Blue Love (3 page)

Tessa put her shoes on and went for a walk to her favorite thinking place. She walked behind the barn then ran down the dirt road as fast as she could to reach the edge of the woods. She started down the trail and began to cry.
Hypocrites she thought, one love, one marriage, and family first
. She had tried her whole life to live up to their expectations and now this. “What the fuck!” she screamed, and it felt good.

She walked down and sat next to the water; she threw stones and watched the water crash down over the rocks.
Ironic, she thought
. She could see the sun starting to set behind the towering pine trees and decided to head back up the trail towards home. She realized her legs were sore and slowed down a bit.

When she reached the edge of the woods she saw her sister Molly with her boyfriend Cory making out.
Damn it this is embarrassing, she thought
. She cleared her throat loudly as she walked out of the woods.

“You okay Tessa?” Cory asked.

She shook her head yes and started to jog home.

~

Molly and Cory had dated for three years; he was in his second year of college. He kissed her head and told her everything would be alright, she kissed him deeply, his kiss was intoxicating and took her mind off of what was going on around her. Her mother had told her that morning and she called him, he drove four hours home. She would be going to a college an hour away from him next fall, after finishing her two year degree at a local community college.

“Molly we should walk up to the house, I need people around, and you’re driving me crazy,” She kissed him again and placed her hand on his knee and began moving it up his leg, he was holding his breath and finally let it out, “Molly damn it, stop.” He said. She began to cry, “Hey, hey, don’t cry, I just don’t want it to be like this, and you would hate me,” he said hugging her.

“
I hate you right now,” she said pulling away from him, “Now I am embarrassed.”

“
Don’t be,” he said taking her hand, he pulled her up and hugged her, “I love you, and I want to, just not under these circumstances.” They walked back to the house arm in arm.

~

Tessa walked in the house and grabbed her phone. Three missed calls from Jade and two text messages. She ignored them all and started the shower, her third today. She got out, wrapped a towel around her head, grabbed her robe, and ran upstairs to the girls room. She threw on a tee shirt and pajama shorts and walked downstairs. Kendall sat on the couch with Jake and her Dad was on the phone. She put her butt between Jake and Kendall and scooted it back and forth like a broom sweeping stairs, so that she could sit with them. They both had red eyes and snuggled into her as she hugged and kissed them. “So crazy cousin Jade has called three times, I think she thinks we are really upset. We should take a picture of us making super silly faces and send it to her so she doesn’t worry,” Tessa said and they smiled and took about twenty crazy-faced pictures and sent them all to Jade. She finally texted,

-Glad to see your all still nuts, see you in the morning…Jade

“Can we sleep in your bed Tessa?” Kendall asked.

“
Well that may be a little tight but maybe we could all get our sleeping bags and sleep on the deck,” she said.

“
Could we really Tessa on a school night, won’t Dad be mad?” she asked.

“
Look at him. He won’t even notice,” she said. The kids could sense her sadness by the sound of her voice. “But that’s why this is going to be so cool,” she laughed tickling them.

~

Jade knew that Tessa must be hurting, but she kept herself very busy taking care of the kids. She would be crushed if they were hurting. She couldn’t help herself. When they were kids and the cows on the farm gave birth she was always there. One time the uterus came out, the farm help said the cow had cast its withers, and Tessa stayed with the cow for three hours keeping her uterus wet and covered until the vet came. It was three in the morning, and she continued talking about it for a year. Tessa was all heart.

Jade received a text message, it was from Tommy,

-hey pretty girl, I was just thinking about u, T

-what were you thinking? J

-about how much fun I had with you, you are a lot of fun to be around, T

-yes, yes I am
:)…J

- I would like to take you out this weekend…unless you have a boyfriend… T

-I don’t know I am a pretty busy girl…no boyfriend…u have a girlfriend…J

-not yet…working on it…T

-well if she will be upset by you taking me out, I don’t think you should take that chance…J

-
Oh Jade I am ready to take that chance…T

-I will check my schedule, time for bed, very tired…J

- Sweet dreams pretty girl…T

-they will be now…J

Wow, she thought, he is so perfect, cute, funny, athletic, and into hot chicks
, she laughed as she smiled the biggest cheesiest smile. She fell backwards and kicked her feet in the air,
he’s working on it.
It’s going to be a great year, she rolled over and turned out her light, hugged her pillow and fell asleep smiling sweetly.

~

Tessa’s phone chimed.

-Tessa Ross, do you know how gorgeous you are? I don
’t think you do. I want to get to know you much better. If I am wasting my time let me know…Lucas Links.

She stared at the phone and shook her head and threw the phone on the table. She tossed and turned and grabbed her phone and read it again.
Seriously, he was pushy she thought, but he was very cute even without the white hat.
I can’t do this now. He made me hide, what the hell am I even considering this for? Well at least it takes my mind off this train wreck.
She fell asleep.

Tessa woke up remembering her dream. He was smiling at her in her dream, and he kissed her. She kissed him back and she had a ring on her finger.
What was that about she wondered
as she walked in the bathroom to get ready for school.

Chapter
2

Jade woke and jumped in the shower; she got out and dried her hair. She ran down to her room and tried to find something to wear. She finally settled on a denim shorts romper and a short black cardigan, she grabbed black cowgirl boots and stepped into them. She looked in the mirror and knew she looked good.

Her father yelled for her to wake up as she skipped into the kitchen and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Good Morning Daddy,” she said smiling.

“
You’re awfully chipper this morning,” Jack said.

“
Excited about school Daddy, I think it’s gonna be a great year,” Jade smiled.

“
You have a lot of classes with Tessa this year?” he asked.

“
I do, and field hockey,” Jade said, “How is Uncle John?”

“
He is hurting but it’s a very busy time of year for him. I will be there a lot so I am hoping you can meet me there after practice for a couple weeks,” he said.

“
Sure, I would love that,” Jade beamed.

The horn honked. It was Alex. She grabbed a banana, kissed her Dad, and ran out the door.

Jade arrived at school early and walked in with her cousins. Tommy was standing at the door waiting for her, “Good morning,” he said. She blushed and waved running up the stairs.

He looked at Alex and smiled,
“Your cousin is very cool,” he said sincerely.

He could see Alex was angry,
“You better back off man.”

“
Sorry, I have no bad intentions, I just think she is a cool girl,” Tommy said as he walked away.

~

Tessa walked in and saw Jade all smiles. Sassy Jade was now goofy smiley Jade. It looked good on her.

Jade reached in her Vera and grabbed her phone, a new message from Tommy. She giggled as she read it.

-uh oh, the cousin is not happy pretty girl…T

-what did you do?!?!?! J

-nothing…just that I thought u were cool…T

-Well he should know that already, lol…J

The bell rang; and the day was to begin.

Throughout the day Tommy and Jade texted back and forth, while Tessa continued to ignore Luke
’s texts.

Alex was sitting at lunch with his friends Jeff and Mike.
“How are you guys doing?” Mike asked.

“
Fine, just busy,” Alex said. “After practice we need to get the hay in the barn because not much got done yesterday, ya know.”

“
We can help,” Jeff said smiling.

Alex looked relieved and replied coolly,
“That would be great.”

~

Tessa, Jade, Becca, and Phoebe sat at lunch and read the texts that Jade had received. She was freakishly happy. Tommy walked in and bent over Jade’s shoulder and grabbed a carrot off her tray. “Hey pretty girl,” he said as he shoved the carrot in his mouth and winked at her. Luke sat next to Tessa and Tommy next to Jade.
Holy awkward, Jade thought
.

Luke smiled and whispered,
“Your phone broke Tessa?”

“
Nope, just been busy,” she said avoiding eye contact.

The blonde
, Sadi, and the cheerleaders walked in and upon seeing them sitting there with the boys, they walked by glaring at Tessa and Becca who simply looked down. “What’s going on guys, sitting at the kiddy table now?” Sadi hissed.

“
Hey girls, this is Jade,” Tommy smiled.

“
Seriously,” Sadi said as she glared at her and walked away.

“
Nice meeting you, um ladies,” Phoebe yelled after them. They all laughed.

“
So Jade, what do I have to do to win your cousin over?” Tommy asked in a loud whisper.

“
Good luck,” Jade said.

“
No one will be worthy of Jade. She is the princess,” Tessa spoke.

“
And how about you Tessa, how does one win you over?” Luke asked.

Becca and Phoebe gasped; they didn
’t know anything about this potential budding relationship. The bell rang moving Tessa to stand and glare at Luke, who laughed. He and Tommy sat and finished their lunch. Luke turned to see Sadi looking at him. He glared at her and walked out.

~

The girls were walking out to practice and the boys stood there. Tommy was smiling at Jade, and she smiled back raising her eyebrows. Practice was going to be a long one today, including first the dreaded stairs and then running back to do skill sets. Fortunately, they practiced in the field next to the football players. The boys practice ended. Tommy overheard Alex talking to some team mates about the hay they were going to do and offered him help.

“
No fu..” Ryan started, but stopped himself.

“
Sure man, we could get it done much faster with extra help,” Alex aid smiling.

Luke and Tommy said they would be right up. Alex laughed,
“Those two won’t last five minutes.”

~

They all piled into the truck and moved hay wagons around. Three cars pulled in. Alex watched as half the team piled out of the vehicles. Tommy and Luke walked up in jeans and t-shirts. There were eight wagons to unload into the main barn.

Tessa and Jade walked up the hill from town. It was a very hot late summer day, and as they got closer they saw the vehicles in the driveway. Her Dad met them at the door,
“Hey girls you want to go get some jugs of water and cups? Alex brought some hay help. We may have to feed them. There’s a lot of hay,” he smiled and walked away.

“
Wow there’s a lot of vehicles here. No way, Tessa is that Luke’s car?” Jade asked.

“
I do believe so,” she said shaking her head.

Kendal
l and Jake ran out and hugged their sister. She grabbed them and kissed them asking, “How was school?” They told her about their day as she walked in to get the water jugs together. They pulled out hamburgers and hot dogs to grill later.

“
Kendall and Jake will you guys go out back and grab a couple dozen ears of corn?” Tessa asked. They ran carrying a large basket between them.

“
What’s going on out there?” Molly asked as she walked out of the family room taking a break from her homework.

“
We have to feed and water the dogs,” Tessa said rolling her eyes.

The first load was done and Alex, Frankie, Ryan, Tommy, and Luke slid down the hay elevator.
Jade and Tessa carried out the big green water jug. The boys were all dripping with sweat. Tommy poured a cup of water over his head and shook his hair. Jade smiled wildly at Tessa, as he took his shirt off and drank down a large glass of water.
He was beautiful, Jade thought
. Great definition in his chest and his abs rippled. He had a little bit of hair going down his belly. She bit her lip and smiled at him, while he laughed and smiled back.
He was perfect with his brown hair and green eyes standing about six feet and just smoking hot
, Jade thought.