Along Came a Ranger

by Debra Holt

  There was a squeeze in her throat. “Could I have something cold to drink?” She managed to find her voice while her fingers nervously pushed a few stray hairs behind her ear. Stacy hoped she appeared a lot more relaxed than she felt at the moment.

  “Where are my manners?” Darcy jumped up and grabbed a pad and pen from the counter. “What can I get for you, Miss Smith?”

  “First of all, please call me Stacy. I would like one of those delicious looking pot pies I saw so many people enjoying as we came in. A large glass of iced tea would also be great.”

  “Coming right up,” the woman said with a smile, heading toward the kitchen.

  “Hey! What about taking my order?” Davis called at her retreating back.

  “It’s the same as it always is… chicken fried steak with side order of gravy, potatoes, and black-eyed peas,” Darcy tossed over her shoulder without missing a step.

  “Guess I’m predictable.” He grinned as his gaze returned to Stacy.

  “It would seem so. I like her.”

  “She definitely is a fan of yours. I feel special… lunching with a celebrity. I’ll have to buy a book so that I can have you autograph it personally for me.”

  Stacy saw the teasing, yet sincere glint in his eyes. It was too easy to forget why she should not be interested in him as more than a friend, but that would be a big mistake. Wouldn’t it? Somehow her rule and the lines that delineated it were becoming murky. Part of her brain was telling her to stick to her guns. Another part… perhaps louder… was telling her she might be a fool if she didn’t reexamine some things. It all just served to have her in a more confused state of mind.

  Darcy arrived with their drinks just as a frown creased Davis’s brow. He withdrew his cell phone from his jacket and looked at the number. His face changed to business in a split-second. “Excuse me, ladies, I need to take this.” He slid out of the booth as he hit the answer button.

  Davis walked to the far end of the counter to have his conversation.

  “I know that look,” Darcy said, with a shake of her head. “I’ll need to put his plate in the warmer… or just chunk it altogether.”

  “I take it he doesn’t get to finish a lot of meals?”

  “Not many, but it’s his job. And I have to admit… although, don’t tell him I said this… but I’m pretty proud of him for being so dedicated.”

  Davis came back but did not sit down. Instead, he reached for his hat. His eyes were a darker blue and no sign of laughter in them now. Stacy sensed something had changed.

  “I’m sorry, Stacy, but that problem I told you about on the way over, it just got worse.” His eyes met Darcy’s questioning ones. His voice lowered to prevent the other diners from overhearing the news. “It’s Jim and Trish Wellman. Their five-year-old daughter, Lizzie, was taken from her bedroom this morning by two masked men. Sheriff Dobbins asked me to come out to the ranch. I don’t have any idea how long this could take. The news trucks are on the way so things will start breaking soon.”

  “Oh no, Davis!” Darcy breathed in hushed tones. “I’ll look after Stacy until you get done. She can come home with me if it gets to be late. Let Jim and Trish know our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

  Stacy gave him a reassuring smile, but she knew it didn’t reach to her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll look around town, and then I’ll hang out with your sister until you’re free. Just go find that little girl.”

  “Promise you’ll only believe half of what she tells you about me, okay?” Davis forced a grin, but his gaze spoke a silent thanks to Stacy before he turned and strode across the diner.

  The tinkling of the bell above the door signaled his departure.

  Stacy ended up sharing her meal with Darcy’s companionship. She found it very easy to talk with Davis’s sister. While she enjoyed their conversation, part of her mind drifted to wherever Davis might be at the moment… and to the poor little girl and her family. She could only imagine what her parents must be going through. At the same time, they were in good hands with Davis on the hunt for her. It was an impression she had gotten from their first meeting. He had immediately sensed her fear and had done what was needed to calm her and handle the situation. It couldn’t compare with this awful crime, but he would handle it with the same no-nonsense manner. He was a man to be counted on. That was what her gut instinct told her. It had been reinforced by the visit with the Moreno’s. The truth of the matter was deep down, she had known that before today. She just was too stubborn to admit it. Or maybe she was too scared to do so. Either way, she already missed the man.

  Leaving Darcy to finish with the afternoon business, Stacy ventured from the diner to investigate the rest of the town’s center. She had to admit the people she encountered were very friendly… nodding or murmuring brief hellos or a “howdy” as they passed. In one antique store, she found a desk lamp with cut glass prisms and an onyx base. It would perfectly suit her desk and she purchased it. The shop owner graciously offered to have it shipped to her home.

  In another store, she found a beautiful hand-sewn quilt in spring colors that would be perfect for the guest bedroom. This time, she carried the package with her. As she exited the shop, she saw Darcy crossing the street toward her, along with a taller, blonde female.

  “I see you found some of our local treasures,” Darcy spoke with a smile on her face as the pair came up to her. “Stacy Smith, allow me to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Chelsea Lanning. She’s owns the best hair and nail salon in town. You should stay longer and have a day of beauty.”

  The trio shared a laugh and some small pleasantries. Stacy liked Chelsea. She was a more polished version of Darcy, but still had the friendly, welcoming quality about her.

  “I could spend a couple more hours shopping, but I might not be able to carry it all home,” Stacy said, indicating the quilt she carried.

  “Let me take this package.” Darcy took the bag with the quilt. “My car is right over there,” and she nodded in the direction of the tan SUV parked at the curb. “Davis called and he’ll be late. He asked if we could go by his place and feed the animals, and he wanted me to apologize to you for him. It might be late when he gets a moment. You can stay at his place or you can crash at my place.”

  “I don’t want to inconvenience anyone. Perhaps I could call someone from the city and have them come out and pick me up.”

  “It’s going to be dark soon. Do you have to get back to town right away? I’m going in myself tomorrow morning for a meeting. I could drop you then. That is, if Davis hasn’t returned,” Chelsea made the kind offer.

  Stacy knew that made sense. She didn’t want to ask anyone to rearrange plans for her. “Let’s just play it by ear and see how things go. Although, I certainly thank you for the kind offer.”

  “No problem at all. I’ve got to leave you two now. It was lovely meeting you, Stacy. I’ll check with you tomorrow to see if you still need that ride into Austin.” With a slight wave, she left the two girls on the corner.

  Chapter Five

  The sun would be setting in another hour or so by the time Stacy and Darcy left the town behind and headed toward Davis’s ranch, which turned out to be just to the west about twenty minutes away. A thought came to Stacy’s mind as they passed the large sign on the edge of the town that thanked people for visiting.

  “McKenna Springs. By any chance, was the town named after an ancestor of yours?”

  Darcy grinned and nodded her head. “That’s right. It was our great, great grandfather, Micah McKenna, to be exact. He came over from Scotland as a young boy, and he worked on the railroad for a while before ending up in this area. He liked the land and decided this was where he would put down roots. He built a mud dugout on the land Davis lives on today. Then, he invested in a store and a bank and encouraged more people to buy up some land and, before you know it, McKenna Springs was born.”

  “Does it feel strange living in a place that has your name plastered on its signs?”<
br />
  “Not really. It makes me feel proud. To have ties to your hometown like that… it’s special.”

  After travelling for about six miles, they came to a crossroads and Darcy veered down the right fork. Not too much farther, she turned into another small, hard packed, dirt road that wound over a hilltop and down through a valley. The road continued, but she pulled into a side road and stopped in front of an iron gate. From the glove box, she took out a remote and punched in a code. The gate swung open slowly. They followed the road over the crest of another hill and pulled into a clearing, coming to a halt in front of a house with a white, picket-fenced yard.

  “This is beautiful.” Stacy breathed in appreciation at the welcoming picture before her.

  A large, two-story native stone home, obviously built many years before, sat in the middle of a green lawn dotted with huge shade trees. She slid out of the passenger side and joined Darcy as they walked up the stone path to the steps leading to the wide porch. The quietness of the location was refreshing to her senses.

  “Davis has done a lot of work on it over the last couple of years. Our grandparents built this back in the 1930s, and our parents added on to it once they married. Davis just had the exterior done over with siding where the natural stone doesn’t cover and he added the green shutters and the new metal roof. He’s been working on the inside the last few months.”

  “You were raised here?”

  “Yes, this was our childhood home. It has lots of great memories,” Darcy answered with a hint of wistful smile.

  She withdrew the key from her pocket and fitted it into the lock. As she stepped through the door, she punched in a code on the security pad on the wall in the hallway. Darcy noted the look on Stacy’s face.

  “Davis loves his security gadgets. You should see what he installed in my place.”

  “You live in town, correct?”

  “Yes, it made better sense for me to take the space above the diner and convert it into a loft apartment for myself… and Mr. T.”

  “And Mr. T is…?”

  “My cat.” Darcy clarified with a grin. “Yep, it’s just me and my cat.”

  “Are the men around here blind?”

  “I knew I liked you!” Darcy laughed then with a slight toss of her head. She went on to explain. “The men in our town are either too old or too young. The ones that are in between… they’re either taken already or not my type. Guess I may have to either advertise in the paper or online or lower my expectations.”

  “I can see your point.” Stacy smiled in return, stepping further into the hallway. Her gaze lit on the room to the right of the hall. She stepped into the archway opening. “This is really nice.” It was empty of furniture, except for a ladder that stood in the center of the room. Paint tarps were folded in a corner and the room was clearly ready for painting. “The ceiling has to be a good twelve feet. And the woodwork around the cornices and fireplace… it is so intricate and beautiful.” Huge windows in a bay alcove allowed the fading glow from the sunset into the room.

  “It will be beautiful once Davis gets it finished,” Darcy responded.

  There was another room, identical to it, to the left of the hall. Darcy gave her the tour of the rest of the house. The hall went straight back to another room on the left that had a built-in sideboard and shelves that obviously was a dining room and there was another smaller room across from it. It had to be Davis’s office, as evidenced by a cluttered desk, stacks of books waiting for bookshelves, and a comfy looking leather chair. The hall ended in a large room at the back of the house which had the kitchen on the left and a nice space on the right in front of another fireplace.

  “The house is quite roomy inside.” Stacy noted, liking everything she saw.

  “Davis will be ordering new furniture to go with the antique pieces he has stored right now due to the painting and all. Now for the upstairs tour.” Darcy led the way up the carved staircase.

  Upstairs, there were four large bedrooms. Three of the rooms, clearly guest bedrooms each had its own bath and stood empty of furniture. The fourth bedroom was the master suite with a large area for a sitting room and then the bedroom was through a wide archway. It had its own bath also… a new addition given the oval spa tub and the glass brick and granite shower. The suite had huge windows that looked out in three directions. Stacy could imagine the breeze one would have if they were open. She didn’t let her gaze linger for long on the massive four poster bed with its dove gray suede comforter. The furniture in the room was antique and the craftsmanship suited the house… and the man. She didn’t want to allow her thoughts to go down the road they were heading when she had followed Darcy into the room. Davis’s presence was suddenly too alive in the bedroom. Stepping into the hall, she pretended an interest in the scrollwork along the balustrade of the staircase.

  “Let’s get the horses fed while the daylight holds.” Darcy ended the tour and led the way downstairs once more.

  There was a good-sized barn not far from the house. The wood had a fresh coat of gray paint and the trim was white. Inside, there were six stalls and two of them were occupied. A brown nose stuck itself over the door of the first one. A snort greeted Darcy’s hello.

  “This handsome devil is Lincoln. He belongs to Davis, and the lady next door is my horse, Mame. She has that ‘attitude’ about her,” Darcy added as she filled the two buckets with their feed from the storage bins along the opposite wall. “I come out here and ride when I need to get away from people. Do you ride?”

  Stacy stepped up and ran a tentative hand along Mame’s offered nose. She smiled at the animal’s steady gaze. “Not as often as I would like. I love horses. I always asked for one on each birthday. That lasted until I was seventeen, and I finally realized that it was never going to happen. You were lucky to grow up here and have your own horse.”

  “Well, you can certainly have a horse now. You could get one and keep it out here. I know Davis wouldn’t mind.” Was there a less than subtle tone in Darcy’s voice?

  Stacy gave her a glance but there was nothing to see in her expression. Must be her imagination. She hoped Darcy didn’t have the wrong idea about the relationship between her brother and herself.

  “That would be nice if I had the time.”

  “Do you write all the time?”

  “It seems like it to my friends, but it’s my career and my passion.”

  “Well, I certainly am glad that you write quickly.” Darcy flashed a grin as she secured the stall door behind her. “It gives me good reading material late at night.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “By the way,” Darcy piped up again, “just how did my brother and you meet? I don’t think you exactly run in the same social circles.” She finished with a laugh.

  Stacy returned her smile, along with a slight shake of her head. “It was quite by accident. We were in the same hotel for different conferences, and I first saw him when he stooped to pick up the towel that had dropped from my gym bag in the exercise room. Then we went our separate ways. A few minutes later, we happened to be in the same elevator and it became stuck between floors. I was grateful I wasn’t alone and your brother was very nice and reassuring. We were stuck for a few minutes and that’s when we exchanged names. I saw him again a few days later in Austin and we shared a nice lunch. That’s about it, until today.” Of course, she wasn’t going into any further detail regarding her rule or his offer of friendship.

  The ringing of Darcy’s cell broke into the stillness of the barn at that moment. Withdrawing the phone from her shirt pocket, she answered, “Hey, brother of mine, how are things going over there? Did you find Lizzie yet?” She listened to the reply, no sign of a positive smile lighting her eyes. “That’s not good. Yes, she’s right here. We’re feeding the horses right now. I gave her the grand tour of your place. Hang on.” Darcy handed the phone toward Stacy.

  “Hello?”

  “I’m sorry, Stacy. This business has gotten really complicat
ed. It could be very late before I get away.” His voice made her feel like she was right beside him.

  It certainly made her pulses quicken. She was also aware of the startling fact that she had missed him the last few hours more than she had realized.

  “Don’t worry. I’m fine. I take it that things aren’t going well on your end.”

  “There’ve been some disturbing developments, but I can’t get in to them right now. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  For whatever odd reason, that made her insides go all warm and warmth rushed to her cheeks. She was grateful he wasn’t there to see it. Her back was to Darcy so, hopefully she wouldn’t notice either.

  “No problem. I think I’ll just take this opportunity to take out my pen and notebook and get some work done in all this quiet. You don’t mind if I wait here, do you?”

  “I don’t mind at all. There’s food in the refrigerator, just make yourself at home. Darcy will show you how to set the alarm… if you’re sure you don’t want to go back to her place?”

  “I’m quite used to staying on my own, in far less secure surroundings. I’ll be fine. Just take care of yourself and good luck in finding Lizzie.”

  “It’s nice to know you’ll be there waiting for me.” Davis’s voice had lowered and the tones in it struck a responding chord inside her.

  It was an unfamiliar sensation… both scary and exciting. She didn’t need to reply, which was good.

  “You have my cell number if you need me. Take care.” He hung up.

  Stacy felt at a loss for a few moments. She handed the phone back to Darcy.

  “I can’t imagine what those poor parents must be going through,” Stacy said, a slight shiver going over her skin at the thought. “I hope they find the child before too much longer.”

  “Just when things seemed to be really going well for them, now this had to happen. I just don’t understand it. Why people feel the need to be so cruel, especially to innocent little children.” Darcy shook her head.