Chapter 50

Sara

I woke up Sunday morning feeling a twinge of excitement for the first time since I had gotten back. It was the annual pancake breakfast at the Veteran’s Hall, something I had gone to every year since I was a little girl, and I had decided I was going to drag Alison to it whether she wanted to go or not. I knew she would regret it if she didn’t make an appearance. Alison had been moping around the ranch for days, trying to get over the whole break-up thing. I didn’t blame her for being so distraught, but I wanted her to start feeling better. The only way to do that was to get out of the house, off the ranch, and see something other than the horses. She loved being out among people and talking to everyone, so the pancake breakfast seemed just the thing to brighten her spirits and get her on the move to a happier life. I walked out to the stables and tossed Alison her tennis shoes.

“Come on,” I said. “Put on your shoes. We’re leaving.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“The annual pancake breakfast,” I said. “And don’t even try to make excuses. You’re going.”

“Fine,” she said begrudgingly, knowing not to battle me when I was in that mood.

On the way there, she was pouty like a child, and I couldn’t help but laugh at her. Once we got there, though, she really started to perk up and was having conversations with people she hadn’t seen in days. The townsfolk loved to hear about the horses, and she loved to talk about them. While she was preoccupied, I walked around checking on a few of my clients.

“You’re back,” Mrs. Avery said. “We are so glad.”

“Yep.” I smiled. “I’ll be reopening the practice first thing Monday morning. I don’t have any scheduled appointments that day, so I’ll be accepting walk-ins and house calls if they’re necessary.”

“We’ll definitely spread the word,” Mrs. Avery’s best friend, Ida, said happily. “Everyone here missed you so much, and we were worried you were never going to come back from New York City.”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “I could never live there. There weren’t any cows or horses to take care of, and I missed all of you so much. Oh, and I almost forgot, I even have a brand new mobile vet clinic I can use for house calls. So, if any of the older residents who don’t get around too well need me to come and do checkups on their pups or if there are any emergencies, I’ll have everything I need to work right there on the spot. I can even do minor surgeries in it if it’s that bad.”

“That is so exciting,” Ida said. “It’s like you brought the city back with you!”

“That will be so nice for the larger animals out on the farm,” Mrs. Avery said. “You’ll be able to better care for our livestock that way.”

“Exactly.” I smiled.

Everyone seemed excited about the new mobile vet clinic, and I smiled wide when I was talking about it. However, as I sat there looking at the women, part of me couldn’t help feeling guilty for using Ryan’s gift. He had given it to me when there was hope for us. It was the most important thing that had happened for the town’s animals since I’d opened the vet clinic. It would enable me to expand my business and take care of animals that might not make it otherwise. It wasn’t like I could take it back to him in New York, not that I thought he would accept it back anyway. He had said it was nonreturnable, and what was he going to do, add it to his private gallery of expensive cars in his private underground parking garage? He would never accept it back from me, so there was no reason for me to feel that way.

When he had given me the van, he had told me that it wasn’t just for me, but it was for the community as a whole, a way for the community to grow and be stronger with my practice. It was definitely that, and I was damn well going to use it for the community. Those animals needed it, and I needed it to give them the best care I could. There were animals that provided these people’s livelihoods, and that van was going to make sure they continued to do so. Everyone switched the conversation quickly over to me meeting Oprah, and I had to laugh at their responses. It was pretty much what I had been thinking the moment I met her. However, as I stood there laughing and talking to the women, everything around us got quiet all of a sudden. I smiled at Ida and watched as she turned around, following everyone else. I stepped to the side and looked over at the door, curious as to what was going on. Then I saw Janson standing there in that cowboy hat and leather jacket, and immediately, my stomach turned.

I closed my eyes and sighed, shaking my head. I stepped back into the group, trying to conceal myself, but I knew there was nowhere for me to hide. How could I have forgotten about Janson? Seriously, three months before, he would have been my first thought when I considered going to the breakfast, but that morning, he didn’t cross my mind in the least. All I had thought about was how good it was to be home and getting Alison out of the house so she could start to heal from her break-up. The truth was, I had been so wrapped up in Ryan’s drama that I had forgotten all about my own.

I’d ended up in New York City because of Janson’s threatening behavior in the first place. When things had started to fall down around Ryan, though, immediately all of my thoughts and attention went to him. Janson wasn’t there in the city to haunt me or keep reminding me of his ever-lurking presence, so I did what I always did and focused my attention on someone who needed my support and guidance. I felt like such an idiot. I had put myself back in the hot seat because I was too caught up in my own life to even take care to remember the things Janson had done to me. I knew it was going to be too good to be true to come home to a relaxing environment.

I watched as Janson looked around the room, his eyes finally falling on me. He had known I was going to be there, which meant he’d known I was back in town. The people parted as he made his way through the crowd and over to me. He took me by the wrist and pulled me over to the side, looking up at everyone as they pretended to go back to their conversations.

“Will you take a walk with me?” he asked.

I didn’t know what to say. There was no way I was voluntarily going anywhere with that man. He had been stalking me for weeks and was the root of how I got myself into such a mess with Ryan in the first place. Not only that, I didn’t know what he was capable of, and from the look on his face, he hadn’t forgotten a thing about what happened.

“I’m right in the middle of the pancake breakfast,” I said kindly. “I will have to decline.”

“Right.” He chuckled looking around the room.

He held tighter to my wrist and walked forward, dragging me from the hall and to the outside. I stumbled through the crowd, wishing someone would speak up, but I knew they were all too scared of Janson anyway. I didn’t want someone else to get involved and become his spiteful target, so I kept my head down and let him drag me out. When we had gotten outside and to the sidewalk away from prying ears, he stopped and turned toward me, still holding tightly to my arm. Anger swelled in my belly thinking about those poor animals he had left in the driveway. I yanked my arm away from him and rubbed my wrist.

“What the hell do you want?” I said. “I was in the middle of talking to people. You don’t own me. You can’t just rip me out of a building.”

He looked me up and down and scoffed before spitting on the ground in front of me. I looked down and grimaced, standing tall in front of him, waiting for his response. He looked around, tipping his hat at a couple of people scurrying past and then looked back at me.

“I saw you in the media,” he said. “You were all whored up in that red dress for those city folks and on the arm of a damn criminal. I have to say it was pretty disgusting how you allowed the papers to drag our little town’s name through the mud like that. Now they think we’re out here breeding disgusting whores instead of moral young ladies like we were always known for.”

“Like I had any control over what they wrote,” I scoffed. “You obviously missed how publications work.”

“All I know is you’re here, back in Bonanza,” he smirked. “What happened? Did your criminal boyfriend already get tired of you? Were you just too whorish for even the likes of him? Or did the town chase you out because you could never live up to the standards of those rich folks? I don’t blame him for kicking your ass to the curb. He saved himself a lot of hassle.”

“Leave me alone,” I said angrily. “My personal life is none of your goddamn business. It hasn’t been for a long time, and it never will be again. You think you’re so smart like you know everything because somewhere along the line, you learned how to read, and the paper came to your doorstep. Well, you have a lot of things to learn about this world beyond the town limits of Bonanza. You don’t have the privilege of asking me about my life anymore nor do you have the right to go snooping around in it either.”

Janson growled and grabbed me by the arm, yanking me toward him. I put my hand up and pressed it against his chest, trying to pull back. The more I fought, the angrier he got, which meant by that point, he was digging his fingers into my arm so tightly, I thought I might bleed. He leaned in close to me, his breath smelling like whiskey and chewing tobacco. I grimaced and turned my face away from him.

“You better watch that smart fucking mouth of yours,” he said. “Your life is my business, and it always has been. That ain’t changin’.”

“You’re mistaken,” I groaned. “Let go of me!”

“You’re only going to make this harder on yourself by resisting,” he said. “It’s time for you to stop acting foolish. You know we’re meant to be together, and you need to understand that it’s time for you to take me back. I’ve let you have your fun with the rich guy, but it’s over now, and you continuing to act this way is only going to make me that much angrier. There’s no way you think we wouldn’t end up back together. You know you miss me.”

“Ugh.” I shivered at the disgusting thought of taking him back. “Why in the hell would I take you back? You’re cruel in ways that aren’t natural. You’re a cheater and have cheated on me so many times I can’t even count. You never treated me well, always telling me I wasn’t good enough, hurting me like you’re putting your hands on me right now. You don’t deserve to even be in my presence, much less be in my life. You have to be out of your head if you think I would ever even consider taking you back.”

I turned my head and looked steadily into his eyes, not backing down. I was tired of cowering in the corner from this man, and I was tired of him acting like I owed him something. I watched as his face tightened, and his cheek started to twitch. I took it as a sign, and I knew I had to make a move. I picked up my foot and stomped down as hard as I could, pulling my arm away and making a run for it back into the building. I could only pray, at that point, that he didn’t come after me and make a scene.