Counting on Love (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Carson Hill Ranch series: Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

“You did nothing wrong. I don’t care who you used to be, I know the girl you are now. And I walked into my dining room here and saw a patron grope you against your wishes. He’s goin’ to jail, and that’s final.”
    “But no one’s ever gonna believe me,” Emma whispered, a single tear forming at the corner of her eye now that she had cried herself hoarse.
    “I believe you, and the sheriff has to believe me. I know what I saw. I saw a young lady who’s making something of herself get attacked right here in front of me. Emma, look at me.” Jennie cupped Emma’s chin gently and turned her face to look into the girl’s big brown eyes. “I saw the fear on your face just now. You are a different person, and you didn’t want that man anywhere near you. That is all anyone needs to know.” She hugged Emma close one last time then turned around to call the sheriff, giving the man a solid kick to the ribs with her white Keds as she passed him. The move only succeeded in making him moan quietly. Jennie looked at him with disgust before spitting on him, saying, “Shoot. He’s not dead after all.”
    Emma sat rigidly in her chair, staring at the unmoving lump of disgusting flesh in the floor. She turned away, already memories of his sweaty body pressing on top of hers attacking her mind. She jumped up from her chair guiltily when the sheriff burst through the door of the bar, a deputy in tow.
    As the new sheriff took her statement, the deputy bent to the floor to try to rouse the man, Jennie sneering down at him as Emma and Amy spoke. When he was finally able to roll over and sit up dizzily, the sheriff put down her notebook long enough to twist each of his arms behind his back and handcuff him as he yelled in protest.
    Jennie came and put an arm around Emma’s shoulders as they began to lift the man to his feet, half-carrying, half-dragging him toward the door, but not before the deputy looked Emma up and down and gave her a hungry leer. Jennie jumped forward menacingly, shouting at him.
    “What are you lookin’ at?” she screamed at him, causing Amy to turn around in alarm. “You wanna wear my baseball bat across the back of your head, too? ‘Cause I have plenty of power left in my swing today, Mister! You look at this girl like that one more time, and I’ll hit you in your other head with it, d’you understand me?”
    Amy put an arm protectively across the deputy’s chest, blocking Jennie’s path. “Now, hold on, you can’t go threatening a law enforcement officer, Jennie.”
    “And he can’t go looking at this sexual assault victim like he’d get in line to jump her! Is that how you run your department, Sheriff? I’d have thought better of you than that.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and made an indelicate, angry huffing noise. Emma stood mute, her eyes at the floor.
    “I will certainly look into this and I will have a word with my deputy,” Amy promised, eyeing the younger man suspiciously. “But you keep your head about you, got it? I don’t wanna go dragging you across the street to the jail, too…I only have the one pair of handcuffs!” she said with a laugh. Jennie nodded curtly, then watched them go.
    “Jennie,” Emma began in a quiet sort of voice. “you can’t go hitting everyone who looks at me funny. Because you’re gonna wear yourself out and then end up in jail. People here know about me. They know what I did. And they’re not about to let me forget it.”
    “Well, when enough of them get amnesia from my Louisville Slugger, the rest of them will forget soon enough all on their own,” Jennie growled.
    “You can’t hit them all. It’s just not possible. But I appreciate it,” she answered. “No one’s ever stood up for me like that before.”
    “It’s high time someone did, Emma. And until you find somebody to go through this with you, I’ll be right here…practicing my swing.” Jennie hugged her close then turned and walked back to the kitchen,