Love on the Buchanan Ranch (A Romance Story) (3 page)

He had hired a driver for the evening, telling her that he didn’t want anything to take his focus off of her. They drank champagne in the back of the huge town car on the way to the restaurant, and by the time they had arrived, Stacey already had a pleasant little buzz going on in her head. She wasn’t used to just letting herself go and have fun. She’d always had Emma to worry about, but for this one night, she had convinced herself that Emma was safe, and she was deserving of a little fun.

Dinner was amazing, with more wine. Edward fed her chocolate mousse from a gold spoon on the balcony that overlooked the city filled with lights, and by the time they had arrived back at Stacey’s apartment, she was probably already in love.

She hadn’t planned on inviting him in, but the kiss at the door consumed her with warmth,
or was it the wine?
Either way, she asked him in, and the kiss continued from the front door, down the hall, and into her bedroom. Edward had kept one hand at the back of her neck, wrapped up in her hair, and the other at the small of her back on their trip down the hall. She didn’t protest as she felt one of them travel up to the zipper of her dress and begin to slowly inch it down. She smiled as he whispered, “Now I can’t stop picturing you out of it.” She shuddered softly at the cold she felt on her shoulders and chest as she felt the dress drop to the floor around her feet, and she heard herself moan as he deftly unhooked her strapless bra and placed his lips softly on her breast.

As Edward explored her breasts and nipples with his lips and tongue, he pushed her gently back onto the bed. She was lying there with nothing left on but her satin panties, and she was surprised at herself for her lack of modesty. It had been a long time since she had been with a man, but her mind and body were responding as if it had only been yesterday. Her hands were on the back of Edward’s head, her fingers wrapped up in his soft, black hair. She pushed down on his head gently as she rocked her hips up against him, willing him not to stop. His tongue felt cool and wet, but somehow hot at the same time as he traced each of her nipples with it, and then she felt his sweet lips kissing her soft belly, making their way south.

Stacey tried to nudge him up, wanting him to take off his clothes as well, but he only shushed her and gave her a gentle, but firm push back on the bed. He looked at her as he slipped her panties down past her thighs and then her ankles. It was a look filled with passion and need, and it was all Stacey needed to convince her to just lay back and enjoy.

Stacey had thought Edward’s tongue was magic on her nipples, but where it explored now made her so hot she was afraid she’d spontaneously combust right then and there. He ran his tongue along the insides of her thighs until she thought she would go mad with desire, and then he used those sexy lips to part her and placing his tongue inside of her he proceeded to finish driving her mad.

It was the first time Stacey was able to climax during oral sex. She was pretty sure the other small handful of men she had been with in her life hadn’t been doing it right. When she had finished, Edward crawled up beside her, and slipping an arm underneath her he began to kiss her lips once again. She could taste her own sweetness on his tongue and it was like an aphrodisiac. She was hot and wet all over again, and now begging Edward to take off his clothes and let her make him feel as good as he had made her. As they kissed he stripped off his shirt, and then his pants. Stacey could feel him hard and ready as he rocked against her thigh. She tried to pull away from the kiss, so she could pleasure him the way he had her, but instead of letting her go, he just kissed her harder. He finished slipping off his shirt and pants with one hand, and finally, just as Stacey knew for sure she would lose her mind, he rolled on top of her and slipped inside of her. It was the most amazing thing she had ever felt. He was big, and hard as a rock, but Stacey was so well lubricated from his foreplay that she was more ready than she had ever been.

Edward seemed to know all the right moves, and Stacey tried not to let herself think about how many times he must have done this before to have gotten so good. Instead, she just wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and arched her back so that his lips could reach her breasts as he rocked her world.

When Edward at last climaxed, Stacey was ready again too. In another first for her, she climaxed along with her partner, and it was the best orgasm she had ever had….
and it only went downhill from there…
she thought, bringing herself back into her present, depressing situation.

She looked around the park again…. happy children playing, parents watching with smiles, couples strolling hand in hand, looking like they were in love, this wasn’t where she needed to be right now. She pushed herself up off the bench with a heavy sigh and headed back across the busy street to the parking garage where she had left her car. Before pulling out of the garage, she called Emma back. She had left her three messages in the half hour since Stacey had walked out of the attorney’s office.

“Mom!” Emma almost shrieked as the call connected, “Where did you go? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Emma Bug, calm down, please,” Stacey told her, trying to use a reassuring tone.

“Mama, I’m so sorry about what happened today. We’re going to be okay though, we still have my money, and I can get a job….”

“No, Emma,” Stacey said, this time using a firm, no-argument tone.

“What do you mean, No? You’ve taken care of me forever, Mom. Let me help you.”

“Emma, the plan was for you to leave for Arkansas Tech next week. That plan hasn’t changed. Your dorm is paid for, your tuition is paid, at least Edward took care of that before he went and died…”

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry, Emma. I’m angry with him, I admit it. I’ll get over it, and I’ll pull myself up and go on, and I’ll be all right. You are going to school. I am going to miss you like crazy, but you are too bright, and your future is too promising to blow it now. I really don’t need anyone to take care of me, sweetie. I’m going to be fine. My world would completely crumble if my problems kept you from following your dreams.”

Emma was silent for so long that Stacey began to fear she had hung up, but then she said, “I’ll go on the condition that you promise, promise me you will call me if you need anything at all, okay, Mama? I can’t stand the thought of you struggling, being all alone…”

“I’m not alone, Emma Bug. Since the day you were born you’ve been with me wherever I’ve gone. You’re my sunshine and my strength, and if things get tough all I need to do to get by is picture your gorgeous smile. Trust me, I’ve used the technique before, it works.”

Emma laughed, “Oh, mother. I wish the world saw me the way that you do. I’d be elected President.”

“As well you should be,” Stacey told her, smiling genuinely at the sound of Emma’s laugh. “Now, I’m sure you have packing left to do so I will let you get to it. I am heading home to start making decisions about my own life. I will talk to you soon, love.”

“Love you, Mama,” Emma said before hanging up.

“Love you more,” Stacey said as she disconnected the call.

The next few weeks were a blur for Stacey. First of all sending Emma off to college. It was one of those moments as a parent when your heart was bursting with pride and breaking at the same time. In the interim, she had been working with the probate people to inventory the household items, art, jewelry, etc. to get an idea of what Edwards true worth had been upon his demise. When all was said and done, it would leave Stacey with about ten thousand dollars in cash, her Dodge Durango, and her clothing and personal jewelry. It wasn’t much, but if she worked hard to find a job before the end of the following month when she had to be out of the house, it should be enough to get started. She would just have to re-evaluate her dreams, make a cut here or there, re-design them a bit. She had done that before. She could do it again.

Stacey searched the internet and the newspapers every day, scouring them for anything she might be qualified for. She checked not only in Dallas, but in the towns surrounding the city as well. The rents in Dallas were probably going to be a bit high for her at first anyways. She needed to find something that would be close to wherever she’d be working, and affordable enough so as not to consume her entire salary each month.

She was energized at first, submitting resumes and applications daily to coffee shops and restaurants that were hiring. She told herself after the first week went by with no responses that she only needed to be patient, things didn’t happen in a day. As the second week passed on some of her applications and she didn’t hear back she still refused to worry, instead deciding to do an in-person follow-up on some of her app’s.

She went first to the franchise coffee shop down the street from where Edward’s practice had been. It was the first place she had submitted her application. She went to the counter and asked the young girl there if it might be possible to speak with the manager. Stacey’s hopes were dashed once more when a young man, young enough she thought, to be her son came out of the manager’s office and introduced himself.

“Hi,” she told him, and introduced herself she said, “I’m sorry to bother you, but I had submitted an application a few weeks ago for the manager’s position and I hadn’t gotten word back. I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I would stop in…”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” the young man told her, “I’m the new manager. I just started last week.”

Stacey smiled and assured him it was okay. She left with her head held high, refusing to allow anyone to see how discouraged she felt. She was a middle-aged woman who hadn’t worked outside of the home in over twelve years. She was competing with men and women her daughter’s age for these jobs, as well as men and women her age that had been working all along. She drove home, put on her pajamas, and allowed herself to wallow once more.

The next morning she woke with even more resolve. After all, what else did she really have? She brewed her coffee and took it out on the big porch with her paper and sat down to read the want ads. She flipped to the section marked “Restaurants/Food Service” and began to skim through, looking for keywords that said, “
Stacey this would be perfect for you.”

She highlighted some, and crossed out others, before coming to one small ad near the bottom of the list that sounded intriguing to her for more than one reason. First of all it said the job was located in a suburb of Dallas called Bartonville. Bartonville is a small community, mostly horse properties, ranches and the like. That was close enough that she wouldn’t have to make a huge move, but the properties for rent in Bartonville were bound to be less expensive than in Dallas.

The second intriguing part was that it involved re-opening a restaurant and indicated that they were looking for someone to do the hiring and managing of the place. It had a phone number, and Stacey immediately reached for her cell phone and dialed the number.

“Bradshaw and Lee,” came the pleasant, female voice on the end of the line.

“Hello, my name is Stacey Martinez. I was calling about the ad in the paper for a restaurant manager.”

“Oh yes, one moment please,” Stacey was put on hold. While she was waiting she remembered the last time she had sat on her porch and had her coffee. That reminded her that she needed to find Victoria’s number and call her to check in. A man’s voice came on the line this time. He sounded warm and friendly and talked with a thick, Texas drawl that Stacey immediately liked. He said his name was Ted and he was the property manager.

They talked about Stacey’s experience, or in her mind lack thereof. To her surprise and delight, he didn’t seem put off by that however. As a matter of fact, the man was more interested in talking about Stacey than her professional experience. She gave him just a small amount of background to include that she was a recent widow and had been a full-time housewife and mother for some time, so he would have an idea as to why she hadn’t held down in a job in a while. When she was done, he said, “I have some time this afternoon, would you like to meet me there and we can talk some more?”

Stacey was surprised, but said that she would absolutely be there at whatever time worked best for him. He said two o’clock would be good and gave her directions. It seemed to be way out in the boondocks, and Stacey was surprised that anyone would think of putting a restaurant so far off the beaten track. She wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, however. She hung up with a smile and the first glimmer of real hope she had felt in quite some time.