Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Jeb had known where he’d find Wyatt. He’d been grabbing some food from the diner when he’d turned around to discover him gone.
The playground that he’d had built in Elise’s memory was one of Wyatt’s favorite places. His thinking spot. Where he went to feel closer to his mom.
He wondered how Elise would feel about it?
Jeb shook that thought from his mind as he stared down at the woman sitting on Wyatt’s favorite swing.
Sure, the playground was for all the children of Oddity, Colorado. But that swing was Wyatt’s favorite.
And this woman was an adult, not a child.
Although she didn’t seem to realize that as she leaned back and hooked her legs up around the chains, tilting her head so she was staring up at him upside down.
“You don’t look like a Jeb,” she informed him.
“What does a Jeb look like?” he drawled, resisting the urge to order her to sit upright before she fell and hit her head.
Not your woman. Not your problem.
If she was his, she’d be in a hell of a lot of trouble.
“I don’t know. Maybe older. With a bit of a belly. And a hairy chest. Of course, I don’t know if you’ve got a hairy chest.”
And she wasn’t going to find out.
“He doesn’t,” Wyatt said helpfully.
“Cool. Cool.”
“Could you sit up?” he snapped.
“I could. But this is fun. Hey, small man-child, want to try this?”
“I would if you’d get off my swing,” Wyatt grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh, I forgot we have to rock, paper, scissors it,” she said, straightening.
Rock, paper, scissors it?
“The two of you don’t really look alike but you definitely stand the same way, huh?” she said, turning so she straddled the swing and could watch them both.
Jeb glanced over at Wyatt to find him frowning with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet planted wide. They were even dressed the same in jeans and button-up shirts.
Jeb frowned and moved around to where his son stood, taking in the girl properly.
Well, woman.
Her blonde hair was pulled back into a thick braid and there was a spattering of freckles on her face. She had thick, full pink lips and a button nose . . . whoa.
What was he doing? He didn’t need to stare at the stranger who had given his seven-year-old son candy and was about to enter a rock-paper-scissors war over the swing that she should just give to him.
“Did you ask her for the swing?” he asked his son.
“Uh-huh.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. That doesn’t sound right to me. I think you walked up and said, ‘that’s my swing’. That’s not really asking, is it?” she countered.
“Wyatt?” Jeb asked in a stern voice.
“Well, it is my swing,” Wyatt said grouchily.
Jeb sighed. “I know you like that swing the best, but this playground is for all the children of Oddity.”
“Oddity?” the woman repeated. “What’s Oddity?”
What did she mean ‘what’s Oddity?’ Jeb glanced down at his son who shrugged, looking confused.
“Oddity is the name of this town,” he explained slowly. Was she all right?
She seemed a bit . . . off. Maybe she was confused?
Shit. Was she on drugs? He placed his hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “Son, I think we need to head back to the truck.”
“But I haven’t had a turn on my swing.” Wyatt gave him a stubborn look.
Fuck.
“Wyatt, you need to do what I say,” Jeb told him.
“Why?” Wyatt asked. “Because you’re my dad?”
“Yes, because I’m your dad. And that means you have to listen to me.
Don’t think I’m going to ignore the fact that you ran off and came here on your own.
” Ever since Elise’s death a year ago their relationship had been .
. . fraught. Things had always been good before then.
Wyatt had been his shadow. Always wanting to do everything he did.
Now he’s got attitude.
Jeb understood that Elise’s death had affected Wyatt. That it had been very hard on him to lose his mother. Especially at such a young age. It didn’t help that he had to work such long hours and that Wyatt hadn’t taken to any of the people he’d hired to look after him.
Jeb just didn’t know what to do with Wyatt anymore. He didn’t do what he was told. In fact, most of the time he did the opposite. Which is how they’d ended up here.
With the crazy lady.
Well, if Wyatt wasn’t going to leave, he’d just have to call the cops and make this woman leave.
He drew his phone out of his back pocket.
“Whoa, small man-child, you ran away from your dad? That was . . . brave.” She looked Jeb up and down.
“Why did you think he was here alone? Did you think that I just let him wander around?” Jeb asked incredulously.
She shrugged. “I didn’t know. I’ve only known you five minutes.”
“Most seven-year-olds aren’t allowed to just wander around alone,” Jeb told her.
“Why’d you run off?” she asked Wyatt.
Fuck. Jeb suddenly realized that he hadn’t asked Wyatt why he’d left. That was something Elise would have done.
“Wyatt? Why did you run off? Was it because you wanted to play on your swing?” Jeb asked, knowing that had to be the reason.
Wyatt was just determined to disobey him and cause issues at the moment.
Wyatt drew his lollipop from his mouth and glared up at Jeb. “I ran off because you were talking about hiring another nanny for me. I don’t want a new nanny.”
“Wyatt.” Jeb sighed. Shit. He almost wished that Wyatt had just run off to play. That would have been a whole lot easier. He let out a deep breath. “Wyatt, you know that you need a new nanny. I can’t be home all the time. I have a ranch to look after.”
“No, I don’t!” his son said. “I can look after myself!”
“You’re too young to stay on your own,” Jeb said, feeling defeated. “If there is a better solution, I’d be willing to hear it. But you need to be supervised in the mornings and afternoons. And I can’t do it.”
“Then Granny can.”
Jeb took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Granny can’t do it.”
“You have a Granny, small man-child?” the girl asked as she swung back and forth.
Shit.
How had he forgotten about the weird girl who was still on his son’s favorite swing?
He ran his gaze over her, noting the messy hair pulled back in a braid, the crinkled red T-shirt and short skirt that she wore over a pair of black tights with holes in them.
Her boots were cherry-red with black laces. They were all scuffed up.
She crunched on her lollipop, then winced.
Didn’t she know how bad that was for her teeth?
Not your problem.
Except she was hanging around a child’s playground in the middle of the day, handing out candy and likely on something. Which meant that he should do something.
So he sent a text to Tex, the sheriff of Oddity, letting him know that there was an odd stranger in the playground who might be on something.
“That’s bad for your teeth,” Wyatt informed her.
She pointed the stick of the lollipop at him. “Like I told you before, it’s all a conspiracy to make you go to the dentist. Ain’t nothing wrong with my teeth, small man-child.”
“No, it’s not,” Jeb said with alarm as his son started nodding. “It’s a proven fact that sugar is bad for your teeth.”
She shook her head sadly. “They got your dad, too.”
Wyatt glanced up at him. “Yeah, he’s always talking about that sort of stuff.”
“Conspiracy,” she whispered.
Christ.
“Wyatt, we’re going.” Time to get his son away from her.
“I don’t want to go. I haven’t had a swing. I need to go on my swing,” Wyatt told him.
“Wyatt, don’t test me right now. You ran off when I wasn’t looking. You’re already in trouble. We’re leaving.” He reached down to grab his son’s hand but Wyatt snatched it away from him.
Jeb tried to tell himself that it didn’t hurt. But he had to fight hard not to react.
Give him time.
He lost his mother.
He’s hurt and just a child.
“No!” Wyatt cried.
“Wyatt, we have to go.”
“So you can find some stranger to look after me? I don’t want that. I only want Granny!”
“Wyatt, you know that’s not possible. Now, we’re going.” He reached for his son again and suddenly the girl was up and between them.
“Don’t you hurt him.”
Jeb gaped down at her. “Hurt him? Why would I . . .” He trailed off as he studied her face.
Her pale face. Her clenched hands. The way she was trembling.
Something wasn’t right here. Her freckles were standing out starkly against her pale skin and her wide blue eyes weren’t even focused on him. As though she was seeing someone else.
She looked so small. The top of her head didn’t even reach his chin.
“I wasn’t going to hurt him,” Jeb told her firmly. “I was just reaching for his hand so he would come with me.”
The girl didn’t appear to believe him as she kept herself between the two of them.
“Well, it didn’t seem like he wanted to go with you,” she told him.
“I don’t!” Wyatt complained. “I want to swing. I don’t want to go back to the ranch and have some weirdo take care of me.”
Wyatt stomped over and sat on the swing that the girl had jumped out of.
“Hey!” she said. “We haven’t rock, paper, scissored for that!”
“You left the swing.” Wyatt shrugged. “Swing rules.”
Swing rules? What did that mean? Jeb was about to tell his son there was no such thing when the girl sighed and nodded.
“So true, small man-child. Can’t go against swing rules.”
Wyatt nodded. “Exactly.” He put the lollipop back in his mouth. Another thing that Jeb had to talk to him about. He knew better than to take candy from a stranger.
A wave of exhaustion washed through him. Sometimes he wondered if he was fucking everything up. His son seemed to hate him. The ranch was doing all right, but it took so much of his time and attention.
Was it worth it if Wyatt hated him?
“You look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?”
He glanced down at the girl in shock. Why was she asking him about his sleep? And he wasn’t the only one that looked tired. She had dark marks under her eyes.
“I only ask because your aura seems all out of whack,” she added.
“I don’t have an aura.”
“Everyone has an aura!” she exclaimed. “If you don’t have an aura, you’re soulless. Or a zombie. Basically the same thing, really.”
“Zombies are cool, though,” Wyatt said. “My dad isn’t cool.”
Great. Now he rated worse than a zombie. Could things get any worse?