Page 23 of Hope's Highest Bidders

She laughs like it’s funny, but I can hear the pain in her voice. “Shit,” I answer. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m going to come over tomorrow and see him.”

“He’d like that. Thanks, Cole. I have to go. I have a few things I have to do before I can go to bed tonight.”

I try not to let the image of Sassy laid back on a bed fill my thoughts, but that’s exactly where my mind goes. Guilt hitsme in the chest for thinking about her that way and knowing I shouldn’t. “Okay, honey.”

She’s quiet, and normally I’d hang up but I’m waiting for her.

Her voice is soft. “I didn’t know you had my number.”

I clear my throat. “Yeah, I saved it a long time ago. And now you’ve got mine. Call me if you need anything. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I hang up the phone before I do something crazy and reckless... like tell her how I feel about her.

2

SASSY

It was a late night last night. By the time I finally made it to bed, I was exhausted, but sleep alluded me. All I could think about was that strange phone call from my neighbor, Cole Rogers. If I remember right, I think he’s thirty-five, so he’s around fourteen years older than me. He’s a good man. At least he is to us. I’ve heard gossip in town on how he can be an asshole and hard to work for, but he’s always been great to my dad and me. I’m sure at this point he’s looking at us as a charity case or something. It’s obvious to anyone that pays attention that we’re losing control over here. I’m keeping the animals fed, but that’s about it. It seems every day something else breaks.

I wish I could have stayed in bed this morning, but I knew I had a hundred things to do today, and first thing up is mucking some stalls. It’s my least favorite chore, so I always do it first to get it out of the way.

“Hey, honey, how’s it going this morning?”

I look over the top of the stall to see my dad with a cup of coffee in his hand. With a measured glance, I answer him, “Hey, uh, Amos. It’s going good. How you doing this morning?”

I want to ask him if he knows my name, what year it is and a hundred other questions, but I don’t. It seems the more I ask him sometimes the more frustrated he gets, so I’m determined to keep it light and simple. That’s also why I call him Amos. I called him Dad one day, and he freaked out about it because he said he wasn’t my dad. Yeah, I definitely don’t want to do that again. I keep working and try to act as if everything is normal. Not as if I’m holding my breath, wondering if he knows I’m his daughter or not.

He glances around the barn and back at me. “We on a first-name basis now or what? I’m Dad, and it’s good. I got a cup of coffee, got to see the sun rise, and get to work with my daughter side by side on our ranch. Heck, honey, I don’t think life can get any better than what it is right now.”

I try to hold in my emotion. It seems anything can set him off sometimes, and I want to keep him like this for as long as I can. “I think you’re right, Daddy. I can’t think of anything either.”

In the past, I would have been able to talk to him about the financial problems with the ranch, but I can’t now. I can’t even bring it up. The doctors tell me to treat him the same as I always have, but they were wrong because in the past, he could figure things out and make it better. Now it’s like he can’t wrap his head around the fact that we are slowly losing the ranch, and he can’t figure out how to change it.

I lean against the pitchfork in my hand and smile at my dad. “Why don’t you go porch sit for a while, Dad? I got everything taken care of here. I think Cole said he was going to come see you today.”

He’s nodding his head, and a big smile forms on his face when I mention Cole. “Sounds good. I’ll do that.”

He starts to walk away, and I can’t take my eyes off him. He gets to the door before he turns around. “You like ranching, Sassy?”

The truth is, I don’t know anything else. But I know what he wants to hear, so I say it. “I love it.”

He smiles again. “That’s good, honey, because I don’t know what I’d do without the ranch.”

My smile falters for just a second and then I force it back onto my face. As soon as he’s out the door, I feel the pressure of it all on my shoulders, and I physically slump over. The weight is too much to bear, and I know I need to fix it. I have to. I can’t let him lose his ranch. I won’t.

I work through the morning. After I go inside to make sure my dad eats lunch, he takes a nap, and I find my way to the office at the front of our house. I pick up the documents that I received in the mail last week and read over them again. There’s no point really. I’ve read them at least twenty times, and it still says the same thing. Even though it’s a lot of words, it’s pretty simple. If I join the Breeding Bidders Auction, I will be auctioning off my virginity. I get to keep one million dollars. And there is an option that includes marriage.

I found the site a few weeks ago when I was searching online on how to make some money. It’s amazing all the sites I found that were get rich quick schemes, but this seems to be legit. I’ve had a phone conference with the owner and auctioneer, Coco St. James. She was snarky but at least answered all my questions. There’s also a private auction coming up next week in Jasper, which is only thirty minutes away from me here in Whiskey Run. The deadline to apply is closing in, and I know I have to make a decision.

I’ve tried all I know to try. I’ve gone to the bank and asked for loans, I’ve sold off all I know to sell. I’m literally at the end of my rope. I have to do something or else I’m going to be looking for an apartment for me and my dad to live in.

And that will kill him. Literally, it will kill him if he isn’t living on this ranch. I know it.

I shuffle things around on my desk, and when I find the pen, I grab it and count to ten. My mind is going crazy. All the things that could go wrong, all the risks in doing something like this, all of it is a lot to think about, but probably what’s craziest is that my mind keeps going to Cole. I know it’s stupid, but I’ve always secretly crushed on him. I know there’s not a chance in hell with him so I shouldn’t even be thinking about it, but I can’t make myself stop. If I do this, if I give my virginity to some stranger, that’s it. I won’t be saving myself for Cole anymore.

I roll my eyes in disgust. I’m so stupid and need to get my head out of the clouds. Cole and I are never going to happen no matter how much I want him. He’s a millionaire with one of the biggest ranches in Tennessee. He could literally have any woman he wanted. He’s definitely not going to want some young tomboy whose ranch is falling down around her. Nope. It’s best to get my head out of the clouds and start making things happen. The days of my dad saving the day are over. It’s my turn now.

I lean over my desk and sign my name across the dotted line. Before I can talk myself out of it, I scan the page with my phone, open the email app, and send it in.

---