Page 73 of Sawyer
“Are you alright?”Lifting my good hand, I cup her cheek, and she takes another deep breath.She leans back in her chair and grabs the glass of water, the glass shaking in her hands while she drinks.I watch her, remaining silent, waiting for her answer.
Placing the glass back down, she says, “That was Stanley.He’s my former father-in-law.”
My jaw clenches.
“I guess you could say he taught his son everything he knows.”
If I wasn’t sure about her past relationship, I am now.
I huff a breath, my blood heating all over again.“He’s a real piece of work.”
“I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“Has he ever hurt you in the past?”My heart pounds harder as I wait for the answer.
Her eyes look into mine, and she pauses, swallowing audibly.“No.”
“Do the kids see them?Their father’s side of the family?”I hope to hell they don’t.
“Never,” she says fiercely.I know this mama bear would protect her cubs with everything she has.
Tanner approaches where we’re sitting, putting our conversation on pause.“They’ve gone.I’ll speak to the sheriff and get this on the record.”
“No.”Annabelle’s response is panicked, and I look at her with concern.
“It’s important to have these things reported.He won’t necessarily be charged; hell, he may even charge me for punching him, but unless this is on the record, then it never happened.It’s important to have everything noted, so that if it happens again, you have a record of behavior that you can use if needed in the future.”
“The sheriff may go and talk with him, but he won't be back here.He isn’t welcome in any of my establishments anymore,” Tanner says, looking at Annabelle.
“I don’t want to cause trouble.”Her eyes look so dejected, like this is somehow her fault.
I wish I could go back in time and erase whatever happened in her past.But I can’t.
“He caused trouble the minute he stepped into your space.You did nothing wrong.None of this is on you at all.You were just here having a meal with your very handsome boyfriend.”I get the small smile I was hoping for.“Let’s go home, see what trouble Sutton got into while we were away.”
As I stand, she joins me.I shake Tanner’s hand and say goodbye to the others and Victoria, Daisy, and a few other local women all come to hug Annabelle.She smiles softly, opening up to them a little, and I know although it was a horrible first date, it might just be the one that has her accepting this small town as her own.And maybe accepting me as the man who can stand by her side.
32
Annabelle
My nerves are shot, my hands still trembling as Sawyer drives up his long and very luxurious driveway.As we pull up, he cuts the engine and turns to look at me.
“You know you can tell me anything.I’m a great listener.”
Tonight changed things for me.Seeing Sawyer come to my defense.Standing in front of me, protecting me without any hesitation.He doesn't know this town very well, and he doesn’t know Stanley and what he’s capable of.He doesn’t know any of my history, yet he stood there, protecting me and being the man I needed.
So, with a steadying breath, I decide to trust him with my past.
“Steve was never close with his parents.They had a rocky household.His father, Stanley, is a drunk, and his mother eventually left them all when Steve was young, because she’d had enough of the beatings Stanley delivered to her.A situation I came to know too well myself over the years.”I feel my heart beating against my ribs as I remember it all.“Stanley never hit me, but he always leered at me, so the threat of it was always there.I saw him hit his sons multiple times, yet my husband always went back to him.Always went drinking with him.He never left him, just like I never left Steve.In a way, we were both controlled by Stanley.”
Sawyer reaches over and opens his hand for me to hold, and I thread my fingers through his as I continue.“I thought I knew it all.I thought I had it all.”I huff and shake my head at my own naivety.“Steve always told me no one cared about me.Said I was nothing.Useless and I felt it.I felt every word.”I take another breath, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice.“For a long time, I thought Steve was just stressed, you know.Stressed about running the farm, keeping it going, bringing money in.”I huff.“But there was no money.When he left the house, he wasn’t running the farm.He was going to town, getting drunk with his dad, no doubt finding a woman for the night before coming home and repeating it all over again.When he was gone, I would strap Kevin to my body and go work on the land, plant vegetables, tend to the animals.But it was hard.”
I look over to Sawyer, knowing he’s a safe space for me now.Knowing that I can trust him.He protected me and has been protecting me in his own way for months now.Showing me kindness that my own husband never did.“I haven’t told anyone any of this.”
He lifts his hand, cupping my cheek.His thumb brushes the tears that fall from my face.
“Thank you for sharing it with me.”
