Love on the Buchanan Ranch (A Romance Story) (8 page)

“I got a call last night, like I said, on Edith’s home line. It was a man, and he said he wanted to talk to me about handing over the money. He wouldn’t give me his name, and he laughed when I told him I didn’t know anything about no money. He said that he had called me at home so that I would know I wasn’t able to hide from them, and that if I didn’t turn over the money to Grunwald soon, they would be ‘coming to collect’.”

Stacey could feel the line deepening between her eyebrows as her head also began to pound. Would they never be free of Edward’s bad behavior?

“Okay, honey. I’ll help you figure this out, all right? Meanwhile, are you afraid for you and Edith at the house? Do you feel safe there?”

“I think it’ll be okay. Edith has an alarm. I’ll make sure to keep it set. She has a shotgun too,” Vicki said with a smile, “and I know how to use it.”

“Please call or text me as soon as you are both home and inside safe, okay, because I’m going to worry. Let me sleep on this and we’ll talk about it again tomorrow, okay?”

Victoria seemed to feel a little better, just from the unburdening. She nodded, “I will, I promise. Thank you, Stacey. I’m still surprised that you are so nice to me.”

Stacey smiled at her, “It’s going to be okay,” Stacey told her, feeling a sudden protective surge towards Vicki and her unborn child.

Stacey saw Vicki and Edith off after they had closed the diner up, and said good night to Manuel and Noel who were still cleaning up. She drove to the cottage, but didn’t feel like going inside just yet. She needed to think, and walking had always helped her do that. The night was beautiful, the moon was big and bright in the sky, lighting her a safe way down the dirt path behind her house. The stars looked so beautiful out here in the country too. Stacey liked living out here. It was so much more peaceful here than it had been in the city. She was angry with Edward again. It seemed like every time she had just gotten over the discovery of the last thing he had done, there came something else to deal with. She was frightened for Victoria. She wasn’t sure what she could do, but she decided to start by calling Grunwald in the morning. If Vicki was supposed to drop off the money there, he had to know something about all of this. She needed him to tell her if these people were dangerous or not, and if she and Victoria should get the police involved perhaps.

Stacey walked towards the beautiful lake that surrounded Buchanan’s property. She could see the lights of the grand house skipping off the water. There was a path that wound around the lake, and Stacey followed it, lost in her thoughts. Before she realized it, she almost stumbled across a man sitting in a lawn chair next to the edge of the lake with a fishing pole in his hand.

“Excuse me,” Stacey said, catching herself before she walked right into him. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

The man looked up from under his hat. It was Owen. “It’s okay,” he said, “But you might want to not talk so loud, you’re scaring the fish.”

Stacey couldn’t believe this man. Scaring the fish? “Well, I’ll just be on my way so you can get back to it.” She said.

“You can sit and have a beer with me if you’d like,” he said, surprising her.

“Um, well…I guess I could have one,” she said.

Owen set his pole down and stood up to open another lawn chair for her. She sat in it, and he handed her a beer.

Sitting back down he said, “I guess I’ve never really introduced myself. My name’s Owen.”

“Yes, I know,” Stacey told him, “You’re Mr. Buchanan’s son, right?”

“Yep,” he said, and then proving that he was not much of a conversationalist he took a long swig of his beer, and left it at that.

Feeling uncomfortable in the silence, Stacey said, “It’s beautiful out here.”

“Yep,” Owen said again, and then…nothing. It exasperated her. She took a drink of her beer, and then hoping to engage him in some kind of conversation she said, “Do you live here, on the ranch?”

“Yeah,” he said, and just when she thought that was all she would get he said, “I bunk up in the guest house behind Daddy’s place.”

Stacey looked in the direction of the main house. “Your father’s house is beautiful.”

Owen looked up too. Stacey couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was in the moonlight. His green eyes looked greener out here at night, and in spite of herself, Stacey found the long, thick lashes that surrounded them extremely sexy.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty house. Daddy built it for my Mama. Unfortunately he never realized that Mama would have been just as happy with an old farmhouse. She was a simple lady. As long as her family was happy, she was.”

Stacey could see in his eyes that he still felt the loss of his mother quite deeply. It was the first sign of a human emotion he had exhibited in front of her. “Your father told me he had the diner built for her too,” she said.

Owen smiled, and that was when Stacey saw how really handsome he was. His face changed in that instant, and Stacey was attracted to him in a way she hadn’t been to any man in a very, very long time. “Mama talked about that place forever before he finally built it for her. She cooked for the ranch hands at the house every morning. Daddy used to tell her to let Cook do it, but she did it herself because she loved to. I think he finally built that place just hoping to get all those cowboys out of his kitchen.”

Owen smiled again at the thought. Stacey smiled too. “I can’t say as I blame him. That had to be a lot of muddy boot prints on the kitchen floor.”

He laughed; Stacey liked the sound of it. “They wouldn’t have dared leave a muddy print on Mama’s floor. Those old boys took their boots off at the door and ate in their socks. Not one of ‘em ever complained about it either.”

Stacey sat there with him, talking, and for long periods of time, just being quiet while he reeled in his fish or stared up at the stars. She had gotten a text message at some point from Vicki, saying that she and Edith were home and locked in, safe and sound. That took a load off her mind, and she allowed herself to just sit back at that point and enjoy Owen’s quiet company. It had seemed to her like only minutes had passed, when actually it was over two hours later, when she finally glanced at the time on her phone, and realized how late it was getting.

“Oh my goodness,” she said, “I didn’t realize how the time had passed. I better get going or I won’t get up in time for work tomorrow.” As she stood up, Owen stood too.

“It was nice talking to you. Thank you for the beer,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” he said. When he didn’t say anything else she said, “Okay then, well, goodnight,” and started to walk away. She realized then that he had stood up because he intended to walk with her. She started to protest, but in all honesty she was impressed by his gallantry and not ready to part his company. When they reached the cottage, she said goodnight again, and when he muttered, “Night,” and tipped his hat, she found it endearing, and not the least bit rude as she might have before. She realized then that Emma had been right, and although he was quiet, he seemed to be a really nice man whom she should probably give a chance.

***

After running her morning errands the next day, Stacey called Lucious Grunwald’s office.

“Stacey,” he said, “How nice to hear from you. I’ve been wondering how you were getting on.”

“Were you?” Stacey asked, somewhat sarcastically, “I need to ask you something, Lucious. I want to know what trouble Edward was into, and with whom?”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, Stacey,” the lawyer said.

“Come on Lu, you’re the only one besides myself who knew the real him. He was no saint, we both know that. But now, the little girl he knocked up before he died is getting some scary phone calls and letters about money he supposedly left behind. Don’t deny knowing anything about this, Lu. They told her to take the money to you. I want to know the truth. What is going on? What did he get involved with?”

There was silence on the other end while Stacey assumed the lawyer was trying to think of how to word what he was about to say in order to lay as little of the responsibility on himself as possible.

“Stacey, I honestly don’t know what all he was into. I know he was gambling, a lot. He was also borrowing money from some pretty shady people. Right before he died, he told me he had hit some big jackpot or other. I don’t know any more than that about it, I swear. But, a few weeks ago, I got a call too. It was from a man who identified himself as Ray. He said that a girl would be dropping off a package that one of my clients, namely Edward, had left with her. It was something that belonged to this man, and I should call him when I received it. I haven’t heard any more about it, Stacey. I promise you. I actually all but forgot about it until you called.”

Stacey didn’t know whether to believe him or not. If she had to say so, she’d say that he was probably not being one hundred percent honest, but she didn’t think pressing him further about that would help. Instead, she said, “Lu, do you think these people are dangerous? Should Victoria be worried?”

“I don’t know Stacey,” he said, and then hanging himself as far as Stacey was concerned he said, “Does she have the money?”

“No, do you have this man’s number, so I can call him myself?” she asked.

“Uh...No, I actually remember now that he said he would call me back.”

“I hope you’re not involved in anything illegal, Lu. I’d hate to see you lose your license and everything you’ve worked for,” Stacey told him before hanging up.

She didn’t feel like she had really gotten anywhere. She decided to ask Victoria if she still had the letter they sent, and if so, they should take it to the police. She wouldn’t have a problem either sending them to question Lucious. As far as lawyers go, Stacey had always found him to be among the slimier ones. His involvement hadn’t surprised her at all. Stacey was no detective, and Edward had given her enough headaches over the years. It was high time to let someone else deal with it.

The rest of the week went by smoothly. Victoria hadn’t heard anything more from the men about the money. She had told Stacey she had thrown away the letter when she’d moved. Without that evidence, Stacey figured the police wouldn’t do much, so they settled on taking a wait-and-see approach.

Business at the diner was steady, and Stacey’s first meeting with Ted regarding profits went very well. He told her how pleased Mr. Buchanan was with what he was hearing about the place, and that he would be doubly happy that Stacey had also been able to make it turn a profit.

Stacey saw Owen a few more times that week too. He came in daily for breakfast, and although he still wasn’t any more talkative, he did offer her a smile each time he came in, and would tip his hat towards her before he left. The butterflies she felt in her stomach each time made her feel like a silly schoolgirl, but she told herself it was harmless. In the meantime, she had heard from Nate to finalize their plans for Friday and she had found herself wishing she were going to the dinner with his brother instead.

Stacey had gone into the city on Thursday afternoon and bought herself a new dress for the dinner. Nate had told her that it was a formal event, held at the home of one of the wealthiest oil barons in Texas. Stacey wanted to make a good impression, especially if she hoped to garner publicity for the diner. She picked out a dark blue cocktail dress that fit snugly in the bodice and flared out at the waist. The skirt was cut in a scallop pattern and adorned with lace that fell just above her knee. She chose a pair of black heels and hose and a small black leather clutch purse to go with it. She planned to wear the diamond and sapphire necklace and earrings that Edward had bought her for their fifth wedding anniversary to top it all off. The jewelry was part of a small collection she had chosen to keep rather than to sell when she had cleaned out the estate.

She left work early on Friday to get ready. Victoria and Edith made her promise to report back about what everyone there was wearing, and who had shown up with whom. Vicki didn’t know who was who in town yet, but Edith had been around here for almost 70 years, and she loved to gossip.

By the time Nate arrived in his big, black car, Stacey was ready to go.