Love on the Buchanan Ranch (A Romance Story) (10 page)

Stacey ran her fingers through his hair as he drove her crazy with his tongue. She suddenly needed to feel more of him, pulling at the buttons of his shirt, and becoming ridiculously happy when she realized they were snaps. His chest was suddenly bare, and she could feel his hot skin against hers at last. He shrugged his shoulders back as he slipped off the shirt, and Stacey used the opportunity to unhook his belt and jeans. Standing up, he slipped off the Wranglers and let them fall to the floor. Stacey took this as her cue, and slipped off her pants as well. Owen lay back down next to her, and explored her body with his rough hands as he kissed her lips some more. She could feel how hard he was as he pressed up against her leg. She reached down and wrapped her fingers around him, she could feel him pulsating and it was driving her mad. He moaned and whispered her name. Again, she thought that the sound of her name on his lips was the sexiest sound she had ever heard.

“I need you inside of me,” she whispered, and instantly he was on top of her. He slipped himself gently inside of her. She was more ready than she ever remembered being, and it was like he was slipping into a glove that had been tailor made. They rocked against each other slowly at first, gaining momentum by the second. Stacey used her hands and fingers to explore the hardness of his back, and the flexing of his biceps with every thrust. Owen used his lips to keep her nipples hard, until at last he could concentrate on nothing more than the pleasure of being inside her was bringing him. He rode her like one of his bulls until finally, they climaxed together. His hard, sweaty body collapsed on top of hers, and he laid like that for a moment, breathing hard, his pulse pounding against her chest. When his thoughts cleared, and he remembered that he was a lot bigger than she, he rolled off and to the side. Stacey wasn’t ready to let him go, so she rolled with him and ended up on top. She collapsed against him and he held her like that for a very long time.

When they could both move again, they made love one more time. Stacey fell asleep in his arms, more at peace than she had ever felt before. She slept like that until she felt him stirring. Opening her eyes she saw that he was sitting up on the edge of the bed, reaching for his pants.

“Love ‘em and leave ‘em, Cowboy?” she asked.

He turned towards her and grinned, making her pulse rise again. “No way,” he said, “I just have to go to work. I’ll be thinking about you all day though, guaranteed.”

She smiled and said, “Good,” then glanced at the neon lights of the bedside clock. It read four am. “Four o’clock? Are you a rooster?”

“I felt like one a while ago,” he said, laughing softly. “I’m actually about an hour late. Them bulls don’t like waitin’ for breakfast. You wouldn’t want to see them angry.”

“Not unless there was a sexy cowboy there to save me,” she said.

Owen gave her a passionate kiss before he left, leaving her wanting more as she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep for another hour or two.

The best morning Stacey had ever remembered having, turned into a day that even her worst nightmare couldn’t have rivaled.

Stacey ran her usual morning errands, arriving at the diner around seven. Manuel was already cooking up breakfast for a packed house, and Victoria and Edith were actually running today to keep up. Stacey threw on an apron and was getting ready to pitch in when her cell phone rang. The number came up Unknown, so fearing it may be Emma she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Stacey Martinez?” the voice belonged to a man, it was gravely and hard to understand.

“Yes,” she said, wondering who it may be.

“I need you to tell me where Edward hid the money. It is in your best interest, I promise you that.”

Stacey took the phone to the back office, out of earshot of the patrons at the counter.

“Who is this?” she said, getting angry.

“You can call me Ray,” he said, “That’s all you need to know.”

“Well, you are barking up the wrong tree here, Ray. I am the last person that Edward would have told anything like that to.”

“But you knew him well, I’m sure. So if I were you, I’d do some fast thinking about where he would have hidden it.”

“And if I don’t?” Stacey asked him, sensing a threat in his words.

“Well let me put it this way,” he said, in an even more threatening tone, “It would not only be in your best interest, but Emma’s as well.”

“Emma! If you touch that girl…”

“Oh, I haven’t, yet. She’s quite comfortable…for now!”

“Where is she?” Stacey demanded.

“I’ll tell you that, when you tell me where my money is. I’ll call you back at noon; I hope you have some answers for me by then.”

“Wait!” Stacey said, “How much money is it?”

“A hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” the voice said, just before the call disconnected.

Stacey could feel her pulse racing in her throat. The room was spinning slightly and she felt like she would throw up. “Damn you, Edward! If anything happens to Emma…I hope you are burning in hell!”

She sat down at her desk and dialed Emma’s cell phone. It only rang once and went to voicemail. In case the man was bluffing, Stacey left a brief message, just asking her to call. If she wasn’t already involved, Stacey didn’t want to frighten her. Next, she called Emma’s dorm room. Emma’s roommate answered, “Hi Lucy, this is Stacey, Emma’s mom...”

“Oh hi, Mrs. Martinez! How are you?”

“I’m okay, Lucy. I just really need to talk to Emma. Is she around?”

“No, you might want to try her cell phone. She had the day off from her morning class today, so she went to meet Greg for breakfast.”

“Oh, I did try it, she didn’t answer. You don’t have Greg’s number by chance, do you?”

“I think so, let me look,” There was silence for a few seconds while the girl looked for the number. It felt like hours to Stacey. “Here it is...569-882-8423.”

“Thank you, Lucy!” Stacey said, and hung up, immediately dialing the number.

Greg answered on the first ring. “Greg, its Stacey, is Emma with you?”

“No, we were supposed to have breakfast, but she called a while ago to cancel.”

“You talked to her? How did she sound?” Stacey asked.

“She sounded okay, you know, normal. Why? Is something wrong?”

“I hope not,” Stacey said. “Just promise you’ll call me if you hear from her, okay?”

“Sure,” he said, and seemed about to say something else, but Stacey hung up.

Sticking her head out front, she called for Vicki.

“Have you heard anything more about the money?” Stacey asked her.

“No,” Victoria said with a smile, “I guess they gave up.”

Stacey slumped back in the chair. “No they didn’t,” she said, “They just called me. I think they have Emma.”

“What? Oh my God, Stacey! What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. The man said he would call back at noon. He says it is a hundred and fifty thousand dollars they are looking for. I don’t have even a fraction of that to give him, and I have no clue where Edward might have hidden it. I don’t think I even have enough to go to the cops. All I have is a phone call, and the insinuation that they have my Emma. He didn’t even say it straight out.”

“I could ask Edith, I think she has a little money put away. And you can have all that I have. It’s not much, but maybe between us all…”

Victoria’s eyes were filling with tears. “Its okay, Vicki. I really don’t think between us all we have a fraction of that. I’ll think of something, okay? Go on back to work, and don’t share this with anyone, alright?”

Victoria stood up and put her hand on Stacey’s shoulder. “Okay, Hun, but remember we are all family here. Let us help you if we can.”

Stacey gave her a weak smile and nodded. The wheels in her brain were turning as fast as they could go, but she couldn’t think of one thing that seemed like it would help. She finally laid her head forward on the desk and allowed herself a minute to cry.

A knock on the office door startled her. It was Ted. She tried to wipe her face quickly, but he had already seen the tears.

“Stacey dear, what on earth is the matter?” he asked her.

“It’s a family issue, Ted. I’m sure I’ll work it out. What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Buchanan wanted me to come by and invite you to dinner this Friday night. He is having a little birthday celebration for his son Ante at the house.”

“Oh, sure,” Stacey said absently, not even really processing what he was saying.

“Stacey, are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

She couldn’t lie again, her tears came back and when she finally stopped sobbing and was able to speak, she told Ted what was going on.

“Oh, dear! We have to call the police,” he said.

“I thought of that,” Stacey told him. “I just don’t have anything for them to go on. An unknown caller, a veiled threat, a daughter who is young and sometimes doesn’t answer her phone just because she’s out having fun…”

“I see your point, but we should call them anyways…just in case,” he said, sitting down in the chair opposite the desk. “What time were they going to call back?”

“At noon.” She told him, “I would just give them my own money if I had it.”

Ted stood up and put his hand on her shoulder, “I know you would. We’ll figure this out, together, okay?”

“I don’t know what I did to deserve so many kind people in my life, but I am grateful. Thank you,” Stacey said.

“You’re welcome,” Ted told her. “Come up to the main house around eleven thirty, okay? Bring Victoria with you. I’ll have the police chief up there too. When they call, you won’t be alone.”

Stacey stood up and hugged him. The little man’s face turned red and for the first time since Stacey met him, he didn’t seem to know what to say, “Well, um…I’ll see you then. You call me if you hear anything before then.”

“I will. Thank you so much!”

Ted left, and Stacey filled Victoria in on what was going on. Stacey offered to close the diner so that Edith didn’t have to do the lunch hour by herself, but the older woman insisted she would be fine. Manuel and Noel both promised to help her out. Stacey had been such a private person her whole life that she had thought everyone knowing her business would be a problem for her. Instead, the weight on her shoulders felt lighter, due to the fact that her new “family” was willing to carry part of the load.

***

Owen never showed up for breakfast, and for that, Stacey was grateful. She didn’t want to share such personal information with him, not just yet anyways. He had a way about him though, that every time they talked she wanted to tell him everything.

She and Victoria left for Mr. Buchanan’s house about eleven fifteen. Edith, Manuel and Noel all reminded her that they were here if she needed them. She gave each one a hug before she left. She was truly blessed.

When they arrived, Ted, Mr. Buchanan and the Police Chief were all assembled in the living room. Mauve showed them in and asked if they would like coffee. Victoria asked her if it was decaf and touched her stomach. Mauve guessed that the girl was pregnant, she was almost five months along, but so thin she barely had a bump. Mauve told her she would make her a cup of her “special” hot cocoa and bring her some cookies to go with it.

“You need to keep your strength up for you both,” she told her before bustling out of the room.

Mr. Buchanan looked as if he was going to shake Stacey’s hand, but instead, he wrapped her in a big bear hug. “I’m sorry that S.O.B. you had the misfortune to be married to seems to still be making life hard for you even though he’s dead. Ted filled me in on what’s been going on. I would have given you the money.”