Chapter 2 – Juliette
TWO
JULIETTE
“A moment, Sheriff,” Herb called out to the old man standing on the platform, now that the horse auction had ended.
Rodeo Remnant Auction had started to become a real event for the town. Which meant banners had been hung, food had been made. A live band of banjo players took up space just outside the local bar in town.
Riverbend, in its entirety, consisted of one main street where all the businesses faced. There was a gas station on one side of town. A health clinic on the other. The diner was probably the main attraction in town because the owner, Ruby, made some kick ass desserts.
Not that I would know.
Herb and I had eaten at the diner a few times after church for birthday celebrations when he still cared about that sort of thing. But birthday dinner didn’t include dessert.
Herb didn’t believe in sweets.
All that was to say, the town was buzzing with activity. Traffic had been closed off on the main street. People were standing around enjoying the activity of a competitive auction. And now it seemed as if the town’s Sheriff was about to officially announce it over.
“Herb? You need something?” the sheriff asked my dad, his hand over the microphone. I stood next to Herb unable to move, my heart thumping out of my chest with the humiliation I was about to endure.
Please let Kevin be working at the hardware store. Please let him not be anywhere near this auction.
“Want to make an announcement. Thought now would be the time.”
Herb’s voice was getting raspier. That was the cancer taking over his throat.
Maybe no one would hear him.
“Sure thing, Herb,” Sheriff Barling said, even as he stepped aside to make room for my dad.
Herb wasn’t used to attention any more than I was. The two of us were all each other had because Herb was mean and nasty and didn’t have any friends. And, by association, who would want to be friends with me?
Although Kevin had flirted with me. And smiled.
Maybe this was all for nothing. Maybe Herb would lean into the mic, say whatever he was going to say and no one would pay him any attention.
There were times I wasn’t positive we lived in the twenty-first century, but the calendar said we did. Maybe everyone at this gathering would dismiss Herb’s announcement for what it was.
Archaic. Outrageous. Despicable.
“Everyone,” he began, and then started coughing, pretty violently.
Enough that he needed the kerchief from his back pocket to wipe away the blood at the side of his mouth.
Unfortunately, that seemed to catch everyone’s attention.
Probably worried he was about to keel over right in front of the town.
I didn’t have that luck.
He cleared his throat and took a few breaths.
“You all know my girl, Juliette. Time for her to settle down and marry. I’m putting the farm up as a dowry for any interested and serious suitors. Over four hundred acres of sugar beet and barley crop. A house, the barn, equipment-”
“Herb,” Sheriff Barling interrupted him. “I’m not certain what you’re saying here.”
Herb scowled at the sheriff’s interruption. Daddy never did like the law much. Said they were always interfering in people’s business.
“Looking to see if there’re any single men out there who might want to marry my daughter. Comes with the farm and house.”
“How much?”
The question came from someone who had still been gathered for the auction, but it was followed by a bunch of people laughing.
Because they thought it was a joke.
Of course they did. Father announcing his daughter was for sale.
So funny!
“Herb,” the sheriff said under his breath. “This isn’t right. You can’t just…”
It seemed Sheriff Barling was at a loss for what this was.
Auction me off.
That was the phrase he was going for. That’s what he was struggling to wrap his brain around.
“Open to any offers,” Herb said into the mic. “She’s a good cook, regular church goer and you can see she’s not hard on the eyes. But you must be willing to take on the farm.”
“Herb,” Sheriff Barling said, this time a little more sharply. “What’s the matter with you? Why are you-”
“Cancer,” he snapped back. Enough that the mic picked that up, too.
I watched as people starting paying more attention. Like a reality TV show was being played out in front of them all in real time. The women were beginning to look horrified. Thankfully, the men all still thought it was a joke.
No humiliation was spared as I watched Kevin walk out of the hardware store, rubbing his hands on his apron as people started whispering amongst each other and pointing up toward the stage where the auctioneer had stood just minutes ago taking bids for horses.
“My time is up,” Herb told the sheriff. “Want to see my girl married, the farm in good hands. What’s your problem?”
“This isn’t how it’s done,” Sheriff Barling said. “A lot of the people in town today aren’t from around here. They’re strangers. You don’t know who-”
“A hundred dollars!” A smiling man, someone I didn’t know, held up some cash in his hands.
“Two hundred dollars!” Another man called out, wanting in on the fun.
I looked out over the crowd and saw Kevin approaching.
“Juliette?” he said, when he was close enough. I was standing on the two foot tall stage that had been constructed for the auction, but I could still hear him.
I shook my head tightly.
“You’re Connelly’s boy,” Herb said, pointing down at Kevin. “Don’t bother bidding, son. Already know you ain’t planning on farming.”
“Juliette, what the heck is happening?” he asked me. “Come down off that stage.”
“She’ll stay where she is. And her name’s Miss Clarke, son. Best you move along,” Herb told him.
“Is this real?” a woman in the crowd called out, getting agitated. “Is this even legal?”
That’s what I said!
“Legal,” Herb snarled. “Of course it’s legal. The girl’s twenty years old and looking for a man. We were in some dang city, she’d be using the internet to find a husband. At least this is in person.”
“You can’t take money for your daughter,” the woman charged. I think she owned the hair salon in town. Although I’d never been.
“Ain’t takin’ money,” Herb said. “Taking offers. Not the same.”
Sheriff Barling finally shook his head and turned off the mic. “You’re done, Herb. It’s not right what you’re doing to your daughter. Offering her up as some prize stud. Go along and let’s hope this doesn’t stir up any trouble.”
Except it was too late. I could already see him.
A big man, thirties it looked like from here, brown complexion. A buzz haircut and dark, serious eyes. Maybe Hispanic, maybe Native. From this distance, I could see his face was marked with pock scars on either side of his cheeks.
He was moving forward toward the stage, while everyone else had lost interest and was walking away to either get food or something to drink.
He also wasn’t smiling like this was all some joke.
No, he was looking at me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. His dark eyes not leaving the stage where I stood.
Subtly, without any sudden movements so my father wouldn’t see, I curled my fingers into my palm all except for the middle one, so he would receive my message loud and clear.
Back. The fuck. Off.
That’s when he smiled.