“You know this isn’t his first assault charge?” he said.
I knew. Kellen didn’t get those scars on his knuckles from playing poker or fixing motorcycles. He got them from pulping guys in the face.
“He’s got himself quite a rap sheet. Doesn’t hardly seem like the kind of guy a sweet girl like you should be hanging around.”
I was so sweet. Like a lemon drop.
I stared through the deputy until he had to get up and walk around the station to get away from me.
It was almost five o’clock in the morning when Kellen came back. I recognized the sound of his boots on the tiles outside the sheriff’s office, but it wasn’t Mama with him. Clicky heels, but too slow. I turned and looked out the window blinds. Sandy.
She looked tired but beautiful. A different kind of beautiful than Mama, who was dark. The sun was always shining on Sandy. Her hair was as blond as mine, but big and hair sprayed. She wore lots of makeup, and tight jeans and a tight T-shirt with no bra.
“Hello there, ma’am,” the deputy said. He sounded surprised, and I could tell he thought Sandy was sexy. He kept looking and looking at her. It made me wish I looked older. If I looked more like Sandy, the cops wouldn’t think I was too young to be out with Kellen.
“Hi, sweetie,” Sandy said to me. “You ready to go home?”
I nodded.
“Wow, that guy really did a number on you.”
“Are you her mother?” the deputy said.
“Yes, I am. I’m Valerie Quinn. I’m not sure why I had to get out of bed at o’dark-thirty to come tell you that, but here I am.” Sandy wasn’t like me. She always sounded sweet, even when she was mad.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Quinn, but you can see why we were concerned about her being out so late with him.”
“No, I guess I don’t see.”
“I wasn’t sure her parents knew where she was.”
“Well, of course, I knew she was with him. Don’t you think I’d be out looking for her if I didn’t know where she was?”
“I just wanted to be sure,” the deputy said.
“Is that all? Are we free to go?”
“Yes, ma’am, but can I just say? You ought to keep an eye on your girl. You shouldn’t ought to let her out with a man like—”
“Thank you so very much for the advice. We’re gonna go now, if that’s okay?”
I got up when Sandy did, but before we could walk out, the deputy reached across the desk and handed me a piece of paper.
“If you ever need anything, Wavy Quinn, you call me,” he said. That’s what was written on the paper, his name—Deputy Leon Vogel—and his phone number. I stuck it in my pocket and followed Kellen outside to the car.
Sandy stretched out in the backseat and slept all the way to the ranch, snoring a little. I curled up beside Kellen and rested my head on his leg. Even though we didn’t talk, I stayed awake to keep him company.
When we pulled into the yard in front of Sandy’s trailer, Liam was standing on the porch, drinking a beer. Kellen got out of the car and folded the seat up so Sandy could get out of the back. Liam came down the stairs, his eyes red. If you could see into him, see what he was, his eyes would always be red. The sun was coming up when he walked across the driveway and grabbed Sandy by the arm.
“What the fuck is going on? Where you been?”
“I got into this whole dust up down by Garringer. Me and Wavy went out to the drags, I got in a fight, and a Belton County deputy gave me a rash of shit about Wavy being out so late. He wanted her folks to come get her.” Kellen was talking fast, so I knew he was nervous. I scooted across the seat and swung my legs out of the car. So he wouldn’t be alone.
“And what the fuck was Sandy doing out at the drags?”
“I didn’t go, Liam. I went to get Wavy,” she said in a soft, don’t-hurt-me voice.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, Val couldn’t go. You know, she couldn’t go. So I went, to get Wavy. I just told them I was Val and—”
“Oh, I see,” Liam said. “You went and pretended to be her mama?”
“Yeah, I—”
“You went and pretended to be Val? My wife?”
Sandy was wringing her hands, not like Mama, who always stood up tall when Liam was getting ready to hit her.
“It was just to get Wavy. Not for—”
Pow! Liam smacked her right in the mouth. Kellen could be fast when he wanted. He yanked Liam back from Sandy so hard the beer bottle flew out of Liam’s hand and landed in the gravel.
“You wanna hit somebody, you hit me. It’s my fault. Sandy didn’t do nothing wrong,” Kellen said.
Liam’s fist crunched into Kellen’s jaw, hard enough to make his head snap back.
“I don’t like people sneaking around behind my back,” Liam said. “You know that, Sandy.”
“We weren’t sneaking,” she whispered.
“It wasn’t sneaking.” Kellen had his mouth clenched up like his jaw hurt. “I didn’t see no reason to wake you up. Sandy was up anyway, so—”
“And what were you doing up?” That was all Liam cared about, where Sandy was.