, on guard. They’d had him since he was a pup, and they realized early that the dog was lazy and did very little, hence the name. But he was protective of Jody and he’d fight a lion for her.
Wyatt rubbed the dog’s head, letting him know that no one was hurting Jody.
“Sure. No problem,” Jody replied. “Are you ready to go now? Virgil says the catfish are biting today. He says he caught one this big.” She stretched out her arms as far as she could.
“Virgil tells a lot of fish stories.”
“Uh-uh, Daddy.” Jody shook her head vigorously. “Virgil doesn’t lie.”
Stuart came out of the back room with an armload of blankets. Jody ran to him. “Whatcha doing, Stuart? It’s too hot for blankets.”
Stuart leaned down and whispered, “We have a female prisoner and I’m fixing her some privacy.”
“Oh.” Before Wyatt could stop her, Jody darted down the hall to the jail. He was instantly on his feet. But Dolittle was in the way and he almost tripped over him.
Jody stared though the bars at Ms. Ross. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“Stop gawking, little girl,” the woman said. “This isn’t a sideshow.”
Jody’s face puckered into a frown. “I’m not a girl. I’m Jody.”
“You look like a girl to me.”
“You’re a girl,” Jody said.
“Well, Jody-with-a-gender-issue, go away and leave me the hell alone.”
Jody put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, you said a bad word.”
“Like I care. Go away, brat.”
Jody placed her hands on her hips. “You’re not nice and I hope my daddy lets you rot in here.”
“Do you not understand the meaning of ‘go away’?”
Jody stuck out her tongue. Wyatt pulled her away and led her back into the office. “You know you’re not supposed to speak to the prisoners.”
“What did she do, Daddy?” Jody pulled free of his hold and looked up into his face.
Wyatt didn’t plan on answering that question. Jody didn’t need to know. He glanced at the clock. Almost four. Time to get in a little fishing.
“Stuart, my daughter and I are going fishing.”
“Yay!” Jody jumped up and down.
“If anyone calls about Ms. Ross, call me on my cell and I’ll come back and sort it out.”
“You gonna leave me here with her?” Stuart’s left eye twitched, which always happened when he was nervous.
Wyatt reached for his hat. “Is that a problem?”
“No…well…” Stuart held his hand over his mouth so Jody couldn’t hear. “What if she attacks me when I hang the blankets? I don’t want to hit a woman.”
Wyatt glanced at his watch. “Lamar’s shift starts at five so wait until then. Surely the two of you can handle one woman.”
Stuart nodded his head. “Yes, sir.”
Wyatt pointed to the bail book. “Leroy’s and Leonard’s wives are coming in with bail money, so let them go then.”
“Sure thing, Sheriff.” Stuart winked at Jody. “Catch a big one, little bit.” Everyone in town called Jody that.
Wyatt shook his head as he walked out the door. One feisty blonde had his office turned upside down.
Hopefully her powerful mother would show up soon with a lawyer and Ms. Ross would be out of his hair.
For good.
FOR THE FIRST TIME in years, Wyatt wasn’t enjoying the fishing. He kept wondering what was going on at the office. And he wondered about Peyton Ross. Why was she so defiant and angry? She seemed to have class and beauty, but on the inside she was like rebellious teenager determined to prove something. He wondered what.
At dusk he drove Jody home and went to check on things at the jail. Jody wanted to go with