Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

…

Chapter 2

Xander stood up and went toward the door just in time to see the back end of the truck pull away in a cloud of dust. His mind was racing. He didn't know what to do. Had he really seen Anya? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was he going to start seeing her everywhere? Had he finally gone over the edge? No. No, Anya was gone. There was probably a chance resemblance between that woman and Anya. He whipped his eyes back to the parking lot. Damn it! He didn't get the license plate number. How could he, if….Hey wait! That big guy…he was talking to her. He knew her. What did he call her?. It was something like Anya…But what was it?

"Okay, okay, calm down." He told himself. "No one is going to talk to the crazy guy at the truck stop obsessing about a woman traveling alone."

The big man turned back from the door and gave Xander a quick grin as he started back to the butcher counter. Quick Xander thought think of something to say to get more information about Anya. He remembered the rack of magazines. "CARS! That's what they like around here! Say something about cars, idiot!" he yelled at himself.

"Wow, I haven't seen one of those trucks in a long time. " he said matter of factly to the large man. "You got a lot of em around here?"

"That? Heck no." RJ answered as he turned down the aisle back to the butcher counter. "That was an old Chevy short bed pickup. Did you hear it roar as it started up? It still has the original V8 engine."

"Man, they don't make em like that anymore! It's still running, that's a beautiful thing." Xander said as he shook his head as if impressed. "I saw a Comet parked over to the side. Is that yours?"

"Yep, I inherited that from my Daddy. It was his pride in joy when he was in high school. He said that it turned all the girls heads back then." RJ said as he began to cut the barbeque ribs behind the counter.

Xander wandered over to the butcher counter, where he could watch RJ prepare the barbeque. Xander wanted to watch the man's reactions in case he became suspicious of Xander's interest in the truck. He crossed his arms and leaned on one side of the counter.

Looking away, he said with a sigh, "Yeah, my Dad felt the same way about his Chevy truck. I think it was the same as the one that just drove away. He drove it until it fell apart. It tore him up when he had to replace it with a van to fit all the kids." Xander looked up to see if the sad story affected the man on the other side of the counter. He decided to go ahead and pursue the matter. "Just seeing that one drive off brought back a lot of good memories. Hey, do you know if the young woman might be interested in selling it?"

"I don't know…" RJ responded. He looked over at Xander who was trying to present the most non-threatening appearance he could.

"Hey, Do me a favor. My name is Xander Harris. I am thinking of starting to restore cars as a hobby." It was with the next line that he decided to pull out sympathy card. " I would love to start with that truck and give it to my Dad. It would make him so happy, now that he is not doing so well. Give her my card. She can call me if she's interested." He placed the card on the counter and slid it over to RJ.

"Tell her I would like to make a very generous offer on the truck."

"Okay, I'll give her your card. My name is RJ by the way." The large man said picking up the card. "I won't make any guarantees that you'll hear from her."

"All I can do is hope. The ball's in her court now." Xander shrugged.

It seemed to Xander that he had played that pretty coolly. Hopefully, he had not raised any red flags with RJ and he would give the card to Anya. Xander thought if there was anything that Anya carried over from her past life, it would be her love of money.

"Oh I'll hear from her alright.", he thought.

…

A few days later, Xander's cellphone rang. He looked at the screen, he didn't recognize the number but it came up with a Texas area code. Hopefully, it was her! He took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Hello, Xander Harris here." He said with a forcefully male voice.

"Hello. Is this Alexander Harris?" a soft feminine voice answered back.

"Yes it is."

Hi, you don't know me; but my name is Annalee Sorrensen. You saw my truck at the Git Gas. RJ gave me your card. He said you were interested in buying it."

He knew that voice.

"Could please you hold on for a second?" he asked

"Sure."

"It was her! It had to be her! God, please let it be her! The fates couldn't be so mean, not after all this…He was going to be positive. IT WAS HER!" as the inner diaglogue rang in his head, Xander held the phone against his chest. He had to restrain his joy. He was talking to her and she was talking to him. They were talking! He want to leap up and dance around his office. Unfortunately, that wouldn't impress staff at the offices in San Angelo. He started to beat his hand on the desk in a rapid rhythm. After a couple of seconds, he was able to regain control of himself.

"Sorry about that. I had someone in my office." He came back confidently to the phone.

"Oh, Is this a bad time? I could call back?" She responded.

"No, no. Totally taken care of. I'm all yours." he said with a smile in his voice.

"Okaay..I was hoping that we could discuss your offer on the car." She began hesitantly.

He didn't just want to have a short discussion on the phone with her on this. He had to figure out some way to see her. Then, he thought of it.

"Yeah, I really liked that truck of yours. Of course, I would like to inspect it before I make an offer, if you don't mind?"

"Sure. It's only normal." She agreed.

"Well, just so you know that I am not a freak, why don't we pick a public place where we can meet and I can check out the truck?" he offered as a friendly suggestion.

"Good Xander, reinforce the good guy image. Don't frighten her off."

"Hmm.. Where are you now? she asked.

"I am in my company's offices in San Angelo." he responded, making sure he sounded trustworthy.

"That's less than an hour and half away. Would you mind driving down?" She asked. "You've already been to the Git Gas, so you know our restaurant choices are limited here in town; but we're having a pancake supper at the church Thursday night. Why don't you come on down then? We can meet up and you can take a look at the truck. You do like pancakes don't you?"

"I love pancakes!" Had any other food sounded so magical he thought.

"Okay, good. The supper starts at 6PM and will last to 8. Do you think you can be here by 6:30?"

"I'll move heaven and earth." He pronounced

"I don't think that's necessary." She laughed. "You know where the church is?"

"Oooh, There's a problem."

"There is?"

"When I was there before, I was lost. I don't know the name of the town."

"Oh, it's Delbrock."

"Okay. As I remember I only saw one church when I was there. Is that the one we're talking about?"

"It is."

"So, I see you on Thursday at 6:30 at the church. Okay?" Xander said, with his heart bursting.

"Wait, I don't know what you look like." She replied with a touch of worry in her voice.

"Don't worry. I'll find you."

…

Author's note: Spike shows up next chapter