Sea Of Grass (25 page)

Chuck’s mouth dropped. “You adore Claire?”

Jed slapped his back. “Of course she does. You don’t think Tess is just after sex.”

Tess felt the color flood to her face. She looked around for a hole to jump into.

“Of course I don’t,” Chuck said. “I’d never think that of Tess.” He looked back at Tess. “So now what? Does Claire adore you, too?”

“Guys,” Tess said.

“Of course she does!” Jed exclaimed. “What’s not to adore about my daughter?”

“Dad…” Tess tried again.

“I didn’t say there wasn’t. I’m just
askin
’ if Claire adores Tess, too,” Chuck said angrily.

Both men looked at Tess. “Well?”

“I don’t know,” Tess said slightly amazed and very petrified that Claire might not.

“Then you’d best find out,” Jed said.

Chuck agreed. “How?”

Tess shrugged and nervously played with the brushes and mumbled, “Jack says she likes daisies.”

“Daisies, huh?” Chuck scratched his chin. He then slapped Jed on the arm. “The north pasture by the fence up on the ridge.”

Tess frowned, trying to think of the spot. She didn’t remember
seeing any wildflowers up there. However, she really never looked.

Jed raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about daisies?”

Chuck turned bright red. “Remember that little brunette a few years back? We were up…”

Tess put her hands over her ears. “Oh, my God. I don’t want to hear this…” She hummed loudly and walked in a circle.

Jed laughed and fished the keys out of his pocket. “C’mon, we have daisies to pick.”

Tess gave him a disturbed look. Chuck grinned and grabbed the keys.

“Guys…” Tess tried to argue while they pulled her out of the stable.

Claire was still sick to her stomach. Tess had not come back from her talk with Jack, and Jack was not telling Claire what they talked about. When he came back, he grinned, kissed her cheek, and grabbed an apple.

Claire decided on a shower and a good book. It was only eight o’clock, but no one was in the house. She had no idea where Jed and Chuck had gotten to, and Jack was in the bunkhouse with Manny and the other men.

An hour later and freshly showered, Claire grabbed her book and had a taste for the cookies she had made earlier. “I’d better get one before Tess smells them.”

Claire walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks when she glanced at the kitchen table. In the center of the table was a beautiful vase, and in the vase were white daisies.

Claire smiled. “Jack, you son of a gun,” she whispered.

As if on cue, Jack walked into the kitchen. Claire put her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”

“For what?” he asked. “And please don’t go kissing me. What if the guys walk in?”

“Oh, shush. Thank you for the daisies.”

Jack looked at the table and shrugged. “I didn’t do it.”

Claire now was confused. “Then who did?”

“Beats me. Yum, cookies.” Jack walked over to the counter. “What kind?”

Still staring at the daisies, Claire slowly responded, “What? Oh, oatmeal raisin and wash your hands.”

Jack grumbled but obeyed. He grabbed a few cookies from the plate on the counter and walked out of the kitchen.

 
Blinking back the tears that flooded her eyes, Claire reached over and plucked one daisy from the vase. She didn’t even dare think who left them, but she sincerely hoped it was not Jed or Chuck. She walked outside and stood on the porch, twirling the flower. When she heard the screen door creak, she turned to see Tess standing there, a sheepish grin covering her face.

In an instant, Claire’s body temperature rose perceptively. She knew she was blushing and tried to hide it in the daisy she held.

“Hi.” Tess walked onto the porch and leaned against the railing, her hands deep in the pockets of her jeans.

“Hi,” Claire said. Her heart was pounding, and she only hoped Tess was on the verge of a mild heart attack, as well. “Did you do this?” She offered the daisy.

Tess grinned. “That depends on if they please you or not.”

Once again, tears leapt to her eyes. Claire only nodded; she didn’t trust her voice just then, and blubbering like a fool was not an option. When Tess didn’t answer, she knew she had to say something. “Yes, they please me very much.”

Tess let out an audible sigh of relief. “Then yes. It was me.”

Claire laughed nervously, reverently holding the flower. Tess closed the distance between them but looked out at the setting sun, her hands resting on the railing. Claire did the same but reached over and placed her hand on Tess’s; their fingers immediately intertwined.

Tess looked down at their hands. “Please tell me this is the way to your heart, Claire.”

When Claire heard the quiet plea in Tess’s voice, she couldn’t control the sob that seemed to come from her soul. “Yes,” she said, trying not to cry.

In the next instant, she was in Tess’s arms, crying into her shoulder as Tess stroked her hair. “How did you know?”

“I have my ways. I’m a college professor, remember?” Tess tightened her embrace.

Claire looked up and studied her face. “I never realized how blue your eyes are.”

Tess raised an eyebrow and leaned back. “I hope when you realize more, it won’t send you screaming into the night.”

Claire chuckled and pulled Tess back in her arms. “I doubt that, Miss Rawlins, but I’ll let you know.”

“I love the feel of you against me.” Tess placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

“I do too.” Claire sighed. She immediately thought of Jack and pulled back. “Tess, what about Jack? I need to—” When she felt Tess’s warm lips against hers, she melted. Her mind reeled and her body betrayed her as she fiercely clung to Tess and returned her kiss.

It was Tess who now pulled back. “Jack loves you very much and he’s very intelligent.”

“You’re finding that out, too, huh?” Claire took a step away from Tess. Suddenly, she felt the distance between them was needed right now.

As if sensing the same thing, Tess stepped back and leaned against the railing.

“There’s so much I need to tell you. I’m not sure what Jack said.” She stopped for a moment. “It’s been so long. I haven’t been very forthcoming with you. I wasn’t with Jack.”

“You were protecting him. It couldn’t have been easy for either of you.”

Claire looked into the darkness. “I was running from what I was. Coming from a wealthy Long Island family, being a lesbian was just not acceptable. So I tried not to think about it and deny it. As I’m sure many women have. I met a man who was from the same background as I was. I thought I loved him and everything would be fine, everyone would be happy.

“I got pregnant, and Lawrence did an about-face. He questioned whether he was the father.” She laughed and shook her head. “I suppose that was predictable. I realized then he would never be the man I thought he was or the father my baby needed. I decided I’d lived a lie long enough. It was time to realize who I was and what I was doing. I even went to my parents for help and foolishly told them the truth.”

“About the baby and you?” Tess asked.

“Yes. I knew if I was going to have this baby, I needed to be honest. That proved a disaster. They practically disowned me, told me to give the baby up for adoption.” She laughed again, this time with more than a trace of sarcasm. “They’re old money and very Catholic, and my father suggested an abortion. I was shocked, and that’s when I knew the only thing to do was to do this on my own. I had some money. I left college in my senior year and contacted a friend who lived in Portland and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“So you did this all on your own with no help from anyone but your friend.”

“Yes. It’s what thousands of women do every day, Tess, so don’t go thinking I’m someone special—”

“Too late.”

Claire looked at Tess and smiled. “Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome, now continue.”

“Well, I had Jack,” Claire said; she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “He was such a gift, and he changed my life. I knew there was more than my feeling sorry for myself. I had a son.”

“You made the effort with his father, and I use that term very loosely, and he took the low road and denied both of you. So you told him his father died before he was born, and he loved him very much.”

Claire looked down. “I see he told you everything.”

“Yes, because he loves you and he understand what you did and why. If I were in your place, I think I would have done the same thing.”

“I know you have a great deal going on with the ranch and your job at the university—”

“And the idea of turning said ranch into a working ranch and my great-grandparent’s house into a guesthouse.”

Claire’s head shot up then. “Really? That’s a wonderful idea.”

“I haven’t completely thought it out yet.” Tess scratched her head.

“It’s a wonderful idea. It’ll take time, but the ranch is already well known in Montana. It’ll generate more income.”

“It’ll take money to get things going, but I have a good savings, which I’ve already…”

Claire cocked her head and smiled. “You used your money for Claude, didn’t you?” She could see Tess’s embarrassment. “You did.”

“I transferred some to Dad’s account. I knew he wouldn’t find out. Anyway, I think this might work. There’s one thing. I-I need someone to help me and you know how hard it is to ask for help.”

Claire wasn’t sure what Tess was asking. It was so long for her; Claire didn’t trust her heart, but she knew she was falling in love with Tess. She needed to know. “What kind of help?”

“I need a partner, someone I can trust.”

“A financial partner?” Claire counted the number of planks in the porch.

“No, Claire. I need someone I can love. Someone who might love me, too. I thought maybe you and I could be partners.”

Claire grinned and put the daisy to her nose. “Are you saying you love me?”

Tess chuckled and folded her arms across her chest. “I drove out to the north pasture with Dad and Chuck, for
chrissakes
, and picked daisies for you. So, yeah, damn it, I’m saying I love you.” She looked at Claire from across the porch and whispered, “Do you love me?”

Claire slowly walked up to her. “You did find the way to my heart.”

“That must count for something.”

Claire hesitated, her mind racing, as well as her heart. She turned and walked to the opposite side of the porch.

“Claire, I know you have so much to think about. You have Jack, and as you said, it’s been so long for you. If you tell me to back off, I-I will—”

Claire heard the resignation in Tess’s voice, and all at once something inside broke. She whirled around and ran to Tess, who seemed stunned and took a step back.

“No,” Claire said frantically, trying not to cry. “I-I don’t want that. I don’t want to be like Billy Bigelow—”