The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 3

by Heather Rainier

  Lydia returned with the empty tray and brought him a glass of iced tea, like always. She took out her order pad, and he noticed that her hands shook a little as she held it. As he placed his order, he glanced up and caught the boss man staring at him.

  There were several things Chance wanted to do. First, he wanted to get up and let Lydia have his seat for a few minutes. Second, he wanted to place an order for her, so she could eat. Third, he wanted to know about all the things the other waitress told him, especially why her night was about to get so much worse. And fourth, he wanted to punch that bastard when he chose that moment to yell her name, “Lydia!” while she stood not four feet away from him at the other side of the pass-through window, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

  Chance’s hands tightened into fists when she struggled to keep from becoming emotional. She shouldn’t have to put up with this bullshit. She repeated his order back to him in a shaky voice and smiled at him, but the tears still showed in her shiny eyes.

  Lydia turned in his order to the big man behind the window, presumably the cook, who spoke kindly to her as he slid plates under the heat lamps in her direction. She gathered them onto another tray and turned with the weight balanced over her head. Chance caught her and the tray as she wobbled slightly to give her a chance to gain her balance. She smiled at him and nodded, and then he allowed her to move off. He turned in the seat and caught the cook watching her in concern. The cook’s eyes shifted to Chance and they exchanged a look, and the cook shook his head in consternation.

  The cook said something to the old man, and then Chance heard a door bang closed in the kitchen. When Lydia returned with a tray full of empty dishes to deal with, the cook motioned for her to come near. He held up a small plate with what looked like a breakfast sandwich on it, pointed at her, and gestured for her to come into the kitchen. She shook her head and looked around. The dining room was still full of people.

  Chance heard the cook say, “Lydia, you’re about to pass out. Get yourself back here and eat before I come get you and force-feed you.” His eyes got big, and he looked serious. Chance decided he liked this big guy.

  Lydia glanced at Chance, looking torn, and Chance whispered, “Baby, if you don’t eat you’re going to fall down. Go. We’ll be okay for three minutes.”

  Biting her lip, she refilled his tea glass as well as the glass belonging to the customer sitting next to him. The older man smiled and thanked her, then gestured for her to go eat real quick. Chance looked down the counter, and all five of the men of various ages seated there were watching her with concern in their eyes.

  She looked back at him and smiled. “I’ll be back in two shakes.”

  Chance wanted to groan at her choice of words as she strode to the kitchen door. Despite the drab waitress uniform she wore, he couldn’t help but notice the sway of her curvy hips or admire the sexy shape of her legs as she walked away. She was as beautiful in body as she was in spirit. The cook brought Chance’s food and one other customer’s plates out to them and thanked them for letting her take a break.

  He stopped beside Chance and quietly asked, “She tell you what happened?”

  Chance frowned and said, “No, she hasn’t had a chance yet. What happened?”

  The cook wiped his hands on a clean dish towel and said, “Lydia got robbed last night and someone slashed her tires. Took everything she had.”

  Chance’s heart sank at the news. “That is a damned shame.”

  “Yeah, including all the money she was saving, trying to get out of this place. ’Bout broke my heart when she told me. She covered for me this morning so she didn’t make squat but her hourly wage during those hours. Then Mr. Cortez tells her she has to stay when this big ol’ reunion crowd shows up in town. She was willing because she wanted to make up the difference in tips she lost this morning.” He frowned and added, “Cortez has been after her all day.”

  Chance sat up and asked, “What exactly do you mean?”

  The cook nodded with pursed lips and said, “Been yelling all day. When I came in the back door this morning, I heard her tell him that if he touched her one more time he was gonna pull back a nub. He just laughed and walked away. I gotta get back to work. Here she is, looking one hundred percent better.”

  Lydia grinned at him and thanked him as he slipped past her behind the counter and went back to work. Her color looked better, and her hands were no longer shaking.

  “Did you finish eating?” Chance asked when she brought the pitcher to refill his tea again.

  “I sure did. LaMont makes a mean ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. I feel better now. I meant to stop and eat before the dinner rush, but we got busy again.”

  “Looks like you’re just about pushed to your limit for one day.”

  She nodded wearily but then shrugged and said, “What else can I do?”

  Come home with me! Let someone take care of you for a change.

  In between customers she checked in on him, and he noticed each time she returned her smile would brighten and reach all the way to her greenish-blue eyes.

  He lingered over his meal until the customers finally began to dwindle at the counter and then at the tables. The waitresses’ duties shifted toward cleanup, and eventually only a few customers remained. He’d decided he wanted to give her the gifts in private this time. His instincts were telling him to press for more than just seeing her in the café on this trip.

  She returned to him at the counter and leaned her forearm against it. “Cowboy, you’ve nursed that chicken-fried steak for a good, long time. You ready for dessert?”

  Baby, you have no idea how ready.

  Chance smiled big, and a pink blush stole into her cheeks as though she’d read his mind. She rolled her eyes and handed him a menu.

  He shook his head and replied, “Actually, I was wondering what time you get off at. I want to take you somewhere for dessert, if there’s any place left open.”

  Checking her watch, she said, “Sonic Drive-In is about the only thing open this late, besides us.”

  She seemed a little hesitant, so he pressed on quickly. “I’ll let you drive yourself there, if you don’t want to ride with me.”

  She looked torn, and he began to feel like he’d misread the situation or somehow put her on edge. He was about to speak when she said, “Actually, I don’t have any transportation right now. My boss had to pick me up for work this morning.”

  Oh damn, that's right. “I can take you home, if that’s okay with you. I swear I’d be a proper gentleman.”

  She smiled at him and said, “Chance, I don’t doubt that for a minute. You’re always a perfect gentleman.”

  He smiled in relief and asked, “Then Sonic it is?”

  “Sure.”

  “What time will you be off?”

  “In about ten minutes. I was supposed to be off hours ago, but I don’t want to leave LaMont, LuAnn, and Simone in the lurch, you know?”

  “Of course. I brought you a surprise.”

  Her smile and the light in her beautiful turquoise eyes made him go all gooey inside. “You brought something for me?”

  “Yeah. It’s in the truck. I can go get it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m tempting you out to my vehicle or anything. I promise I won’t molest you.”

  “Chance, I don’t go out to men’s trucks on a whim. I really do trust you.”

  “Good. I’ll wait for you. Then you can tell me about what happened today.” Chance couldn’t deny the territorial feelings he was experiencing or the urge he had to fix what was wrong in her world.

  She looked down and said, “Okay.”

  Her coworkers LuAnn and Simone flanked her behind the counter, and LuAnn said, “Sweetie, you got a second? There is something you need to see.”

  Lydia nodded and said to Chance, “I’ll be right back. Just sit tight, okay?”

  The boss man had not made another appearance and Chance was glad for it. He’d enjoyed the quiet and hadn’t missed the old man’s un
friendly stares.

  He rested his chin in his hand and watched her as she sashayed away with LuAnn, who was speaking in quiet, furtive tones. He came to a decision while he waited. First thing in the morning he would see about replacing the tires on her car for her.

  Chapter Three

  Lydia followed LuAnn and Simone out of the back door. Mr. Cortez was in his office on the phone arguing with somebody about something. There was nothing new about that. LuAnn led the way to the back of Mr. Cortez’s truck and pointed into the bed, then said, “The wind was blowing earlier and it moved the tarp. Otherwise I never would’ve noticed.”

  “Noticed what?”

  LuAnn pointed in the truck bed and said, “Isn’t that your green blouse? The bright-green one you wore to the movies with me?”

  Lydia frowned and rose on her tiptoes and looked at what the taller girls could see that she couldn’t and gasped in shock.

  Simone yanked back the tarp, revealing all of Lydia’s possessions, and growled, “That cocksucking motherfucker.” The spunky blonde had always had a way with words.

  “What are you gonna do?” LuAnn asked.

  Fury unfurled inside Lydia, and she marched toward the back door as she said, “You’re about to see. Could one of you call the police?”

  Simone whipped her cell phone out of her apron pocket as they followed her in and she jerked Mr. Cortez’s office door open. She only thought that seeing all her belongings in the bed of his truck, where he had placed them after stealing them, was a shock.

  The sight of him lounging in his office chair, with her thong panties from her laundry basket pressed to his nose and mouth while he casually stroked a small erection through his double knit trousers, was an even bigger revelation. He seemed in nirvana and didn’t notice her until she began yelling.

  “You pervert! You thieving pervert! You stole my things! You stole everything I—Get my dirty underwear away from your face, you animal! Why? Why did you steal my things? Where is my money?”

  She’d never yelled at him before, and it evidently sent him into shock because all he did was open and close his mouth a few times.

  “Why did you take my things?” She slapped her hand on his desk to get his attention. A terrible thought occurred to her. “Did you slash my tires, too?”

  He seemed to come back to himself and slammed his mouth shut, but he still held her underwear in his hand. The urge to beat on the disgusting lecher was almost undeniable. Strong, warm arms circled her waist unexpectedly, but not in a way meant to restrain her. It felt more protective than anything else, and then she heard a gentle voice murmur in her ear.

  “Baby, Simone told me she called the police. I came when I heard you yelling. Let the police handle him.” Chance’s West Texas accent comforted her in a way nothing else ever had.

  She’d been on her own this whole time in Fort Stockton, and to allow someone else to help felt foreign. She allowed him to pull her behind him. LaMont, LuAnn, and Simone stood in the kitchen waiting. The dining room lights were all dimmed, which meant the customers were all gone and the front doors locked.

  Chance spoke to Mr. Cortez. “Don’t move from your seat and don’t bother trying to hide the evidence, you pervert. I knew something was off about you from the moment I first saw you.”

  The Fort Stockton police arrived a few minutes later. Her friends showed them what they’d found, and Lydia explained what she’d seen him doing when she walked in on him.

  Mr. Cortez seemed to crumble under the questioning and accusations as the arresting officers placed him in handcuffs. He mumbled, “I knew she would leave. I didn’t want her to go. I had to stop her from going. She is my light.”

  “Your light?” LuAnn asked with a derogatory snort, then stated, “When someone is ‘your light’ you don’t work them like a slave and treat them like shit on your shoes, you asshat. Tell them what you did to her car, too.”

  Mr. Cortez was crying by the time they hauled him out the back doors. His declaration that he considered her his “light” made her shudder in disgust.

  Chance stroked his hand up and down her side as the police officers moved around them doing their jobs.

  One of the policemen who had come to her motel room the night before spoke to her. “Ms. Webster, we’ll get the evidence inside the truck processed as quickly as possible. I know you’d like your clothing and possessions back as quickly as possible. If you’ll give me your number, I’ll be in touch when they release them. It shouldn’t take long.” The friendly police officer went back to his job, and Chance smiled at her. She tried to smile back, but it felt weak.

  Chance asked, “Want to go take a break? We can get some ice cream at Sonic and talk while you wait.”

  LuAnn must have overheard because she piped up. “Sweetie, LaMont called the café owners in Alpine. They’ll be here in a few hours. We’ll get everything sorted out in the morning. LaMont told them what all happened to you and said he was giving you tomorrow morning off since you worked for him this morning. I’m sure it won’t take long at all to get all your stuff back. Why don’t you go take a break?”

  She hugged LuAnn and Simone and went inside to get her purse. When she came out, Chance was talking to them, and they both grinned at her as they waved good night and moved off.

  Chance smiled at her and gestured to his big, black Dodge Ram dually in the parking lot. “Your chariot awaits, pretty lady.”

  She chuckled and smiled at his words, but the last thing she felt right now was pretty, unless it was pretty exhausted. The sandwich had helped, but the drama of the last few minutes had drained what little strength she had left. She looked at her watch and grimaced. It was nine o’clock. Her workday had been more than fifteen hours long, all of it on her feet, which ached like crazy.

  Chance offered her his hand, which she took for the very first time. His palm was rough as her fingers slid across it, and his hand felt strong and capable as it closed gently around hers. Heat warmed her cheeks that such a small, innocent gesture meant so much to her.

  She walked with him to his truck and blushed a little hotter when she needed his assistance climbing up into the huge thing, tugging her skirt down when it rode up as she slid into the seat. He closed the door once she was buckled in, and she looked around the interior of the vehicle, which was fairly clean and smelled of leather.

  Chance climbed up in the driver’s seat and started the truck. It rumbled to life, and Lady Antebellum’s “Just a Kiss” was playing on the radio. She sat in the seat as he put the vehicle in gear and the truck rolled over the parking lot to the exit. He pulled out onto the Interstate access road, and for a second she wished with her whole heart that the truck would take on a mind of its own, get on the highway, and keep on rolling away from Fort Stockton. Lydia imagined speeding away from there and never looking back, just leaving it all behind.

  She shook her head to clear the daydream and chastised herself for thinking thoughts that only brought pain to her chest. It wasn’t going to happen, and she should just be grateful he’d been there to support her through the last few minutes.

  She was also glad she’d be able to get her things back and, if they found her money, at least get her tires replaced. She thought she would have enough left over to at least make a dent in the cost of the other repairs on Gunther.

  Starting over completely was no longer what she had to look forward to, but her victory over the situation was hollow compared to the gratitude she felt for this moment alone with him. Biting her lip, she decided to enjoy the time with him but mentally braced herself for when he had to leave.

  Turning to him, she said, “It’s awfully late for you to start a trip home. Are you sure you don’t want to just drop me off at my place and head on out?” She wasn’t even sure where he lived but remembered that he and his twin brother had a ranch.

  “If I do that, how will you collect your belongings later? I was planning to get a hotel room for tonight. I came prepared,” he said, gesturing to
the backseat of the four-door cab.

  “Oh,” she said, noting the button-down shirt and jeans hanging from the clothing hook on the sidewall of the truck. “Why did you come to Fort Stockton today? You’re not pulling your trailer.” She wanted to take back the words, realizing it wasn’t her place to interrogate him.

  Chance turned his bright-blue eyes on her for a moment and murmured, “You really have to ask?” She frowned in puzzlement at him, thinking she had worked too many hours today for guessing games. “Baby, I came to see you.”

  If her eyebrows could’ve risen any higher they would have been in her hairline. “You did? You came all this way to see me?” Her stomach fluttered with new butterflies replacing the old, exhausted ones from earlier, and she stuttered, “I–I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to say anything, Lydia. You’ve had a long day and you probably need rest more than anything else.” He pulled in under the brightly lit awning of the Sonic Drive-In and chose a spot to park in. “What would you like to have?”

  After looking at the menu, she told him, and he refused her money when she reached in her purse. She sat there while he placed their order and remembered her silver bracelet. It was still in the pocket she’d hidden it in, and she slipped it on, feeling lucky to have both it and its giver sitting beside her.

  Recalling what he’d said about getting a hotel room, she groaned. At his inquiring look she said, “I heard today in the café that there is a huge family reunion going on this weekend. Everyone in the café was talking about it. They all started rolling into town this morning. You may not be able to get a hotel room.”

  Thoughtful for a second, Chance replied, “Well, maybe I can still get a room at your motel.” Lydia frowned, not sure he’d want a room at her motel. “You’ll need transportation in the morning anyway.”

  Wow. He was planning on being around in the morning, too. She had expected he would want to get an early start toward home the following morning. But he said he came to see me. She looked up at him and caught him watching her.