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“I didn’t bring the paperwork. That’s not why I’m here. Listen, I know I’ve been a less than perfect partner to you, but I’ve always meant well. I want to try to work this out between us. I don’t want to buy you out of the clinic. I want you to come back and work in it with me, side by side, like we started out. I’m willing to forgive you for how you walked out on me this last time.”
“You are willing to forgive me? What if I don’t want to be forgiven? I left for a reason.”
“You left me sitting in a fucking restaurant alone.”
“I’m surprised you even noticed I was gone, the way you were focused on harassing the waitress. You’re a bully, mean-spirited to the core, and not just to other people. You treated me the same way. I don’t know what happened to you between the time we met and the time we started our clinic, but you’re not the same person. Or maybe you are and it just took me that long to see it.”
“You think you’re a walk in the park, Rain? I’ve overlooked so much about you because I cared about you and wanted everything to work out between us, but you aren’t an easy woman to be with.”
“Well, then you shouldn’t have wasted your time coming all this way, Shaun. You can find your way back to California just like you found it here.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Rain? You would rather live here in this hick town with all these backward assholes and go to tractor pulls? I stopped by your house and saw your vet truck in the yard. You plan to make a living sticking your arm up the back end of cows and horses now, do you?”
“What I do here is none of your business. Just send me the paperwork to sign for the sale when it’s done. I told you my price.”
“Which is too high.”
“You can take it or leave it. I’m not afraid to go to court to get a fair price out of you, Shaun,” I said, turning to walk away.
“Don’t walk away from me, Rain Harper. I’m not about to let you jeopardize what I’ve worked so hard to build by leeching money out of it that I can’t spare right now.”
I turned back around and stepped toward him again, looking him straight in the eye as defiantly as I could.
“We worked to build that clinic, Shaun. Half of that money was mine, and I put just as much work into it as you did, right up until the point where you decided to fuck around on me with one of our employees. If you think I owe you one cent more than what I’ve agreed to knock off for leaving the clinic, then you have another thing coming.”
“You bitch. I don’t have to take shit from you. You’re damned right you’ll see me in court before I give you a fucking dime.” He grabbed me by both arms and yanked me toward him.
I struggled to free myself, looking around wildly for help, but we were standing in a somewhat hidden corner on the far side of the concession stand, and my line of sight was limited by his tight grip on me. I opted, instead, to make enough noise to shake him loose, screaming at him to let go of me as loudly as I could muster. Then, everything seemed to happen fast as I felt him being torn away from me. As he flew backward, I could make out Jon on the other side of him, his face a twisted mask of rage. My heart was hammering against my chest, just as much from the encounter with Shaun as what now looked to be a fight between the two men.
24
Jon
I’d thought my luck was looking up when I heard Rain’s name across the loudspeakers. I had given up on finding her in the crowd and sat beside Dad to watch the tractor pull and eat the promised hot dog, washing it down with a Coke.
“Looks like you aren’t the only one looking for your girl,” Dad said, his eyebrows raised.
“Seems not. I’m going to go see what’s going on. Maybe give me a chance to catch up with her myself,” I told him.
“Good luck, son,” Dad told me as I stood to make my way down to the bottom of the bleachers, weaving in and out of the people overflowing across what was supposed to be an aisle between sides.
I hurried toward the concession area, eager to make sure I got to her before she disappeared again, but when I arrived, I didn’t see her anywhere.
“Hey, Carl,” I addressed a guy I knew in the concession stand. “Did you call Raintree Harper down here earlier?”
