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.

….

Chapter 8

Hearing the voice of the older man, Xander was suddenly jolted back to the present as he remembered where he was and who he had just pushed. His eyes widened as he saw Spike looking up at him with no recognition. Making a audible gulp sound, he looked around to see an older man, who had a distinct resemblance to Spike standing next to him, giving him a direct stare that promised that Xander would not like the outcome if he chose to pursue the matter further with Spike. Xander's mouth repeatedly opened and closed in distinct unease as he turned his head back to Spike who was getting back to his feet.

With a barely audible groan, Buffy, who had not moved from her location on the bench brought up her hand to shield the side of her face away from the melodrama that was occurring a few away. Looking for justification of his actions, Xander looked to check on the status of his old friend.

"Buffy? Are you…" Xander stammered, outstretching a hand toward the bench.

Xander was cut off by the furtive thrashing arm of Buffy to silence him, as she kept her head turned from the men. It appeared that Buffy did not want any further participation in this debacle. She had already had her fill on overblown emotional scenes for the day. Xander began to breathe a little faster as his face began to display the embarrassment that had been creeping up from his toes. As he let an ingratiating smile spread over his face as he looked from Spike to the older man who had not removed his hand. Letting out little puffs of air as he chuckled as he said in a slightly higher tone than he would have liked.

"Well, It appears that I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I apologize." Xander said affably. "I just saw my friend's tears and it made me a little over protective."

"Ta, think nothing of it." Spike said as he stood up, brushing off his jeans. "I would likely do the same thing."

"Wow! That's very Zen of you, Spike." Xander said without thinking.

Spike tilted his head and wrinkled his brow at the phrasing and looked mildly puzzled. Buffy pulled her hand away from her face in horror when she heard Xander use Spike's name.

"Yeah, Spike is a word that we use in California. You know, like Dude or Bro." she quickly interjected.

"Oh, you're from California, huh?" Spike said, sounding like he had just discovered the reason for the strange behavior of the pair.

Seeing the tension had dissipated, the older man roughly patted Xander on the shoulder before give him a small manly shove.

"Perfectly understandable, mate. It's good that this whole thing didn't get out of hand." The older man's clipped accent cut through the air. "Well, I see that the young lady's friend has arrived to fetch her. Son, I need your help in the back." The older man turned and walked away from the group.

In response, Xander turned his head to watch the formidable man leave and noticed a pretty young woman with long strawberry blonde hair hovering in the background behind the older man. She seemed to be very invested in the proceedings going on, as she was craning her neck to hear everything. The man took a few steps back and walked around to the front of the store, grabbing the elbow of the curious girl with the strawberry blonde hair. Although she did accompany the older man, but kept her head turned to catch what happened next.

Letting out a slow breath, Spike looked bashfully at the floor and then over at Buffy and Xander. He looked very uncomfortable at Xander's presence. Taking a brief look at Xander, Spike took a step toward Buffy.

"Since your friend is here, I'll leave the two of you alone." Spike said, with a a slightly resigned tone.

Buffy nodded miserably as she didn't want to let Spike out of her sight, but she really wanted this current situation to end. She was tired of smelling like oranges and motor oil. She knew her current behavior would only make Spike think that she had missed the last drug distribution at the county home. Spike reluctantly began take a few steps toward the room behind the counter, then began to walk at a quickened pace till he was out of the room and Xander and Buffy were alone.

"Are you okay?" Xander asked as he turned after watching Spike leave the room.

"Oh Xander! Just get me out of here please. I wasn't expecting..you know. I just can't get myself together." Buffy said miserably, then leaning forward she whispered. "They think I'm a lunatic."

With his arm wrapped around Buffy, Xander guided her outside to his car. They sat there for a while, while Buffy explained about her car and the events at the Feed store. Reaching behind the seat, Xander dug in the back and passed her a beer from cooler. Buffy looked gratefully at her old friend as she took it from his hand. After drinking one full beer almost immediately, Buffy told him to drop her off at the nearest hotel while she was in the midst of her second. Xander explained that there weren't any hotels in such a small town. As they drove away from the Feed store, he told her about Anya and the weekend plans. He informed her in no uncertain terms that she was coming with him. In an effort to persuade her, he indicated that Spike was likely going to attend as they stopped at her car. Buffy hurriedly got her small suitcase from the trunk and hopped back in Xander's car.

As they drove into Junction, they decided to stop off to get some more provisions and so Buffy could purchase some attire more appropriate to the occasion. After making a few choice purchases of the area's offering as high couture, Buffy and Xander drove into the campgrounds shaded by live oaks that was set back off a little road near the Llano river. After checking in with the Murchisons, Xander was brandishing a key as he came trotting back to the car. They drove up a dirt road through the river bottoms and up a small hill to where the cabins were located. The cabin which had a great view of the river and the campsites below was a small two bedroom house with a large picture window. It was a simple structure that had been built around the second world war which had a large covered front porch to watch sunsets. The inside was covered with wood paneling that had turned orange with age which had base furnishings which appeared to be from the same era. The clean but worn and scratched linoleum ran throughout the house. To her exhausted and red eyes, Buffy had never seen anything more beautiful as she fell through the door.

Once inside the cabin, Buffy chose a bedroom and entombed herself in the bathroom for well over an hour. When she finally emerged, she was wearing a sky blue tank top with a short breezy patterned skirt and a pair of simple ballet style flats. She held a comb in her hand as she was still combing out her wet hair as she looked to see that she was currently alone in the cabin. She felt a million times more better now that she had shed that aroma of oil and oranges off her person. Walking past the kitchen table where Xander had spread open bags of potato chips and the powdered donuts, she grabbed a donut as she picked up her phone from her purse. Returning, she flung herself into the worn vinyl breakfast chair by the table as she began to dial the rental company about her car.

Xander walked into the cabin as Buffy had hung up the phone. He had been down at the river bottoms helping the folk from Delbrock set up their campsites. While she was in the shower, he had been watching the group from Delbrock arrive at the campsites on the river bottom from the cabin's window, as they set up their campsites with campers and tents. His eyes brightened when a certain pickup pulling an older fold out camper drove up. Xander watched Anya and Clay get out of the pickup and unhitched the camper under some trees and decided to see if they needed any assistance. By the time, he had returned to the cabin, he had the lowdown on the evening's activities.

"Hey, I see you're out! You look a lot better. " Xander said as he laid eyes on Buffy. "I thought I may have to get the jaws of life to get you out of there if you stayed in any longer.

"Ha, ha." Buffy said, giving Xander a look about the poor joke. "So, where were you?"

"Oh, I just went down to see if I could help anyone set up their camp." Xander said nonchalantly as he picked up a chip and popped it into his mouth.

"Really - anyone? When did you start doing such good works?" Buffy asked as she cocked her head

"Yeah, I saw Anya and her brother drive up, so I went to see if they could use any help." Xander said proudly. "I also found out what the plan is for this evening."

"Wow, Anya has a brother. That's going to take some getting use to." Buffy said shaking her head, then looked up expectantly. "So, what d'ya find out?"

"It seems that everyone was going to go to a small bar where some of the boys from Delbrock were playing in the band tonight." He said and winked at Buffy. Then in his best good old boy accent, he added "I guess we're going honky- tonkying tonight, dearheart!"

…

It was a tiny storefront that had been turned into a bar. It was a narrow rectangular room with a long saloon bar on one side and a small stage for the band on the far end. There was a small dance floor just in front of the stage which was filled with dancing couples. The bar itself was lit with strategically placed spotlights, so there was an air of intimacy in the dark areas and drama in the brightly lit. It was a pretty popular Friday night, so the bar was jumping. As Buffy and Xander came through the door, they were struck by the Texas swing that seemed to roll over the occupants like surging waves. As they made their way over to an empty table, Xander and Buffy ran into the strawberry blonde who had been at the English Feed store.

"Hi! I see you're looking better." The pretty young woman said brightly. "I'm Ruby English, by the way. I saw you both at the store today."

"Hi. Thanks. I feel a million times better." Buffy answered, a little overwhelmed by the Ruby's exuberance. "My name is Buffy Summers. This is my friend, Xander Harris."

"Xander…I remember that name. You won the cabin at the Church supper." Ruby said, then with a devilish grin, she added. "So, how did you get so lucky?"

"Me? Lucky?" Xander answered a little bashfully. "I don't think that term is usually associated with me."

"Maybe, I can change that." Ruby added with a wisdom beyond her years.

Xander's eyes widened, since it had been a long time since any woman, especially one as pretty as Ruby had made advances toward him. He stood there in a frozen state of shock before he could remember how to talk. Buffy's mouth clamped down into a tense smile to hide her amusement, as she watched Xander's reaction to Ruby. In effort to diffuse Xander's embarrassment, Buffy sent Xander to get some beers. Turning around, she smiled at Ruby as she wanted a little time to feel out what the family's reaction had been to her little tragic comedy production from that afternoon.

"So, you're part of the family that owns the Feed store. Anybody else here?" Buffy said in her most artfully contrived casual voice. Praying that she didn't betray her anxiousness to see Spike again.

"Oh, yeah. I'm the youngest of the lot." Ruby said as she pointed to the stage. "The rest of my sibs are up on the stage playing. See em up there? Up front, of course is Russell, he sings and is on lead guitar. Beside him is my older sister, Maureen. She also sings and plays the fiddle. If you look hard, Bill is hanging out in the back playing the bass with RJ who is on the drums."

Just as Xander returned with the beers, the band decided to take a break. Buffy watched Spike descend off the stage and disappear into the crowd. With her beer in her hand, she tilted her head slowly as her eyes canvassed the barroom, looking for any sign of Spike to appear. She took a moment from her search to take a sip of beer.

"Well, I think I want to check to see if Clay and Anya made it." Xander said, anxious to locate Anya. "You two be okay while I go check?"

"Sure. Go, we'll be fine." Buffy said, waving him away.

A moment later after Xander left, the waves of people parted, and Buffy spied Spike leaning against the bar. Before she could come up with sane sounding reason to go see him, Ruby grabbed her arm.

"Hey! There's Bill. Let's go see him!" Ruby said as she began to drag Buffy through the bar's crowd.

As the two made their way through the mass of people, a sexy dark haired beauty who resembled Eva Mendes sidled up to Spike. You could see from her body language that she was very interested in Spike. She tossed her luscious locks and looked over at him with a come hither expression. Spike seemed disinterested, but politely responded to the woman's conversation as he sipped his beer. Buffy's eyes narrowed as she concentrated on the seductive glances the woman was giving Spike. She knew instantly that she and this woman would never be 'besties'.

"Oh Sweet Jesus! Serena's here. She thinks' Bill is her own personal property." Ruby stated with annoyance. "That's Serena Reinhammer. Her daddy owns all the Reinhammer dealerships in the hill country. What a nutter. Let's go rescue him!"

As they approached the pair at the bar, Ruby leaned forward and laid her hand on Spike's shoulder.

"Hey, Big Bro! You sounded pretty good up there. Look who I brought you!" Ruby announced as she stood back to watch the interplay between Spike and Buffy. She also cast a few side long looks to watch the disgruntled expression on Serena's face to her amusement.

"Hey, lit'l treasure." Spike said as he turned around. His eyes brightened when he saw Buffy standing there. "Hi. It's good to see you again."

"Yeah. I wanted to come over and thank you again. You were really sweet and I appreciate it." Buffy said shyly. She smiled warmly as she looked into those blue eyes.

"Tell you what. You can thank me with a dance." Spike said as he held out his hand to her.

Suddenly blushing, Buffy looked down as she put her hand in his upraised one. A tingle went up her spine as she felt Spike's fingers close around her hand.