Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (25 page)

“Ridge, cancel the ambulance. I’ll take Alex
back to the house,” Ty said reluctantly. “Call Martha, give her the heads up.
Have her call this Dr. Morgan and see if she can get him to come out. Turning
to Alex, he stated, “If he doesn’t, you’re going to the hospital, got it?”
Nodding her head to let him know she would do as he said if the doctor didn’t
come out, she suddenly remembered Stardust.

“My horse, and the rifle! Ridge, could you or
Tennessee find them for me and bring them back to the barn?”

“You rode a horse?” Ty exclaimed.

He didn’t know what stunned him more, her fall
or knowing she had ridden a horse out here.

“Yes, my stallion. His name is Stardust. Ridge,
be careful, he doesn’t take to men very well,” she warned.

“I’ll see to the horse,” Ridge replied, trying
not to laugh. He watched her and Boss closely to make sure neither one of them
was going to fall over. After hearing about her horse, he looked just as shook
up as he had when he’d found Alex.

“What the hell are you doing owning a Stallion?
You hate horses!” Ty barked.

He helped her walk toward his rig. He was
having a hard time picturing Alex on a horse, much less a stallion. He really
didn’t know her anymore or she would have told him about her horse; he was
tired of being on the sidelines. After tonight and the scare he had had, he was
determined that they would make it work somehow.

“I bought him a couple of years ago,” Alex
dismissed absently.

She let Ty pick her up and place her gently
into the SUV, trying to catch the color of his eyes. He was getting angry. She
could see it in the hard angles of his face. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes
were growing darker as he started the vehicle, reversed it, and headed back the
way Ridge had come.

As they rode in silence back to the house, she
could feel tears building behind her eyes. She hadn’t meant to fall. He was
acting like she had done it on purpose. He wouldn’t meet her gaze as he gripped
the wheel like he was going to tear it from the steering column with his bare
hands.

Ty concentrated on staying on the road. He
couldn’t handle the anger growing in him for all the time he had wasted because
of Max. Max stopped him from following his instincts last time, this time he
would do what he wanted and to hell with the consequences. His pride would take
a beating because of her family’s fortune, but he would just have to get over
it. She belonged to him whether she, or Max, knew it or not.

Reaching the house, he threw the rig into park
and stalked around to the passenger’s side to fling open the door and gently
lift her out. He forced himself not to look down at her. He couldn’t take
seeing the pain in her eyes. He was learning quickly that he couldn’t handle
seeing her hurt, it wrenched at his heart.

Moving up the steps with Alex in his arms, he
saw Sam and Martha waiting at the front door. Crossing the threshold, he
stalked toward the staircase, climbing them as if she weighed nothing. Entering
her room, he gently laid Alex on her bed. Gazing into her eyes, he could see
the tears gathering there. He leaned down and brushed away a tear that slowly
slid down her cheek. She was hurting and he felt powerless to help her.

“What happened?” Sam questioned, taking in
Alex’s dirt covered clothes and mud caked face. “When Ridge called he just said
that Alex had fallen, he didn‘t go into the particulars.”

“Annie Oakley here decided to play cops and
robbers,” Ty said dryly.

He looked down at Alex. He didn’t want to leave
her but he knew he would have to.

“I hate you.” Alex insisted looking up at him,
hostility etched in to every line of her features and showing in her body
language.

Knowing Ty was angry with her for helping with
the rustlers hurt her more than when she had first left the ranch. He was still
rejecting her, even her help. She had been so anxious about him getting hurt,
she hadn’t thought clearly about the consequences. Keeping him safe was the
only thing that had run through her mind. Now she would have to pay the price
of him bossing her around, and there was nothing she could do about it; and all
because of the trouble she had caused by her impulsive actions.

“No you don’t, you only think you do,” he said
gently as he stroked her cheek. He informed Martha and Sam that he would go
wait for the doctor downstairs.

Looking down at Alex, he waited for her to meet
his eyes. When she did he leaned down, finding a clean spot, and kissed her
forehead before turning and leaving the room. He closed the door behind him so
they would have some privacy while they helped her get cleaned up for the doctor.

“I hate him, I really hate him. Do you hear me,
you jerk?” Alex yelled angrily at the door, “He doesn’t make any sense!” She
would never understand him. He was breaking her heart again without even
trying. Fighting her tears, she grabbed the blanket in her tight fists.

“Sure you do honey. Let’s get you into a
shower,” Martha said gently.

 Martha and Sam shared a knowing smile over
Alex’s head as they helped her out of her soiled clothes. Sam helped her into a
hot shower as the tears started to fall unchecked down her pale cheeks. Martha
started to strip Alex’s bed; it was caked with the same dirt that covered her
from head to toe.

Downstairs Ty started pacing, impatiently
waiting for the doctor. He knew Alex was confused and didn’t know why she made
him so angry. He felt like his life was spinning out of control; and all
because of a small woman who unknowingly held his heart in the palm of her
hand. It had shaken up his world when he was forced to see his life without her
in it. In that heart-stopping moment he came to the realization that he was in
love with her, and that changed everything he thought he knew about himself. He
couldn’t tell Alex how he felt; not when he didn’t know how she felt about him.

With her feelings for Steven, and the fact that
she was thinking about marring the guy, he felt trapped. He heard the doorbell
chime and walked briskly to the door to open it. A man who looked to be in his
sixties and carried a black medical bag quickly introduced himself. He escorted
him to Alex’s room, knocking on the door; they waited for an answer from
inside.

Martha called out for the doctor to enter from
the other side. He entered the room as the women stepped out, closing the door
softly behind them. Ty resumed his pacing up and down the carpeted hall, much
to their amusement. Martha couldn’t help but compare him to an expectant
father, waiting for news. She shared a knowing smile with Sam. A few minutes
later the doctor stepped into the hall.

Ty held his breath, waiting for the doctor to
tell him that Alex was all right. If she wasn’t he was dragging her handcuffed
and gagged to the hospital.

“Just a bump on the head, no serious damage,
though I would like someone to spend the rest of the night with her to be sure
she isn’t suffering from a concussion.” He explained, “If she becomes overly
sleepy, starts felling sick to her stomach, has slurred speech, or complains of
any vision discrepancies she needs to be taken to the emergency room
immediately. If she falls asleep, wake her every two hours and make her talk to
you, understood?”

“I’ll stay with her,” Ty decided.

It wasn’t open to debate. He knew best what to
watch for. Sam started to object but was cut off as Martha quickly agreed and
ordered her to go to bed.

“Just keep the door open,” she stated folding
her arms over her breasts. “Break the rules and you’ll find your butt out on
the street. I’ll walk the good doctor out,” she said, turning to escort him
down the stairs.

Opening Alex’s door and being sure to leave it
that way, he crossed to the bed to gaze down at her. She was lying on her side
with her eyes closed and looked as though she had fallen asleep the moment the
doctor had left. He moved to the window, looking out at the night, trying to
control the feelings still smoldering deep within him.

Spying through the binoculars, he could just
make Ty out in front of the window in Alex room. Reaching into his pocket, he
pulled out his cell phone. Dismayed at the prospect of having to inform Max
about what had transpired tonight, he listened as it rang on the other end. He
moved restlessly in the confines of the front seat, uncomfortable in the car he
had rented. He needed to look into stock in rental cars.

“This had better be good Frank, or I’m sending
you to the Antarctic,” Max groused tiredly.

“Alex got injured tonight, just a bump on the
head. Thought you should know,” Frank said casually, not wanting his boss to
hit the roof.

“How the hell did that happen!” he yelled at
Frank. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to relay the news. “Forget it,
I don’t want to know. She’s his problem now.”

Frank leaned back, glad Max wasn’t going to ask
for details, and placed two antacids in his mouth, chewing them silently as Max
continued.

“She’s fine?” Max questioned.

“Yes. The doctor left a while ago, I stopped
him on the way off the ranch. He said someone would have to stay with her to
keep an eye on her, but other than that she’s perfectly fine.”

“Who’s staying with her?” Max asked excitedly.

“Ty. Why? The door is open. I can see into the
room and the light is on and the curtains are open,” Frank said reassuringly.

“What the hell do I pay you for? You still have
the keys to Sam’s place, get your sorry ass up there and close that door!” he
barked into the phone.

Frank moved the phone away from his ear in a
vain attempt to save his eardrums.

“You want me to close the door?” Frank asked,
puzzled.

“Yes, you buffoon! Keep an eye on that boy and
when he falls asleep, get that door closed or it’s your hide!” Max growled.
“This is my one chance and I'm not letting you screw it up. I’ll be there in
the morning. Martha always rises at six thirty like clockwork; I’ll be there
just before she’s up.” Max said, slamming the phone down in Frank’s ear.

Frank wondered if Max had finally gone off the
deep end, but settled in for another sleepless night. It was getting close to
four in the morning when the light went out in Alex’s room. Frank saw a shadow
move toward her bed and lower itself onto it. Frank waited thirty more minutes,
watching the figure closely. When he didn’t see any movement, he opened his car
door, and let it click softly behind him. Taking extra care to keep quiet,
Frank snuck toward the house as stealthily as a man his age was capable of.
Easing the front door open, he crept up to Alex’s room. He spied Ty asleep on
Alex’s bed, clutching her in his arms. He closed the door softly, beaming at
the picture they made.

When Max finally made his appearance the sun
was just starting to rise. Frank saw him pull up the drive and clamor out of
the dark, late model sedan along with the driver, who was dressed all in black.
They didn’t miss a beat as they advanced on the door. Drowsy eyed, Frank moved
along the porch, leaving the rocker he had been waiting in nearly all night to
work his way over to him.

Max placed his meaty fist against the door,
pounding on it none too gently. Martha, awakened by the banging on the front
door, was beside herself with the desire to strangle the fool who had the
audacity to make such a racket this early in the morning. Pulling on her terry
cloth robe and slippers, she raced for the door, hoping whoever was on the
other side of it had their last rights memorized and had gone to confession.
“Because when I get my hands on them they’re going to the pearly gates!” she muttered
as she pulled open the door.

“Well? Took you long enough!” Max huffed. He
didn’t even break stride as he led Frank and the man in black over the
threshold, leaving an open-mouthed Martha standing there with the door open.

“Max?” Martha said in alarm, only recovering as
he progressed purposely through the entryway and mounted the stairs. Blinking,
not accepting what her eyes were telling her, she asked flabbergasted, “What
are you doing here?”

“Putting a stop to this nonsense once and for
all!” Max said curtly.

 Slamming the door, Martha raced up the stairs,
squeezing past before he achieved the landing. She folded her arms over her
chest and squarely planted her feet, effectively stopping him. Blocking his
path, she placed her hands on her ample hips, and glared down at him.

“What nonsense are you referring to?” she
busted out hotly, panting for breath.

“The business of you allowing Ty to sleep in my
granddaughter’s bed, that’s what! With the door closed! God knows what
debauchery is going on in that love nest, and right under your nose!” Max
accused. He raised his cane up and thumped the floor to emphasize his point.

“The door is open Max, nothing’s happened. Alex
just took a fall and he volunteered to watch over her,” Martha said calmly,
trying to get her heart rate down after chasing Max up the stairs.

“My granddaughter is being compromised and she
claims it’s nothing,” Max mused, pointing his cane at Martha while addressing
the other man. “Wait ‘til I tell Emma ‘bout this!” he said, lowering his head and
shaking it in disappointment. Recovering quickly, he moved around her.