Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25316 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25316 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
“If my diary isn’t enough, I have backups.” She holds up her phone. “For some of these rants, I recorded them. I’ve waffled many times on whether I should do something about you, Dad. So I kept them. I built my own case. But I can’t stay quiet any longer. Not if you’re threatening to take human lives.”
More murmuring in the crowd. Max is shaking with rage, but he isn’t talking anymore. He clearly remembers all those nights he yelled at his daughter, her being the only person who had to listen to him and his nonsense.
“All of this isn’t just to shame my father for crimes I don’t even know if he can be charged with anymore, no, I want to publicly display a pattern of behavior. That my father is a petty, vindictive, cruel man who you could easily believe could turn to something more vile. Maybe even something like murder. All of this should be enough to launch a full investigation of Jack Thomas’s and Lily Bennett’s accusations against him, that they shouldn’t be disregarded as petty, in some stupid family feud.”
People are backing away from Max, staring at him. I’m the only person still near him, ready to stop him from going after his daughter if he gains the balls to do such a thing.
“This... this is your doing!” he yells at me.
He takes a swing. But all that anger doesn’t change that he’s already a full bottle of whiskey drunk, and I easily dodge it, and send my own right hook across his face. For Lily. Hell, for Sarah too. Even if I don’t love the woman, it doesn’t mean she deserved anything that Max did to her.
Max crumples to the ground into the sorry heap that he is.
“All right, that’s enough. I’ve seen enough,” Sheriff Rogers says, dispersing the crowd further. “Maxwell Perry, you are under arrest.”
“For what?” he says, pitifully, trying to get up and away from the sheriff.
“Do I need your daughter to repeat herself? It’s pretty dang clear what you’re under arrest for.”
He tries to squirm away, but I step in front of him. He’s got no choice but to be cuffed, and several of the other men are right behind the sheriff, ready to give her a helping hand if he wants to go and try something.
“Again,” Sarah says into the mic, “I want to apologize for my silence. I should have said something sooner. But I was blinded by blood. By the idea that my father was a man who deserved any sort of loyalty from me. I’m sorry you all had to wait for this closure.”
Some people start to clap for Sarah. Most people stand silently. What is even the proper reaction for such a thing?
With her work done, Sarah hops off the stage and comes toward Lily and me. “And Jack, this is where I finally get to tell you that the engagement is off.”
I raise an eyebrow. Given my recent passion for Lily, I feel relieved to hear that. “But what about your stake in the Perry ranch?”
“I don’t need to get it via marriage anymore. Ever since I heard about my father attacking Lily, I’ve been talking with a lawyer friend. He said that with all I know, my father is going to be spending some time in prison. And while he’s in prison, I can make a case that because of his lack of ability to manage the ranch, I should inherit it immediately, regardless of my marital status. Use that Perry family tradition to state that’s what the family would want anyway.”
My smile grows. “So you’re going to be free of him without my help. Good.”
“You helped me plenty, Jack. You’re a good man. Even when you found someone you truly loved, you were going to marry some girl just to help her out.”
I laugh. “I don’t know if I could have gone through it now that I have Lily in my life.”
“Eh, it’s not a question we need to answer, anyhow. However, there’s still that family feud you wanted to end.”
I nod. “That’s the other thing a Thomas-Perry union would have settled.”
“We can settle it by me selling you the ranch once I own it.”
“Hmm? You don’t want to own your family ranch?”
“After everything I’ve dealt with? I’m not feeling passionate about family traditions, no. What good I do feel about my family I can honor by leaving their legacy in the hands of a capable, caring rancher. One whose name they’d curse, but I’m sure if they’re up there, they’ll get over it once they see you treat the land right.”
I sigh. “All right. I guess we can’t make any business plans yet, but once all the smoke is settled, we’re going to talk business, Sarah.”
She takes off her engagement ring and returns it to me. “I won’t be needing this anymore. You’re free to do with it what you will. Although, with how you’re looking at her, I think you already know what you want to do with it.”