“I’ll Buy All Four Sisters For $500—No One Separates Them” Mountain Man Roared At The Cruel Auction

Chapter 7

It was Sarah who discovered a piece of Lachlan’s secret by accident.

She had wandered toward the barn, seeking afternoon light for her sketches. The large doors were half-open. Inside, Lachlan knelt on the packed dirt floor, staring at a small wooden box he had taken down from a shelf.

His shoulders — so broad and certain — were slumped in a way Sarah had never seen.

Before she could step back, the wind shifted and Lachlan looked up. For a moment, neither moved. Then he snapped the lid closed and stood.

“Didn’t know anyone was near.”

Sarah swallowed. “I wasn’t trying to pry.”

Lachlan nodded once. The harshness was gone. “I know.”

She hesitated. “Was that theirs?”

She didn’t have to say the names. She already knew.

Lachlan’s throat moved as he swallowed. “My daughter’s toy. A carved horse. I made it for her when she was two.”

Sarah stepped closer, drawn more by instinct than courage. “You still miss them. Every day.”

Lachlan’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Some days more than others.”

“Does talking about them hurt too much?”

“No,” he said. “Not talking about them hurts more.”

Sarah’s heart clenched. “We won’t replace them, you know.”

“I know,” he murmured. “But you’ve made the house less empty.”

Before she could respond, a shout echoed from the porch. Clara’s voice, sharp and urgent.

“Lachlan! Riders coming.”

He strode outside instantly, Sarah trailing behind him.

Two men rode into the yard. One wore a deputy’s badge. Martha’s hand flew to her mouth. Grace gripped her apron so tightly her knuckles went white.

The deputy dismounted with a self-important swagger. “Lachlan Stone?”

Lachlan stepped forward — all mountain and menace in the dying light. “I’m Stone.”

“I’ve been sent with a notice.” The deputy pulled a folded sheet from his coat. “Ezra Thorn filed a claim against you with the county. Says you unlawfully removed four female relatives from his property.”

Clara scoffed. “He sold us.”

“Claims he didn’t,” the deputy said. “Says you coerced the transaction.”

Martha’s eyes sharpened. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Law doesn’t care much about ridiculous,” the deputy muttered. “Just needs paperwork and enough noise.”

Lachlan didn’t take the notice. “What does he want?”

“Once the girls returned,” the deputy said. “Says they’re his kin, not yours. Sheriff has to look into it.”

“And if we refuse?” Clara demanded.

The deputy hesitated. “Then this becomes a legal matter. Sheriff might send men to retrieve them.”

Sarah whimpered.

Lachlan stepped forward — so close the deputy nearly stumbled back. “Ezra Thorn won’t set foot on this land. The sheriff won’t take these women. And you can ride back to Silver Creek and tell every man there that Lachlan Stone said so.”

The deputy swallowed. “This isn’t settled.”

“It is here,” Lachlan growled.

The deputy left without further argument, dust rising behind his horse as he fled the ranch.

Silence fell. Grace was trembling. Martha’s face had gone pale. Clara looked ready to fight. Sarah clung to her sisters like a drowning child to driftwood.

Lachlan turned to them, his expression carved from unyielding strength. “He won’t take you. No matter who he tries to bring. No matter what he claims.”

Clara met his eyes. “Why are you doing this? No man fights this hard for four strangers.”

Lachlan took a breath that seemed to come from somewhere deep in his bones. “You’re not strangers anymore.”

The sisters stared at him, each seeing something different, each wanting something they didn’t yet know how to name.

Clara saw a man she respected. Martha saw a mind she trusted. Grace saw a protector she never thought she’d have. Sarah saw a gentleness she craved.

But none yet saw the storm that truly lay ahead.