Mia gasped. “What did he do?”
“After my dad shooed Casper off our land, I headed out to the barn. I needed to be alone, to make sense of it all. I couldn’t believe Tiff had accused me of doing such a despicable thing. I desperately wanted to talk to her and find out why she’d done it, but my folks advised me not to contact her, at least not until we spoke to the sheriff.” The frustration he’d felt back then returned now in full-force. “Lord, I was already havin’ visions of going to jail—for something I didn’t even do—so eventually I went out to see the horses. Being around them always calmed me down. But Shane followed me into the barn and…”
He stopped. Couldn’t go on. That hot July morning had been the single worst day of his life. He’d never told anyone about it. Hadn’t allowed himself to think about it.
Mia twisted around so that she was straddling him. Her gaze shone with encouragement as she planted both hands on his shoulders and said, “What did he do?”
His lips formed a thin, angry line.
“What did your brother do, Jackson?”
“He beat the shit out of me.”
Her eyes went wider than Frisbees. “What?”
“He beat me,” Jackson said dully. “And I’m not talkin’ about a mean right hook or a kick to the nuts. He busted me up real good—two black eyes, split lip, broken nose, sprained wrist, three fractured ribs.”
Mia was agape. “Oh God.”
“My dad heard the commotion and rushed into the barn—he had to wrestle Shane off me. My folks wanted to call an ambulance, but I refused, so Dad carried me inside and my mama cleaned me up best as she could.” Jackson set his jaw. “Wasn’t long before the sheriff showed up, but before he could step foot in the house, Casper’s truck was speedin’ up the drive again. This time Tiff was behind the wheel.”
Mia scowled. “About fucking time she showed up.”
“Apparently Casper had come back to the farm in a rage, told Tiff that he was pressing charges, and she knew she couldn’t let the lie go on. She came clean, right there in front of everyone. My folks, Shane, the sheriff. I realized later how difficult that must’ve been for her, admitting to a group of people that she’d asked me to tie her up and fuck her in the ass—and that she’d enjoyed it.”
“Difficult for her? Did she even stop to consider how difficult it would be for you to be accused of rape? What a…a…bitch!”
A weak smile lifted Jackson’s lips. He found Mia’s fury on his behalf oddly sweet, but still he had to argue, “She wasn’t acting out of malice. She panicked, pure and simple.”
“Don’t you dare defend her. Tiffany Griffen is a first-class bitch for doing what she did. She could’ve destroyed your entire life!”
“She did,” he said ruefully. “No matter her motives, and even though she recanted her story, the damage had already been done. I was beaten to a bloody pulp, things between Shane and me could never be the same after what he’d done. And then there was the people in town…”
Mia narrowed her eyes. “What about them?”
“Let’s just say the folks of Abbott Creek aren’t the forgetting type. They like to whisper and gossip and spread shit around that ain’t true. I couldn’t go into town after that without folks staring and pointing at me. No matter how many times I denied any wrongdoing, or how many times Tiff admitted that she’d lied, some people still believed I’d done it. I think Shane secretly believed it too, because he never apologized for beating on me.”
“Please don’t tell me you stayed with Tiff,” Mia said in a menacing tone.
“I ended it the moment the sheriff left the house.”
“Good.”
“But yeah, life fuckin’ sucked after that.” Guilt swirled in his stomach as he thought back to those days. “I felt so bad for my folks. People were whispering behind their backs, half of them callin’ me a rapist, the other half—the ones who believed me—taunting them about having a kinky sex fiend for a son. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore, so I drove to a recruiting office in Dallas and enlisted.”
“And this was, what, eight years ago?”
He nodded.
“But you’ve been home since?”
“Only a handful of times, and every time I go back, I have to deal with the same irritating whispers. Not to mention seein’ Tiff and my brother blissfully in love.”
“I can’t believe they ended up together,” Mia grumbled. “They don’t deserve to be happy together after what they did.”
He sighed. “It was a complicated situation. I don’t begrudge them their happiness, but…fuck, but I don’t want to see it flaunted in front of my face, y’know?”
“So Shane really didn’t apologize to you?” Disbelief lingered in her expression.
“Nope. In fact, the two of us have barely exchanged ten words in eight years. He does his best to avoid me whenever I’m in town.”