As Claire held the satin ofher mother'swhite wedding dress in her hands, she remembered the last time she'd seen it, how depressed she'd gotten. She didn't love Peter anymore, Alex had long since helped her get over that, but the memories still haunted her.

Tess touched her sister's shoulder lightly, trying to wake her from the daydream, believing it to be a happy one, but wanting to get back to work. "We need to make the guest list and start working on flowers and music."

The guest list was something else. Jack was gone so there was no one to give her away. Alex's father wasn't coming; Harry and Liz hadn't been in the same place since the bitter divorce. Although she'd thought it a good ideawhen she'd planned her first wedding, she wasn't sure about having a large crowd and was considering just the gang from Killarney, Wilgul, and, of course, Drover's.

She could hear Tess ramble on excitedly and her world started to close in. Meg heard Tess and went upstairs to check on the girls. Tess was rambling along as usual, but Claire looked like she was having troubles breathing. Meg gentlyled Tess away. "You need to stop for a little while," she said, not wanting to hurt Tess's feelings, but worried for Claire.

Tess opened her eyes and saw Claire's reaction and her far-off look. "Yeah." She went downstairs and Meg sat on the edge of the bed beside 'her daughter'.

"Claire?"

Claire looked at Meg, waking from her daymare. "Sorry. Where'd she go?"

"Downstairs for a little while." She studied Claire. "I know you're happy about getting married. Is it the wedding?"

"I don't know. I just keep thinking about before...the last time I did this. I don't love the nob anymore, but at the time I did. And I did all this stuff, the dress, looked at countless magazines..."

"Alex is not Peter. I know I don't need to tell you that. You and Alex are going to get married and live happily ever after." Claire looked at Meg. "If Terry and I can do it after all we've been through, I have no doubt for you and Alex." They'd been best friends for years and, even when Alex had dated Tess, everyone knew he'd be better with Claire.

"I need...I need to go out to my horses for a little while."

Meg nodded, knowing it would be the best thing for her. "Okay." She went downstairs and watched Claire go out to the horses she loved so much.


Nick came over for dinner as he'd started to do more frequently now that Tess was single again. Alex and Claire were still outside, discussing something, so he went in to find Tess. "What's wrong?" He asked, sitting beside his favorite blonde.

"I'm driving Claire crazy."

"So what's new?" He tried to get her to smile, but, for the first time, failed.

"I just get so happy for her that I get overly excited and ruin it."

"Nothing's ruined. I'm sure whatever you think you did wasn't that bad."

"She did all this before, with Peter, and I know she doesn't love him anymore, she and BOM don't even miss him, but it's just a reminder of how bad it was for her."

Nick kissed her temple, resting his head near hers. "Give her some time, Tess, and stop being so hard on yourself. Claire loves you and it's just something that she has to live through herself. You know when I first started riding again? Felt good to be in the saddle, going on with my life, but it hurt at first...a lot. Every wound has to heal." She looked at him, unsure if he was talking about his leg, their siblings, or them.


Alex found Claire stroking Phoenix's nose, whispering to her. He walked behind his fiancee, wrapping his arms gently around her, and resting his head on her shoulder. She turned around and held him, breathing in his nearness. "What's wrong?"

"I look at things the wrong way." He didn't pretend to understand that, but he held her close, softly rubbing her back.

Claire and Alex joined the rest and Meg, Nick, and Alex excused themselves soon after, carting Charlotte with them. "I'm sorry, Claire. I never realized what I was doing. I'd thought I learned better," Tess said, truly repentent.

"I was looking at it wrong. You remember when I was afraid to let go of Phoenix, didn't want to be there when she was born?" Tess nodded, remembering her fear for her sister. "Phoenix was the start of the breeding program with AB and the nob, but she was out of Blaze, my favorite mare, by Wildfire, Alex's favorite stallion." Tess nodded, seeing what her sister was trying to get at. "So, after we eat, whenever you're ready, I'd like to try it again."

"Absolutely." Tess hugged her sister as they joined the others.