Title: One Fall is all it takes
Author: Stacey Foster
Feedback / E-Mail: eyes_only30@hotmail.com
Publication Date: 10/01/03
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story and I do not intend to harm anyone in the writing of this story.
Classification / Genre: romance/ angst
Summary: When Claire needs a knight in shining armor, one comes.
Rating: M
One Fall is all it takes!!
Chapter 1 Claire was in a bad mood. She had just woken up and she had a thumping headache and she was still dealing with the whole Peter issue. "Claire, Claire", a voice yelled out that could only be Tess her sister. Claire winced and slowly turned around. "What do you want Tess?" "Blaze has disappeared and I have looked everywhere but I can't find her". Claire took a step back. "What". "Blaze is gone". Immediately Claire stepped into action. "Right I'll grab a horse and start looking around the boundary fences, you call Alex and get him to look with his chopper and get everyone together including Nick and look on horseback", she quickly said. Claire turned swiftly around ignoring the thumping pain in her head, which had got about ten times worse. Ten minutes later, Claire was smoothing cantering along on Sirocco. "Oh what am I going to do", she thought. "That little golden mare is the only thing going good in my life." "I need Blaze, if I loose her I don't know what I am going to do". Pretty soon she heard the whack, whack, whack sound of a helicopter and Claire knew it was Alex. "Good", she said out loud. She knew that she could count on him. Ever since he had helped her with Peter she did not know what to do about him. She had started to get some really strange feeling whenever someone mentioned his name. "We will only ever be friends, we have been like that forever, it won't change". Suddenly she saw a flash of gold and she quickly turned her horse and rode towards the gold. All of a sudden she was overcome with a dizzy spell. "Oh no, please not now", she pleaded to herself. Her foot then slipped from the stirrup and then there was darkness.
Chapter 2
The next thing that she heard was someone calling her name. "Claire, Claire, Claire come on wake up, come on, please". She slowly opened her eyes and had to shut them again, the sun was way to bright. "Just take your time, get your eyes adjusted to the sun", a voice said. "Alex", she whispered. "Yip it's me", he said back. "What happened, where's Blaze". She tried to sit up but found that Alex restrained her. "Hey one step at a time", he said soothingly. "Blaze is tied up to the fence and I am not sure what happened to you but when I flew over I saw you on the ground and your horse with Blaze". She opened her eyes slowly and looked into the brown ones of Alex Ryan's. She sat up and groaned. "What's the matter?" "My head feels like a hammer has been bashed into it", she said. "Here have these", and Alex gave her a canteen with water in it and some pills. She eagerly accepted the water and swallowed the pills. "Now what happened?" Alex said. "The Claire McLeod I know would never get thrown off a horse like that". "Oh! Now I remember, I just saw Blaze and had turned my horse and was galloping over and then had this dizzy spell and then everything went black". "Clare have you been eating since Peter left?" Alex demanded. "What does Peter have to do with this?" Claire yelled back. She instantly regretted yelling and lied back down. "Hey, Hey calm down, now lets get you back to the house". "What about Blaze and Sirocco?" Don't worry about them they are in a yard in the shade over there ok?" "Ok let's go". She shakily got on her legs and grabbed Alex's arm. They slowly walked to the chopper and Alex buckled her in. "God Claire you are like skin and bone, have you been eating?" Claire looked at him guiltily. "Maybe not as much as I should have been", she whispered. "And before you say anything, I have been busy and worrying about Drover's Run future, now that I do not have the horse training contract I have no ideas for the future and." "Hey, hey, slow down one step at a time", Alex whispered in her ear. Claire felt shivers go down her spine but she quickly shook them away when Alex pulled away and went around to the other side of the helicopter.
Chapter 3
The ten-minute ride to Drover's was quiet and uneventful. When they landed, Claire started to unbuckle the belt and opened the door when Alex reached over and grabbed her hand. "Stop right there missy". And he got out and walked around to Claire's side and opened the door and lifted her out. "What do you think you are doing Alex Ryan, she yelled. "Helping you get better", he yelled back. He carried her all the way up to her room while she struggled in his arms and put her gently down on the bed. He pulled back the covers, pulled her boots off and pushed her down into the covers silently. "Stay there I will be right back". She opened her mouth to complain but a glare from Alex made her close her mouth quickly. As he walked out of the room, she made herself comfortable. A few minutes later he came back in with some tea and a sandwich. "Oh Alex, I don't feel like eating right now", Claire moaned. "I feel like I will chuck up anything that I eat". "I don't care, you need food, you are skin and bone, you need fattening up", Alex replied. He walked over to the other side of the bed and puts the tray on her knee. "Do you want me to hand feed you?" Alex said. "Of course not", Claire snapped back. Alex smiled; he always knew how to get her to do what he wanted. For the next few minutes the room was silent apart from Claire chewing on her food. She finished the sandwich and gave the tray back to Alex. "You get some sleep and I will be back soon", he said as he was walking out of the room. Claire snuggled down and within minutes was fast asleep. As Alex walked into the kitchen, Meg was there doing the dishes. "How is she?" Meg asked. "Fine but I have decided to stay here for a while into she gets herself sorted out, she is skin and bone and can hardly concentrate and worst of all she is so tired she fell off her horse", "The Claire McLeod I know would never fall off her horse", Alex sternly said. "I mean didn't you guys notice something wrong. You all live in the same house, surely you must have noticed something wrong", Alex was starting to get upset. "Come on calm down", she said quickly. "I have noticed something wrong, come on I practically raised her up". "Sorry I am just worried about her", Alex said. "I have noticed something wrong but you know Claire she keeps her feelings to herself and even Tess has not even been able to get anything out of her, I was going to talk to you about it because you are her oldest friend", Meg explained. "Ok then", Alex replied. "I am just going over to Killarney to get some clothes and then I will be right back", Alex said as he walked out the back door. Meg smiled to herself; she knew full well that Alex cared about Claire more than just a friend did. "Hopefully this will get them together", she thought.
Chapter 4
An hour later Meg was starting to get worried, Alex was meant to be back almost half and hour ago and she knew that any minute Claire would wake up. She had told the entire household the situation and they had all agreed that Tess would be staying out Meg and Jodies place until Alex had Claire sorted out. Just then Alex walked through the door. "Hey I was getting worried", Meg anxiously said. "Sorry I was having an argument with Dad about me being away for a couple of days, he was not impressed", Alex said. "Well you had better get up into that bedroom because Claire is sure to wake up soon". Alex started to walk up the stairs and suddenly said "Don't worry I will fix her up" and continued on his way. He slowly opened the bedroom door and silently crept into the room. Claire was moaning about thrashing around the bed. He knew instantly that she was in the middle of a bad nightmare. In one quick step he was on the bed and he held her in his arms trying to comfort her. Within seconds she had calmed down and was once again sleeping peacefully.
Chapter 5
During the next few days Alex was a constant presence in Claire's life and Alex never left her side for more than a few minutes. When Claire had found out about Alex's intention to stay there she had had a fit but after awhile she had gradually calmed down. They ended up having daily routine that they stuck to every day. One morning, there was a knock at the door and Claire went to answer it. She opened the door and gasped in shock. "Who is it Claire", Alex yelled from the kitchen and he walked to the door. He stopped and he went stone-faced. "What the hell are you doing here Peter", he yelled. "I have come to see Claire", Peter calmly replied. "You are not to come any where near Claire so piss off", Alex angrily yelled. "Last time I checked, Claire could speak for herself", Peter said smugly. Then Claire finally spoke up. "Alex it is fine, can you please just leave us for a few minutes", she whispered. "Fine but Peter if you upset her at all then you won't know what will hit you", Alex threatened. The Alex walked out the front door and slammed the door shut. "What do you want Peter?" Claire asked. "I wanted to see you, I really miss you". "How's your wife", Claire asked angrily. "I would not know, I have not seen her for a couple of months; we are in the process of the divorce. Look Claire I know that I hurt you but I thought that I if I told you about her then you would not want to know me and I knew that our marriage was going to over in a few months so I thought that it would be alright; I want to be with you, please forgive me; please take me back". "I'm sorry but I do not trust you anymore, I can not take you back", Claire sadly said. "Is this because of Alex, why is he here?" Peter bombarded her with questions. "He has been helping me get through some stuff which includes you; he has been a really good mate". "Is that all he is to you?" "Of course he is", Claire said. Claire was getting noticeable more agitated, and then all of a sudden, Claire fell. Peter managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. He carried her up to her bedroom and started to yell for Alex. Alex was there within two seconds and immediately kicked Peter out of the room. Peter argued with him but when he say what a distressed state Claire was in, he left. "Claire, Claire come on, calm down, open those eyes for Alex, come on you can do it", Alex whispered to her. Then he gently pressed his lips to Claire's forehead and Claire woke up. "What happened", Claire asked. "You fainted again", Alex replied. "Where is Peter?" "Don't worry he is gone", Alex whispered. Then all of a sudden Claire started to sob heartbroken tears. Alex pulled her onto his knee and tried to comfort her. They eventually fell asleep together and that is where Meg found them that night.
Chapter 6
The next few days Claire slowly started to improve and her and Alex's friendship started to progress into more. Soon it was clear that Alex was not needed there any more but Alex continued to stay there and Claire never asked him to go. One morning when they were lounging on the verandah in the morning sun with Claire sitting on Alex's lap she said "I want to start riding again, I need to get back on if I want to continue with the horse training idea". "Ok then", Alex said while half asleep. That afternoon, Alex had Blaze and Sirocco saddled up and ready to go. Claire walked down to the stables and slowly walked up to Blaze and gave her a huge hug while breathing in the horse smell that she had missed. "I've missed you girl", she murmured to Blaze. Alex swung himself up into Sirocco's saddle and Claire followed suit. "We'll ride over to Wilgul's and see Nick, that is a easy track so that will be good for you to start on", Alex said. Claire smiled because she knew that it would take a while for Alex to get out of his protectiveness towards her. They slowly made their way to Nicks and within half an hour they were there. Nick was there to greet them and Tess also happened to be there as well. "Claire I never knew you were going to get back in the saddle today?" Tess asked. "I only decided just before lunch", Claire replies excitingly. Nick also had the same good encouragement. Claire smiled, the whole town knew that Nick and Tess was together but Tess and Nick did not know that everyone else knew about them. She knew that when she first saw them together that there was an instant attraction. After talking with Nick and Tess for awhile Claire started to get restless so they said bye and carried on. After 30 minutes of riding in silence apart from the occasional comment, Alex suddenly spoke up. "We had better start to get back to the house, we do not want you to get too tired". Claire started to protest but Alex would not change his mind. For the next couple of days Claire and Alex went riding everyday and slowly Claire started to get stronger and more confident on a horse.
Chapter 7
The next week his father suddenly called Alex away on business. Claire was worried after he had been away for a week and still had no word from Alex. She decided to go over to Killarney and see Harry and Liz. As she was getting out of the truck in their driveway Harry walked out of the house, "Claire what a nice surprise", Harry commented. "Hi! Harry, how you been?" she replied. "Ok not much happening at the moment". "Hey do you know where Alex is and when he will be back?" Harry looked at Claire in surprise. "Didn't you break up with Alex?" Claire looked at Harry with a look of complete surprise. "What are you talking about, we did not break up, last time we spoke he said that you rang him and that you needed him to go away on business", Claire said in a whisper. Harry put an arm around Claire and directed her up to the front door. "Come in and we'll talk about this". When they got inside and sat down Harry started to explain everything, "Alex came over here last Monday and he was very distressed, he said that you had dumped him because you did not have the same feelings that he had for you, and he wanted to get out of here for awhile and so he asked me for some money and said that he would need a horse and a truck. I gave them to him and did not ask where he was going because he usually does this when something is upsetting him". "Well I'll tell you what really happened, we were having dinner and then he got a call on his mobile and he said that it was you and that you wanted him to go away and sort out some business", Claire said in a slow voice. "Well the only way that we are going to sort this out is by ringing him and see what the hell he is playing at", Harry said angrily. He reached over and grabbed his phone and dialed Alex's mobile. It rang for a few seconds and then someone answered. "Peter", Harry said. "Look Peter this is Alex's mobile and you answered it, what is going on? I want to talk to Alex", Harry said angrily. Claire had gone white at the mention of Peter's name and that Peter had answered Alex's mobile. "What", Harry said suddenly. "No it can't be true". He hung up the phone and his face turned to sorrow. "What is wrong", Claire said. She was shocked at Harry's face, she had never seen him in such a state. "What's happened? ", Claire whispered. Harry slowly turned his head and faced Claire. "Alex is missing, most certainly dead". At that moment Liz walked into the room surprised to see both Harry and Claire in tears. "What is going on?" she said. "Alex is dead", said Harry. At that moment Liz fainted and Harry just managed to get up and catch her in time. He put her on the couch and dialed Nick's number and told him the bad news. He also rang Meg and got Meg to come over and pick up Claire since she was in no state to drive.
Chapter 8
For the next couple of day everyone in the small country town mourned Alex's death. It turned out that Alex had gone away with Peter to work with him (no one knew why) and he had been flying a helicopter and it had crashed and they still could not get into the rough country on foot to get his body. Claire was in a depressed state and the whole household was worried especially Tess. She knew that Alex was the man for Claire and she had come to rely on him a lot and now he was gone and she did not know how Claire would cope. The doctor had been a few times and he had prescribed sleeping pills and anti - depressants and he told Tess just to try to support her through this tough time. Tess was trying her best but she knew that the only way Claire was going to get over Alex was closure. She decided to go and see Harry and Liz and find out what was happening with Alex's body. When she got to the main house she was surprised to see Peter's truck there. Harry walked down the steps and welcomed Tess inside. "Harry, Claire is not coping. She needs closure and if she does not get it soon I don't know what she will do. I just want to ask when is Alex's body going to come home?" "That's the thing, Peter has just arrived with the news that there is a chance that Alex is still alive, when the search and rescue team got to the crash site they could not find his body, he still could be alive', Harry said excitedly. That was the best thing that Tess had heard for awhile and she smiled. "As soon as you hear that he has been found, call me so then I can tell Claire. I won't tell her that there is a chance that he still could be alive because if the worst happens it would totally destroy her". Tess said her good-byes to Harry and slowly drove back to Drover's Run.
Chapter 9
During the next day Tess was a bundle of nerves and no one could figure out what was wrong with her. Claire started to refuse to eat and would refuse to talk to Tess and Meg. Then Tess got the phone call that she had been waiting for, she gave the phone to Claire and Claire was ecstatic that Alex was alive. The next day she was up and doing the morning chores as though nothing had happened. When Alex came driving up in his black Ford truck Claire ran half way down the driveway to meet him. They kissed and hugged. "You silly idiot, what happened?" Claire said half laughing, half crying. "Peter wanted me to do a job for him, herding some wild horses up and he needed someone with helicopter experience. He said that if I did this then he would never bother you again and I agreed", Alex explained. Claire was deeply touched that someone would risk his or her life for her and she wanted to know why. "Why?" Claire asked. "Because I love you", Alex whispered. "So do I", Claire whispered back. The next few days Alex and Claire were inseparable and no one dared to separate them. One day when they were out riding Alex spoke up. "Claire I have a surprise for you, I am going to blindfold you and you have to promise me that you will not look", he said. "Sure ok then", Claire replied with an air of excitement in her voice. Alex jumped off his horse and blindfolded her with a jersey of his. He then grabbed Blaze's reins and proceeded to lead them somewhere. After about ten minutes of walking, Alex finally stopped and took the blindfold off Claire. Claire gasped and said "How did you manage to get this all ready?' Alex has set out a champagne picnic lunch with nice food and flash glasses.
"Oh I have my ways and contacts", he said. "Nick and Tess", Claire instantly guessed. "Yes how the hell did you figure that out". "Woman's intuition", she replied. Claire jumped off her horse and Alex showed her to where they were eating. Claire sat down and started to get some food. The sat there for about half an hour talking about life when Alex all of a sudden got really serious. "Claire I have something that I want to ask you". Claire got butterflies in her stomach and she instantly knew what he was going to ask. "YES, YES I will marry you", she yelled. Alex nearly fainted. "How did you know that I was asking you to marry me?' "Again Woman's Intuition". "Are you serious", Alex asked questionably. "Yes I love you so much; ever since you moved in and helped me I knew that I loved you and I probably have loved you all my life". "Same here, I love you so much too; ever since that knob head Peter lied to you I have had these feelings for you", Alex said sincerely. He then leaned over and kissed her.
THE END!
Author: Stacey Foster
Feedback / E-Mail: eyes_only30@hotmail.com
Publication Date: 10/01/03
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story and I do not intend to harm anyone in the writing of this story.
Classification / Genre: romance/ angst
Summary: When Claire needs a knight in shining armor, one comes.
Rating: M
One Fall is all it takes!!
Chapter 1 Claire was in a bad mood. She had just woken up and she had a thumping headache and she was still dealing with the whole Peter issue. "Claire, Claire", a voice yelled out that could only be Tess her sister. Claire winced and slowly turned around. "What do you want Tess?" "Blaze has disappeared and I have looked everywhere but I can't find her". Claire took a step back. "What". "Blaze is gone". Immediately Claire stepped into action. "Right I'll grab a horse and start looking around the boundary fences, you call Alex and get him to look with his chopper and get everyone together including Nick and look on horseback", she quickly said. Claire turned swiftly around ignoring the thumping pain in her head, which had got about ten times worse. Ten minutes later, Claire was smoothing cantering along on Sirocco. "Oh what am I going to do", she thought. "That little golden mare is the only thing going good in my life." "I need Blaze, if I loose her I don't know what I am going to do". Pretty soon she heard the whack, whack, whack sound of a helicopter and Claire knew it was Alex. "Good", she said out loud. She knew that she could count on him. Ever since he had helped her with Peter she did not know what to do about him. She had started to get some really strange feeling whenever someone mentioned his name. "We will only ever be friends, we have been like that forever, it won't change". Suddenly she saw a flash of gold and she quickly turned her horse and rode towards the gold. All of a sudden she was overcome with a dizzy spell. "Oh no, please not now", she pleaded to herself. Her foot then slipped from the stirrup and then there was darkness.
Chapter 2
The next thing that she heard was someone calling her name. "Claire, Claire, Claire come on wake up, come on, please". She slowly opened her eyes and had to shut them again, the sun was way to bright. "Just take your time, get your eyes adjusted to the sun", a voice said. "Alex", she whispered. "Yip it's me", he said back. "What happened, where's Blaze". She tried to sit up but found that Alex restrained her. "Hey one step at a time", he said soothingly. "Blaze is tied up to the fence and I am not sure what happened to you but when I flew over I saw you on the ground and your horse with Blaze". She opened her eyes slowly and looked into the brown ones of Alex Ryan's. She sat up and groaned. "What's the matter?" "My head feels like a hammer has been bashed into it", she said. "Here have these", and Alex gave her a canteen with water in it and some pills. She eagerly accepted the water and swallowed the pills. "Now what happened?" Alex said. "The Claire McLeod I know would never get thrown off a horse like that". "Oh! Now I remember, I just saw Blaze and had turned my horse and was galloping over and then had this dizzy spell and then everything went black". "Clare have you been eating since Peter left?" Alex demanded. "What does Peter have to do with this?" Claire yelled back. She instantly regretted yelling and lied back down. "Hey, Hey calm down, now lets get you back to the house". "What about Blaze and Sirocco?" Don't worry about them they are in a yard in the shade over there ok?" "Ok let's go". She shakily got on her legs and grabbed Alex's arm. They slowly walked to the chopper and Alex buckled her in. "God Claire you are like skin and bone, have you been eating?" Claire looked at him guiltily. "Maybe not as much as I should have been", she whispered. "And before you say anything, I have been busy and worrying about Drover's Run future, now that I do not have the horse training contract I have no ideas for the future and." "Hey, hey, slow down one step at a time", Alex whispered in her ear. Claire felt shivers go down her spine but she quickly shook them away when Alex pulled away and went around to the other side of the helicopter.
Chapter 3
The ten-minute ride to Drover's was quiet and uneventful. When they landed, Claire started to unbuckle the belt and opened the door when Alex reached over and grabbed her hand. "Stop right there missy". And he got out and walked around to Claire's side and opened the door and lifted her out. "What do you think you are doing Alex Ryan, she yelled. "Helping you get better", he yelled back. He carried her all the way up to her room while she struggled in his arms and put her gently down on the bed. He pulled back the covers, pulled her boots off and pushed her down into the covers silently. "Stay there I will be right back". She opened her mouth to complain but a glare from Alex made her close her mouth quickly. As he walked out of the room, she made herself comfortable. A few minutes later he came back in with some tea and a sandwich. "Oh Alex, I don't feel like eating right now", Claire moaned. "I feel like I will chuck up anything that I eat". "I don't care, you need food, you are skin and bone, you need fattening up", Alex replied. He walked over to the other side of the bed and puts the tray on her knee. "Do you want me to hand feed you?" Alex said. "Of course not", Claire snapped back. Alex smiled; he always knew how to get her to do what he wanted. For the next few minutes the room was silent apart from Claire chewing on her food. She finished the sandwich and gave the tray back to Alex. "You get some sleep and I will be back soon", he said as he was walking out of the room. Claire snuggled down and within minutes was fast asleep. As Alex walked into the kitchen, Meg was there doing the dishes. "How is she?" Meg asked. "Fine but I have decided to stay here for a while into she gets herself sorted out, she is skin and bone and can hardly concentrate and worst of all she is so tired she fell off her horse", "The Claire McLeod I know would never fall off her horse", Alex sternly said. "I mean didn't you guys notice something wrong. You all live in the same house, surely you must have noticed something wrong", Alex was starting to get upset. "Come on calm down", she said quickly. "I have noticed something wrong, come on I practically raised her up". "Sorry I am just worried about her", Alex said. "I have noticed something wrong but you know Claire she keeps her feelings to herself and even Tess has not even been able to get anything out of her, I was going to talk to you about it because you are her oldest friend", Meg explained. "Ok then", Alex replied. "I am just going over to Killarney to get some clothes and then I will be right back", Alex said as he walked out the back door. Meg smiled to herself; she knew full well that Alex cared about Claire more than just a friend did. "Hopefully this will get them together", she thought.
Chapter 4
An hour later Meg was starting to get worried, Alex was meant to be back almost half and hour ago and she knew that any minute Claire would wake up. She had told the entire household the situation and they had all agreed that Tess would be staying out Meg and Jodies place until Alex had Claire sorted out. Just then Alex walked through the door. "Hey I was getting worried", Meg anxiously said. "Sorry I was having an argument with Dad about me being away for a couple of days, he was not impressed", Alex said. "Well you had better get up into that bedroom because Claire is sure to wake up soon". Alex started to walk up the stairs and suddenly said "Don't worry I will fix her up" and continued on his way. He slowly opened the bedroom door and silently crept into the room. Claire was moaning about thrashing around the bed. He knew instantly that she was in the middle of a bad nightmare. In one quick step he was on the bed and he held her in his arms trying to comfort her. Within seconds she had calmed down and was once again sleeping peacefully.
Chapter 5
During the next few days Alex was a constant presence in Claire's life and Alex never left her side for more than a few minutes. When Claire had found out about Alex's intention to stay there she had had a fit but after awhile she had gradually calmed down. They ended up having daily routine that they stuck to every day. One morning, there was a knock at the door and Claire went to answer it. She opened the door and gasped in shock. "Who is it Claire", Alex yelled from the kitchen and he walked to the door. He stopped and he went stone-faced. "What the hell are you doing here Peter", he yelled. "I have come to see Claire", Peter calmly replied. "You are not to come any where near Claire so piss off", Alex angrily yelled. "Last time I checked, Claire could speak for herself", Peter said smugly. Then Claire finally spoke up. "Alex it is fine, can you please just leave us for a few minutes", she whispered. "Fine but Peter if you upset her at all then you won't know what will hit you", Alex threatened. The Alex walked out the front door and slammed the door shut. "What do you want Peter?" Claire asked. "I wanted to see you, I really miss you". "How's your wife", Claire asked angrily. "I would not know, I have not seen her for a couple of months; we are in the process of the divorce. Look Claire I know that I hurt you but I thought that I if I told you about her then you would not want to know me and I knew that our marriage was going to over in a few months so I thought that it would be alright; I want to be with you, please forgive me; please take me back". "I'm sorry but I do not trust you anymore, I can not take you back", Claire sadly said. "Is this because of Alex, why is he here?" Peter bombarded her with questions. "He has been helping me get through some stuff which includes you; he has been a really good mate". "Is that all he is to you?" "Of course he is", Claire said. Claire was getting noticeable more agitated, and then all of a sudden, Claire fell. Peter managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. He carried her up to her bedroom and started to yell for Alex. Alex was there within two seconds and immediately kicked Peter out of the room. Peter argued with him but when he say what a distressed state Claire was in, he left. "Claire, Claire come on, calm down, open those eyes for Alex, come on you can do it", Alex whispered to her. Then he gently pressed his lips to Claire's forehead and Claire woke up. "What happened", Claire asked. "You fainted again", Alex replied. "Where is Peter?" "Don't worry he is gone", Alex whispered. Then all of a sudden Claire started to sob heartbroken tears. Alex pulled her onto his knee and tried to comfort her. They eventually fell asleep together and that is where Meg found them that night.
Chapter 6
The next few days Claire slowly started to improve and her and Alex's friendship started to progress into more. Soon it was clear that Alex was not needed there any more but Alex continued to stay there and Claire never asked him to go. One morning when they were lounging on the verandah in the morning sun with Claire sitting on Alex's lap she said "I want to start riding again, I need to get back on if I want to continue with the horse training idea". "Ok then", Alex said while half asleep. That afternoon, Alex had Blaze and Sirocco saddled up and ready to go. Claire walked down to the stables and slowly walked up to Blaze and gave her a huge hug while breathing in the horse smell that she had missed. "I've missed you girl", she murmured to Blaze. Alex swung himself up into Sirocco's saddle and Claire followed suit. "We'll ride over to Wilgul's and see Nick, that is a easy track so that will be good for you to start on", Alex said. Claire smiled because she knew that it would take a while for Alex to get out of his protectiveness towards her. They slowly made their way to Nicks and within half an hour they were there. Nick was there to greet them and Tess also happened to be there as well. "Claire I never knew you were going to get back in the saddle today?" Tess asked. "I only decided just before lunch", Claire replies excitingly. Nick also had the same good encouragement. Claire smiled, the whole town knew that Nick and Tess was together but Tess and Nick did not know that everyone else knew about them. She knew that when she first saw them together that there was an instant attraction. After talking with Nick and Tess for awhile Claire started to get restless so they said bye and carried on. After 30 minutes of riding in silence apart from the occasional comment, Alex suddenly spoke up. "We had better start to get back to the house, we do not want you to get too tired". Claire started to protest but Alex would not change his mind. For the next couple of days Claire and Alex went riding everyday and slowly Claire started to get stronger and more confident on a horse.
Chapter 7
The next week his father suddenly called Alex away on business. Claire was worried after he had been away for a week and still had no word from Alex. She decided to go over to Killarney and see Harry and Liz. As she was getting out of the truck in their driveway Harry walked out of the house, "Claire what a nice surprise", Harry commented. "Hi! Harry, how you been?" she replied. "Ok not much happening at the moment". "Hey do you know where Alex is and when he will be back?" Harry looked at Claire in surprise. "Didn't you break up with Alex?" Claire looked at Harry with a look of complete surprise. "What are you talking about, we did not break up, last time we spoke he said that you rang him and that you needed him to go away on business", Claire said in a whisper. Harry put an arm around Claire and directed her up to the front door. "Come in and we'll talk about this". When they got inside and sat down Harry started to explain everything, "Alex came over here last Monday and he was very distressed, he said that you had dumped him because you did not have the same feelings that he had for you, and he wanted to get out of here for awhile and so he asked me for some money and said that he would need a horse and a truck. I gave them to him and did not ask where he was going because he usually does this when something is upsetting him". "Well I'll tell you what really happened, we were having dinner and then he got a call on his mobile and he said that it was you and that you wanted him to go away and sort out some business", Claire said in a slow voice. "Well the only way that we are going to sort this out is by ringing him and see what the hell he is playing at", Harry said angrily. He reached over and grabbed his phone and dialed Alex's mobile. It rang for a few seconds and then someone answered. "Peter", Harry said. "Look Peter this is Alex's mobile and you answered it, what is going on? I want to talk to Alex", Harry said angrily. Claire had gone white at the mention of Peter's name and that Peter had answered Alex's mobile. "What", Harry said suddenly. "No it can't be true". He hung up the phone and his face turned to sorrow. "What is wrong", Claire said. She was shocked at Harry's face, she had never seen him in such a state. "What's happened? ", Claire whispered. Harry slowly turned his head and faced Claire. "Alex is missing, most certainly dead". At that moment Liz walked into the room surprised to see both Harry and Claire in tears. "What is going on?" she said. "Alex is dead", said Harry. At that moment Liz fainted and Harry just managed to get up and catch her in time. He put her on the couch and dialed Nick's number and told him the bad news. He also rang Meg and got Meg to come over and pick up Claire since she was in no state to drive.
Chapter 8
For the next couple of day everyone in the small country town mourned Alex's death. It turned out that Alex had gone away with Peter to work with him (no one knew why) and he had been flying a helicopter and it had crashed and they still could not get into the rough country on foot to get his body. Claire was in a depressed state and the whole household was worried especially Tess. She knew that Alex was the man for Claire and she had come to rely on him a lot and now he was gone and she did not know how Claire would cope. The doctor had been a few times and he had prescribed sleeping pills and anti - depressants and he told Tess just to try to support her through this tough time. Tess was trying her best but she knew that the only way Claire was going to get over Alex was closure. She decided to go and see Harry and Liz and find out what was happening with Alex's body. When she got to the main house she was surprised to see Peter's truck there. Harry walked down the steps and welcomed Tess inside. "Harry, Claire is not coping. She needs closure and if she does not get it soon I don't know what she will do. I just want to ask when is Alex's body going to come home?" "That's the thing, Peter has just arrived with the news that there is a chance that Alex is still alive, when the search and rescue team got to the crash site they could not find his body, he still could be alive', Harry said excitedly. That was the best thing that Tess had heard for awhile and she smiled. "As soon as you hear that he has been found, call me so then I can tell Claire. I won't tell her that there is a chance that he still could be alive because if the worst happens it would totally destroy her". Tess said her good-byes to Harry and slowly drove back to Drover's Run.
Chapter 9
During the next day Tess was a bundle of nerves and no one could figure out what was wrong with her. Claire started to refuse to eat and would refuse to talk to Tess and Meg. Then Tess got the phone call that she had been waiting for, she gave the phone to Claire and Claire was ecstatic that Alex was alive. The next day she was up and doing the morning chores as though nothing had happened. When Alex came driving up in his black Ford truck Claire ran half way down the driveway to meet him. They kissed and hugged. "You silly idiot, what happened?" Claire said half laughing, half crying. "Peter wanted me to do a job for him, herding some wild horses up and he needed someone with helicopter experience. He said that if I did this then he would never bother you again and I agreed", Alex explained. Claire was deeply touched that someone would risk his or her life for her and she wanted to know why. "Why?" Claire asked. "Because I love you", Alex whispered. "So do I", Claire whispered back. The next few days Alex and Claire were inseparable and no one dared to separate them. One day when they were out riding Alex spoke up. "Claire I have a surprise for you, I am going to blindfold you and you have to promise me that you will not look", he said. "Sure ok then", Claire replied with an air of excitement in her voice. Alex jumped off his horse and blindfolded her with a jersey of his. He then grabbed Blaze's reins and proceeded to lead them somewhere. After about ten minutes of walking, Alex finally stopped and took the blindfold off Claire. Claire gasped and said "How did you manage to get this all ready?' Alex has set out a champagne picnic lunch with nice food and flash glasses.
"Oh I have my ways and contacts", he said. "Nick and Tess", Claire instantly guessed. "Yes how the hell did you figure that out". "Woman's intuition", she replied. Claire jumped off her horse and Alex showed her to where they were eating. Claire sat down and started to get some food. The sat there for about half an hour talking about life when Alex all of a sudden got really serious. "Claire I have something that I want to ask you". Claire got butterflies in her stomach and she instantly knew what he was going to ask. "YES, YES I will marry you", she yelled. Alex nearly fainted. "How did you know that I was asking you to marry me?' "Again Woman's Intuition". "Are you serious", Alex asked questionably. "Yes I love you so much; ever since you moved in and helped me I knew that I loved you and I probably have loved you all my life". "Same here, I love you so much too; ever since that knob head Peter lied to you I have had these feelings for you", Alex said sincerely. He then leaned over and kissed her.
THE END!