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“Things a woman needs.” She glanced at him. “And basic things like shampoo.”
“Asshole.”
“There are so many worse words you could call him which are much more fitting.”
Sawyer felt himself getting angry. “It pisses me off that the county wouldn’t do anything. My dad approached them so many times about what was going on here.”
“I know. They’d do a welfare visit and I would be too scared of the consequences to tell them things weren’t okay.”
“They should’ve known that. All they had to do was look around. It took the bastard breaking your arm before they finally listened and did something about it.”
Jade turned to him and put her arms around him. “You and your family did everything you could, short of kidnapping me.”
“I wonder if he even would’ve cared.”
She shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know.” She looked at him. “One thing we never talked about, but I’m sure you've wondered. As mean and mostly emotionally abusive as he was, he never…you know.”
Sawyer nodded, then hugged her. “The thought, or fear, I guess, has crossed my mind from time to time.”
She stayed in his arms for a few moments, then stepped away and held out the forty dollars. “Here’s a down payment for the cleaning bill.”
“Jade.”
“Just take it.” He took the money and stuck it in his pocket as she looked around the room. “I think I’m ready to go.”
“So, you want to sell the place once it’s cleaned up?”
“I’d actually like to burn it to the ground. But I’ll put it on the market. Someone will buy it. Even if it’s just for the five acres.”
“That sounds like a good plan. You deserve to get something out of it. But, if you decide to burn it down. I’ll light the match for you.”
“I know you will.”
“Let’s leave the windows open, but we’ll close the doors. We don’t want any critters coming in and making themselves at home.”
They went into the living room. “I’m not sure even the critters would want to live here.”
“You could be right.”
She glanced at the door to her father’s room. “I feel like he’s still in there. Passed out or worse, not passed out.”
He hugged her again. “Put him out of your mind.” He stepped away from her, then went to the kitchen and closed the door. When he returned to the living room, she was already outside.
He went out, closing the door behind him, and took her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah. Lets.”
“I’ve got to help J.T. with a load of hay tomorrow. And we need to run a truckful out to the lower pasture the following day. But Thursday, I’ll track down some guys to clear it out.”
They went to the truck and got in, and Jade looked at the house through the window. “It’s very tempting to burn the place down with everything inside.”
“It’d save a lot of work, for sure.”
She laughed. “Probably not the right thing to do though.”
He took a moment. “No. But if you need an accomplice or an alibi, let me know.”
Chapter twenty-five
