Chapter 4

Sara

I pushed my way through the backstage area, not even bothering to grab my coat or say anything to Alison. I pushed through the back door of Grange Hall and started for the parking lot. I had known it would be a mistake participating in the auction, but Alison had ambushed me at the last minute. How was I supposed to tell my best friend no, especially when it benefitted the animals I loved so much? I had accepted and tried to put on a brave face for it, but still, somewhere in the back of mind, I knew something like that was going to happen. I kept asking myself, “What if Janson bids on you?” I didn’t actually think he would, though, and I didn’t think it would go as far as it did. I had done everything I could to ignore that voice, from trying to be girly and beautiful, to convincing myself Janson wasn’t that stupid. Apparently, I was the stupid one, though, because my fears had been realized as he stood there in a showdown with a perfect stranger.

I stopped halfway across the parking lot and bent over, putting my hands on my knees and breathing heavily. I had almost been bought by my ex, someone I had vowed I would never speak to again. I knew it gave him some sick pleasure knowing he could buy me, thinking, as always, that he could get away with anything he wanted since he was the sheriff in town. But he had lost, and that was what was most important. He had not won a date with me, and I could go back to living my life. I stood up and started toward the car again, trying to calm myself down. Some stranger, someone I had never seen in town before who stuck out like a sore thumb in the back of the room, had just paid five thousand dollars to take me out on the town. I wish I had gotten a better look at him before leaving, but the lights on the stage blinded me, making the man more of a shadow than anything else. He wanted to pay all that money to take me on a date, for me to show him the town, not that there was much of a “town” to speak of. We were one of the smallest places left in the United States.

I shook my head and reached down into my purse, trying to find the keys to my truck. I searched through the bag until I found them, groaning as I reached for the door. Before I could, though, a hand grabbed my arm and yanked me back. I dropped my purse on the ground and gasped, knowing that feeling all too well. Slowly, I turned around and that fear from inside came tumbling back to me so fast, it made my head spin. My eyes moved up that old, leather jacket and over the shimmering sheriff’s badge, finding Janson staring down at me. He looked angry, angrier than I had seen him in a while. I straightened myself up and looked down at his hand still holding my arm.

“Please, let go of me,” I said with a brave face.

He smirked and tightened his grip even harder on my arm. I pulled my arm, but he was too strong. When I looked back up at him, I could see someone standing in the background keeping watch. It was his goon, Gary, lurking not far behind, as always. He had his sidekick wherever he went, and it had become a normal sight for people to see out in town.

“I come out here to support the only organization in this town, and what do I find? You’re selling yourself to a crowd of hungry men like you’re nothing more than cheap trash,” he growled.

“What are you doing bidding then?” I said, feeling the sting of his words. “If you think I’m nothin’ but cheap trash, why would you waste your money?”

He tightened his jaw, and the spot under his right eye began to twitch. My stomach dropped, and alarms started going off in my head. That was not a good sign, a sign that I had seen more than once in my lifetime and would really not like to experience again. Janson had always been quick to anger, even when he was younger. I could tell by the grip of his hand and how he was looking at me that he was inches away from completely exploding, and I didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he did. It was never a good thing. Immediately, my mind flashed back to one of our last arguments before we had completely split up. I had caught him cheating on me with a waitress from the saloon across town. He never did like being questioned, and never found fault in anything he did. It was infuriating but dangerous as well. It always set him off when I spoke against him.

We had dated for a long time, and in that time, there had been more than one instance where I’d accused him of cheating. Up until that time, though, I’d never had proof, but with the text messages I’d found on his phone, I knew I’d finally had caught him in a lie. Immediately, he had started berating me, reminding me that if I wasn’t so unattractive, if I had taken more time to do my hair, my makeup, and not always be working, he wouldn’t have to step out on me with other women. He always blamed me for anything he did wrong. I didn’t hold back that night, though. I’d had enough of being treated like that. He had humiliated me in front of everyone in the town and broken my heart just the same. I told him to get out, that I didn’t want to speak to him anymore, but he refused, telling me he was the one who gave the orders.

When you were in a relationship like that for so long, you started to get tired of being treated that way. That night, I’d had enough, and I lost it, screaming at him to get out of my house before slapping him right across the face. As soon as my hand hit his skin, I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but what was done was done, and I stood tall behind my choice. I remembered the muscle under his eye twitching right before he grabbed me by the hair and dragged me through the house into the bedroom. He threw me down on the bed and stared at me, angrier than hell. He pulled his body over mine, holding my arms above my head and jamming his leg between my thighs. I was terrified, more terrified than I had ever been in my life of what was going to come next. I didn’t put anything past that man.

My fear had gotten the best of me, and I’d started to cry, begging him to stop. All he did was look down at me and snort in disgust before letting go. He pulled himself to his feet and walked right out of the house, slamming the door behind him. I had just laid there, sobbing into the covers, feeling the burn on my wrists and the pounding in my head. Right then, in the empty back parking lot of Grange Hall, I could see that same dangerous light in his eyes. It put a fear in my throat that forced me to swallow hard and release the tension from under his hand. As much as I wanted to tell him off, I knew that buttoning up my lip might be the wiser way to go. I didn’t need a complete scene out there in the parking lot, and I was scared of what he might do to me. I gathered myself and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“Alison asked me to be in the auction at the last second,” I said. “The beauty queen that was supposed to be there had canceled, and I had to fill in for her. I didn’t want to do it, but you know how important this whole thing is. I couldn’t tell her no, not after all the work she had put in.”

He snickered, eyeing me up and down, focusing in on the tightness of the dress in my mid-region. I pulled one arm across me, feeling uncomfortable and exposed. He was such an asshole.

“Trust me.” He chuckled. “No one would confuse you with a beauty queen.”

“Let me go,” I said angrily, yanking my arm away from him again.

He snarled, gripping me even tighter, pulling me toward him. His hand was so tight around my arm that it was painful, and I knew it was going to leave a mark. I wasn’t going to give into him, though. I couldn’t be afraid of him forever.

“Didn’t you hear her, pal?” a voice said from behind me. “Let her go.”

I turned toward the shadowy figure, recognizing him immediately as the man who had bought me during the auction. Both relief and fear ran through my chest, knowing I wasn’t alone but that Janson wasn’t going to let go so easily. I tried to pull away, but he had his hand so tight, I could barely move.

“Move on,” Janson growled. “This is none of your damn business.”

The man wasn’t scared off that easily, though, and I could hear his shoes tapping across the pavement as he moved closer. I turned my head toward him, and as he stepped forward into the street lights, my heart fluttered in my chest. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen, in Bonanza or anywhere else. I had to admit, it took me by complete surprise. Janson kept his hand tightly gripped on my arm, not giving in to the man’s advances.

“Let her go,” he said sternly. “You lost fair and square, and that isn’t her fault. If you want to take it up with someone, why don’t you take it up with me? Or do you like an unfair fight with a girl in a dark parking lot?”

I looked between the two of them, feeling uncomfortable being stuck in the middle. The two of them stared each other down, no words being spoken between them. I held my breath, terrified of what was going to happen next. It felt like the two of them were standing there staring at each other for hours. Janson looked the man up and down before releasing my arm, tossing me back. The man grabbed my shoulders and kept me on my feet, letting go as I stood up and rubbed my arm. Janson looked back at me and snorted, turning and stalking off. He whistled and tossed his hand, his sidekick, Gary, following quickly behind him like a whipped puppy.

I had never seen Janson back down from a fight, and I didn’t know if it was the fact that we were standing in a parking lot in the middle of town or that he was intimidated by the man standing beside me. Either way, I was glad he was gone, and I could let out a deep breath. I stood there, rubbing my arm, feeling like I needed to say something. This was the second time in one night this man had saved me from Janson’s clutches, and I had never met him before in my life. How much more insane could my life really get before something started to give?