Broken Promises (14 page)

As Tess ate, Gratianne pulled up a chair and sat adjacent to her, and said, "While you were taking your bath, Pio had something to drink, and he asked where you were."

Tess stared at Gratianne. "He knew I'd been here?"

"He seemed to," Gratianne said.

Tess mulled that over. Pio gave no indication that he'd thought anyone but his mother had been with him. The idea that he knew who it was, and was pleased about it, was surprising. "Do you think he'll be ready to return to school on Tuesday?" she asked.

"Probably," Gratianne said, "but we think it's best that he stay here with us through the week end since Zak has more nests to climb..."

"I'll take over from here," Zak said from the doorway.

Gratianne looked up at Zak, and said, with concern, "Just see that Tess finishes everything on that tray."

Zak winked at Tess, then said to his mother, "I think I can take care of this woman."

Gratianne smiled at Zak, and said, "Yes, son, I believe you can."

After Gratianne left the room, and while Tess was finishing her soup, Tess looked over at Zak and saw him staring at Pio. He seemed in deep thought. "You're very quiet," she said.
 
"What are you thinking about?"

"You, me--" he looked at Pio "--us. Will you sit here with me for a while?"

"If you want." When Tess started to pull her chair over to where Zak sat, Zak patted his knees and said, "Not in the chair, here."

Tess looked at him for a moment, then went over and sat on his lap and leaned against him. He reached around her and took her hands and turned them palms up, and said, while looking at the gauze wrapped around them. "Thank you for saving Pio. I couldn't have done it without you." He kissed the dressings on each ointment-covered palm, then placed her hands against her tummy and covered them with his.

Tess rested back and her head settled in the curve between Zak's shoulder and his head. "I guess you should thank my father for that," she said. "He's the one who taught me how to climb." She kissed Zak on the jaw, then rested her head against his shoulder again and closed her eyes.

"You tired?" Zak asked.

She nodded.

Zak said something about his mother liking her, and she started to tell him that maybe his mother did, but she didn't think his father ever would, but her eyelids felt heavy, and Zak's voice began to drift away, so she snuggled against him and said nothing...

Some time later, Tess thought she heard a voice... her name? "Tess?" her name came again. She opened her eyes and found Pio looking at her. "Tess?" he said. "
Ez
utzi
."

"He says,
'don't leave me
.'" The words were from Zak, but his voice seemed distant.

Tess closed her eyes again, not certain if she was dreaming, and not caring.

All she felt now was a need to rest...

CHAPTER TEN

Tess opened her eyes to a rapping on the door. She looked around and found the unfamiliar room cloaked in an eerie gray light, the sheer curtains drawn against an overcast sky. She was still wearing the robe with nothing under it, and she lay curled on her side on top of the bed, with a puffy quilt covering her. The last thing she remembered was seeing Pio and hearing Zak's voice. Or was it a dream? She had no idea how, or when, she'd gotten to this room.

The rapping came again. She looked toward the door as a voice called from behind, "Tess? It's Gratianne. May I come in?"

Tess pulled herself up to a sitting position against the pillow. "Oh, sure," she said, wishing her hair wasn't in such disarray.

Gratianne walked in and set a stack of clothes on the foot of the bed, and said, "Your clothes have all been washed."

"Thank you," Tess replied.

"You had a very long night," Gratianne said.

Tess raked her fingers through her hair. "Does it show?"

"Only on Zak's worried face. He's concerned about you."

"Where is he?"

"In Pio's room with Pio and a doctor from
Navarre
." Gratianne sat on the edge of the bed. "Zak insisted on Pio seeing the doctor, but I think Pio would rather see you."

Tess looked at Gratianne with a start. "Me?"

"Does that surprise you?" Gratianne asked.

"Yes, very much," Tess said. "He's not his father's son when it comes to me, I'm afraid. I guess Zak told you."

Gratianne nodded. "Zak said there had been problems, but what I saw last night didn't give that impression. I saw a woman reach out, and a little boy accept and return her love. You've filled a void for Pio."

"If I have," Tess said, "I'm glad."

"Well, you have," Gratianne reaffirmed. "Now, Jean-Pierre wants to see you. Do you mind?"

Tess looked toward the door. "No, I suppose not." She gathered the robe tighter around herself and prepared to face Zak's father.

Gratianne went to the door and poked her head out. "Jean-Pierre," she called.

Jean-Pierre entered the room, his face stoic, and when he spoke, Tess felt tension crackle in the air. "Miss O'Reilly," he said, "I want to thank you for rescuing my grandson."

Tess looked directly at him. "I only did what anyone else would have done."

"No," he said, "I can't accept that. You did what only someone who cared would do."

"Zak's son is very special," she said, "and I care about Zak."

"I can see that now," Jean-Pierre said. He moved to gaze out the window, and with his back to her, continued, by saying, "I can also see that Zak cares a great deal about you." He turned halfway around then. "But you must understand that my son and grandson are Basque."

"Your son and grandson are American, Mr. de Neuville," Tess stated.

Jean-Pierre's eyes narrowed as he faced her. "But in their veins is Basque blood, and if Basque blood continues to be mixed, our ancient culture will die."

Gratianne looked at her husband, and said, in a firm voice, "Jean-Pierre, it's inevitable that all civilizations be assimilated."
 

Jean-Pierre eyed his wife with impatience, "And when the Basque are assimilated, the most ancient of European languages will be forgotten."

Gratianne eyed her husband with impatience. "We can preserve what we can, Jean-Pierre, but we can't force the next generation to follow."

"But we don't have to accept what they're doing either," Jean-Pierre said. "The only reason the Basque have survived is because they've ignored their invaders." His eyes rested on Tess.

Zak appeared in the doorway. "It's also the reason why they've learned so little. It was you, Father, who said that the best sheepdogs we have, the quickest to learn, are Alta and
Reb
, both crossbreeds. Cultures also learn from their invaders." He bent over and kissed Tess squarely on the lips, and said, "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

Tess smiled up at him. "Like I wouldn't care to take a hike in the rain. How's Pio doing?"

"See for yourself," Zak said. "Pio!"

Pio appeared in the doorway but said nothing. He moved to Zak's side and stared at Tess much as he had the first day she saw him, but his eyes no longer held the resentment she'd seen before. She extended her hand. Pio looked up at Zak and when Zak nudged him, he scurried over to the bed and took Tess's hand. "Come on up," she said, patting the bed.

Pio smiled and crawled up beside her. She wrapped her arm around him and pulled him to her, and said, "You gave us quite a scare, young man."
 

Pio looked up at her and patted her cheek. "
Zuk
laminak
," he said, his voice teasing.

"Oh, no. I'm not going to be one of your little people who cleans the house," Tess replied, remembering the Basque story Zak told her about the
laminaks
--the little people who live in caves in the mountains and come into the house during the night, when the family is sleeping, to polish the copper and brass and sweep the floors.

Zak laughed. "He doesn't want you to come clean the house," he said, "he wants you to be his own
laminak
. A regular chip off the old block. It seems he has a crush on you."

Tess looked at Pio's smiling face and saw flickers of mischief in his bright eyes. "Then maybe I'll just wait for him to grow up instead," she said, rumpling Pio's hair.

"Oh no you won't," Zak replied. "I've waited long enough already."

Without speaking, Jean-Pierre left the room. Tess glanced toward the hallway. "Whatever it is you're waiting for," she said, "it won't be with your father's blessing."

"We'll see. Meanwhile, he's waiting to give Pio a chess lesson, and I'm hungry, so get dressed and I'll meet you in the kitchen for breakfast." He motioned for Pio and they left Tess alone with Gratianne.

Tess slipped from under the quilt and started to fold it. Gratianne reached for one corner and as they lapped the quilt over, Gratianne said, "It was much different for me. When I married Jean-Pierre I was only sixteen, and it was our parents' choice, but I've never regretted it. We lived here with Jean-Pierre's mother and father, knowing the place would one day be ours. And someday it will belong to Zak and his family. The ranch was just in sheep at the time, and Zak's grandfather was still alive, but he'd already turned the ranch over to Jean-Pierre's father, who was first born son. Jean-Pierre and his brothers grew up here, but when it was time, the place was turned over to Jean-Pierre, and Jean-Pierre's brothers moved on."

"What about Vince?" Tess asked. "Don't you think he might eventually want to live here?"

"It's not his choice," Gratianne replied. "Zak has birthright."

Tess eyed her with impatience. "So I heard. If he marries a Basque woman."

Gratianne looked at her. "Times are changing for us," she said, with resolve. "Even Jean-Pierre has to face the inevitable. He likes you. He just needs time."

"And how do you feel?" Tess asked, pointedly.

"Zak's my son," Gratianne said. "What I want most for him is his happiness. If the two of you decide to spend your lives together now, what can I say but--" she raised her eyes to meet Tess's "--welcome to our family. I also know my husband. He'd eventually welcome you too."

Tess realized Jean-Pierre de Neuville's acceptance of her could still be a long way off. "Zak and I aren't discussing marriage," she said, draping the quilt across the foot of the bed. "There are too many obstacles."

Gratianne looked across the bed. "Obstacles between the two of you?" she asked.

"Not between us," Tess replied. "More like surrounding us. Fathers, logging camps, property line disputes. I've often felt that Zak and I are just not meant to have a life of our own."

Gratianne sat on the bed and patted it for Tess to sit beside her. When Tess did, Gratianne said, "I want to tell you something I've never told anyone."

"Please, don't tell me anything you might regret," Tess said. "I don't want to be entrusted with a secret I'm expected to keep from Zak."

"It's not a secret," Gratianne said, "just something I thought you should know. When I was fifteen my father told me I would be marrying Jean-Pierre de Neuville as soon as I turned sixteen. I was horrified. At the time I was in love with a boy who lived down the road from us. We'd even planned to marry some day. But suddenly that choice was taken away. I felt like I had no control of my own destiny, even thought about running away."

"How old was Mr. de Neuville then?" Tess asked.

Gratianne held her gaze. "Twenty-one."

"He must have seemed very old to you then," Tess commented, remembering how she'd thought Zak very mature and very much a man at twenty-one.

"He did seem old," Gratianne replied, "especially when the boy I was seeing was only sixteen."

"But you married Mr. de Neuville anyway."

Gratianne nodded. "It was what my family expected."

"What would the families have done if Mr. de Neuville had chosen to marry a woman who wasn't Basque?" Tess asked.

"They probably would have sent him away like Jean-Pierre sent Zak away," Gratianne replied. "But fortunately Jean-Pierre didn't object to marrying me."

Tess looked at Gratianne, baffled. "I thought you didn't want to marry him."

"I didn't at the time my father announced who I'd be marrying," Gratianne said. "But when I saw Jean-Pierre, well... things changed."

"How long did it take you to fall in love with him?" Tess asked,

Gratianne's eyes brightened. "About two minutes. Although he was an
older
--" she held up fingers in quotes "--man, he was also very handsome, like Zak. Because he'd been in
France
learning to be a vintner, I'd never met him. But from the first time I set eyes on him, I couldn't get him out of my mind. And after we'd married, as our relationship began to grow and he returned my love, I began to wonder... what if Jean-Pierre had been the one I loved before and I was forced to give him up for someone else?"

Tess looked at her intently, and said, "What would you have done then?"

Gratianne eyes flashed. "I would have run away with Jean-Pierre if that's the only way I could have had him. Fortunately, I didn't have to make that choice, and no one ever tried to separate us." She paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you love Zak?"

Tess looked at Gratianne with a start. Feeling the agitated beating of her heart, she replied. "I've loved Zak since I was fourteen."

"Then don't let a couple of mulish, dogmatic old men come between you," Gratianne said. "Now, get dressed and come join Zak in the kitchen for breakfast."

Twenty minutes later, when Tess entered the kitchen, Zak got up from his place at the table and went over and kissed her. "You look like my mother did after talking to you, both with smiles like the Cheshire cat."

"Girl talk," Tess said. "Where's Pio?"

"Setting up the chess board." Zak pulled the chair out for her to sit down. "Father takes his chess seriously, even beat the Hungarian grand master in an exhibition tournament several years ago. He hopes Pio will one day offer him a challenge."

Tess glanced up at Zak, and said, "It seems our father's have at least one thing in common, though I'd hate to be present if they ever decided to play a game of chess."

Zak laughed. "I doubt if we'll ever have to worry about that."

Gratianne slid wedges of spicy omelet onto two dishes and set them in front of Tess and Zak, then she placed a platter French bread slices on the table. "I ate earlier with Jean-Pierre," she said. "If you two will excuse me, I have to feed my baby." She lifted a bottle of milk, with a large rubber nipple on it, from a pot of warm water on the stove, and disappeared into the shadows of the hallway.

"You've made a hit with my mother," Zak said. "That's half the battle."

"Only half?" Tess replied. "I was hoping you'd be on my side too."

"Honey, I've been on your side since the day I went to work for your father," Zak said. "I've loved you from that moment, and nothing has changed."

"Then that's two-thirds on my side." She thought about that some more, and said, "actually I think you were right before. Your father pretty much offsets you and your mother. He made his position very clear to me about what he expects of you, and it isn't for you to marry the daughter of Gib O'Reilly, unless, of course, Gib O'Reilly happened to be Basque."

Zak reached across the table and took her hand, and said, "My father will not be selecting my next wife. That's a promise I can keep."

Tess looked down at their clasped hands, then at him, and replied, "But if she's not Basque, he won't accept her either."

"If that's the way it is, then so be it." He gave her hand a squeeze, then continued eating.

After they'd finished, they went into the living room where they found Jean-Pierre and Pio sitting opposite each other at the chess table, with the game already underway. Pio squirmed restlessly in his chair, turning to catch Zak's smile.