Emma's Treasures

by Rebecca Joyce

  “How’s Tate handling everything?” Bud asked.

  “He never lets her out of his sight. He is driving Doc crazy, but the doc isn’t gonna say much, ’cause as long as he allows Tate to stay, the doc can do whatever tests he needs to do. So, for the time being, Tate is camped out at the clinic with Emma, and the doc gets to do what he wants with her, medically that is,” Travis said, smiling.

  “When is she coming home?” Jeff asked.

  “Doc said a couple more days. Kelly is really the only one besides Tate that she will allow near her, so if Doc needs a test run, he has to make sure Kelly is with him. It’s taking longer than he thought, but he is getting it done,” Tucker said, reaching for his phone as a text message arrived.

  They all continued to talk as Tucker read the message. When a huge smile crossed his face, his brother asked, “What?”

  “Doc is letting Emma come home…” he began, when another text came in. “Hang on a sec,” he said, reading the text. Tucker jumped to his feet and the chair flew back. “You’re shittin’ me!” he shouted. Looking at his brother, Travis watched as all color fled his brother’s face.

  “What!” Travis shouted.

  “Doc wants a paternity test. He wants to make sure Tabby is ours!”

  “Oh, fuck,” Travis heard someone say as his fist connected with the kitchen wall.

  In that moment, Travis and Tucker knew what had happened to Emma.

  * * * *

  Emma sighed as Tate lowered her onto his bed, and snuggled deep into his pillows. She was home. Finally, after three days and a slew of tests, she was back where she felt most safe. Tate had been her rock over the last three days, running interference for her when the doc or some other med tech wanted to run a test. It took Tate saying “enough” for the doc to release her, and she was very grateful.

  Over the last couple of days, she had tried to come to the realization of what happened, but for the life of her, she still had a hell of a time wrapping her head around the whole thing. She held onto the time she had with the boys and thought of them often. She didn’t want to remember that horrible night at the pond, but when she slept at night, that nightmare would make itself known.

  She smiled when Tabitha ran into the room and jumped onto the bed. “Hi, Momma!”

  “Whoa there, hopalong, let’s let Momma rest for a bit before you jump all over her,” Travis said, picking his daughter up.

  “Travis, it’s okay, really.” Emma smiled at her daughter.

  “I know, but I want you to rest, okay? Tabby and I are gonna go get you some dinner, and then she can visit with you,” he said, walking out of the room with Tabitha in tow, giggling as he tickled her.

  “He won’t even look at me,” Emma said, turning her head to look out the window as a tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Baby, give him some time. He is blaming himself for everything,” Tucker said, sitting down next to her.

  “He didn’t do it!” Emma screamed as tears ran freely down her face.

  Tucker grabbed her and held her tight as she lashed out all her anger at the whole damn situation. He felt as angry as her. He, too, wanted vengeance. God, if he could turn back time, he would and rip the heart out of that son of a bitch. Tucker felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Travis. He gently switched places with his brother, as he and Tate left them alone.

  Travis just held Emma. He held her as if they were the only souls left in the universe. Gently, he rubbed her back, cooing to her, telling her he loved her. He didn’t know how long he held her like that, but when her breathing slowed, he knew she had fallen asleep. Lowering her back to the bed, he covered her and lay next to her, holding her. It didn’t take long before he, too, drifted off.

  * * * *

  A week had passed, and Emma was back up moving around as if nothing was wrong. She hid her emotions well, and he could tell she didn’t want to scare her daughter or upset the boys anymore than they already were. Emma seemed to see no other recourse. Though Kelly had told her on more than one occasion that it was not healthy, Emma was determined to maintain as if nothing ever happened.

  Emma walked out of the house one afternoon, in search of Tucker, finding him filling the hay loft. “Hey, Tuck, can I talk with you a sec?” she shouted up to him.

  “Sure, hang on,” he shouted back. Emma watched as he finished up with the last bale, and descended the ladder. Removing his gloves, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Hey, gorgeous, you sure do look purty in that dress. So, what’s up?”

  “I want to learn to shoot. Will you teach me?” Emma asked with a straight face.

  Tucker was prepared for many things, but that request threw him for a loop. Looking at the woman before him, he knew she was serious, but couldn’t understand why. Why, after all this time, did she now want to learn? He had tried several times when they were younger, but the thought of a gun had scared her to death.

  He knew she should have learned a long time ago, he just couldn’t fathom the eagerness of now. Then, like a lightbulb turning on, he knew. “You planning on doin’ some huntin’, Emma?” Tucker watched as her lip curled up.

  Looking him directly in the eyes, Emma replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Come on, darling,” he said, throwing his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go get the guns, and then we will talk about you shooting.”

  * * * *

  Travis and Tate pulled into the parking lot across the street from the sheriff’s office. Travis had gotten a text from Sheriff Connelly, stating the letter from Emma’s Aunt Margaret had arrived. Before Travis allowed Braxton to destroy it, he wanted to read it.

  The bell above the door dinged, and they walked in. They were greeted by Samantha Butler, a young twenty-something brunette who had moved to Treasure Cove a little over a year ago. Nobody really knew much about her, but she was a hard worker, helped out in the community, and the sheriff vouched for her, so no one really said anything.

  “Hi, Travis, Tate. The sheriff said you guys can go ahead on back,” Samantha said sweetly and returned to her paperwork.

  Braxton Connelly looked up when Travis and Tate walked in, closing the door behind them. He watched as they both sat in the two empty chairs in front of his desk. Not wanting to beat around the bush, Braxton just handed over the unopened letter to Travis and watched as he ripped the letter open and began to read.

  It didn’t take long before Travis was cursing and threatening to kill an already-dead woman, then the air crackled. Travis jumped to his feet and shouted, “Holy fuck!”

  Tate ripped the letter from his brother’s hands and read. There were no emotions that played across his face like Travis’s, just a cool stare. When he was finished, Tate placed the letter on Braxton’s desk and stormed out, slamming doors as he went.

  Braxton picked up the letter and read what it said for himself.

  Emma,

  Having you was the best thing that ever happened to me. Since the day you were born, my life was filled with love and happiness. Nothing you could ever do would change the love I feel for you, and I want to apologize right now for how I treated you the day you left. I will have to live with that for the rest of my life and the next. I want you to know, Emma, that there are things I have done in my life that I am ashamed of and things that I cannot change even if I wanted to. I have lived a hard life, and the decisions I made long ago have affected so many lives, and I am so sorry for what I am about to tell you.

  When I was seventeen years old, I fell in love with two men. I adored them, and they loved me dearly, but circumstances beyond our control would never allow us to be together. Their family would never have allowed them to marry the daughter of an immigrant, so I hid my pregnancy as long as I could, only telling my sisters. Your aunts arranged my marriage to Glenn McKenzie. Though I didn’t love him, I still married him. Shortly after your birth, I was confronted by your biological father’s parents, who then gi
fted you, their only grandchild, with an enormous gift. Your grandparents loved you, and I made sure they saw you as often as possible, even if it was in secret.

  My husband, your stepfather, Glenn McKenzie, was just a ranch hand when I married him. He jumped at the opportunity for wealth and power. He was a con artist. Glenn never believed in hard work, always wanting to take the easy way out. He already knew—how, I don’t know—that I was already pregnant and who the real fathers were. When he agreed to marry me, he thought he had found easy money. It wasn’t until after the death of your grandparents that he realized that all the land, the money and the power belonged to you.

  You must understand that when I married Glenn McKenzie, I was desperate. Though he agreed to raise you as his own, he did so with ulterior motives. I quickly realized I had made a grave mistake when he tried mortgage the ranch shortly after your birth. It was then he found out that the house, the ranch, and the mineral rights were all set up for you, in a trust, to be handed over to you, one week after your eighteenth birthday. Shortly after, I took all the paperwork and hand delivered them to one of your two biological fathers. Your real father agreed to watch after the ranch if anything happened to me. I pray he has done so. He may hate me for what I’ve done, but he has watched out for you from the very beginning. He is a good man, and I trust him.

  As for Glenn McKenzie, I hope he rots in hell. You see, when Glenn McKenzie had a few drinks down him, he loved to talk.

  Secrets.

  Treasure Cove was built on secrets. Some are known. Others are hidden so deep and buried that even the sewer rats shy away from them, but Glenn knew, and when he drank, he talked. So, here, my darling girl, a little treasure hunt just for you.

  Glenn may not be your biological father and thank God for that, but look in the south field of our old property. Look for a Japanese maple. About ten paces to your left you will find a fallen rock near the pond. Buried beneath it, you will find a box. Dig it up…I left a secret for you.

  Isabella Romanov McKenzie

  Braxton Connelly couldn’t believe what he had just read. It was too enormous to wrap his head around. He didn’t know what the brothers were going through, but the implications in the letter were enough to disrupt the ranching community, if not the town hierarchy, if it was all true that is. There was only one person that he knew who could shed some light on this matter. Picking up his cell, he dialed the only person he knew who could put this mystery to rest.

  Travis left the sheriff’s office in search of his brother, Tate. He soon found him at Macie’s Diner, sitting in a booth near the back. Travis sat down across from him.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Tate looked at Travis. “Fuck no! What the hell, Trav? Emma has been through enough shit already. Are we seriously gonna dump all this crap on her?”

  “I know. Braxton is calling Anne. If she knows anything, she will say so. Till then, I think it’s best we head over to Doc’s and let him run that paternity test. At least we can verify that one of us is Tabby’s father. I’ll call Tucker and fill him in.”

  “Yeah, and tell him to keep his big mouth shut!” Tate said, getting up and throwing five bucks on the table as he headed over to the doc’s with Travis in tow.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tucker stood beside Emma as she raised her arms once again, and fired. The small handgun went off, and Emma yelped. Tucker laughed. “Emma, honey, you can’t squeal every time the gun goes off. It just ain’t right.”

  “Oh shut up, Tucker,” she said, turning toward him, and instantly Tucker fell to the ground.

  “Damn it, Emma! How many times do I have to tell you not to swing around with a loaded gun?”

  “Oh, sorry.” She smiled, lowering the gun to her side, as Tucker rose to his feet, brushing off the dirt from his pants once again.

  “And just how sorry are you, Emma?” Tucker said, smiling as he began to stalk her. The predatory style in which he maneuvered toward her had Emma squealing as she dropped the gun and ran. Her laughter rang out over the fields as Tucker chased her. Catching her around the waist, he picked her up and swung her around, till they were both out of breath. Falling to the ground, breathing heavy, they lay there looking up at the sky.

  Tucker rolled till he was lying over her chest and brushed her blonde hair from her face, looking into her iridescent bluish-purple eyes. In that instant, those eyes and the way they looked at him puzzled him, as if he had seen them somewhere else. But the thought eluded him as Emma giggled underneath him, breaking the spell. “God, you’re so beautiful, Emma,” he whispered as he lowered his face to hers.

  The touch of her sweet lips instantly had his cock pounding against his jeans. He loved this woman more than life itself, and wanted to have her writhing beneath him. But he wanted to take it slow. Allowing her to adjust was what she needed.

  He slowly lifted his lips from hers, and she moaned in protest. “Why did you stop?”

  “Don’t want to push you.”

  “Who said you were pushing?” she asked.

  “Are you sure, Emma? Because I have been missin’ you like crazy these last few weeks and so have my brothers. We want you to be sure.”

  “Tucker?”

  “Yes.”

  “Make love to me.” She smiled and pulled his head back down to hers.

  The instant their lips met, Tucker took control. He needed her something fierce, and with the final go-ahead, there was nothing that was going to stop him from having her, right now, in the open field.

  Helping her to stand up, he quickly lifted the hem of her dress and smiled. “Damn, woman, I love when you’re nekkid and ready to go,” he said as he saw she wore nothing underneath. Falling to his knees, he took a hold of her breast and began sucking on a nipple. He could hear her moans and whimpers as he alternated from one breast to the other.

  Going slow was not what he wanted, but for Emma’s sake, he had to take a deep breath to calm his elation. He knew his brothers were gonna chew his ass, but when the lady said she wanted lovin’, who was he to say no?

  Having her standing before him, legs spread and gloriously naked for the whole world to see, was a major turn-on, especially when he looked up to see the ecstasy upon her face. He did that. He brought her pleasure. Lowering his mouth, trailing kisses down her stomach to her warm pussy, Tucker placed his hands on her folds, and opened her up to the heaven that awaited him.

  Her wet pussy sparkled in the afternoon sun, like dew drops on the open prairie. He couldn’t wait any more. He had to taste her, and he did by licking her long and deep. Her taste exploded on his tongue, as he drank up every little morsel.

  Emma’s hands weaved through his hair, pulling his head closer to her as he pillaged her essence. Drinking from her, Tucker was drifting in his own little world, and he still couldn’t get enough of her. Leaning back, he grabbed her thighs and spread her wide, bringing her down upon his face.

  The moment her knees connected with the earth, Emma began to grind her cunt against his mouth, as Tucker’s tongue plunged in and out of her wet pussy. Tucker could feel the walls of her channel contracting, and with one hard suck on her clit, he sent her out into the universe, screaming out her pleasure.

  * * * *

  Travis and Tate were sitting at the kitchen table when they heard Emma scream the first time. Running out the back door into the open field they stopped as they saw Tucker loving their woman. The pleasure upon her face was so apparent that Travis and Tate were soon hard as nails.

  The slow way their brother was taking care of her was not his normal approach, but they knew he was giving her what she needed. They quickly removed their clothes and began moving closer, rubbing their cocks.

  They watched as Tucker gently rolled her onto her back, quickly shedding his jeans.

  Seeing his brothers , Tucker smiled. Picking Emma up and setting her on his lap, he gently wrapped her legs around him as his cock slid home. The warmth almost felt forei
gn but so very familiar, and he sighed. “Damn, baby, I’m home. Ride me, Emma. Love me,” he said as he began to move within her. Holding her close, he helped her move on him, creating a hard friction on her clit that was going to quickly send her flying again. He was so close himself, having been so long since he had been inside her hot little body, he tried hard to hold off, allowing her another orgasm.

  Emma felt a warm body move in behind her, and when he kissed her ear, she sighed. “Hi, Tate.”

  “Hi, beautiful. I’ve missed you,” he said, kissing her neck as he played with her ass. Taking it slow, Tate inserted one finger and gently pumped the digit in and out of her hot ass. She cried out when he removed the finger but it was soon replaced with two. “Hang on, baby, I gotta make sure you’re ready. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Just fuck me, Tate!” she yelled.

  Tate laughed. “Remember you said that.”

  Emma could feel the head of Tate’s cock against her rosebud and when he pushed forward, a soft “ah” from her had him holding her tightly. It didn’t take long before Tucker and Tate began the rhythm of in and out, slowly, seductively enticing moans from her wanton body. She missed them, her body craved them, and her soul needed them.

  With Travis standing next to her, rubbing his cock, he grunted, “How about me, Ems? Do I get some lovin’, too?” he asked as he placed his cock on her lips. She watched as he smiled, grabbing his cock and licking his lips as she teased the head of his cock with her tongue.

  “Oh, baby girl, you’re playing with fire.” Travis growled.

  Travis grabbed ahold of her head and plunged forward, taking the air from Emma. “Breathe through your nose, baby. I’ll fit,” he coaxed, and slid in farther as her throat muscles relaxed.