Susan Mallery: Father in Training

"Because you have to learn. I know this is hard. It's damn hard for me, too."

"I don't care about you," she said. "You're not the one in trouble." He tried to touch her shoulder, but she jerked away from him. "Get away from me." She sank into the chair. "Get away."

He stared at her for a long time, then left the room. Conflicting emotions swelled inside of him. All he wanted was to do the right thing. Nothing else mattered. His heart told him to talk to Wilson and get the charges dropped. His head told him that was a mistake. With a flash of insight, he realized he was facing the double-edged sword of being a parent. Lindsay might not be his child, but he cared about her. The compassionate side of him wanted to make it easy for her. The logical side reminded him that she had to learn eventually and the lesson would be a lot less painful coming this early.

He walked into an empty office and stared at the phone. Putting Lindsay in custody was the second hardest thing he'd ever had to do. The hardest would be calling Sandy and telling her what had happened.

Sandy pushed open the glass doors and entered the sheriff's station. She was shaking-from concern and rage. How could Lindsay have gotten involved in something like this? How could she have shown such poor judgment? And how could she, as Lindsay's mother, have had no clue what was going on in her daughter's life?

She paused in the foyer and saw several people waiting. A couple, about her age, maybe a few years older, glanced up at her, then away. She wondered if they were one of the other girl's parents. Before she could go over and ask, a door opened and she saw Kyle. He motioned her to come with him.

"How are you holding up?" he asked when she got closer to him.

She tried to smile, then settled on a shrug. "Okay, I guess. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. I had to drop Nichole and Blake at Elizabeth's." She followed Kyle down a long corridor to an empty office. When he'd shut the door behind them, she sank into the chair in front of the worn wooden desk.

"How did this happen?" she asked, then shook her head. "I'm sorry. You can't answer that, can you? I had no clue what she was up to. Are these the same girls she met at camp?"

Kyle hesitated before answering, then he nodded. "According to Lindsay, yes. She met them there, and apparently they've been hanging out together since they got back."

Sandy let her purse slip to the floor. "I blame myself. I shouldn't have sent her to camp. She didn't want to go. I thought-"

She clamped her mouth shut. She didn't want to say what she'd been thinking. That sending the kids away had been purely selfish. That she was the worst mother in the world. She could tell herself she'd sent the kids to camp so they could have some fun and make friends, but the truth was much uglier than that. She'd sent her kids to camp so she could have some private time with Kyle. She'd wanted to have sex, so she'd sacrificed her children's well-being. She should be the one arrested, not Lindsay.

"It's all my fault," she said.

"Bull." Kyle pulled the chair from behind the desk and moved it so it was in front of her. Then he sat down. "You didn't tell Lindsay to steal anything. She's a smart kid. She knows better. She got caught up in the moment. She didn't think, and now she has to face the consequences of what she did."

Sandy shook her head. "That's really easy for you to say. Lindsay isn't your child. Of course I know I didn't tell her to steal anything. That doesn't mean it's not my fault. Of course I had something to do with this. I just have to figure out what. Did I ignore her? Should I have investigated her friends better?"

"You're making yourself crazy over this. It's not that complicated."

"I met one of the girl's mothers," she said, more to herself than him. "I guess I should have met both mothers. Or not let Lindsay go with them. But I can't keep her locked up forever."

What had happened? Was it the move? Was this a late reaction to Thomas's death? She tried to fight off the ugly feeling that the root of the problem was her own selfishness. If she hadn't wanted to be with Kyle so much-

"You're not looking at this clearly," Kyle said. "Why does it have to be your fault? Why can't Lindsay have just made a mistake?"

"You wouldn't understand," she said impatiently.

"I might not be her father, but I've spent a hell of a lot of time with her this summer, and I think I've learned a few things. When I walked into that store and saw her sitting there, I felt like I-"

Sandy glared at him. "What did you say?" she asked, interrupting. She couldn't have heard him correctly. "When you went into the store? You were there?"

"I took the call."

She stood up. Kyle rose also. His expression hardened, then became unreadable, as if he sensed what was coming. Sandy felt her temper starting to rise. She tried to control it, but the rage pushed through.

"You arrested my daughter? How could you?"

"It's my job," he said coldly. All warmth disappeared from his brown eyes.

"Your job? Was it also your job to convince me to send her away so you could seduce me?" It wasn't a fair question, but she was past caring.

"One has nothing to do with the other. I arrested Lindsay because she'd broken the law, and also because I believe it's important for her to know that her actions have a price. You're the one who's so big on people being responsible. I would think you would be happy."

"Happy?" She curled her hands into fists and continued glaring at him. "Happy that you've destroyed her life? I know that you've hurt her and she may never get over this."

"Don't blame her actions on me. She'd old enough to know what she was doing."

"She's just a child."

"I agree she's not an adult. That's why I want to help her."

"You call this helping?" she asked scornfully. "We don't need your kind of help, Deputy Haynes." She turned away from him and walked over to the door. After pulling it open, she stared at the wall. "Please tell your superior that I want someone else assigned to the case. I don't want to have to deal with you anymore."

"Sandy, don't do this." He moved close and touched her arm. She pulled free of him. She wasn't going to listen to any more from him.

"Do I need to make the request in writing?" she asked.

"How much of this is about Lindsay and how much of it is you running scared?" he asked.

She didn't answer. Finally, he left the room and she was alone.

She had five minutes in which to try to pull herself together. It wasn't enough. When the door opened and Travis walked in, she thought she was going to start crying.

She could feel the blush climbing her cheeks. "Hi," she said, praying her voice would keep steady. "So this is the downside of living in a small town. Everybody knows everybody else's business."

Travis crossed the room and put his arm around her. "I know it's hard for you, but everything is going to be okay."

"If you knew how much I want to believe you." She blinked to hold back the tears. "Now that I'm going to have a convicted felon in the family, I hope we can all still be friends. I should probably warn you, I left Blake and Nichole with your wife."

Travis smiled. "Of course we're still friends. And shoplifting isn't a felony."

"Great." She allowed him to lead her to her chair. She sat down. "Now what happens?"

"Several things."

He took the seat Kyle had used. Sandy looked at him. Travis looked enough like his brother that if she squinted a little, she could pretend they were the same man. She wanted to apologize for what she'd said earlier and she suspected it would be easier to say the words to Travis. Of course, he wouldn't know what she was talking about.

"First," he said, "the other parents have already collected their children. Both girls are from out of town. The families will be leaving as soon as this is cleared up, so you don't have to worry about Lindsay hanging out with them anymore."