by Rachel Burns
The man outside made a phone call, telling his boss that the woman in question was in a sexual relationship with the guy who owned the truck stop.
“Did she seem to be desperate? Does she need help?” Martin asked one of the many men he had hired to find his daughter.
“She seemed …” The man paused, trying to find the right word. “Happy.” He had been one of their last customers.
Martin sighed. “Then you can come home. We know where she is now. The search is over. My secretary will contact you and make arrangements for your last pay check. I won’t forget to include the bonus for working on Christmas.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Martin hung up the phone, asking himself how he felt about finding her. He was thrilled to know where she was. If the cops tried to accuse him of doing something to her, he would be able to tell them where she was, and that she was fine. It was nice to have that settled.
But how did he really feel? He didn’t feel a need to fly out to her and try to get her to come back home. Wouldn’t that be the normal reaction for a father to have?
It would be best for her to come home and go back to Yale. She needed to get a proper education. She needed to get a good job that paid well. It was a safety net that he wanted her to have.
But the private detective said that she looked happy. He was trying to picture that in his mind. He remembered the day that they had gone golfing with Nils and his daughter. Morgan had liked the other girl. That was the happiest he had ever seen her.
It amazed him that the man who hated him the most was the one who called him to inform him where his daughter was, telling him that he couldn’t keep the information from him in good conscience.
Martin owed Nils for the information he gave him. He’d do what he could to pay him back. That was how things worked in his mind. He wanted to pay off his debt and be over with it.
Morgan was happy. That was somehow difficult to believe. He couldn’t picture it in his mind. She was never happy around him. But now she had the one thing that she needed to make her happy, which was distance from him.
He would think about what he should do. The decision didn’t need to be made today.
The thought of her being in a sexual relationship with some guy who owed a truck stop was preposterous. Morgan wasn’t meant for a common man. She’d been groomed to be the wife of a rich man.
But the guy made her happy. He’d never be the son-in-law that Martin dreamed of, one who could take over the business, but he made her happy. That amazed Martin.
His little Morgan had found love. He was a little jealous, and he knew that she hadn’t gotten the talent for that from him. He hadn’t been able to keep the only woman he loved in life. Instead, he chased her away when the first problem arose. That problem was now living above a truck stop.
Could he in good conscience leave her there?
But she was happy. That was a rare and precious thing to be.
He’d leave her be for now and step in only if needed. It was a decision that didn’t need to be made immediately. It could be pushed off until tomorrow. Again he had to think of how fitting her name was. Tomorrow still fit her perfectly.
Martin would take his time and make the right decision for her. He owed her that.
Chapter 21
Morgan quietly got out of bed and went into the bathroom. They’d had a long scene that night. She was sore because her body had cramped together when it shouldn’t have. She knew better, but it had happened before she could think about it. It was a mistake that was costing her.
She took several deep breaths and rubbed her right side. That was the way she had twisted when she hadn’t been able to hold her position. Sawyer had punished her, and now she was punishing herself.
He’d spoken to her about safe words when she first arrived, but that had been a year ago. He never mentioned it again. Besides, it wouldn’t matter. She was his slave, and he was the master. It was her job to make him happy and the scenes they played out did make him happy. He wanted to hurt her, but not like this.
Sawyer had no idea, and if all went well, he never would. She knew what he would say if he found out that she was in pain. He’d suggest that she should see a doctor. The doctor would want to know who she was. That she needed to avoid. Instead, she’d take it easy and drink a lot of water. That always helped.
Sawyer never scolded her when she slacked off at work. It was rare that she was the only waitress who worked. He knew better than to depend on her.
Nevertheless, she would work harder when he was watching, and take it easy when he wasn’t. That would work.
Morgan looked up at herself in the mirror and nodded to herself, thinking that the decision was made to keep her pain a secret. That was when she noticed that her necklace was missing.
Immediately, her hands went to her throat. Where could it be?
Had it gotten broken during the scene that they had played out?
What if she never found it again? It was a thing of worth that Master Sawyer had permitted her to wear for safekeeping.
No, she would find it, and everything would be alright.
One thing was clear. Once she found it, Sawyer should never find out that it had been missing.
Her mind was racing as she returned to bed. Sawyer was sleeping soundly without a care in the world.
But Morgan didn’t sleep a wink that night. She got up before Sawyer could and checked the sink and the shower drain, looking for it, but she had no idea how to open up pipes and look under things.
She washed herself, forcing her body to move the way she needed it to and shoving the sharp pain to the side. Today, she didn’t have time to dwell on the pain.
She began to clean their apartment, and as soon as Sawyer got out of bed, she changed the sheets, searching them for her thin golden necklace.
She washed the sheets and remade the bed, keeping her eyes peeled, but there was no sign.
“Should we go down now?” Sawyer asked her, ready for a new day.
“Go on without me, Master. I’ve been slacking on my chores up here. I’ll come down when everything is spic and span.” She gave him a fake smile before she ducked her head under the bed to continue her search.
“You keep bending over like that, and I’ll stay here with you.” He gently rubbed his hands over her ass, wanting to claim it as his.
Morgan was surprised that he was touching her. She jerked upwards, hitting her head soundly on the bed.
“Are you okay, darling?” He knelt down and saw the tears in her eyes.
“I’m fine,” she told him as she tried to breathe through the pain. Her necklace was gone, her side was killing her, and now her head hurt too. This was too much. He would notice and scold her for not being more careful with his things.
“Was I too rough with you last night? Are you trying to avoid me?” he asked her in a whisper in spite of them being the only two people in the building.
This was her chance. She could tell him that she was hurt. He would insist that she remain in bed, and she could use that time to look for her necklace.
No, that would be disobeying him. If he sent her to bed, she’d have to stay in it.
“I was, wasn’t I? You look as if you haven’t slept at all. Do you need to see a doctor?” he asked her, but Morgan could see in his eyes that he didn’t want her to say yes. That would mean having to explain how she had hurt herself. Telltale signs would be there to prove what had happened. Master didn’t want anyone to know about his dark side. He didn’t know that all men had dark sides to them, but she knew the truth. He was different because he also had a light side.
“I don’t need to see a doctor,” she assured him. She tried to smile. “I just have a list of things that I need to do today. Is that alright?”
“Sure. But you come down and get a nice warm meal when you’re hungry. You know I like us to eat together as a family.” He was thrilled that he didn’t have to take her to see a doctor, she thought.
> Morgan sighed a breath of relief when he finally let her go and went down to worked.
~
Half an hour later, Sawyer came back to check on her. Morgan had her hair twisted up into a bun, and she had pulled the dresser forward so she could clean behind it. The drawers were on the bed. She had already cleaned them out and refolded their things.
“So this is what spring cleaning looks like,” he commented as he watched her crawling behind the dresser, scrubbing the floor.
“Yes, this is spring cleaning.” She was prepared to say anything to throw him off track.
“And you just felt the urge to do it?” he asked her.
“It was more like a drive,” she told him honestly. She realized when she moved everything that she might as well clean them.
“I guess it’s a woman’s thing. Horace’s wife has been cleaning too.”
Morgan had to smile. “You asked him if this was normal?”
“Well, it did seem odd and out of the blue.” He gave her a boyish smile.
Morgan shrugged her shoulders. “It was time for a deep clean. Did you come up because you need me downstairs?” she asked him.
“No, I just wanted to make sure you were still here,” he admitted, making Morgan feel bad about herself. She didn’t know how to respond.
“Did you want to take my tip money downstairs with you so you can watch it?” she offered, trying to think of something that might help ease his mind.
“No, that’s okay. I guess we still have to get used to each other. I get it now. Spring cleaning is natural and normal. I’ll leave you to it.”
“No, wait a second. I’m almost finished. Could you stay and help me move the dresser back? It’s so heavy.” She hadn’t done herself a favor when she moved it forward. Her side hurt unbearably, but she had to bear it.
“Of course.” He jumped forward to help. Together, they put it back where it belonged. Then he helped her put back the drawers. “Are you going to be done soon?”
“I guess so, but I wanted to do the stairs and give them a good scrubbing over too.”
Sawyer was grinning at her.
“What?” she asked him, wanting to know what was so funny.
“You have become very domestic,” he replied after careful deliberation.
“Are you saying that you tamed me?” She teased him.
“It looks that way.” He flirted back with her. He gave her a kiss on her cheek like a husband would kiss his wife. Then, he went back downstairs.
Morgan smiled at him as he walked away, admiring his ass. He was a lot older than she was, but he was still very well put together. In the meantime, she knew every soul here in town, and she could easily say that she had the best-looking man in town in her bed.
But would he want her to stay there once he found out that she had lost the necklace he had trusted her with?
~
Sawyer could see that Morgan was stiff and could hardly move. It was already very late, and she was still going. Their apartment smelt clean like pine oil. Everything was shiny and fresh. It was nice to have a woman in the house, seeing to things like that, but this was too much. She was now deep cleaning the restaurant.
“Morgan, why don’t you call it a night? You’ve been cleaning all day,” he pointed out.
“I’m fine,” she told him for the millionth time.
“I can see that you’re sore. Tomorrow you probably won’t be able to get out of bed.”
She was on the floor cleaning under a booth, but she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. “You’ve never complained about me being in bed before,” she teased him, trying to change the topic.
He grinned and glanced around to see if anyone had heard her. He loved it when she flirted with him. “Come on, Morgan. I want you to call it a day.”
“I will as soon as I finish under the booths. If I stop now, it will be for nothing because people will track the dirt from over there to where I’m already finished.”
Sawyer had to agree that she had a point.
But when closing time came and the staff had gone home, Morgan was still going. She was cleaning the coffee machine for the fourth time.
“Honey, you did that already.”
“I know, but it was still dirty. Besides, it would be nice to wake up to a perfect truck stop tomorrow. Imagine if the health inspectors show up here tomorrow. We’d have nothing to worry about.”
As much as Sawyer liked that she used the word we, he had to stop her because this was reaching a new level of weirdness. “Are we expecting one tomorrow?” he asked her, wondering if she had overheard something useful.
“I don’t know, but you never know when they might show up. It’s better to be prepared.”
Sawyer tried to make sense of what she was saying as she lifted everything and wiped under it.
Why was she suddenly acting like a crazy woman? “Are you doing this because you’re about to leave me?” he asked her, stating his greatest fear. “I was too rough with you last night, and now you can’t look me in the eye.” Even now she was standing with her back to him. “Would you have even said goodbye?”
Morgan’s body began to shake. “I’m not leaving you. I did something awful, and I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me, Master.” She sobbed into her hands.
Sawyer was finally able to breathe because she said that she wasn’t leaving him. It didn’t matter what she did as long as she stayed with him.
He turned her around and leaned her against his chest, hugging her and comforting her as she cried. “What’s wrong, baby. Tell me so I can make it better.” The words flowed so easily from his lips. He was no longer her master but the man who loved her and who would be anything she needed him to be.
She tried to tell him what was wrong several times, but the words didn’t make any sense. All he knew was that she was sorry about something.
“It’s gone. I’ve searched everywhere,” she sobbed.
“What’s gone?” he asked her.
“My necklace. I swear, I didn’t take it off. I was careful with it.”
“I know you were. Don’t cry, baby.” Sawyer was fighting against tears of his own. It was breaking his heart to see her so upset. “I’ll get you a new one. With a stronger chain,” he added. “This was my fault. Not yours. I’ll make it better like I promised you.”
“But you entrusted me with it.”
“No, I gave it to you. It was yours to do with what you wanted. You could have thrown it away, and it wouldn’t have been my business. It was yours. And the better one, which I’ll get you first thing tomorrow will also be yours. Okay? Are you feeling better now?”
She shook her head no. “I want my necklace back,” she pouted like a little girl and buried her face in his chest again.
That made him smile. It was perfectly right for her to come to him with her problems. “I’ll help you look,” he told her.
They searched for hours until Sawyer called it a night, telling her that they had to go to bed.
Morgan fell asleep in his arms after crying herself to sleep. He had never seen her so upset. She hadn’t even been this bad when she was about to jump off of the cliff.
~
The next morning, he kissed her tenderly and left as soon as he could to get her a better necklace.
He went to a jewelry store and directly asked for a necklace on a good strong chain. This time he spent a lot more money, but it was worth every penny, knowing that his girl had cried because he hadn’t gotten a better one the first time.
When he returned to the restaurant, he was greeted by a beaming Morgan. She lifted up her hand and showed him what she had inside of it.
He saw the necklace in her hand. The chain was broken, but she was clearly overjoyed to have it back.
“Where did you find it?” he asked her.
“I didn’t. Jenny did. She found it and put it in an envelope and placed it on your desk in case somebody came back and asked for it. I must have touched that envelope twenty ti
mes yesterday. If I had asked the other waitresses for help, I could’ve had it in my hands yesterday already.”
“Really?” he asked her surprised.
“Yes, she told everyone else where it was, but we had already gone up for the night.” Morgan was beaming with joy to have her necklace back.
“I’ll get this one fixed for you. But until then, I want you to wear this.” He presented her with a small velvet blue box. “This is for you.” He was grinning from ear to ear. It was truly better to give than to receive.
Morgan opened the box and grinned at him. “You shouldn’t have. You really shouldn’t have, but I love it.”
“That’s a ruby. I think it will look lovely around your neck. Can I put it on you?”
Morgan was so moved that she only nodded at him. She wiped tears out of the corners of her eyes and turned around.
Sawyer proudly lifted the necklace over her head and placed it around her neck. Carefully, he closed it in the back so it wouldn’t fall.
She turned around and smiled at him. He was taken aback at the love he saw in her eyes. She loved him. He could see it in her eyes. This was where he wanted their relationship to be.
Morgan was looking down, trying to look at her teardrop shaped ruby. He had spent ten times more on this necklace than what he had spent on the other one. But this was a necklace for a woman. The one with her initial on it had been for a teenaged-girl. He realized that now. If he wanted her to be his lady, he needed to treat her like one.
“Why don’t you go up so you can admire yourself in the mirror and save yourself from getting a crick in your neck,” he teased her.
“Thank you. I love it.”
“I’m glad.”
She gave him her broken necklace, which he carefully brought to his office and put it in an envelope so he could get it fixed. But it would probably be best to replace the chain. He liked that it was his job to take care of her every need.