Sea Of Grass (6 page)

“Excuse me?”

Tess heard the soft voice and smiled. “Hmm, not now. I’m so comfortable.” Tess sighed, then heard the laughter.

Her head shot up as she sat erect. Pushing her hat back on her head, she looked up into the sun, then took off her cowboy hat to shield her eyes.

A woman stood there, her head cocked. “Miss Rawlins?” she asked tentatively.

Tess immediately jumped up. “Yes. I’m sorry. I’m Tess Rawlins. Mrs. Redmond?”
 

“Yes, sorry to wake you,” she said and smiled slightly.

Tess gave a nervous chuckle. She looked at this woman who was about three inches shorter. With her long brown hair pulled back, it gave Tess a good look at the smiling face. The woman’s skin was fair and her cheeks flushed. Her eyes were a deep dark blue. She was an attractive woman—an attractive widow, she reminded herself.

Tess looked over to see a teenage boy standing nearby.

“Hey,” Tess said, and the boy, who looked to be fifteen or so, smiled as Tess stuck out her hand. “I’m Tess.”

“Jack Redmond,” he said. His deep brown eyes watched her warily.

“Well, let’s get going. Do you have luggage?” she asked, and Mrs. Redmond nodded and pointed at three weary-looking pieces of luggage standing by the curb.

“Great. Jack, give me a hand?” Tess looked over at the young man, who nodded and followed her.

Once the luggage was set in the back of the old wagon, Tess slammed the door and slid in. She glanced at the woman sitting next to her. She wore a heavy coat and wool slacks. Tess couldn’t tell her age, but she looked young, but then everyone was looking young to Tess.

“So, Mrs. Redmond, I hope you won’t mind cooking for us. There were supposed to be seven ranch hands, but we lost a few during the winter. I’m working on hiring a couple for the spring and summer.” Tess put the car in gear. She eyed Jack in the backseat.

The woman chuckled. “I’ve been cooking for more than that for the past year or so. I won’t let you down, Miss Rawlins.”

“I’m sure you won’t. I appreciate you moving like this on such short notice. Do you have any family that you’re leaving behind?” she asked casually, then turned bright red. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry.”

“No need, thank you,” she said and looked out the window. “We have no other relatives to speak of.”

Tess winced at her own stupidity but said nothing. She glanced in the backseat and noticed Jack eagerly looking out the window. “It’s a long bus ride from Helena,” Tess said, and Mrs. Redmond nodded as she looked around.

“It is beautiful and so open. My God, you can see forever,” she said in amazement.

Tess grinned as she looked around, as well. “Yeah. They mean it when they say Big Sky country,” she said, realizing she sounded proud of that. “We’re almost there, another half hour.”

As Tess neared the entrance, she pointed out a few things to her new cook. “This is Rawlins land as far as the eye can see.”

Jack suddenly came alive and leaned in between them. “Wow, you own all this?” he asked with enthusiasm.

“Yep, wait till you see the cattle and the horses. Do you ride, Jack?” Tess asked and stole a glance in the rearview mirror.

“A little,” he said sadly. “Not as much as I’d like.”

Tess noticed his mother’s face. A look of resignation flashed across the soft features. “Then I guess I’ll have to get you on a horse. My father’s an excellent teacher. I think he’d like having another man around the house,” Tess said, and the boy’s eyes lit up. She glanced at Mrs. Redmond, who gave her a smile of thanks.

“Speaking of the house, where will we be staying?” Mrs. Redmond asked.

“We only have one bedroom left. It was my brother’s, but it’s huge. We’ve already put a small bed in there for Jack. I didn’t know he was older. Maybe he can bunk with the boys after we get you all settled.” Tess saw the look of uncertainty on Mrs. Redmond’s face. “Only if it’s okay with your mom.”

Jack gave his mother a pleading look. “We’ll see,” she said.

They pulled through the fenced gate that led to their property. Above the fence, the arched gateway read
Double R Ranch
. Jack looked up and grinned. Tess could see his eyes fill with anticipation of being on a real live ranch.

“You must love living here, Miss Rawlins,” Mrs. Redmond said, still taking in the scenery.

“I’ve been gone for quite a while,” Tess said with a shrug.

Mrs. Redmond looked at her then. “You have another home?”

“This will always be home. But I live in California. I’m a professor in the agriculture department at Berkeley.”

“Really?”

Tess raised an eyebrow and glanced from the road to the near shocked look on Mrs. Redmond’s face. She laughed. “That’s what my students say, as well.”

Mrs. Redmond laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so incredulous. What made you want to teach instead of ranching?”

“It was my great-uncle’s fault. He made it sound so appealing. He developed the seed that’s planted in the pastures. Uncle Jeremiah wanted to do his part to save this.” Tess motioned out the window. “He said he was a better teacher than he was a rancher.” She stopped, very aware of Mrs. Redmond’s scrutiny. She glanced once again and saw the curious look.

“So you followed in his footsteps,” Mrs. Redmond said.

Tess heard the softness in her voice and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Something like that, I guess. All I know is now I’m horribly out of shape for cattle ranching.”

Tess wasn’t sure if she was grateful or not when Mrs. Redmond laughed and drew her attention away from Tess and back to the sprawling landscape.

Jed met them at the front steps with a welcoming wave. He opened the car door for the woman. “Welcome, Mrs. Redmond. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this on such short notice. Are you sure you can cook for—?” he blurted out.

Tess grimaced and turned bright red as she cleared her throat. “Um, Dad, Mrs. Redmond is more than qualified,” she said, giving him the eye.

Her father winced apologetically. Mrs. Redmond laughed and shook his hand. “No offense meant, Mrs. Redmond.”

“None taken, Mr. Rawlins. This is my son, Jack,” she said proudly.

Jed’s eyes lit up. He held out his hand and gave the strong hand a healthy shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, son. Good strong handshake. Now let me show you to your room.”

Tess and Jack picked up the luggage, Tess leaned into her father. “Good strong handshake?” she whispered with a grin and dragged the luggage down the long hallway.

“This is the best we can do, sorry,” Jed said as he opened the bedroom door.

Mrs. Redmond peered in and blinked in amazement. Her son followed suit. The bedroom was enormous. To the right was a huge four-poster bed with a dresser on the opposite wall. Placed in the far corner was the smaller bed with a small dresser next to it. Next to the window was a nice size desk and chair.

“Mom, look, a fireplace!” Jack exclaimed as he walked into the hardwood-floored bedroom.

Sure enough, on the outside wall was a small brick fireplace with a cozy-looking chair in front of it.

“It gets pretty chilly at night in the spring, and it’ll keep you nice and warm,” Tess offered. Father and daughter were shocked to see tears brimming in Mrs. Redmond’s eyes. “Hope it’s okay,” she added, exchanging a worried look with her father.

“It’s more that okay, Miss Rawlins. It’s more than I expected.” She tried not to cry.

Jack saw it. He walked up to his mother and took her hand. “Don’t cry, Mom. This is gonna be okay,” he whispered, and she only nodded.

“We’ll leave you to get settled in. Maria is in town. When she gets back, she’ll familiarize you with the kitchen. Until then, take a rest. You both look tired,” Tess said.

As they walked down the hall, Tess and Jed sported the same worried look.

“Did you see how grateful she looked?” Tess asked, and Jed nodded. “Shit, it’s only a bedroom.”

“I know and watch that foul mouth of yours. There’s a youngster in this house now,” he said fatherly.

Tess grinned and patted his shoulder. “Well, shit, Dad. You’re right.” She dashed out the kitchen door as Jed reached for her.

Tess spent the rest of the afternoon on the range with Chuck counting the herd. She sat in the saddle with book in hand while Chuck made the head count. He ticked off the calves as they stayed close to their mothers. “I thought we’d had more than this.”

Tess glanced around the wide-open pasture. “You got the little ones tagged?”

“Yep. It wasn’t easy, believe me, but between the four of us, we got ’em. Now they just need the brand.”

“Maybe we lost more than we thought during the winter. It’s been worse, but still…” she said thoughtfully.

“Tomorrow we’ll start branding them. Then we’ll fatten ’em up and head them down to Colorado. We’ll get top dollar, look at them already.”

The herd in this pasture lazily grazed on the grass as the two ranch hands dashed around chasing strays. “Tell them to let ’em roam, Chuck. They’ll be fine. Why are they fussing over them?”
 

Chuck scratched his head. “Stan was in
Silverhill
and heard Ed yakking about how if he finds any strays he’s keeping ’em.”

“Damn him. If he sets one foot on Rawlins land,” she threatened.

“Easy, Tess, he’s looking for you to fly off the handle. That’s why I didn’t tell your dad. He’d be on his horse and at Telford’s doorstep.”

“I know. That’s what that fat fuck wants,” she hissed. “All these years. He has to know Dad won’t sell this property.”

Chuck laughed at her colorful language. “Better not talk like that in front of your father.” He tried to sound stern.

 
“I know. He nearly caught me earlier.” Tess laughed and closed the ledger, pulling her hat down over her eyes.

“We’re gonna have to hire more hands.”

Tess nodded as she watched the only two ranch hands left. “Any ideas?”

“Luke knows of a few drovers up from Texas. They’re looking for work.”

“Do you trust Luke?”

Chuck scratched his chin and shrugged. “We’ll see. I’ll have him bring them in tomorrow. How about you and me talk to them?”

“Me?” Tess asked. “What about Dad?”

“You and me need to talk a little more about your dad.”

Tess reached over and grabbed his arm. “What about him?”

Chuck chewed at his bottom lip, then looked around. “You know I love your dad.”

“I know. Hell, you’ve been here all your life and you’ve stuck by him when things really sucked. Now tell me what you’re thinking.”

“You just watch him, that’s all I’m saying. He’s getting a little forgetful.”

Tess took off her hat and ran her fingers through her hair. “Shit, he’s not that old.”

Chuck smiled and patted her shoulder. “He’s going on seventy.”

Tess’s head shot up at the realization. Good God, she thought, Chuck was right. “Okay, we’ll have a look at the men tomorrow.” She couldn’t help the anger that was mounting. Maria was leaving. Her father was getting forgetful. She had to leave her teaching job. What else could happen?