Tess sat down silently, aware of what her sister was watching. "He's good with her." Claire nodded. "Have you two talked?"
Claire shook her head. "We're going to wait the week." Alex had gotten tired of playing daddy before; she didn't want to set her daughter up to get her heart broken if he did again. Still, she had to admit, she loved having Alex around so much again.
"Can we talk?" She hadn't gotten up the nerve to tell her sister about her problem yet, wanting to wait as long as she could after Charlotte's birth, but she knew she'd have to give Dave an answer sometime.
Claire moved her chair where she could see Alex, Charlotte, and Tess all at the same time. "Okay."
"Dave asked me to marry him."
"What did you say?" She asked, hoping her fear didn't show in her voice. When Tess had first come to Drovers', Claire had tried everything to get her to go back to the city. Now the thought of Tess leaving terrified her.
"I didn't." She paused. "You know Meg was telling Jodi that she was so strong at Wilgul and you asked what happened?" Claire nodded. "I fell into the silo. It was like quicksand; I thought..." Claire nodded, remembering the feeling she'd gotten around that time, and held her sister's hand. "Nick went in to get me. He was so scared, I was so scared, he was holding me..."
"You still love him." Claire's voice was matter-of-fact, like there hadn't been a doubt in her mind.
"The night Charlotte was born, I was glad Dave wasn't there and that Nick was. Nick's the one who's there when I need him. I've put him through so much and he still hangs around. I keep putting Dave off. If I loved him, wouldn't I jump at the proposal? Or is it the same thing that made me run out on Nick?"
Somehow Claire managed not to beg Tess to stay. "I can't tell you what to do, Tess."
"I know. But what do you think?"
"You know what I think. I want you to be happy. You found a great guy who loves you, shares your interests, and you love to be around. There aren't many of those." She smiled as she watched Alex and Charlotte. "Don't let him go."
Nick wasalone at Wilgul, relaxing after his day of work, reading a book about organic farming Tess had loaned him. Both he and Alex had an open invitation to dinner at Drover's every night, had for years, but he'd declined. As much as he wanted to see Tess, he didn't want to push. She had to make up her own mind; he'd learned that the hard way. Alex, on the other hand, had been at Drover's almost all day, not for the first time that week.
"Charlotte go to bed?" Nick asked as Alex came in, tossing his hat aside where one of them would have to pick it up later.
Alex smiled. "Yeah." He'd stayed a little bit after, but Claire was still tired and Tess had been silent, a rarity for her.
"She's a beautiful little girl." After Alex agreed, Nick said, "Looks just like her mom." He caught something in his brother's face. "So what are you going to tell Claire?" Alex had told him that he and Claire were waiting the week, which Nick thought was ridiculous.
"I don't know." It wasn't the matter of still wanting to date; it was a secret he had. "I wanted to marry her when she came home from the hospital."
"So what's changed?"
Everything, Alex wanted to say, thinking ofhis mother, Harry, and Sandra."Sandra. She's not Claire, she'll never be Claire, but...I think I should tell Claire what happened. I mean, she could find out some other way."
"How do you think she'll react?" Alex gave him a look. They both knew their friend well enough to know exactly how she'd react. "Who, besides us, knows?"
"Just you, me, and Sandra. Maybe Harry."
"I'm not stupid enough to tell her and, regardless of what you think of Dad right now, I can't see him hurting Claire." Harry had ended one of his profitable business dealings in order to avoid hurting their friend.
"What about Sandra?"
Nick gave him a look. The two women had a running feud going from when they were in school together and had only gotten worse in recent years. Nick even thought that it might have helped Sandra go after Alex when no other woman wanted anything to do with him. "I think you tell her the truth. It was one time, it was while you guys weren't together, and you love Claire, not Sandra, right?"
Alex nodded, relieved. "Right." He paused. "Tess asked about you tonight. Dave wasn't there."
"I think they're having a fight. She says they're not, but..."
"I heard what happened the other day."
Nick nodded, still not wanting to remember how pale and still Tess had been when he dug her out again. For a moment, he really thought he would lose her. He remembered the feeling as they held each other on the rope ride up. "Yeah."
"You okay?" It was a real question, asked by a concerned brother. Alex remembered far too well how he'd felt when Claire had fallen off her horse at the cross-country race and knew his brother must have felt the same seeing Tess like that.
"I think so, yeah." He remembered sleeping in the floor of Jack's office with Tess' hand in his own. "Just a lot of old memories. Tess is with Dave now and that's the way it is." He remembered Tess telling him she loved him as he covered her with the blanket, but that was months ago. Things changed.