Chapter 58

Sara

This morning, it felt really good to be back at work with life starting to settle down a bit. I spent most of the morning hard at work, seeing my scheduled patient and several walk-ins who heard I was in the office that day. They all seemed relieved to know I was okay, the horses were okay, and Ryan was okay. Everyone had really gotten used to the thought of Ryan being a permanent fixture in the community, and I had to say, the idea was definitely growing on me as well. When I was finally about to close the practice up at noon, I heard the bell jingle over the front door. I sighed, figuring it was just my luck someone would come up right when I was cleaned up and ready to go. But that was my job, and I needed to be there for the animals in need.

I headed out front and stepped behind the desk, looking up and frowning. It wasn’t a patient at all, but instead, it was Janson standing in my lobby, tracking mud in from his boots and looking around at the pictures on the walls. He was not the person I wanted to see at that moment or any moment, for that matter. He was the thorn in my side that I couldn’t reach or scrape off, and it was starting to really get to me. I took in a deep breath and cleared my throat, catching his attention. His eyes darted over toward me, and he started to move slowly toward the desk. I could see the muscle in his face already twitching. I could tell right away this was going to be a shitty conversation. I stepped out from behind the desk and walked up to him, not wanting him near my files and computers.

He didn’t say a word at first, only stood there with one hand on the butt of his pistol and the other twirling a toothpick around between his fingers. His face looked less amused than normal to be putting me in an uncomfortable position. The reality of it was, I had enough of his bullshit, and I knew if I didn’t say what needed to be said to him, I was going to burst. Before he could say a word, I stepped forward and launched into a tirade against him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “You need to understand something right now. You will respect my privacy and stop stalking me. I know you’re doing it. I’m not stupid. I see you around, your little cronies’ make comments, and you never seem to be too far away when something bad happens to me. I’m not going to spend my life being afraid of your big, dumb ass. You will no longer, under any circumstances, unless previously invited, step foot on my property, and that includes my house, my practice, and the horse sanctuary. If you think that badge gives you unlimited rights to do whatever you want, then you are dead wrong. You cannot come onto my property without proper paperwork. You are not welcome here. I don’t know how many damn times I have to tell you. You and me, we are nothing, not even friends, and I would really appreciate it if you got that through your thick skull. Coming here and harassing me won’t change that. On that note, you will stop trying to force me to take you back. I am in no way interested in you, and that is never going to change. You’re a disgusting human being who has berated and assaulted me over and over again, and I am done sitting back and just taking it from you. There will never be anything between us again. Never! I would rather live the rest of my life alone than ever get back together with you. I hope you’re hearing me clearly here because I’m not messing around anymore.”

I took a deep breath in and put my hands on my hips, waiting for his response. Deep down, I was feeling the fear, but I didn’t want him to know. I wanted to come off as strong, in charge, and ready to take whatever he had to throw at me, no matter how untrue that statement really was. I looked up at him as a cruel smile spread across his big, mean face.

“I don’t take orders,” he said through gritted teeth. “I give them.”

I shook my head and looked away, not knowing what to say next. He reached up and turned my face toward him. I pulled away, taking a step back.

“Now that you’ve told me what you think I’m supposed to do,” he said, taking a step toward me. “I’m going to tell you what you’re going to do.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed.

“You’re going to stop being such a little bitch,” he said. “You’re going to stop acting like a spoiled little brat, and most importantly, you’re going to stop being such a fucking whore, spreading your legs for money.”

“Fuck you,” I said. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, you know what I’m talking about,” he said with a growl. “And if you don’t, well, you can expect a lot worse is going to happen to you and your little billionaire boy toy that you have chasing after you all the time. I promise you, Sara, you keep acting like this, you keep defying me, then I can promise you, you haven’t seen a bad day yet. You think you’re so smart, so pretty and sweet. Well, no one out here is going to protect you. I run this town, me, not you and not your little boyfriend. Get it through your damn head.”

I knew a threat when I heard one, and Janson was making it very clear he was on the path to doing something much worse than what he’d already done. I couldn’t just sit back and let him threaten me like that. I didn’t know what had gotten into me, but I was feeling brave, maybe even a little too brave.

“A lot worse,” I said. “Worse than the dead animals in my driveway that you left? Worse than burning the barn down and almost killing the horses inside? Worse than that?”

I was so livid, I couldn’t even see straight, but I knew Janson was smarter than to take that bait. He might be cocky and arrogant, but he knew how to play the game. He knew how to make things as difficult for us as he possibly could. He smiled, chuckling to himself.

“Gosh, Sara,” he said maniacally. “It sounds like you’ve had a rough couple of weeks.”

That was all he said, and instead of going further with it, he just stood there and stared at me with a strange smirk on his face. Visions of the dead elk in my driveway and the fiery plume that escalated over the farmhouse blew through my mind, sending goosebumps up my spine. He seemed to be even more dangerous than I had originally thought, and I knew it was getting time to end this.

“Just get out,” I said in a disgusted tone. “You’ve worn out your welcome here. In fact, it was worn out before you even parked in the parking lot. You know you did those things, and I promise you that the day will come where you see your world topple down around you.”

His face straightened, and he lunged at me, forcing me to jump to the side. I lost my footing on the edge of the rug to the waiting area and tripped. He reached out and caught me, instantly maneuvering me back into the corner. He pushed me hard against the wall, and I pulled forward just to have him do it again. I breathed deeply through gritted teeth as he got closer and closer to my face. I could smell that familiar stench of whiskey again, and I tried to turn my face to the side. He reached up and pinched my chin between his fingers, turning back toward him. His other hand came up, smoothing the air down on the side of my face.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he said. “No need to get so hostile. You could accidentally hurt yourself, little miss.”

“Get off of me,” I growled. “Leave, or I will find someone who can take you down a peg.”

“Shut your mouth,” he growled loudly, before easing his face again. “You really know how to get yourself into a pickle, don’t you? First, the auction, then New York, and now this. You just don’t seem to know how to get shit straight. Well, I’m going to do a little something for you. Consider it a gift from me to you. I’m going to tell you exactly what you need to do. You’re going to listen to me because, well, you belong to me. I will do whatever I damn well please with you anytime I want to do it. You’re not in control, you understand? You will stop thinking you can put me in my place because my place has already been chosen, and nobody can touch me there.”

Suddenly, the bell over the front door rang. Janson narrowed his eyes and stared at me for a moment before turning and looking over his shoulder. His hand squeezed tighter on my chin, and I breathed deeply in anger through my nose. I wanted to grab his gun and shoot him right then and there, but I knew that wouldn’t do any good. He had so many people loyal to him, they would string me up in the town square and stone me to death like it was the 1700s. I had to play it smart and catch him in the act because I knew at some time or another, he would mess up.

I tilted my head up, looking past him at the woman with her young son entering the building. He was carrying a little puppy who was whining loudly. The thing didn’t look like it was much older than four or five months, and I could tell from where I stood that it had an injured paw. I knew Janson wouldn’t fight me if I tried to get away. He might be bold but not that bold and not when others could be witnesses to him assaulting me. I knocked his hand from my chin and pushed past him, rushing over to see what I could do to help the pup. I kept my back turned to Janson the whole time, but from the wary glances the woman was giving him, I could tell he was standing there staring at me. I hurried to the desk and pulled out an intake form, pointing to what she needed to fill out. The puppy had a nasty cut on his foot and would need some stitches and a bandage, possibly even a shot or two. They’d brought him in as soon as it happened.

“Just fill out the pertinent information now and sign the consent form, and then we can go back later to fill in the rest,” I said. “Is the puppy up to date on shots?”

“Yes,” she said, pulling out his shot record. “We did the first ones ourselves, figuring we would have his six-month checkup with you, but he didn’t quite make it that far.”

“That’s all right.” I smiled. “We will take good care of him.”

I looked up as Janson finally turned to leave the building. As he reached the doorway, he looked back at me, casting me one last warning glance. I looked away quickly, not wanting him to see the fear in my eyes. He was dangerous. I knew this now better than ever before.