Chapter Text
Nicole was heading to Shorty's to meet Waverly where they were to meet at 7:00. It was Waverly's birthday and Nicole had planned a small celebration with family. Nicole had finished work faster then she thought she would so the Sheriff was about thirty minutes early. Nicole wanted to talk to Waverly alone, they had gotten married eight months ago and for some reason, Waverly had been distant for several weeks now. They had made love the night before, the first time In quite awhile. Afterwards, Waverly had just rolled over and went to sleep.
When Nicole walked through the front door her wife was not behind the bar. She thought maybe Waverly was getting something from the back. The Sheriff was a Shapeshifter and she always walked silently. Nearing the back room she heard two female voices and one of them was her wife's. Right before she turned into the room the unfamiliar vice said, "Just tell the bitch that you killed her kid, she'll give you a divorce then I bet." Then she laughed. Nicole was frozen outside of the room, her heart was pounding in her ears and she could hardly draw a breath. The Sheriff felt like someone had kicked her in the midsection. There was silence in the room now and Nicole managed to move the short distance into the doorway. Waverly was in a lip lock with some blonde woman, whose back was to the door. Nicole simply stood there watching as her wife destroyed the vows they had shared. Waverly was facing the door and when they broke the kiss, she opened her eyes and jumped back from the blonde when she realized that her wife was in the doorway. "Nicole..I.." Waverly began but Nicole held up her hand, and stopped whatever she was going to say. The blonde turned around and when she seen Nicole she laughed and clapped her hands, then said,
"She knows, yay!" Nicole had no idea who she was. Then she remembered the birthday card that she held in her hand and inside of it were two tickets to Italy.
It was a belated Honeymoon and Nicole had hoped to reconnect with her wife. The Sheriff tore the birthday card in half, dropped it on the floor and quickly made her way out of Shorty's. She headed for the Homestead to pack her clothes and get out of there. Nicole had a lot of furniture and things in storage that she never had gotten around to bringing to the house. She was relieved that she didn't. When Nicole got to the house, no one was there and that was fine with her. It made her sick that Waverly had an abortion behind her back. Then to be totally humiliated and find out from whoever that woman was with her wife. Nicole ran up the stairs to their bedroom and hurried to their closet to get her suitcases out. Nicole had a few duffle bags and she got those out also. She started emptying her dresser drawers quickly, just scraping everything out into one of the bags. The front door opened and closed, then someone was coming up the stairs. It was Waverly and Nicole's stomach flipped. She didn't want to look at her, to let her know how her heart was breaking so. Waverly was in the doorway but Nicole didn't look at her, only asked shortly, "How long?" As she continued packing her clothes. Waverly said, "About four months." Nicole's shoulders slumped a little at that and asked quietly, "Why did you marry me?" Waverly hesitated, then said, "Because, I love you."
Nicole said, "It's a lie, our life together has been nothing but lies. And I have to say that you are a very good liar. How proud you must be."
"It's not a lie, Nicole. I do love you," Waverly said. Nicole didn't respond and said, "I'll go Monday to a Lawyer and file for divorce. I'll put in the decree that you're to take your old name back. I'll pay for it and all you have to do is sign the fucking papers." Nicole had received a large inheritance when her parents had died in a plane crash. Money would never be a problem for her.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," Waverly said. Nicole gave a short, humorless laugh and asked her wife, "So, did you just keep tripping and falling between her legs?" Nicole continued with, "You had no right to keep your pregnancy from me. I mean if it was my kid."
Waverly said, "It was yours." Nicole was quiet for a moment as she kept packing all of her clothes. She would not look at Waverly.
"I'll bet that woman didn't want you to have my kid and I bet that she went with you to kill it and have a laugh," and Waverly was silent because it was true, she had done it for her lover. But, Waverly had not laughed. The front door opened and there was only the sound of the screen door closing. Nicole heard Wynonna saying something to someone. It was that woman's voice. Nicole asked, "How many people know about this? Can you tell me the truth about that?" Nicole asked. Waverly said, "Everyone that I research with."
"Thanks, for that. You have really made me out to be a fool. You and your girlfriend can have a great laugh.* Nicole said, then asked, " Wynonna?" "Yes," her wife said. Waverly's girlfriend was coming upstairs. "You invited her here to watch me get my stuff and laugh at me, wow," Nicole said as she crammed the rest of her clothes into a suitcase. "That was a Mercy Fuck last night, huh? she asked her wife. Waverly said, "That's not true."
The woman unknown to Nicole came into the room and said, "Oh good, almost finished." Nicole ignored her and told Waverly, "Tell all your little confidants that they are to not come near me or try to speak to me. And especially your sister." She put a duffel bag on each shoulder, grabbed a suitcase in each hand and turned toward the door. "You killed my kid, you're rid of me and soon you'll have your name back. You can really celebrate now," Nicole said, still not looking at Waverly, then added, "My ring is on the dresser and this is the last time that you and I will ever speak." And then she was gone, heading downstairs and going for the front door, Wynonna was standing near the stairs when Nicole reached the bottom. The Heir started to say something and Nicole cut her off without even stopping, telling her, "Never speak to me again."
The front door was open and Nicole kicked the screen door and walked out. She loaded the suitcases and duffel bags into the cruiser, then pulled away from the Homestead for the last time.
Wynonna was feeling sick to her stomach and it wasn't from her pregnancy. She was super, super pissed at her sister. The Heir went upstairs into her room and opened the closet. There were not a lot of clothes in there and they all fit easily into her duffel bag. The few things in her dresser drawers went into the bag also and she zipped it up and walked out of her room. She met Waverly and that woman in the hallway and Waverly asked where she was going. Wynonna just looked at her for a few moments before answering her. Waverly was shocked by the way her sister was looking at her. The Heirs face was set and her eyes were cold, she was furious. Finally, Wynonna said, "I'm moving to town. Keeping your secrets has cost me the best friend that I've ever had. She was good to you, and what you have done to her is shameful."
Wynonna stopped for a moment, then continued, indicating the woman standing next to her sister, "And don't you ever bring that around me or my kid. For the first time ever, I'm ashamed of you." With that, she headed downstairs and out the door. Waverly heard her sister's truck start up and pull out of the drive. Waverly felt nauseous and her girlfriend, who's name is Sally Greene, was ecstatic. She said, "We get the whole house to ourselves!" Waverly looked at her, really looked at her and realized how shallow she was. Sally was impervious to anyone's pain, in fact she was callous. Waverly said, "No, I want you to leave. We're done." Sally was pissed off and told her that she would regret this. Waverly told her, "No, I won't. Now leave." The woman stormed off, slamming the doors and peeling out of the driveway.
She went downstairs and locked up. Waverly went back to her room, turned the light off and laid down on her bed. She could still smell Nicole and that was all it took for the flood gate to open. She cried herself to sleep, knowing that she had made the biggest mistake of her life.
The look on Nicole's face while she stood in the doorway watching her with Sally, would haunt her in the daylight sometimes and in her dreams.
After Nicole left the Homestead, she called Sheriff Nedley, which is what she still called him. He answered, "Yeah, Haught?" "Sheriff, I wondered if I could rent your cottage for awhile. He was silent for a moment, " Then said, "Sure, Haught, come on over." And hung up.
Nicole headed to the Sheriff's house which was only a couple of miles north of the Station. It was pretty isolated, with a lot of trees about 100 yards behind the property. The cottage was about 20 yards from the house. It was painted red with white trim and a white door. It was well kept, Nicole knew, because she had seen it. It had one bedroom and a kitchen, living room and bathroom. Big enough for one person.
When she pulled into Nedley's drive, she spotted him sitting in a chair on the porch. Nicole took her bags out of the car, setting them on the ground. Nicole grabbed them all up, then he stood up and walked toward the porch steps and went down them. "Need help?" he asked. "Nope, lead the way," Nicole answered. They walked in silence to the door of the cottage and with a key he took from his shirt pocket, unlocked the door. He opened it and turned on the light, stepping to the side out of Nicole's way. She set her bags down and thanked him.
"Come on over to the porch for a drink when you're ready," he said, leaving and closing the door behind him.
She wanted to talk to him. But needed to use the bathroom. Once she finished, Nicole splashed cold water on her face and dried it on a hand towel that was hanging on a hook near the mirror. She left the room and headed out of the cottage to go talk to the Sheriff.
Nicole sat in the other rocking chair and there was a table between them with a bottle of Crown Royal and two glasses. He poured a couple of fingers in each and handed one to Nicole. She downed it and poured herself another and it went down smoothly. Nicole didn't pour any more and they sat in silence for awhile, comfortable with each other. When Nicole began to speak, she told the Sheriff the whole story from the beginning, then fell silent, nearly in tears. "I'm sorry to hear that, Haught. Let me know if I can do anything," he said. "Thanks, and there is one thing, I wondered if you could cover for me awhile," Nicole said. Nedley told her, "Of course, you take as long as you need."
"Thank you," she said. Nicole stood up and said, "I'm going to head on back there now. Goodnight." "Goodnight," he said.
When Nicole went back to the cottage, she locked the door behind her. She stripped down to her tank top and underwear, then got into bed.
She held one pillow tight as the tears and the pain came in waves. It hurt to breathe, it just hurt so deep. Nicole cried until she fell into a thin, troubled sleep.
After about three weeks, Nicole went back to work. She had filed for divorce as she said she would and Waverly had signed the papers. Nicole had lost 15 lbs and she looked painfully thin. She used makeup to help cover the dark circles under her eyes. When she walked into the Station the first morning, she was welcomed back by her Deputies, Lane Jackson, and Carl Myer. She never even glanced at the office in the back where they did research. Nicole went into her office and closed the door. She was going to hire another Deputy and there were some applications on her desk. The first one she read was filled out by a woman fresh from the Police Academy. The other three were from a few guys that lived in town. But the woman, Jessie Styles was a cop. Nicole called her number and it was answered on the second ring, "Hello?"
"Jessie Styles?" Nicole asked. "Yes, I'm Jessie." she said. "This is Sheriff Haught, when can you come in for an interview?" She asked her.
"How about now?" Jessie asked "Perfect," Nicole said and they ended the call. When there was a tap on her door 15 minutes later, Nicole said, "Come in." When it opened, a dark haired woman stepped into her office. "Jessie?" the Sheriff asked. She nodded. "Come on in and close the door, please," Nicole said as she stood up offering her hand to Jessie and telling her it was good to meet her., Jessie shook it and sat in the chair Nicole indicated. When Jessie sat down, the Sheriff caught her scent and it was very nice she thought her large, smoky grey eyes were beautiful. Nicole asked, "So, how on earth did you end up in Purgatory?" "I saw your ad online a few weeks after I went through a bad breakup, so I moved far away," Jessie said, then added, "My girlfriend ran around on me." "It sucks, huh?" Nicole asked her. She nodded.
The Sheriff pointed to her ring finger and said, "My wife ran around on me, " then added, "My divorce will be final the 16th of this month."
Nicole flashed her dimpled smile an she could hear Jessie's heart start beating a little faster. Their eyes met and Nicole looked away first and said, "Well, I'm going to hire you since you are a Police Officer." Jessie smiled big and Nicole thought she was beautiful. "Thank you, so much," she said. "You're qualified for the job," Nicole told her, then added, "And you have to fill out a lot of paperwork." She smiled again at Jessie and Nicole heard her heart rate go up again. There were sparks flying between them.
"Would I be in trouble if I asked you to go out with me on the 17th?" Jessie asked Nicole. She stared at her new hire for a moment and then said, "No trouble and yes, I will go out with you," Nicole answered with a grin. "Excellent!" Jessie said. "Okay, now for the paperwork." The Sheriff said to her new Deputy. Then she went to the filing cabinet and brought a folder that had several sheets of paper in it and put it down in front of the new hire. "Fill these out and it's official," her new boss said. Nicole asked for her sizes and told her that she was going to go get her some uniforms. She left her office and closed the door. She caught Waverly's scent and knew that she had just walked by. Nicole was trying to close the pain off and sometimes she could. She liked Jessie and maybe they could help each other heal. She loved Waverly, but she had so clearly made her choice. There was nothing else to do, it was over. Nicole went downstairs to the storeroom and unlocked the door. She stepped in and clicked the light on. There were several uniforms, she had held fundraisers and kicked in some of her own money.
She found trousers and shirts that would fit Jessie and she put together five uniforms on hangers. She grabbed a pair of the black boots she had her Deputies wear because they were strong and sturdy. After finding a belt also, Nicole grabbed everything opened the door, shut the light off and let the door close behind her. When she got back to her office, Jessie was bent over her paperwork. "Here's your stuff," Nicole said and the new hire looked at it and told her thanks. Nicole sat down and read reports of calls over the last week. It wasn't too much longer when Jessie shuffled the papers and Nicole looked up from the reports. "Done?" The Sheriff asked. "Yes," she answered and handed them across the desk. Nicole looked through them and they were fine. "Good job," she told her with another smile and up went her heart rate again.
Nicole reached into a drawer in her desk and pulled out a badge. She made a notation of the number on the top paper that the Deputy had filled out. Nicole handed her a badge with the number 187. "Here you go," then added "You've got everything that you need." Nicole stood up and so did Jessie. When the Sheriff opened the door, she said to her new Deputy, "Come in at 7:00 tomorrow morning."
"I'll be here," Jessie said and headed for the door. Nicole stood watching her leave, unaware that Waverly was standing in the doorway of the research office, watching her. The Sheriff turned and went back into her office and never glanced toward the back. Waverly's heart was hurting because she had hurt Nicole so badly. Wynonna wouldn't even speak to her and she wondered how she could have been so stupid.
She knew that she had hurt more than one person and why did she get involved with Sally? Waverly did love Nicole but, she knew that she couldn't get her back. Not after what she did and how Nicole found out what was going on was awful. The divorce would be final soon and that broke her heart. How could she have been such a fool? Waverly had the torn birthday card and sometimes she looked at the sweet words that Nicole had written for her and the ripped tickets to Italy, then she would cry herself to sleep.
The next couple of weeks flew by for Nicole as she trained Jessie daily on patrol and the paperwork. She really enjoyed her company and Jessie liked hers. Today was October 16th and her divorce was final. It was uncontested without children, so it only took 30 days.
Nicole received her legal papers and the divorce was finished. It was 4:00 and Nicole was getting ready to leave when Jessie walked into her office. "I thought you left," Nicole said. Her Deputy said, "I hung around to see if you're doing okay." "That's really nice, but I'm doing good,"" the Sheriff told her, then said, "Come on let's get out of here." Nicole said on the way out of the door, "I'm single now and I'm going to act single."
Jessie smiled at that and asked, "Would you come over and let me cook dinner for you tonight?" Nicole stopped walking and so did Jessie. She answered the Deputy with a grin, "Sounds yummy. Text me what time and if you want me to bring anything." Jessie grinned and nodded. They went to their cars and left the lot. Waverly had been standing between her Jeep and Wynonna's truck, she heard the exchange between Nicole and Jessie. She got into her Jeep and with a heavy heart, she drove home.
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