The Truth That Lies Ahead
They were sitting in Alex's ute, both unwilling to let the other go. He smiled at her, recalling every moment they had shared the past 24 hours - it had been the best day of his life. It started out as a favour, something he needed to do for Claire as a friend but it had turned out to be so much more than that. He took her hand and stroke it, not wanting to let go of it, aching the goodbye they were about to take. Claire looked out the window to see the others making their way to the ute. She wasn't ready to tell them about her and Alex, it had all happened so fast that she could barely keep up herself. She had left Drover's with the intention of working things out with Peter but she came home with the best of the best. Alex. And the fact her and Alex were a thing now needed too much explanation and now just wasn't the time for that.
"I'll take your bag inside" Alex said and let go of her hand, ready to get out of the ute and face the others. Ready to let them all know about him and Claire, he was ready - ready to tell the world.
"We can't say anything Alex" Claire said with a firm voice. She wanted to, more than anything and she wanted to kiss him, wanted to be in his arms again. She had hid her feelings towards him for too long and she hated the fact she would have to do it again, even if it just were for a little bit.
"We don't have to say anything, they'll figure it out for themselves" Alex said with a smile, a smile that reached all the way up to both of his ears. She couldn't help but smile at him, he looked like a boy that had just gotten his first kiss and was obsessed for more. "ooooh, I want to tell them, I do. I don't wanna hide my desire to be with you .. kiss you - it's hard enough now" Claire said and gave him the smile only she could, the one where it reached her eyes and made them shine even brighter, the one where he would fly off into another world, feeling his heart beat faster and feeling the urge to take a leap of faith into the unknown - because with Claire by his side the unknown wasn't scary at all. "We'll tell them at the right time" Claire said and with the sound of her voice he got back to reality, looking into her bright eyes.
"Okay, if that is what you want" Alex said and got out of ute, a bit disappointed but he understood where she was coming from. It would take a lot of explanations to explain why she went off to figure things out with Peter, and came home with Alex as her sidekick. He smiled for himself at the thought of his last thought. Sidekick - He shook his head and got Claire's bag out from the trunk.
"It's so good to have you back!" Meg said with a bit of too much enthusiasm in her voice. She hugged Claire like she hadn't seen her for days.
"Jeez Meg, I've only been gone a day" Claire said and let go of her with a smile. "I know, it's .. it's just good to have you home again" Meg said and tried looking Tess' way discreetly but Claire picked up on it and frowned.
"What's going on here?" She asked, wanting to know why Meg acted weird.
"Nothing.. Other than the fact Tess got herself stuck in the mud up to her knees last night, when she tried moving the sheep's" Becky said, trying not to laugh and pushed Jodi with her arm, sending her a signal to keep her mouth shut, but it was too late. Jodi was already halfway through a heart attack from laughing so hard.
"You did what?" Claire asked and a big grin started to spread through her face, she was trying to hold her laugh in but it was getting to a point where it was near impossible.
"It's not funny, Claire. I tried moving your stupid sheeps 'cause you HAD to go off to Queensland" Tess said and crossed her arms, feeling attacked. She couldn't see the fun in the incident, she had been stuck in mud up to her knees, waiting for hours until Becky finally came by - maybe in a few weeks it would be fun looking back at, but for now it was a moment she would like to forget, very much indeed and fast.
"You literally got stuck in mud?" Claire asked and started to laugh, she knew Tess would take it personally but it was too much fun not to laugh and she tried not to, she really did but seeing her sister's unpleased look didn't help her. Alex's couldn't help himself either and he as well started laughing as he pulled out Claire's bag from the ute.
"It's not funny guys" Tess said in a firm way but seeing how the others kept laughing, she decided to go back to the house, letting them cool off outside.
"I better go after her" Meg quickly said, feeling for Tess - it wasn't easy being new on Drover's. Even though Tess had been there a year Meg knew Tess still felt like an outsider sometimes, she looked up to Claire, like a little sister should do, she wanted her to feel proud of her, she wanted to be like Claire - but none of them were like Claire, but that was okay. Because they didn't need to be like her to get their job done and Tess needed to understand that - But she still felt the urge to prove her worth at Drover's. Meg hurried after Tess, leaving Claire alone at the ute with Alex. She grabbed her bag from his hands as she tried calming herself down after a minor fit of laughter.
"I think you made the right decision by getting back already" Alex said and shook his head with a small laugh. This was just typical Tess, she always ended up in trouble without asking for it. He stopped his laugh as he realised he had to say goodbye to Claire, say goodbye to the amazing day and night they had spent together. "I'm going to miss you" he said and looked at her with sad eyes. He had to fight himself, fight against the incredible force that draw him towards her, the force that always drew him into her web. "You two as well" Meg suddenly said behind them, ordering Becky and Jodi to get back to the house.
"I'm going to miss you too" Claire said and placed a discreet hand on his stomach, hoping none of the others saw it but Meg did and she couldn't help but smile. Something had surely happened in Queensland, because Claire was like a whole other person right now. She was happy, like genuinely happy and Meg saw it instantly.
"I'll call you later?" Alex asked as he got back in his ute, not wanting to go but he had to get back to Killarney and deal with whatever Harry throwed his way. Claire nodded and sent him off with a smile. She stood there for a second, feeling herself floating away to their secret world and for a second she felt his arms around her - She already missed him so much and it scared her a bit, it scared her that he had left and she didn't know if he would come back. Because that was exactly what Peter had done, left and never got back to her - But Alex wasn't Peter and she cursed herself for comparing him to Peter. She sighed and made her way inside to the rest.
"You must be hungry after all that traveling" Meg said as Claire got in sight in the kitchen, she quickly pulled out a chair for her to sit on and went back to the plate she was preparing for Claire. "Oh yes, I'm starving" Claire said and placed herself at the table across from Tess, who still looked unhappy about them laughing.
"Look Tess, I'm sorry I laughed at you - but what point of "pretend it's sunday" didn't you understand?" Claire asked and tilted her head a bit to the side, waiting for Tess to say something. She had distinctly asked Tess not to do anything major and if problems appeared Becky would be handling them.
"Well you never pretend it's sunday, so why should I?" Tess asked - all she wanted to do was help. Claire smiled, knowing where all of this was coming from. She knew Tess had had a hard time adjusting to the way of living out here, she was a city girl, a city girl deep in her heart and she tried so hard to fit in around here that she always ended up getting herself or someone else into trouble. "There's a huge difference Tess. I've lived here my whole life, I know what to do and what there needs to be done, it's always been my life and you've only been here a year. Give it time" Claire said, trying to comfort her sister.
"I just don't want to feel like I'm in the way all the time. I thought I could round up the sheep by myself, I've done it with you a bunch off times and it wasn't that hard" Claire smiled at her, feeling her sisters need to prove herself, prove she belonged here, prove that she was Jack's daughter.
"Look" Claire said with her mouth full of one of Meg's famous sandwiches. "tomorrow morning you'll help Becky get the sheep loaded. It's gonna be early and you'll have to show them who's the boss, okay?" Claire said and swallowed the bite she had just took. She wanted to let Tess be in charge of something, she wanted her to feel like she was needed - it wasn't a major thing she knew that, but for a start it would do and hopefully it would make Tess feel less in the way.
"Sure, no problem" Tess said with a proud smile on her face. She looked forward to be bossing something around, she always saw how Claire was the boss off absolutely everyone and everything. Claire smiled as she saw her sister's face, how proud she was when Claire had asked her to be in charge but her mind started to find it's way to Alex. It had been no more than half an hour maybe 40 minutes, since he left but she missed him like crazy. Her body longed for his and she couldn't help but smile, unaware that everybody could see her.
"But now to the most important thing" Jodi said and looked at Claire. They all looked at her, stared at her, seeing her glow like she had never done before.
"Why are you so happy?!" Jodi asked and kept her stare at her, waiting for her to say something.
"She's probably fixed things with Peeeter" Becky said and joined Jodi in her laugh. The name Peter snapped Claire back to reality. If only they knew she thought to herself. Peter was definitely not the reason for her happiness, Alex was the only one who could take credit for that.
"I actually never talked to Peter" Claire said, feeling their eyes swift between them. "I decided to take everybody's advice and let him go" She said with a firm voice, not wanting to get into further detail about her day in Queensland - That would mean for her to tell them about her and Alex. She felt her heart fill up with love and joy as she thought of him, she still couldn't believe things had happened between them. "But why did you stay there until today then?" Tess asked with a confusing look on her face. "What do you mean?" Claire asked well-knowing what Tess had asked her about, but she had to buy some time to figure out what to tell them all and she had to act fast. "I mean - What did you do a whole day in Queensland if you didn't talk with Peter?" Tess tried again, did she really had to cut it out to her before she understood her question?
"I .. Well, I .." Claire stopped, she didn't know what to say. She couldn't exactly say she had spend the whole night with Alex exploring each others bodies.
"Oh my god" Jodi suddenly said and leant back at the chair with her hand covering her mouth. "You and Alex!" Claire looked at her, feeling the panic crawl its way out to every cell in her body. She had to do something otherwise she would expose herself, and she wasn't ready to share him with the others, not yet.
"There's no me and Alex!" Claire stated. "If you must know, I decided to check out a breeding seminar" she said and crossed her arms. Was she safe? Did they buy her lie? Tess and Jodi looked at each other, they weren't convinced and Claire could feel it. "Oh yeah, really?" Tess said and frowned, knowing Claire was filling them with bullshit. She didn't go to a seminar, especially not a breeding seminar - they would have heard about it for days before she left for Queensland. No, Claire was up to something sketchy, she just had to find out what.
"Yes, really" Claire said, trying to ignore their stares at her.
"What would it cost us to start a breeding program? How many hours do we need to put in it, which horses are you going to use?" Tess stopped, that was enough question to put Claire out of the game she was playing. Claire was lost for words, she didn't expect an interrogation from Tess like this, maybe it hadn't been the smartest idea she had come up with. Tess smiled as she noticed Claire kept quiet. She had hit her in a weak spot.
"I have to check on the horses" Claire said and rushed through the kitchen. She had to get out of there, Tess kept poking to her with all these question she couldn't answer. She should have known Tess would see right through her and she couldn't help but think that Alex had been right, that they didn't need to say something, that they would find out by them self. "Yup, something definitely happened in Queensland" Tess said and laughed along with Jodi. It was a rare sight to see Claire left for words and out of place and it was a moment they could cherish for a long time.