Sweet Darling

Chapter Seven

"But she was lying! I didn't hit her!" He yelled at me.

His blue eyes were lit with rage as he bawled his little fists. I'd volunteered to watch over the car riders today since Mrs. Fieldman had a dentist appointment this afternoon. Megan, another one of my students, had come over to tell me that Theo had pinched her arm and knocked her out of her chair. 

The kid was a nightmare.

"Theodore Sebastian Lee Cresten, have you lost your mind?" A bell like voice rang out in the classroom.

Looking at the door, I'm greeted by a breathtakingly beautiful woman whose midnight black hair was well past her butt. She looked Native American with her sun-kissed skin, high cheekbones and slanted eyed, but that definitely wasn't the first thing you noticed when you looked at her.

"Mom!" cried Theo as he ran over to the mesmerizing woman. I could see the resemblance since they both had black hair, but Theo's skin wasn't as dark and his mother had hazel eyes.

"Don't you Mom me, Theodore. We'll talk about this later." She stated before turning to me, hand extended.  I took it. "So nice to finally meet you! Sorry we couldn't be here to welcome you on your first day."

Looking over Theo's mom, a small part of me understood why he'd been in such a mood ever since I met him.

"It's so nice to meet you as well Mrs.Cresten. How far along are you?" I asked politely.

Theo rolled his eyes.

"I'll be eight months next week. My husband and brother don't like for me to go out much, but they know they can't stop me." She laughed.

I smiled at her at her words. Although she looked as sweet as a cupcake, I'm sure she kept her family on their toes. "You can't blame them for wanting to protect you and this precious baby."

"Oh of course not! I can't complain with having Silas wait on me hand and foot." We shared a laugh as I walked with her and Theo to the door. "However, my brother is an entirely different story. He thinks just cause he's Sheriff of this town he can run my life."

I froze.

.......did she just say Sheriff?

"Y-You're the Sheriff's sister?"

She nodded. "Ember's the name. I'm surprised you didn't know that already, this being a small town and all. Just about everyone here's a gossip."

"Oh no it's nothing like that! I invited Sheriff Jericho over for dinner one night and he mentioned you." Ember gave me a weird stare and my eyes widened as I realized what I said. "As a thank you! He uhm, saved me some from some local bullies."

"Well that definitely sounds like Lassie. If nothin' else he's reliable. Everyone here just adores that nutcase." She laughed.

"I believe I met your other son, Preston, at the lake on Saturday." I said quickly, changing the subject.

"That's my boy alright. Hope he didn't give you any trouble."

"None at all! He seems like a bright kid."

Ember snorted. "When he wants to be. Wants to spend most of his time following behind his daddy and his uncle. But since you and Lassie are such good friends, why don't you come down to our barbecue this weekend? It'll just be some family and close friends, just bring whatever dish you'd like."

I offered her a shy smile. "I wouldn't say we're frien-"

"I won't take no for an answer. Now get a pen and paper and write this down."

After being given some very detailed directions on where to find the ranch, along with the number and also her cell, I waved goodbye to a grinning Ember and an extremely annoyed Theo. He looked almost sick to his stomach at the thought of me being at his home but didn't dare speak his feelings out to his very pregnant mother. 

Later on that evening, I was on three way with Leah and Alyssa giving them all the details of my encounter with the southern beauty that was Ember Cresten. All I wanted to do was get home and down a large glass of wine, but Alyssa had called about a chicken recipe that I'd done a few nights ago, followed by Leah who'd heard from the librarian, who heard from Mrs. Fieldman, who heard from her sister, who heard from the janitor (apparently her new beau) who saw me talking with Ember after school.

"Do any of you people have lives?" I groaned, throwing myself on my bed.

"Nothing gets juicer than the Jericho/Cresten Family. Now tell us what happened already." whined Alyssa.

Rolling my eyes, I put the phone on speaker and proceeded to change into some shorts and a t-shirt. "There's really nothing to tell. We talked a little about Theo, I asked her how far along she was, and she invited me to their family barbecue this weekend. That was it."

There was only silence heard on the other end.

"Uhm....hello?"

"YOU GOT INVITED TO A JERICHO FAMILY BARBECUE?!!" Alyssa screamed.

Michael could be heard in the background telling his wife to hush before she wakes up the whole county.

"Sorry honey! Back to you Aubrey, girl, you need to go a-and, and takes A LOT of pictures. Do you understand what you've just been invited to? Imagine if Quinton Valley had a social calendar, this would be THE event of the season!"

"Put a sock in it already! Aubrey doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to. And besides, that poophead of a sheriff might be there."

Leah and Alyssa spent the next hour bickering on whether or not I should go to the barbecue. In that time, I had eaten some leftovers, watched a bit of news and even graded some papers. Any other time I would've find it amusing, but I was sporting a major migraine after listening to them and just wanted to curl into bed.

"Well?! You going to sit quiet on the phone all night or are you going to tell us if you're going?" cried Alyssa.

"Honestly you guys, I don't know. But what I do know is that I'm tired, I had a long day, and my bed is calling me. That being said, we'll talk about this later."

Before either of them could protest, I hung up the phone and threw myself into my bed, sleep finding me immediately.