Sea Of Grass by Kate Sweeney Page B

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