by Rose Nickol
She debated all afternoon, and finally decided not to tell her men about the call. Nothing had happened and she hoped her mother wouldn’t call again.
* * * *
A few days later, Jake was working in the office when the phone rang. Stacie didn’t pay any attention to it. She knew Jake was there to handle it.
She was doing her work when she heard Jake call her into the office. She never went in there except to clean once a week. What could he want?
“Stacie, sit down. I just had a very interesting phone call, but before we talk about it, I want Seth and Grant to hear this, too.”
Stacie sat in one of the chairs he had in front of his desk, very nervous. What could be up?
They sat there in silence for what seemed like an hour, but it was only a few minutes before Grant and Seth joined them.
Jake stood and took Stacie by the hand, leading her to the couch where he sat her on his lap with his brothers on either side. “I got an interesting call today,” Jake started.
Stacie got a sinking feeling in her stomach. What if her mother had called again? She should have told them, but there wasn’t really anything to tell. Maybe it was something else.
“Can you guess who called, Stacie?” Jake asked her, turning her face away from the floor she had been staring at and turning it toward his.
Stacie thought she might be in trouble, but hadn’t wanted to talk about her mother, so she shook her head no.
“I think you do, babe. Who do you think it could have been?” Jake was still holding her face toward him.
“My mother,” Stacie mumbled. She really wanted to be anywhere but there.
“Is that because she called before?” Jake was persistent, if nothing else. She had to give him that.
“Uh huh,” she mumbled again, squirming a little in his lap. She was getting very uncomfortable.
Seth turned her head toward his and said, “Honey, tell us what’s going on.”
“Well, my mom called the other day, but I didn’t talk to her long and she asked about the house, and I told her I had to go,” Stacie answered in a rush.
“Did she say anything else, baby?” Grant asked.
Taking a deep breath, Stacie blew it out slow and said, “I didn’t give her a chance. I hung up on her when she started asking about the house. I was afraid she was going to want money. I hoped she would just go away.”
“No such luck, baby. She called me today and wants half of what you sold the house for. Somehow, she found out you sold it and now thinks half of the money from the sale and insurance policies should be hers. I explained that you had to use it to pay the hospital bills, but she doesn’t care,” Jake explained.
“Oh God, what am I going to do? I don’t have the money to pay her!” Stacie jumped up off Jake’s lap and ran out of the room before any of them could catch her. Flying up the stairs, she went to her old room and slammed the door, throwing herself on the bed, crying.
Grant started to follow her, but Seth stopped him. “Hold on, give her a few minutes, and then we will all go up. First, I want to hear from Jake and find out what’s going on so we reassure her. Regardless, we will get her out of this.” Seth then turned to Jake. “So, what’s up?”
“Stacie’s mom is a total bitch. When I tried to explain that Stacie had to sell the house and pay the hospital bills, she really didn’t care. Stacie’s mom thinks half the money should be hers and she wants her share if she has to go to court to get it. I called Mike Eades, our attorney, and he’s more than happy to represent Stacie, and doesn’t think that she has to worry about anything. If she can prove she used the money to pay bills and they were all for her father, it shouldn’t be a problem.
“He also said that if the house was not in Stacie’s mom’s name and her name wasn’t beneficiary on the insurance policies, she couldn’t claim it. I’m sure Stacie’s dad removed Ramona from everything years ago. The woman always gave him trouble and I know he would have taken care of all of this.”
“That’s good to hear, and we can give her good news. I know she’ll be worried about paying Mike, but I think this is the best route to go. Let the mother sue and see how far she gets.”
“Great, let’s go tell her. I don’t want her to worry about this any longer than she has to. Jake, is there any way we can keep the woman from calling here again?”
“Yes, Grant. I can block her number and she won’t be able to get through. I’ll get Stacie’s cell phone and block the calls there, too.”
“Good, we don’t want her bothering our girl. She can go through Mike if she needs anything. I want everyone on alert, as she might try and show up here. She must have called the day we were all out branding. Stacie is not to be alone again, understood?” Seth was very firm on this point. They were not going to let Stacie’s mom get to her.
The three men headed up the stairs to tell Stacie what was going on and what they were planning to do about it.
* * * *
Stacie was relieved. She had been afraid the men would want her to leave if her mother started making trouble, and Stacie knew she was going to.
The next few days were quiet again and the men made sure she was never alone. If her mother had tried to call again, no one had said anything.
It was Friday, and it had been a wonderful day. She woke up with all three men in bed with her, then they had all taken a long shower. After breakfast, Jake and Grant had gone to do chores while Seth stayed with her. Once she had what she needed to do done, he had taken her out in the 4x4 and they went around the ranch. Even though Stacie had been working on the ranch for years, she had never seen the entire place. It was bigger than she thought, and she was amazed at all the cattle they had.
‘Over twenty thousand head,” Seth proudly informed her. “When my daddy was alive, we barely had five thousand, but my brothers and I have worked and grown the herd. We have breeding stock and make a nice profit from that, and then we sell some cattle for meat, also. The ranch is very profitable.”
Stacie was astounded. She knew the boys didn’t worry about money, but hadn’t realized how much stock they had and how much work the ranch was.
After lunch, Seth told her to put on something nice. He and his brothers were going to take her to Rapid City for dinner, and on Saturday they would do some shopping. “Pack a bag for the weekend, honey. We’ll get a hotel room and come back in a couple days. ”
Stacie was excited. She hadn’t been to Rapid City for a long time and loved shopping. She was sure going with her men would be even better.
On the way to the city, they had to go through Deadwood. “Have you ever been gambling?” Jake asked as they slowed for the town.
‘No, Daddy didn’t believe in it,” Stacie answered.
Grant, who was driving, pulled into a small casino. Even though it was a Friday night, it was quiet. Tourist season hadn’t started yet, and it was just a few locals and visitors in the small place.
Seth walked up to one of the dollar machines and put a hundred-dollar bill in it. “Come on, honey, let’s see how lucky you are.”
Stacie walked up to the machine, but she wasn’t sure what to do. Seth showed her what needed to be done and she pulled the handle. The reels spun and…nothing. Stacie pulled again and still nothing. Stepping away, she looked at the floor.
“Come on, babe, try again. Sometimes it takes a few spins to warm these things up,” Jake told her, grabbing her around the waist and walking her back up to the machine. Placing his hand over hers, they spun the reels again and this time hit a small jackpot. Stacie got excited and started jumping up and down, while hollering, “Woohoo!”
“That was just a little one, honey. Try some more,” Seth encouraged her.
They played that same machine a few more minutes and cashed out a little more than the hundred dollars Seth had put in. The men walked her to several other machines and some she won, some she lost, before they walked her over to show her the table games.
The casino had just sta
rted a new poker table and Stacie could tell all her men were eager to play. Seth handed her some more money and told her, “ You go play a while, honey. We’ll all be here. Is that okay?”
Stacie nodded and wandered off to see what she could find. She still had a bucket of coins that she had cashed out with her men, so she put the money Seth gave her in her jeans pocket and started walking around the casino. She looked at the various types of machines, stopping here and there to put a few coins in. Roaming around, she didn’t realize that she had wandered into a different casino. There were several joined together and it was easy to drift from one to another.
Continuing to play and roam, Stacie drifted between casinos and finally realized she was thirsty and hungry. Just thinking she would grab a drink and find something to munch on, she walked up to the bar.
Taking an empty stool, she put a few coins in the machine embedded in the bar. It was a poker machine and Stacie wasn’t sure what to do. As she sat staring at the machine, wondering what to do next, the man next to her asked if she needed some help.
Smiling and nodding, she thanked the man. The bartender asked what she wanted to drink and the man ordered her a strawberry daiquiri.
“What’s that?” Stacie asked him. She hadn’t really drank before, but she liked strawberries and it sounded good.
“It’s like a strawberry smoothie,” the man told her. “My name is Greg. What’s yours, sugar?”
“Hi, Greg, I’m Stacie,” she answered, holding out her hand for him to shake.
Greg wrapped her small hand in both of his huge ones and held it just a minute longer than necessary. The bartender brought their drinks and Stacie took a sip of hers. “Yummy,” she announced and turned back to her game.
Greg scooted his chair closer to hers and started explaining the game to her. Soon he had one hand resting on the back of her chair. Stacie was too engrossed in learning the game to realize what was going on. She sipped her drink frequently, and when the glass got low, Greg ordered her another one.
Stacie’s mind was on the game. If she could learn this, maybe she could sit and play with her men and they wouldn’t have sent her off. She didn’t realize that she had wandered away from them, or what Greg was doing. All her mind was focused on was learning the game.
Greg explained what each hand meant and how they increased in value. He showed her how to access the screen that explained everything and showed the value of the hands. He also showed her how to play, and which cards to save and which to throw away.
Soon he had moved his hand from the back of her chair and had it resting on her thigh. Stacie didn’t want to be rude—he had been so nice—so she moved her chair a little to the side. She couldn’t go too far and still play the game, and she moved his hand back to his own leg, a move which backfired on her, because he trapped her hand with his on his thigh.
“Just relax, darling. We aren’t hurting anything,” he told her, pulling her stool back toward his and slipping one hand back around her stool, caging her close to him.
Stacie tried to turn her knees away and slip off the stool, but she was too close to the bar to move. “I…I need to find my men, I have to go.” She was starting to panic and felt a little woozy all of a sudden. What was in those drinks? She was slurring her words. How many had she had? She needed to pay for them.
Trying again to stand up, she waved the bartender over. “How…how much do I owe for the drinks?” she slurred.
“Drinks are free when you’re gambling, miss. Is there anyone here with you?” He could tell she was feeling no pain, and knew Greg’s reputation. He didn’t think this was a good situation.
“I came with the Handsome, I mean Randsome, no, the Ransom brothers,” she finally got out, sitting back on the stool.
“Where are they, honey?” he asked, having not seen any of the brothers in the small casino.
“They were going to play…a game…a game with cards…like this?” She was getting sleepy.
“Poker, were they playing poker, honey?” The bartender was starting to get concerned. He didn’t know Greg well, but wondered if he was a scumbag and had slipped something in one of her drinks. The girl hadn’t seemed into him, just busy with the game. Maybe she had just had too much to drink. She had had several daiquiris.
Greg looked at the bartender and said, “I got her, Johnny. No worries,” as he slipped one arm around Stacie’s waist.
“Greg, if she came with the Ransoms, you need to leave her alone. Seth will beat the crap out of you.” The Ransoms were well known in the small town of Deadwood and Johnny knew better than to mess with them. He had Seth’s personal cell phone number and quickly dialed it.
“What’s your name, honey?” he asked Stacie as the phone was ringing.
Stacie managed to get her name out and laid her head on the bar, why was she so tired and dizzy.
“Come on honey, I got a room. We’ll take you there and let you rest,” Greg told her, lifting her by the waist and trying to stand her on her feet.
Even though the idea of lying down sounded wonderful, Stacie knew it was not a good idea to go with this man. He was not her friend. The bartender seemed to be more concerned about her.
“No, I need Seth or Jake or Grant. I want my men.” She tried to get out, not sure if she was making sense.
Johnny told her he had called Seth and that Seth was on his way. Greg was still insisting she come with him and trying to pull her away from the bar. Stacie grabbed onto the barstool, and it started to drag across the room with her. “I need to wait,” she tried to tell Greg, looking to Johnny for help.
About that time, Seth and his brothers came up to the scene and Jake quickly pulled Greg off of her. “Call the cops, Johnny. I want him arrested for attempted kidnapping, and attempted assault,” Jake told the bartender, looking at the man on the floor. “Also, call an ambulance. I think he may have drugged Stacie, and I want her blood tested.”
Grant and Seth quickly agreed with him. Stacie was not herself and had gone limp in Seth’s arms the minute he touched her.
Johnny quickly made the calls, and soon the place was in chaos with the police and ambulance. Everything got straightened out quickly and the ambulance personnel were able to take a blood sample without taking Stacie to the hospital. Johnny arranged for a hotel suite for Stacie and the men, and she was taken there to rest and recover.
When they got to the room after they had Stacie settled in one of the bedrooms, the men all sat on the bed around her. “She is not to be left alone ever again, agreed?” Seth told his brothers quietly, not wanting to disturb her.
Jake and Grant nodded, all too aware of what could have happened to her. When Stacie started gagging, the men quickly got her to the bathroom. The paramedics had warned them this might happen and not to leave her alone so she didn’t choke if she threw up.
“Grant, run a shower. We’re going to have to clean her up after this. She’s soaked with sweat,” Seth told his brother. Maybe she would have been better off in the hospital, but the paramedics had assured them that she would be fine in the morning, just hungover, and gave some recommendations to help that, too.
Holding her long, black hair out of the way, Seth felt helpless and, other than holding her, was not sure what to do.
When she stopped vomiting, Seth sat back on the floor and held her, while she cried, still not fully awake.
After letting her cry a few minutes, he got to his feet, pulling her with him. Jake and Grant helped him undress her and she swatted at them at first. “No, don’t touch me, only my men, no one else touches me. Leave me alone. I want Seth. Grant, help me. Jake, I need you,” she cried incoherently, swatting at their hands.
“Shh, baby. It's us, we have you. We’re going to help you shower and get you back to bed,” Seth told her in her ear, grabbing her hands so Jake and Grant could strip her sweat-soaked clothes from her.
“Oh, Seth, you came for me. Why am I so tired?” She stopped fighting and leaned into him.
“It’s okay, honey. We’re going to get you in the shower and then you can sleep. We’re all here for you,” Seth told her.
As soon as Jake and Grant had her stripped, they quickly undressed and Seth handed her over to them to shower while he went and checked out the bed to see if they could put her back in it. It wasn’t too wet—her clothes had absorbed most of her sweat—and Seth decided it would work for the four of them. It would be tight, but Stacie seemed to need all of them.
Jake and Grant no more than got Stacie under the warm water and she started shivering uncontrollably. Sandwiching her body between theirs, they did their best to warm her up and clean her quickly.
“What’s the matter with me? Why am I doing this?” she asked, teeth chattering.
“Honey, you’re not used to drinking alcohol and your body is reacting to the poison in it. Have you ever drank before? The paramedics said you might react like this. It’s okay. We are all here for you,” Jake tried to explain to her.
“No, I don’t like the taste of it, and when I go out with my friends I usually just sip one glass of wine all evening. I have a very low tolerance for it. I don’t remember paramedics. What happened?” Stacie was starting to get upset.
“Let’s shower, and then we’ll all explain it to you, babe. Let’s get you warm first,” Jake told her, while washing her hair.
Stacie let Jake and Grant wash and dry her while she tried to remember what happened. Nothing was coming to mind. The last thing she remembered was playing the game and drinking what she thought was a smoothie.
“That was a smoothie I was drinking, wasn't it?” she asked Jake.
Jake shook his head no, and then the men helped her out of the shower and were wrapping her in towels, before drying her hair with the dryer supplied by the hotel. While they had been showering, Seth had gone to the truck and gotten their bags. They had planned on staying in Rapid city a couple nights and had each packed a small bag. The stop in Deadwood had changed their plans a little, but nothing big.
