Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (42 page)

“I’m fine. So I got the stomach flu, what’s the
big deal?” she insisted, confused.

“Honey you’ve been sick for the last week. Your
breasts are swollen and more sensitive than the last time we made love.” Naming
the symptoms he glanced down at the front of her shirt to stress the point.
“Plus Alex, when was the last time you had your menstrual cycle?” he probed
gently.

“I thought because we’ve been making love so
often that they were super tender. As for my menstrual cycle, I have skipped
periods before when I’ve been on tour or when some trauma happened in my life.
When I fist left home I skipped a cycle, the doctor said stress can cause it,”
she explained looking at Ty questioningly. “Look if you think I need…”

“Alex, you’re pregnant!!! That’s why you need
the crackers baby!” he interrupted her.

Alex jackknifed in his arms her eyes going wide
in shock. She looked straight ahead then raised her shirt and looked down at
her stomach in wonder. Ty lifted his hand and laid it on her stomach, over his
child. Moving his gaze to her eyes where he saw tears forming.

Pulling her back to lie against his chest, he laughingly
said, “I warned you that you had about five minutes to decide. That’s why
Steven was hyperventilating. He knows it might interfere with the band.”

He moved her head back, needing to see her face
to make sure she was okay with carrying his child. Looking into her eyes and
the marvel radiating there, his breath caught in his chest. They seemed to
sparkle from within. The slow smile forming on her perfect lips seemed to light
up her entire face. As her happiness over the baby shone through, Ty felt his
muscles relax for the first time in weeks. She was happy about the baby.

“You knew didn’t you? From the first day you
got here?”

“I knew for sure the minute you started saying
you were dying. It reminded me of another time you thought you were dying.” He
laughed when Alex punched him softly in the shoulder. “I think I actually knew
the night we got married. That night we made sandwiches and you let it drop
that you weren’t on the pill. I hadn’t used anything honey and if you weren’t
pregnant then, you defiantly were by the end of that night!” Ty reminded her as
he bent down to nibble on her ear.

“Thanks for my wedding gift honey,” she said
mischievously.

He started chuckling at her meaning. “Speaking
of wedding gifts, I’ve been carrying this around since I got here.” He shifted,
moving Alex so he could reach into his jeans pocket.

Sliding between his out stretched legs, she
knelt in front of him, curiously wondering what he was talking about. It was a
small box. He opened the lid slowly to display what lay nestled inside. A ring,
with matching wedding band, blinked up at her from a pillow of rich black
velvet. Beside it sat a matching men’s ring. She looked up, her eyes misting
over. Her hands shook as she raised the diamond and ruby wedding set out of the
box.

“Read the inscription.”

She turned the band and saw the simple
statement engraved so delicately along the inside. It read
Ty Always and
Forever
and was dated the year she graduated from high school! Alex looked
up quickly, her mind flooded with questions that showed plainly in her
features.

“I bought them that year. I would have found
you again Alex. Subconsciously, I knew there would never be anyone for me but
you. Here, let me?” he said, raising her hand so he could finally slide the
rings on her left hand where they belonged. She didn’t hesitate as she reached
for the men’s ring and slid it onto his hand.

If Alex had any lingering doubts about the
past, he had just completely erased them. She reached for him, melting into his
embrace as silent tears fell unchecked down her cheeks. They sat, locked in
each other’s arms, savoring their commitment to each other. After awhile Ty
pulled back reluctantly. He stood and reached back to drag her up, pulling her
to stand in front of him.

“Let’s find out what your sister wants, and
then we’re locking the door for the rest of the day!” he suggested as he moved
with her toward the villa. “By the way, when your grandfather put me in charge,
he said he was going on a fishing trip, probably a long one too. Never saw him
after that. Think he’s really gone fishing?”

“Ty! You can’t be serious?” she groaned

“Sorry Tidbit, but if I had to guess I would
say the Stone Girls are on the endangered species list!” He laughed at the
angry look on his wife’s face. He wished Max the best of luck; he had to hand
it to the old buzzard, he did seem to know how to make his granddaughters
happy. Ty knew he would never be able to thank him for bringing Alex back into
his life. Max would gloat far too much.

Alex looked up at Ty and knew that her life was
changing again, but with him in it she could embrace the changes with open
arms. Well, one of the Stone Girls had found the love she had longed for. She
just hoped her sisters would find the same happiness she had found with Ty. She
prayed her grandfather knew what he was doing. So far, his luck was still
holding. He had proven that he was savvier than she had ever guessed. She
wished her sisters the best of luck!

The End

Thank you for taking the time to read my new book. As a writer,
I am always happy to hear from my readers. So please, it you have the time to write
a review for me on Amazon, it would be greatly appreciated by this author. You
will be letting people know about Stone Cold Charade. As you know, reviews make
people take a closer look at a new book. It also helps with my ranking on
Amazon. It does not have to be a long review. Just a couple words even. It
would help, along with hitting the like button for the book.

Also, if you are interested in the next novel in this
series, due to be released in February 2013, you can follow “A Stone Family
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I, of course, will be following the posts to say (Hi) or
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Thank you, for your time and I hope you enjoyed getting
lost in Stone Cold Charade. Here is a sneak peak at Stone Cold Legacy….

                  
Sneak peak

Finished and preparing herself to free King, Jessica
spotted two stable hands exiting what appeared to be an office. They strolled
towards her, dressed in jeans, white t-shirts, and sneakers, their faces bore a
resemblance to foreigners, leading her to believe they were probably servants
brought here by the Prince.

“Can we help you Miss?” they asked, confusion
lacing their words.

The men walked toward whom they recognized as
an American by the coloring of her waist length red hair.

“No! I suggest both of you clear out, now!”
Jessica commanded, moving to the elegantly carved handle on King’s stall.

The older one stepped in front of her, hastily
blocking her path, not allowing her to even touch the handle.

Jessica didn’t have time for this nonsense.
Becoming aggravated by this new, unwanted delay, she turned her menacing eyes
on the two of them.

The one in her path held up his hands in front
of him in the universal sign for stop, “Sorry Miss, but we can’t let you open
his door, the horse has gone bonkers.” To further explain, he placed his right
hand near his ear and circled a finger clockwise around the outside rim of it,
“He is unbalanced, yes? Nutty?” he said smiling warmly at Jessica, trying to
soften her.

Already exasperated, Jessica reacted with
mindless impulse, the lack of sleep obviously robbing her of all patience.
Spying a machete used to cut hay hanging from a hook on the wall, she seized it
before slamming it with lightning speed, tip first, into the wooden wall of the
stall, inches from his dark face. She stepped back from him, cocking her head
to the side as she examined her handy work.

Jessica congratulated herself. She had given
herself a two-inch leeway. Her eyes darted to scrutinize his. With her arms
crossed over her chest, she glared hotly as she tapped her boot on the stable’s
dirt floor.

The man looked at the machete, then at her. In
horror at how close he had come to having his ear permanently removed, he
turned his scared gaze to his companion, who looked back at him in wonder, then
in growing panic. They both turned back to Jessica simultaneously, mouths
gaping at her, petrified. They suddenly slid along the wall, hastily getting
away from her on unsteady legs. Jessica took a menacing step towards them. They
spun around and fled back towards the office at a dead run, not daring to look
back.

Jessica fought the urge to laugh
uncontrollably, but time was dwindling away. She moved back to the stall and
took a breath before releasing King. She jumped back as he bolted from his
enclosure.

Turning, she raced to the stack of hay she had
arranged earlier and climbed to the top. Easily reaching the sprinkler head,
she reached into her blue jean pocket. She got out the lighter she always
carried that Ty had given her on her birthday. She never went anywhere without
it. It was her good luck charm. Usually she just used it to melt the ends of
lead ropes.

Holding it under the wax of the sprinkler she
waited patiently for it to melt and activate the sprinkler system. A minute
later, a flood of icy cold water gushed from the sprinklers, soaking the entire
building and washing over her. A bell began to blare an annoying chime on the
far wall. Jessica jumped down, moving out of the stall, and grabbed a
pitchfork. At a run, she drove it with all her strength at the bell. It made a
horrible screech as it pierced the metal shell and ceased the ringing with the
jarring impact.

She pivoted around to see King stride along the
corridor, pacing, his sides heaving from all the unnecessary energy he was
using to combat the things his mind was conjuring. Now in the center of the
corridor, she watched King as he prepared to charge, tossing his head in fury.
She held her ground, knowing that if she flinched or showed fear, he could
easily slay her in his crazed state. He lunged at her, bearing down upon her
like a wild animal after its prey. Knowing how vulnerable she was, she willed
herself to stay completely calm and braced herself as he came at her.

Hassan was in the middle of greeting his dinner
guests when Rashid informed him discreetly that the fire alarm was sounding in
the stables. He quietly slipped away from the party rushing with Rashid to the
stable. On arriving, Hassan was stunned to see through a window in the stable
doors what appeared to be a teenage girl in the passageway with King. He held
his breath as King ran full out at the girl and she held herself deathly still.
King thundered by her within seconds, barely missing trampling her.

“The horse will surely kill the girl!” Rashid
stated, clearly horrified at what he had witnessed.

Hassan observed King restlessly trot away
before shaking his head with a snort and rising on his back legs, stomping the
hard earthen floor of the stables. King's nostrils were flared and his eyes
wide and completely wild as he lunged forward to charge, yet again, at the
girl. He pushed away from the window, wrenching violently at the door handle.
When it didn't budge, he went back to the windowpane, glancing down through the
glass he saw a stick jammed through the handle. He squinted down the corridor
to the door at the end of the stables, and saw it too was blocked. King ran
from one end of the barn to the other, always just barely missing the girl with
his incredible speed. She never flinched away in fear or turned her head as he
thundered past her.

“Perhaps she is frozen in terror, and that is
why she does not move away from him? Do you think it is one of the guests
daughter’s?” Rashid speculated, concern lacing his panicked voice.

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s not right in the
head,” Hassan ran a restless hand through his hair, needing to get to the girl
and stop this madness.

Watching helplessly, Hassan felt his throat
close with fear as King rose over the girl, pawing the air with his hooves, his
eyes rolling back in his head. He flinched in alarm, thinking the crazed horse
would kill the girl right before his eyes. At the last possible moment, King
stepped back on his hind legs bringing his forelegs crashing down only feet
away from where the girl stood, thankfully not striking her in his raging
anger.

Hassan having never felt so helpless or useless
in his whole existence slammed his hand against the door. Who could have
disabled the doors and why? He contemplated pounding on the door, or breaking
the glass, as he violently wished to do. That would get the foolish girl's
attention, but it would also cause King to become more unstable.

“Have one of the stable hands retrieve my
rifle. NOW!!” Hassan ordered not taking his eyes off the petrified girl,
knowing Rashid would follow his command without question. Hassan dreaded having
to shoot the horse, but if King murdered her, he would have the choice made for
him, and with much more consequence.