Sea Of Grass (14 page)

“I do. You probably haven’t cried like that in a while.” Tess reached over and brushed the back of her fingers against Claire’s cheek, wiping away the tears. “It’s a good cry.”

Claire chuckled nervously. “I never have a tissue when I need one.”

“No one does,” Tess said with a grin.

“I...” Claire stopped and shook her head.

“What? Please tell me.” Tess was still standing so close to her, she got a hint of the subtle fragrance of Claire’s perfume.

Through teary eyes, Claire looked up at Tess, who cocked her head and smiled. “My God, you’re beautiful, Claire.”

Claire lowered her head. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice.

“I take it you haven’t been told that lately. What’s the matter with the men in Portland?” she asked playfully.

“I don’t care about the men in Portland or anywhere else for that matter,” Claire said; she looked anywhere but at Tess.

Tess grinned; she was pleasantly surprised, yet she was still unsure. “A bad marriage might do that for you, but not all men are bastards. You’re young. You can meet the right man. Look at my father, he’s a good guy, so is Chuck. Even Kyle Mathis, though he’s a kid and a flirt, he seems—”
 

Claire looked up then. “Are you being purposely obtuse?”

Tess blinked and closed her mouth. “No, ma’am. Just making sure.”

“S-sure of what?”

“That when I summon the courage to kiss you, I won’t get slapped.”

Claire laughed then, a genuine amused laugh that had Tess joining her. “I’m not a violent person.”

Tess put her hands on Claire’s shoulders. She looked down into her blue eyes. “I know that. I think you’re a compassionate woman and a good mother who needs to be told more often just how good and kind she is.”

“And are you taking on that role, Miss Rawlins?”

Tess pondered the question for a moment. Was she? Did she want to? Wasn’t there enough of her plate with the ranch, her father, and Steve’s death?

Claire raised an eyebrow. “You’re taking just a tad too long to answer.”

Tess laughed nervously and scratched the back of her neck. Claire reached up and placed her warm hand on her cheek. “You’re a sweet woman, Tess. With a great deal to contend with now. If you ever find that courage, rest assured I wouldn’t slap you. Now good night.”

“Good night, Claire. Oh, don’t forget we have the barbecue in a week for sixty people. It’s on Memorial Day, uh… ”

Claire’s smile faded quickly. “A week?”

Tess winced at the squeak in her voice; she backed away. “Um, yeah. Didn’t I tell you?”

“In passing, yes.” Claire closed her eyes in frustration.

Tess grinned and quickly leaned over, giving her a peck on the cheek. “
G’night
.” She pulled open the screen door and made her way to her bedroom.

Jed sat at the kitchen table watching Claire dash back and forth.

“Sixty people,” she mumbled as she made her list. Jed grinned as he drank his coffee and watched. “Tells me one week before and expects… Who does she think I am?” she complained and checked her supplies.

“Jack!” she called out the kitchen window. Jed jumped and spilled his coffee. “I’m sorry, Jed. Jack!”

Jack and Tess were practicing roping. Jack almost had it when he heard his mother bellow.

“Boy, she does not sound happy,” Tess said as she chewed on a piece of hay. She pulled in the rope. “You’d better run along.”

“Nice knowing ya,” he said, and Tess chuckled as she continued to rope the fence post.

Jack took off and headed for the kitchen. In a moment or two, he came running out.

“Mom wants you,” he said with a flushed face.

Tess’s back stiffened. “Me, why?” she asked nervously.

Jack shrugged. “She just said, ‘Tell the Duke I have sixty questions for her.’ I think she was being sarcastic.”
 

“Hmm, was she mad?”
 

“I have to go into the cellar and check on supplies. She’s all upset about something,” he said and scratched his head.

Tess had already mounted Stella. She pulled her black hat down over her brow and leaned down.

“You never saw me,” she said nervously and gave the stunned boy a wink. She pulled on the reins, gave the mare a quick kick of her heels, and took off down the dusty road.

“Jack!”

He winced and slowly walked back to the kitchen.

Tess was nowhere to be found when suppertime came. Claire was doing a slow burn as she slammed the steaks onto the ranch hand’s plates. Each man mumbled his thanks and ate in silence.

“Who wants dessert?” Claire asked angrily, and each man declined and made a quick exit.

Chuck lagged behind, drinking his coffee. Tess had told him what happened about the barbecue and offered him a day off to get her off the hook. The things I do for my job, he thought.

Actually, he had never seen Tess Rawlins so scared. She’d faced mountain lions, wolves, and a few drunken ranch hands in her younger days, and he’d never seen her flinch.

He watched and winced as the pans got some rough treatment. This woman was the object of Tess Rawlins’s only sign of weakness. Upon seeing this, it answered his questions about Tess’s interest in Claire Redmond. As another pot received a dent, he wondered about it.

When he was in the Army during Vietnam, he saw a few men who were homosexual. The Army did not treat them very well, and once it was in the open, they were given a dishonorable discharge or a Section 8. He didn’t think Tess was crazy, but he sure didn’t understand it, and he knew her father wasn’t thrilled with it, either, wanting an heir and all, but there you have it. Chuck Edwards saw a good deal of life and death far away from home in Vietnam. He had enough death.

Tess was a good devoted woman, but he also knew she couldn’t tell anyone back then. Hell, he thought, even now there is still unwillingness among folks. She’d have been run out of this part of the state thirty years ago. No wonder she wanted to stay in California. Well, if it meant anything, he may not understand, but he certainly wouldn’t judge. The
Rawlinses
had been like family to him and his father for nearly seventy years.

He took a deep breath. “I’d like some pie, if you don’t mind,” he said as he drank his coffee. He walked over to the stove, poured another cup, and opened the top cabinet. He took out a brown bottle and walked back to the table.

Claire angrily cut the pie and slapped it on a small plate, setting it in front of him without a word.

“Sit down for a minute, Mrs. Redmond,” he said. Claire was about to say something and he looked up. “Please.”

She grumbled for a second, then sat. He pushed the cup of coffee in front of her and pulled the cork on the brown bottle, pouring some in her cup. Claire raised an eyebrow as she watched.

“It’ll cure what ails ya,” he said seriously and poured much more into his own coffee. Claire raised the other wary eyebrow. “I have rheumatism.”

Claire laughed as she took a sip and cleared her throat. Chuck ate a bite of pie and nodded. “You’re a good cook, and Tess Rawlins is, well, Tess,” he added with a shrug. Claire narrowed her eyes as she drank her coffee.

“She sent you, didn’t she?”

Chuck laughed and nodded. “I’m gonna tell ya something. Quite a few years ago, we were out on the south pasture. It was just winter with a good amount of snow. A few cattle strayed, and when we got there, a couple had been killed, a wolf, we suspected. Tess Rawlins took a rifle, and she and I went looking for this wolf. You know what she did?” He leaned in.

Claire was enthralled. She drank more coffee and leaned in, as well. Chuck poured a little more into her coffee.

“What?” Claire asked with wide eyes. “You’re a very good storyteller.”

“Thank you. She faced that wolf head on, not flinching one bit. She stood there, just a few feet from this snarling animal, and in a flash, reached for the rifle and shot it right between the eyes as it lunged for us. I soiled myself,” he admitted and took a drink, pouring more than a drop in his coffee.

“No!” she gasped and took a drink.

Chuck nodded seriously. “Yep, that woman knows no fear. She gets it from her mother and grandma. Those women were tough as nails. I remember Lucy Rawlins. She was an older woman when I came on this ranch. She could shoot with any man. She’s the one who taught Tess how to handle a rifle.”

“She was a regular Annie Oakley, huh?” Claire asked with more than a trace of sarcasm. Chuck lowered his head and chuckled. “What’s your point?”

Chuck looked into her deep blue eyes. “She’s scared.”

Claire looked around the kitchen. “Of what?”

“You,” he said simply and took a very long drink of his coffee. He watched the blank look on Claire’s face as he retrieved the coffeepot and took it back to the table. He refilled the cups and sat down, glancing at the confused woman.

“See, Tess is well…” He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

“It’s okay, Chuck. She told me.”

“Told you what?”

“That she was gay.”

“Did she?” He sat back, contemplating this development. “And how do you feel about that?”

“Chuck, it doesn’t matter to me. I…”

“Yes?”

“Nothing. I don’t hold it against her, nor do I think badly of her.”

“What do you think of her?” He drank his coffee.

Claire sat back, looking somewhat stunned. “I think Tess is a fine woman who cares deeply about her love of teaching as much as her love of this land. She loves her father, misses her brother, and is trying to find a way to save the ranch.”

Chuck nodded his approval. “Very concise and accurate. She’s also worried that you’re angry, and she doesn’t know how to handle you.”

Claire snorted into her coffee, which tasted very good right now. “I am angry. She tells me five days before this big annual event that we’re hosting, by the way, and I’m supposed to jump through hoops…” She stopped short. She was getting angry all over again.

Chuck hid his grin. “Tess has been out of the loop for a long while. She’s not very good at the domestic end of the ranch. Her mother, then Maria took care of that. Tess is more suited for the, well, more toward the physical and business part. Getting her back into the saddle and handling the roping and herding has been hard enough. Now she’s also checking the stock, the bills that come in, ya know. Remember, she’s had a lot on her mind lately, especially with her dad. So
whattaya
say? Go easy?”

Claire wanted to stay angry with her. “Scared of me, huh?” she asked, and Chuck nodded.

“Between you and me? She was petrified, said she’d rather face that wolf than your temper,” he said and both laughed. “I believe her. You scared the hell out of the boys tonight!” he said through his laughter. Claire chuckled and agreed with a shameful grin as Chuck continued, “They didn’t even want dessert.”

They both howled with laughter.

Outside, Tess stood in the early evening twilight listening to the laughter coming from the kitchen.

“Boo,” Jed hissed in her ear.