Cheyenne glanced at Lincoln. His face must’ve been red because she laughed even harder. He figured if it stopped the crying, he didn’t mind being the butt of Deputy Meriwether’s jokes. Of course, he felt differently when the deputy joined in.
He gave them a good full minute of laughter before he cut in. “Are y’all about finished? Because I have things to do.”
Deputy Meriwether sobered. “Well, I hope one of the things you have to do isn’t arresting this sweet girl for just being a little shy about buying tampons.”
He had no intentions of arresting Cheyenne, but she did need to learn a lesson. So he played bad cop for just a little while longer. “She broke the law.”
“Yes, but I’m sure she won’t do it again because she won’t have to. I’ll be happy to buy her tampons.”
He sighed. The woman really didn’t have any common sense. “That doesn’t solve the problem. What if you get transferred or get a different job?” If anyone needed a different job, it was Deputy Meriwether. “What will she do then? Go back to stealing?” He expected her to argue with him. She had certainly argued when he’d caught her having a spa day. But this time she didn’t.
She glanced at Cheyenne and shrugged. “He’s right. You need to overcome your fear, honey. My mama always says that the only thing to fear is lack of courage. Tomorrow, we are going to walk into that pharmacy together with our heads held high and you’re going to apologize to that sourpuss owner, and then you’re going to buy the biggest box of tampons they have.”
“But . . . Joey Mac works there,” Cheyenne said. “He’s the hottest guy in high school. I know I’m only a stupid seventh grader and he probably doesn’t even know I exist, but I’d die if he knew what I’d stolen.”
Having been a boy, Lincoln decided to step back in. “Believe me, when you walk into that store tomorrow, all Joey Mac is going to see is a strong young woman owning up to her mistakes.” He glanced down at the floor. “Now why don’t you get these things collected so Deputy Meriwether can drive you home.”
“Yes, sir,” Cheyenne said as she knelt to put all the tampons back in the box.
Figuring the deputy could handle things from there, Lincoln grabbed his hat from the hook and headed out of the office. But before he reached the outside door, Deputy Meriwether stopped him.
“Officer Hayes.”
He turned to see her standing there smiling the soft smile that made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
“You didn’t want her arrested, did you? You just wanted to get her out of the pharmacy so she wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of all those people.” She studied him, her green eyes twinkling with something that looked a lot like admiration. “So maybe you aren’t such a big badass.”
“I’m still a badass. If anyone needs to remember that, you do, Deputy Meriwether.”
“Dixie.”
He ignored her olive branch. “You’ll have to tell Cheyenne’s father. Nothing remains a secret in a town this small.” Like Sam Sweeney’s disappearance. Which was why he wasn’t going to start calling Deputy Meriwether by her first name. First names were reserved for friends and family. Deputy Meriwether was neither. She was just a burr in his butt that he needed to get rid of.
And the sooner the better.
“Goodbye, Deputy Meriwether.” He hoped the goodbye would be their last.
Unfortunately, on the way to the mayor’s office, he got a call from his immediate superior Major Macky. He quickly answered the call.
“Hello, sir.”
“Hey, Lincoln. How’s the vacation going?”
“It’s going well, sir. But if you have a job for me, I can cut it short.”
There was a long pause. “Actually, I do have a job for you. But it doesn’t mean you have to cut your vacation short. In fact, it might add another week or so to your stay in Simple. And I don’t think this job will be that difficult so you should still be able to enjoy your time in the country.”
“What’s the job, sir?”
“I got a call from Senator Meriwether. I guess his daughter has decided to become a sheriff’s deputy and he’s worried about her. He says you’re helping her with some missing persons case and asked if you could keep a close eye on his baby girl. I told him that wouldn’t be a problem.”
Well, hell.
Chapter Five
“You’re really pretty.”
Dixie glanced over at Cheyenne. The young girl looked a lot more comfortable in the front seat of the sheriff’s SUV than she had in the back seat. Of course, that could have to do with Queenie sitting on her lap. Animals soothed people. Especially kids. “Thank you, sugar. So are you.”
Cheyenne shook her head as she stroked the cat’s head. “No I’m not. I have ugly hair and an ugly body and ugly . . . everything.”
Dixie smiled. “I can remember feeling the same way when I was around your age. Every time I looked in the mirror, I found something else wrong with me. I think it has to do with all those puberty hormones racing around inside you.”
“And my mama’s bad genes.”
“Who said they were bad? Why, I would kill for those long eyelashes of yours and your full lips. Half my makeup time is spent applying mascara and lip plumper.”
“I don’t wear makeup.”
“My daddy didn’t want me wearing it either when I was your age. Of course, I finally talked him into it. Daddies will give their little girls just about anything if we work hard enough at it.”
“It’s not that.” Cheyenne picked at a hole in the knee of her jeans. “I don’t want to ask my dad for the money when makeup is so expensive.”
And so were tampons. Which was probably another reason Cheyenne had stolen them. Dixie was more than a little mad at herself for not figuring that out sooner. Instead of being scared about having
