Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
W hen Reid got the call from Sheriff Carson, his first thought had been that someone had witnessed him running Sunny off the road. The thought that Sophie had snuck out of the trailer and vandalized a business in town had never even crossed his mind.
But he was looking at the proof on the sheriff’s laptop screen that very second. The camera on the bank ATM across the street had caught the entire thing. Reid watched as the shadowy figure snuck across the roof of Nothin’ But Muffins with a can of paint and a paintbrush. When Decker zoomed in, there was Sophie wearing Reid’s black winter stocking cap and a big ol’ smile.
He turned to Sophie who sat slumped in the chair next to his. “What—?” He cut off when he realized he’d started the question wrong. It was obvious what she’d been doing. “Why? Why would you climb up on the roof of the town bakery and deface a sign? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”
Sophie picked at a hole in the knee of her jeans. He couldn’t help feeling responsible for her wearing holey jeans as much as he felt responsible for her defacing a sign. “I was trying to make the icky feeling go away,” she muttered.
“The icky feeling? What icky feeling?”
She sighed. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand.”
He tried to hold in his anger, but damned if he could. “You’re right. I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all.” He pointed at the screen of the laptop. “I don’t understand why someone would want to do that—icky feeling or no icky feeling. It’s childish and irresponsible and just plain . . . stupid!” He wanted the word back as soon as it left his mouth, but it was too late.
Sophie lifted her gaze and he could read the hurt in her hazel eyes. “Stupid? Well, you’re stupid too. You’re a stupid, stupid stupid!” She burst into tears.
Reid rubbed a hand over his jaw and released a frustrated sigh as Decker closed his laptop and pulled a tissue from a box on his desk.
“Okay. How about if everyone takes a deep breath for a second?” He handed the tissue to Reid. Talk about stupid. It took him a good full minute and a questioning look from Decker before he figured out the sheriff wanted him to hand it to Sophie. Of course, when he tried to, she slapped it away.
“I don’t want anything from you!”
Reid crumpled the tissue in his fist with frustration just as Melba tapped on the door and stuck her head in.
“Sorry to interrupt, Sheriff, but Sunny Whitlock is here and she says she really needs to talk to you.”
“Tell her I’ll be out when I’m through here,” Decker said.
Melba hesitated. “Umm . . . she wants to talk to all three of you.”
“No!” Reid spoke a little too loudly, but all he needed was Sunny Whitlock adding to this drama. Although the information that Sunny was there had caused Sophie to stop crying. So maybe she could help. Reid certainly didn’t know how to handle this.
Decker got up from his chair. “I’ll just go see what she needs.” He shot Reid a sympathetic look. “That will give you and Sophie some time to talk privately.”
Once he was gone, Reid turned to Sophie. Her tears had caused her makeup to smear and run. He held out the crumpled tissue. “You have . . . umm . . .” He waved a finger around his eye.
She jerked the tissue from his hand and proceeded to wipe her eyes and make an even bigger mess. Obviously, she wasn’t very good at cleaning up messes. Of course, neither was he. It seemed to be a family trait.
“Look, I wasn’t calling you stupid, Soph. I was saying what you did was stupid. And you have to agree that it was pretty stupid. You can’t go around vandalizing people’s property just because you have some bad feelings. If you have a bad feeling, you just need to deal with it. Bad feelings are part of life.”
She stared at him as if he’d just given her the worst advice ever. “That’s it? That’s what life is? Just feeling bad and dealing with it?”
When repeated back to him, he had to admit it sounded depressing as hell. “Well, no. There are good things about life too.”
“Really? Like what? Because, so far, my life hasn’t had too many of those.”
His hadn’t either, but he figured now wasn’t the time to point that out. “Climbing on a rooftop and vandalizing a sign is only going to make things worse not better.” A thought struck him. “How did you get up there anyway?”
“I climbed up on the dumpster just like—” She cut off.
“Just like what? Was someone with you? Was it that JC kid who talked you into doing this?”
Before she could answer, the door opened and Decker walked back in . . . with Sunny. Reid blamed the dip his stomach took on embarrassment that, once again, he couldn’t handle his teenage niece. It had nothing to do with those mile-long legs showing beneath the hem of her sundress. Or the sexy way her hair fell around her smooth bare shoulders. Or the way she nibbled on her plump bottom lip.
She looked . . . nervous. He instantly became wary.
“Go ahead, Sunny,” Decker prompted. “Tell them what you told me.”
Sunny cleared her throat. “So Sophie isn’t really responsible for what happened . . . I mean she is responsible, but she . . . might have had some help planning it.”
Reid looked back at Sophie. “So it was that JC kid who came up with this.”
“No,” Sunny said. “I did . . . it was my idea.”
He thought he was confused before. It was nothing compared to now. “Your idea?”
She smiled weakly. “Pretty much.”
Reid was so angry he was surprised steam wasn’t pouring out of his ears. He had trusted Sunny to help him with Sophie and instead she had convinced Sophie to pull some airheaded prank.
He jumped up. “What the hell?”
Decker quickly stepped between him and Sunny. “I think we all need to remain calm and talk this out like adults.”
That was almost laughable.
“Adults?” Reid said. “How can we possibly talk this out like adults when we obviously aren’t all adults?” He was talking about both Sophie and Sunny, but Decker didn’t take it that way.
“Good point. Sophie, why don’t you go out and wait in the lobby. Melba has a new kitten I’m sure she’ll let you play with.”
Sophie didn’t wait to be asked twice. She scurried out like her tail was on fire. Once she was gone, Decker waved at the chairs in front of his desk. “Please sit down, you two. I’m sure we can get this figured out.”
Sunny took a chair, but Reid was too angry to sit. It was all he could do to keep from cussing a blue streak and punching a wall. “I trusted you to talk some sense into Sophie and instead you talked her into doing something even worse.”
Sunny’s eyes widened. “Now I wouldn’t say painting a sign is worse than having sex before you’re ready. And I didn’t talk her into it. I merely told her about how I had dealt with my icky feelings.”
“Icky feelings! What are these icky feelings y’all keep talking about?”
“They are feelings that make you feel icky.”
“I gathered that much, but what does icky mean?”
“That’s the problem. It’s hard to explain to someone who has never had to deal with feeling icky. They are just these overwhelming feelings that consume you and you feel like you’ll go crazy if you don’t do something to get rid of them. When I was in high school, doing pranks was what made me feel better. But when I told Sophie about them, I didn’t think she’d try them out.”
“So you were the one who painted the sign before?” Decker asked.
Sophie’s face flushed a guilty pink. “Yes.”
“And hoisted the mayor’s boxers up the flagpole and painted a tutu and princess crown on the mural of the snarling wildcat on the side of the gym.”
When she nodded, Decker sat back in his chair and covered his mouth with his hand. His twinkling eyes were a dead giveaway that he was trying hard not to laugh his ass off.
Reid didn’t find it amusing. He was struggling to raise his niece and had trusted this woman to help him. Instead, she had sabotaged him. And it didn’t help that every time he looked at her all he could think about were the taste of her lips, the silkiness of her hair, and the press of her hot?—
There was a tap on the door and, once again, Melba stuck her head in. “Sorry, to keep interrupting, Sheriff, but your wife and daughter stopped by to see you.”
Decker’s face lit up as he sprung out of his chair. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
As soon as the door clicked closed behind him, Reid turned to Sunny to give her hell. But when he saw her face, his angry words fizzled. For once, she didn’t look like her namesake. She looked like a rain cloud that was about to burst.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a low whisper. “I thought I was helping by letting Sophie know she wasn’t alone—that I have icky feelings too. I honestly didn’t think she would pull the same stupid prank I pulled.” She slumped in the chair and stared down at her clutched hands in her lap.
He had never really looked at her hands. Probably because there were so many other parts of her body that held his attention. So he was more than a little surprised to see her fingernails chewed down to the quick. The realization that she had a nervous habit stunned him. She always seemed so self-assured. But it appeared that she hid her nerves as well as she hid her . . . icky feelings. The realization caused his anger to fizzle out.
He sat down in the chair and sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. If I was a better guardian, this wouldn’t have happened.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I thought things were better between us. This morning, she gave me a smile—an actual smile—when I teased her about spoiling Patsy rotten. But, obviously, I still suck at making her happy.”
“It’s not all about you, Reid. Sophie is dealing with a lot right now. Her mother dying, moving to a new town, making new friends, and teenage hormones. You’re not completely responsible for her happiness. She needs to figure out how to deal with her own emotions and problems.”
He lowered his hand and looked at her. “By vandalizing signs?”
Sunny blushed. “I tried to tell her that didn’t work for me, but I guess she wanted to try it out for herself.”
He glanced down at her nails. “What did work for you?”
She folded her fingers, hiding her nails from his gaze. He didn’t know why that bothered him so much. But it did. “Art. I found art. Painting calms me . . . and extreme sports.”
“Extreme sports?”
“Skydiving, bungee jumping, rock climbing.”
“You’ve done all those things?”
She nodded. “I’m a bit of a thrill seeker.”
It was pathetic how just the word thrill coming from her lips had his mind going down a road it had no business going down. Kissing her had been thrilling. More thrilling than anything he’d ever done in his life. He couldn’t help but want to experience that thrill again.
His gaze lowered to her mouth. A mouth that had haunted his dreams ever since he’d tasted its welcoming warmth. She wore no glossy pink lipstick today, but her natural rose-colored lips were just as tempting. Her tongue swept out to wet them and he lifted his gaze to find her watching him with an intensity that had his heart knocking against his rib cage as if fighting to get out.
He knew it was mistake, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from leaning closer to their beckoning softness. She leaned forward too. Their lips were only a breath apart when the door opened.
They quickly turned away from each other as Decker stepped into the room. Completely unaware of the sexual energy swirling around, he sat down in his chair and folded his hands on the desk.
“Alright. So seeing as how this is Sophie’s first offense, I don’t think there’s any reason to involve the juvenile system. Unless you disagree, Reid.”
Reid shifted in his chair and tried to keep his gaze off the woman sitting next to him. “No. I’d appreciate if you didn’t involve them.”
“That still doesn’t mean Sophie gets off scot free. She’ll have to do some community service.”
“I think that’s only fair.”
Decker nodded. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” He glanced at Sunny who looked as flushed as Reid felt. “I think you should do community service as well.”
Sunny blinked. “Me?”
“You did pull the same prank.” He cocked an eyebrow. “And a lot more. I think the townsfolk will forgive you much faster if you show you’re sorry for what you did by doing community service.”
“But nobody knows about me doing those pranks except you, me, Reid, and Sophie.”
Decker sighed. “And Melba. She has a tendency to listen at the door. And while she’s a kindhearted, good woman, she isn’t exactly what you’d call tight lipped.”
If Reid had thought Sunny looked like a sad rain cloud before, it was nothing compared to what she looked like now. She looked like her entire world had come crashing down around her. He couldn’t help sympathizing. Folks would forgive a teenager for a one-time offense much more easily than an adult who had pulled the wool over their eyes for years.
“Maybe you could talk to Melba,” he said. “And ask her not to say anything.”
Decker looked at him. “And what kind of example would that be for Sophie?”
“He’s right,” Sunny said. “I should pay for what I did too. It’s only fair.”
Decker got to his feet. “Then if that’s settled, I’d like to talk to Sophie alone and make sure she understands that if she causes any more trouble, I won’t be as lenient.”
Reid stood and held out his hand. “Thank you, Sheriff Carson. I appreciate you giving Sophie a second chance.”
Decker shook his hand. “Everyone deserves a second chance. And call me Decker.”
When Reid stepped out into the lobby with Sunny, he found Sophie sitting on the floor with a kitten curled on her lap. Since getting Patsy Cline, Reid had learned that his niece was an animal person. She and Patsy had taken to each other like ducks to water. Sophie was rarely without the rabbit tucked in her arm. Even now, she seemed reluctant to let go of the cat. She held it close to her chest as she got to her feet, her attention focused solely on Sunny.
“You didn’t have to tell the truth. I wouldn’t have tattled.”
Sunny reached out to pet the kitten. “I know, but I couldn’t have lived with myself if I let you take all the blame. I shouldn’t have told you about the pranks.”
“You just wanted me to feel better. You didn’t make me do it. It was my decision.” Sophie hesitated and finally looked at Reid. “What’s gonna happen to me?”
Before Reid could answer, Decker spoke. “I’ll be happy to answer that. Come on in to my office, Sophie.”
Sophie nodded solemnly and placed the kitten back in its crate. She started for Decker’s office and then stopped and threw her arms around Reid.
“Please don’t let them take me to jail, Uncle Reid! Please! I promise I’ll never do anything bad again.”
It was the first time she’d ever hugged him and he didn’t know what to do. He awkwardly patted her back as his heart tightened with an emotion he couldn’t describe. “It’s okay. You’re not going to jail, Soph.”
She drew back, her eyes tear drenched and heartbreaking. “And you’re not gonna get rid of me? You’re not gonna put me in foster care?”
Emotion welled up inside him and it was a struggle to keep the tears from his own eyes. “Hell, no. Where would you get that crazy idea? We’re family, Soph. Family sticks together through thick and thin.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “We’re in this together, kid. You’re not going anywhere . . . and neither am I.”