Penny Richards - Wolf Creek Father

Wallowing in self-pity wouldn’t get him anywhere. The handwriting was on the wall. Looking the other way wouldn’t work this time. He knew Homer Talbot thought Allison Grainger was tops when it came to teachers, so it made sense that he would not want to lose her, which meant Colt would have to take charge of his progeny at last.

How are you going to do that? You haven’t been able to do it in seven years.

He had no earthly idea, but he thought he knew where to go to get some no-nonsense advice.

When Dan Mercer, Colt’s deputy, returned from running some errands, Colt left the office in his care and went to get Ellie’s take on things. Thankfully, the café was all but empty. Ellie was filling saltshakers. The expression on her face when she looked up told him she’d already heard the news.

“You’ve heard.”

She nodded and gestured toward an empty table. “From several folks, actually, including Allison.”

“Do you think she’s telling the truth?” Colt asked as he pulled out a chair for her.

Ellie glared at him over her shoulder. “Her story matches Sarah VanSickle’s.”

Colt planted his hands on his hips and tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling.

“Sit,” Ellie said.

He sat, and buried his face in his hands.

“Colt, look at me,” she commanded, circling his wrists with her fingers and tugging his hands down. His troubled gaze found hers. “You have to know...even I’ve told you...that the kids are...less than angels.”

A bitter laugh sputtered from his lips. “So it seems.”

“Well, then, the time has come for you to do something about it.”

“What? I don’t have a clue about what needs to be done.”

“Well, first you should stop letting them take advantage of you.”

“How do you figure?” he asked, scowling.

It was Ellie’s turn to laugh. “Everyone in town knows you’re tough on criminals and soft on your kids.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. That was exactly what he’d just been thinking. “So it’s a topic of dinner discussions, is it?”

“You know as well as I do that everyone’s circumstances are the topic of dinner discussions at one time or another,” she said with a little shrug.

“I’m all they have,” he said, as if that explained everything. “And they’re all I have of Patrice. Priscilla still misses her mom, and I hate to make things tougher on her by—” he spread his hands in a vague gesture “—being too strict. And Brady has never known what it is to have a mom, and as his only parent, I don’t want to be an ogre.”

“And they instinctively know that and use it to their advantage.”

“How could they know?”

“Children are like a wild animal stalking its prey,” Ellie said with a wry smile. “They instinctively know the weakest link. Even Beth is a master of it. It’s just a part of their makeup. I don’t want to make you angry,” she said, “but—”

“I have to get them under control,” he said.

“Yes.”

They sat in silence for several moments, while Colt digested the situation. It didn’t sit well. “Your sister said she would give up her teaching position before she spent another year with them.”

“She told me,” Ellie said in a gentle voice. “She’s a good teacher, Colt. A good person.”

“If you say so.”

Ellie smiled. “I do, and I think I’m in a position to know. Have you ever tried talking to Brady and Cilla about why they’re so disruptive?”

“I’ve had talks about them not misbehaving, but no, I’ve never tried to get to the root of why they do it.”

“Gracie has a theory,” Ellie told him. “And both Allison and I think she’s onto something. She believes they sabotage your associations because they don’t want to share you. I think she’s right.”

“That’s crazy,” Colt said with a hint of irritation.

“Is it? I started thinking back over the past year, and every time you’ve shown interest in a woman, they’ve done something to ruin things.”

It was true that something had gone wrong with each attempted relationship. Now, looking back, the kids were somehow the culprits in every case. Holly Jefferson. Leticia Farley. Jocelyn Cole. All of them had cried off, citing that they had too little in common and it would be silly to try to take things further. Rachel Stone was the exception. He and the lady doctor had soon realized that while they liked each other a lot, there was no romantic spark between them.

“If you plan to marry at some time in the future—”

“I do,” he said.

“Then you’d better make it clear to the kids that marrying again is your intention no matter what they think, how they feel about the woman or if they approve.”

“Isn’t that being a bit insensitive to their feelings?”

“Do they care about yours?” Ellie retorted. She reached out and gave his hand a friendly pat. “I don’t mean to sound cold, Colt. You should tell them that they must trust that you won’t fall in love with someone who will mistreat them or you.”

“I’d hope I’ll be smarter than that.”

“Allison made a good point, too.”

A muscle in Colt’s jaw knotted at the teacher’s name. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear anything she had to say about children. “And what profound statement did Saint Allison contribute?”

Ellie gave him a strange look. “She pointed out that children don’t always understand that you can love more than one person at a time,” Ellie said, “or that there are different kinds of love.”

Colt conceded that she had a point.

“The main thing to remember is that you’re the adult. You set the rules and the tone from here on out. If they don’t follow them, then there are consequences. And stick with those consequences!” she added, giving his hand a light slap. “Don’t let them butter you up to get on your good side. Believe me, they might not like it now, but they’ll thank you later.”

Boundaries, again. He blew out a deep breath and said the word aloud. It tasted like ashes in his mouth.

“What?”

“Your sister claims that children need boundaries, that they ache for boundaries.”

Ellie smiled. “She’s right. They do.”

“It’s a tall order, Ellie,” he said, rare uncertainty in his eyes.

“Perhaps,” she agreed, nodding, “but there’s far more to being a parent than doing your part in their conception. It means molding and shaping them into good people and productive citizens, and giving them the necessary skills to cope with whatever comes along. With God’s help, you can do this.”

God. Colt’s relationship with the Almighty was a topic he didn’t want to address. He’d once been a devoted Christian, but when God hadn’t answered his prayers to spare Patrice, Colt had turned his back on everything spiritual, though he still tried to live a decent, honest life.

“Who would have believed I’d be raising a couple of kids alone when Patrice and I got married?”

Who would have thought that circumstance would force him to cross the boundary into a woman’s role? But someone had to.

* * *

Colt thought about his conversation with Ellie all the way home. He had to admit that what she said made sense, and so did Gracie’s theory about why the kids were so unkind to the ladies he’d courted. Ellie agreed with her sister’s claim that children needed limitations, and as much as it galled him, and as uncertain as he was that he could set and maintain those restrictions, his gut told him they were right. He wanted to have children people liked, children whose behavior he could be proud of. It was no fun wondering when he would hear about another of their escapades.