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“I was rude to him. Mean, too, he told me.”She asked if she had been.“Yes. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Did you happen to tell him that? I’m sure that he would have answered the question that has been going on in your head for the last few days. I can answer it for you. He won’t ever ask the kids for anything like your own brother did. Nor will he harm them in any way. I know that for a fact.”Jamie didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then laughed.“I see. You know that as well. He’s probably one of the nicest men that I’ve ever met. All the Cross men are. They’re hurting, too, by the way. Their grandda was killed a few days before you were shot, and then their granny, unable to live without him, passed away the same night. Those two raised those men when their mother wanted nothing to do with them.”
“Thad told me.”She said that the kids were a good balm for all of them.“They are for me as well. However, I made them cry.”
“I know that. Everyone does. Thad went to Gibb for comfort, and his brothers were with him. Then Maria and Belle, who I dearly love, by the way, came to the house and cried, too. You’re batting a thousand if you ask me. I believe the only person that you’ve not pissed off is your cook. And she’s trying hard to please you so she doesn’t lose her job. She likes having money in the bank while raising ten children, five of which aren’t even hers.”Maddy asked why she was raising five children not her own.“Her little sister was killed last summer while out and about as her lioness. She was killed when some jack assed men thought it would be fun to hunt on National land. They’re going to prison for killing a lion when, in actuality, they killed a woman who was all alone but for her children and sister.”
“Does that—would you please come here? I don’t mind talking to you, but I’d like to have the company. Also, the help. I’ve messed up. A great deal.”Jamie said that she had. With the entire family.“You don’t cut any slack, do you? I mean, I’m trying here. Can’t you give me something for that?”
“No. I doubt that anyone will until you make Gibb happy. No, not happy but not pissed. You did something that I didn’t think was possible. You hurt his heart. It had been so full when he found out that not only did he have a mate but three children to raise as his own, too. And he’s been doing a fucking fantastic job about it as well. Not only do the kids have everything that they need in the way of making that place a home, but they’re happy and healthy. Or they were.”Maddy’s heart hurt, too. Because she didn’t know how to acknowledge that someone was taking better care of her family than she had.“Don’t. Don’t think that. You’re all alive, aren’t you?”
“Barely.”She looked around the living room.“I just noticed that this place is nearly devoid of furniture. Why is that? Please tell me that he didn’t just purchase this house for the four of us.”
“No. He’s owned it for some time, I guess. All of them have a house. Mark and I live in the homestead. It’s been upgraded. While the crew was here, Gibb had a construction crew come out and add onto his home and upgrade the things that he’d started and not finished. All the homes up here have been taken care of.”She could feel Jamie speaking to someone else. While she didn’t know why she did, she also knew that she was on the phone.“I’m on my way over there. So are Sunny and Amelia. Don’t piss us off.”
Maddy told her that she’d try her best not to. Getting up, she made her way to the kitchen. The cook, she didn’t know her name, was making bread, something that she knew her kids loved more than anything. Asking her name and if she could have some tea and cookies for when the other women came over, Kerry told her that she’d baked some this morning for the kids, but she’d bring things right out.
By the time the other women were in the living room, Maddy was feeling overwhelmed again. It was Sunny who helped her navigate her way around her anxiety, and once she started feeling better, they sat down to talk. Knowing that none of them would sugarcoat things, she got right down to business with what she wanted answers on. They’d either help or kill her, and right now, she was thinking that they’d gladly hurt her over helping her.
“I’ve been on the run for nearly two years now. Since my kids just turned eight. I need help. I’ve not been able to let others help me and be able to depend on them since they were born. Their father knocked the crap out of me three days after they were born, and I’ve been on my own since.” Amelia told her that she was no longer alone. “I know that in my head. But my heart is having a really hard time here. Can you help me?”
Chapter 3
Gibb was waiting in line to pick up the kids. He saw Belle first, then the other two as they came out of the building. Smiling, he knew that this was just what he needed to have his day end on a better note. But the closer they got to his car, he could see that they were very upset and they needed him.
Pulling out of the line, he parked his car and went to them. Belle, usually the one who would be the most vocal about things, asked him to hold her. Picking her up, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and cried. Thad looked as pissed off as he’d been this morning. Maria was holding onto her sister’s backpack and steaming, too. He got down to their level while still holding his daughter.
“What’s happened?” Thad looked back at the school, and he saw three teachers coming his way. “Did you guys want me to take care of this or go and get your mom? I’m all right with whatever you decide.”
“You, please. Mom is…she might hurt somebody. And then we’d all be in more trouble.” He nodded, barely holding onto his laughter at the face that Thad had made talking about his mom. “But I promise you, Gibb. We didn’t do what they’re going to tell you we did. I swear.”
All three of them nodded, even Belle. When the principal caught up with the teachers, he was asked to come into the office. That the kids would be all right playing in the yard. He said no, they’d be with him. Instead of arguing, they all went into the school again.
“Apparently, Sir, I’m to understand that your children have been causing trouble.” Gibb sat down, and the kids surrounded him. Holding their hands as best he could, he didn’t comment on what Mr. Walkinghorse, the principal, said to him.
“Officer Cross, when we said that we’d take them into our system, you said that they were good kids. But I’ve heard today that they cheat on tests. The three of them are in it together. I apologize for not having all the details as yet, but their teacher is here to explain.”
“And you can prove this, I’m assuming?” Instead of talking, he handed him three tests. After looking them over, he smiled. “Because they have the same wording for each answer, you’re accusing them of cheating. I know for a fact that they’re not even in the same room. Nor do they have lunch at the same time. Tell me how you think they’re cheating. Also, so you know, when we were studying for this test last night, we did the studying as a team. If I had been asked to answer those questions, I would have worded it the same way, too. Because that’s the way that we studied it. Now that you have all the facts on my end, I’m assuming that you’ve asked the kids to give you their version.”
“They do have the same answers.” Gibb said nothing to Ms. Jonas. He thought that she was Belle’s teacher. “Well, don’t you think that’s a little suspicious? I do.”
“I can’t help that you have a suspicious mind, Ms. Jonas. But they didn’t cheat. They couldn’t have. Unless, of course, you know how it happened. Because with the circumstances being what they are, it would have been impossible for them to have done it. Not to mention, they told you they’d not. That right there is proof enough for me.”
“She said that they cheated. That they had copied off of each other. I didn’t know they were in different rooms. This is making less sense than it did when she told me about it. However, I did want to get you in on this from the startifthere is a problem.” Mr. Walkinghorse looked at Ms. Jonas. “You started this. Tell them what reason you’d have to say that three kids in different classes living in the same home would be able to cheat. I’d like an answer to that myself. And so you’re aware, Ms. Jonas, I’m well aware of your talking the other two teachers into saying the same thing.” Becca Jewel, Thad’s teacher, spoke up then.
“I don’t believe it either, sir. I’m only here to tell you that I think it’s wrong that you’ve separated these kids from each other. I’ve heard about what they’ve been through, and separating them now isn’t doing any of them any good. They’re great kids, all three of them. And they couldn’t have a better stepfather than Gibb Cross here.” Mrs. Jewel laid down a sheet of paper. “That’s my resignation, Mr. Walkinghorse. If Debra stays here, I’m not going to. She’s nothing but trouble. And I don’t want to be dragged into her drama anymore. She goes, or I do. That’s all there is to it.”
Two other teachers told him the same thing. That if Ms. Jonas stayed, they were gone. Gibb had a feeling too that by the end of tomorrow, the school would be down all the teachers but Debra, if this didn’t end as he hoped it would. He asked if his kids were going to get an apology. Everyone turned and looked at Debra.
“From me? No. Not on your life. They cheated, and I know they did. I don’t know how, but they did it.” She looked at the kids, and Belle lifted her chin up in defiance. Gibb couldn’t fault her for that. “That one there is the ring leader. She’s forever mouthing off.”
“She’s wrong. All the time, she says the wrong things. Like she told the class that white people were here first and that having Indians around was a bad example to the world. Also, she can’t add right. When we take a test, she marks my papers wrong, and I get a bad grade. I know how to add things up.” Gibb asked Belle if she had one of her papers that the teacher had marked wrong. As she was digging into her pack, she looked up at him. “You believe me. You really do.”
“I really do. Show me what she’s been doing to you, honey.” She handed him a stack of papers. All of them had a fat red F on them. Sorting through them, he could see that just the top three alone were all right and should have been marked with an A. “What is this? Even I can tell that she’s gotten these all correct. What are you doing to my daughter?”
“I don’t like her. Nor those red skins either.” Gibb couldn’t believe that she’d just said that. The room was deathly silent. Finally, Gibb looked at Mr. Walkinghorse. “Yes, I said it. The red skins. I’d not be teaching here at all if not for the fact that the pay is better and there are a lot of perks.”
Mr. Walkinghorse looked at him before speaking. He could see that the man was both shocked and embarrassed. He looked at him with a tight smile.
