Chapter Seventeen #2
“And you should. Nobody should settle for scraps. Definitely not pretty, kind, and smart women like you.” She flushes under my praise, making me wonder when the last time was that someone paid her a compliment.
“It’s not always easy to buck the curve.
Look at me. As if I didn’t cause enough of a stir for doing what I did and being who I am, I then decided to date three men. ”
“Three incredibly hot men,” she points out, making me grin.
“Three incredibly hot men,” I agree. “Truth is, Sarah, you could do everything they expected of you, be the good girl, stay in your lane, and never make trouble, and they’d still find a way to make you feel bad.
They need to because they’re so twisted up inside, they have to purge it somehow.
You’ve gotta do what’s right for you. Who’s going to have your best interests at heart if you don’t? ”
She contemplates my words for a moment before she continues. “There’s this guy…”
“I don’t do love potions. You can’t make someone fall in love with you, and even if you could, something like that shouldn’t be messed with. It always twists into something sinister.”
“Oh, that makes sense. But it’s actually the opposite I’m after. This guy, Tom, is convinced that we’re destined to be together, and he’s refusing to hear the word no. My friends tell me to go for it, or I’ll end up alone, like that’s such a terrible thing.”
I sit up straight. “You said he isn’t taking no for an answer…” I trail off, letting her fill in the blanks.
“He hasn’t pushed it that far yet, but I can see it in his eyes that it’s getting harder for him to rein it in. He’s always turning up where I am, and offering to take me home, which everyone else jumps on because they’re all partnered up and it makes sense to them.”
I shake my head, frustrated that, in this day and age, people still don’t understand that no means fucking no.
“I can make you a cream that will repel him,” I offer.
“At this point, I’m willing to try anything.”
“Stop by the ranch tomorrow, and I’ll have something for you. In the meantime, it might be worth finding new friends. If you’re not getting out of the relationships what you’re putting in, then it’s probably reached the end of its tracks.”
She sighs as she considers.
“You’re more than welcome to drop by the ranch even when you don’t need a man repellent,” I tease. “Dawn and I are outnumbered by men.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I know I’m old and therefore boring, but Dawn’s around your age and could use a friend herself. After everything went down…well, you know how small-minded people can be.”
“You’re right. I should have reached out sooner, but you never know if it’s the right move or if people just want to be left alone.”
“Well, consider it an open invitation. Dawn and Hannah live out there now.”
“Good. Porter is a dick. He never deserved them. I hope he gets hit by a tractor or something.”
I throw my head back and laugh. I’m sure I could arrange for that to happen. “I bet Dawn would have some ideas for the festival too, though I really do need to find her some help,” I mutter.
“Help?”
“Oh, she does all the packing and posting of my creams and things, but online orders have gone nuts, and it’s getting to be more than just the two of us can handle.”
“I could do it. I mean, if you don’t mind someone part-time. I work at the library three days a week and take classes in the evenings twice a week, but I could always use the extra money.”
“Actually, that would be perfect. It’s not fancy work, but I pay well, and you’ll get staff discounts and all the regular benefits.
Would you be okay doing a trial run? Say two weeks?
You’d still get paid, obviously.” I’d rather spend time getting to know her and make sure the good vibe I’m getting off her isn’t a fluke.
“That sounds perfect.”
“Well, we can discuss it tomorrow when you drop by, and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
“Thank you, Calliope. You don’t know how glad I am that I came over.”
“Well, my next stop is the library to pick up some books for Hannah, so I’m guessing it was fate we would run into each other.”
She smiles, which makes her look so young. I have this insane urge to take her under my wing. For someone who has always been a loner, I sure seem to keep picking up strays everywhere I go.
“Well, I’m heading back over there now, so I could join you. I just stopped by to pick up my lunch and thought I’d come over when I spotted you alone.”
“That would be great.” I add some money to the table, even though Riggs left plenty, and get to my feet with a groan. “I’m going to have to start working out if I keep eating here.”
She laughs, that slightly sweet, slightly shy sound again. “Tell me about it. Give me two seconds, and I’ll be with you.” She hurries to the bar where the bartender is waiting for her with a bag on the counter. She gives him a smile and hands him some cash before waving.
I head over to her so we can walk out together.
I give the bartender a friendly nod, but his eyes don’t stray from Sarah.
He drinks her in from top to bottom, and she’s oblivious to it.
I narrow my eyes. There’s a slight age gap there.
Not as much as Austin and me, but maybe around five or six years.
Enough for Sarah to think she hasn’t made it onto this guy’s radar.
“Who’s the guy checking you out?” I ask when we step outside.
“Huh? What guy?”
“The bartender who gave you your food.”
“What? Oh, that’s just Henry. His uncle used to run the place, but he had a heart attack a few years ago and left it to Henry.”
“He likes you?”
She waves me off. “He’s a friend. That’s all.”
“He’s not your type?”
She flushes, dipping her head. “I’m not his type.”
I seriously doubt that, but I’ll let it go for now and make a mental note to have David dig into him.
“Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?”
She points at a telephone pole and the missing-person poster on it. “Another person’s gone missing.”
I stare back at the young, handsome-faced man with the cocky smirk. “Who is he?”
“Abel Kent. I went to high school with him.”
“He’s a friend of yours?”
“God no, he’s a dick.”
I laugh, not expecting that.
“Sorry, that was not nice given the circumstances, but he was just a bully to everyone.”
“There must be something in the water, I swear that’s the fourth missing persons poster I’ve seen since I came back.”
“I know. There are whispers that they’ve all run off together. Wouldn’t surprise me. They’re all—”
“Dicks?” I finish for her, making her blush.
“Yeah. The first guy that went missing— Parker Giles—he’s like Porter. He married the high school prom queen, prettiest girl in town, and all he does is hurt her and put her down. I don’t understand why she stays when she could do so much better.”
I don’t reply. Unless you’ve been in that situation, it’s impossible to know what it feels like, dealing with the terror of leaving versus the blinding fear of staying. There is no winning, only a risk assessment in which you try to decide which action will hurt less.
She chatters away about her plans for the festival.
I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered someone as happy and sweet as Sarah.
If someone had asked me if I’d be drawn to that kind of personality, I’d have laughed in their faces.
I’d have been wrong. There’s a reason even deadly plants reach for the sun.
Something about Sarah pings my protective nature, not unlike how I feel about Dawn and Hannah.
I’m not sure I could explain why. I just know if someone did something to strip the light from this woman, the world would be a darker place for it.