Chapter 32
Tess hadn't felt this peaceful in a long time. Until now, she hadn't realized the burden she had allowed her broken heart to be to her. After hearing Claire thank her for taking her home to Drovers, Tess knew all the decisions she made had been worth the pain she had felt. She had her family together and her shoulders felt light and free. She had given Claire the childhood surrounded by her family that she deserved. She felt wonderful and had never felt closer to Claire than she did right now.
After they spoke, they had just stood and hugged each other for a long time. Finally, they got back on their horses and started towards home in time for lunch. As they rode back, Tess's phone rang. It was Jodi. "Tess! I'm so glad you have service! Stevie needs our help!"
"I'm with Claire. We're headed back to the house now. What's up?" asked Tess.
"We need to go to Wilgul together. One of us needs to take Stevie's car and go to town and file some sort of building permit. The other one of us needs to help her find Jaz's National Championship ring so that Ben can propose."
"There are several questions I have, but I'll ask them later. I'll bring Claire. She can help look too. We'll be at the house in a few minutes."
Tess put the phone back in her pocket and urged the horse into a full run.
"Claire, our family needs us! Let's go!" said Tess.
They were back at the stables in a few minutes. Jodi, Meg, and the girls were waiting for them.
"You girls go now. We'll see to the horses," ordered Meg.
Jodi, Claire and Tess jumped in the ute and headed to Wilgul.
Jodi filled them in as she drove over to Wilgul. "Okay, so I don't have the full story, but apparently, we are looking for Jaz's National Championship ring. I have no idea how or why it got lost. One of us also has to make it to the town hall to file a building permit request or something before they close in a few hours. Apparently, these things need to happen or Ben's proposal to Jaz will be ruined. We need to do all of this without Jaz knowing," Jodi explained.
"Okay. I'll take Stevie's ute and the file and head to town. You've got better eyes and younger knees than me anyway," Tess said. "Claire, you stay and help your aunts look for the ring."
"No problem. Family has got to help each other," Claire added thinking of their conversation earlier.
The Drovers ute pulled into Wilgul and parked next to Stevie's ute. Tess grabbed the keys and the file from Stevie, hopped into Stevie's ute and was off, headed to Gungellan. Jodi hid the Drovers ute in the back, behind a barn that wasn't used often and she and Claire went to join Stevie in the search and to find out what exactly was going on.
"Okay, Stevie," Jodi asked, "What kind of predicament have you gotten yourself into here? Please give us the dirt."
"It's not my fault. It's my cousin's fault. He screwed up a proposal almost three years ago and is trying to get it right now." said Stevie.
Stevie walked Jodi and Claire through the entire ordeal while the three of them crawled on their hands and knees hoping to find Jaz's prized National Championship ring.
If the three of them had not still been looking for the ring, they would have laughed because the turn of events were so ridiculous, but, because they all loved Ben and Jaz, they kept looking. They wanted Ben to give Jaz the proposal he wanted and they wanted Jaz to have that special memory with Ben.
Every so often, they would hear someone coming and they would all drop flat on their bellies and lie still hoping to not be seen.
Claire was having a wonderful time with her aunts.
"Claire, did you have your talk with your mom today like you said you were going to?" asked Stevie.
"I did. I told her everything. I told her I thought she was lonely and that I wanted her to have what Aunt Jodi and Uncle Matt have and that I want her to fall in love again. I even told her about Mr. O'Hara and the goofy look he gets on his face whenever she's around him," said Claire.
Jodi raised her eyebrows and said. "I noticed that look from Finn too, Claire. I reckon Mr. O'Hara has taken a liking to our girl."
"Mom told me she appreciated me being honest and coming to her in a mature way. Then she told me some stuff she's never talked to me about before. She told me about what it was like when Dad chose Argentina over her and me. She told me how he shredded her heart and that she felt like it had been trampled by one thousand heads of cattle." Claire knew it was okay to share the conversation with her aunts. These were the two people her mother was closest with in the whole world.
"She told me that you, Aunt Jodi, helped put her back together again and took care of me when she couldn't, and that it was then that you and Mom truly bonded as sisters. She told me she owed you more than she could ever give. She told me that if you hadn't been there, she might not have made it through that experience. She told me why she didn't date, because falling in love requires vulnerability, and she was scared to do that again." Claire stopped because she was fighting back tears. It had been such an emotional conversation for her that even relating it to her aunts caused her to cry.
"She also told me why it was so important for her to come back to Drovers and why being with all of you was so necessary. She even told me that it was me and our family that showed her she still had love to give and that she wanted me to be surrounded by family because family is strength. It was just really beautiful. I had no idea how much she hurt from leaving Dad. She hid it from me for so long. She told me not to hate Dad and that he was dealing with his own heartache. She told me she had begged Dad to come back to Drovers Run for Stevie after Uncle Alex died and he still wouldn't come. She told me she wanted me to grow up with my cousins because she never got to experience having cousins or siblings, and that family was everything. I feel a lot closer to Mom now," Claire said, as she wiped her eyes.
"Claire, that's amazing. I'm so glad you and your mum had that talk. It's wonderful that you and your mom got even closer. We love you so much Claire. I'm so glad Meggie and Katie get to grow up having their big cousin to look up to. I couldn't imagine not having you or Tess there. You are both such important parts of our family," gushed Jodi, realizing that while Tess really opened up, she didn't tell Claire about Nick sleeping with someone else, and Tess finding them. Jodi wondered if Tess would ever tell Claire about it, or if she would hold that part back forever.
"I never knew all of that about Mum. I never knew how hurt she was. She hid it from me. I'm not mad at her about hiding it from me. It was her private feelings. I just feel really lucky that she was ready to share it today, and that she thought I was old enough now to understand. I do understand. I thanked her for making that heartbreaking choice to raise me here. I love Drovers Run and I love all of my family here. I've never felt as close to my mom as I do right now. I've never felt as close to all of you as I do right now. I've never been prouder to be a McLeod from Drovers Run. You have all helped each other through so much, and helped me. Our family is so special and I will protect all of you with everything I have," said Claire.
"We will all protect each other because we love each other. And you, Claire, are a very special part of this family," Stevie said.
"Thank you Stevie. I love being part of this family. I told Mom that she was so important to this family, and I told her she should open her heart for love. I told her that if she does stumble and her heart gets broken, we'd all be here to get her through it. I told her I'd carry her if it hurt too much to walk," said Claire.
"You are the wisest fourteen year old I've ever met Claire Ruth McLeod-Ryan. I'm glad our talk helped you talk to you mom," said Stevie.
Jodi, Stevie and Claire were all crawling on their hands and knees with tears of love just streaming from their eyes. They felt their love for each other was overflowing out of them. Jodi couldn't contain herself anymore, jumped on top of Claire, and hugged her tight. Stevie jumped on top of both of them and they just kept saying how much they loved each other. It was one of the oddest and truest group hugs any of them could imagine or remember.
"Stevie, Jodi, Claire? What are you doing here?" Why are you crying and hugging in my back garden? Is everything alright?" asked Jaz as she approached them.
They were so busy with their bonding moment, they never noticed Jaz walking up to them.
"Stevie, I thought you were going to town? What about my building permit request? Where's your ute?" asked Jaz.
"Well I was planning on going, but after I left, I realized I lost a contact lens and couldn't see that well so I came back here and I called Drovers to um, tell them I needed help finding the contact lense. Tess took my ute to town for the supplies and said she would drop off your file," explained Stevie.
"Jodi and Claire had been helping me look for the contact lens and then Claire told the funniest joke and we were all laughing so hard we started to cry and that just sort of turned into a group hug session," Stevie lied.
"Well, what is it then? I want in," Jaz replied.
"What is what? Jodi asked.
"The joke. I want to hear what was so funny. What was the joke you told, Claire?" pushed Jaz.
"Oh! The joke! It was, um. well, it, um, the joke, the joke went like this," Claire was racking her brain for a joke to tell Jaz. "There was a little penguin who lived on the South Pole with his mom and dad. One day, the penguin asked his parents if he was adopted. His parents were very surprised and said no, you're not adopted. We raised you from a little egg. We saw you break the shell and your first steps and everything. You're definitely not adopted. Okay, said the little penguin, but he still wasn't sure. He asked his parents again. Are you sure I wasn't adopted from anywhere and that I really am your little penguin? I just sometimes don't feel like a penguin at all. His parents reassured him again that he was their penguin son and that he was not adopted, but, still, the little penguin just wasn't sure. Are you certain I'm really a penguin? Yes, the parents said. Look at your feet. They're penguin feet. Look at your feathers. They're penguin feathers. Look at your beak. It's a penguin beak. Of course you're a penguin. Why do you doubt that you're a penguin, son? And the little penguin said, well, it's just that…I'm really cold, and I think I want to move to Darwin." Claire delivered the punchline perfectly.
Jaz laughed. "Good joke, Claire. I'll have to use that one later. Now let me in there." Jaz jumped on the pile of her cousins and gave all of them a big hug. "Unfortunately, I've got to go. I have a video session with Greg Mowery in five minutes. I just swung by the house to get some notes. I love you girls. I hope you find your contact lens, Stevie. I didn't even know you needed glasses. I guess you learn something new everyday," said Jaz as she walked away.
Jodi, Stevie, and Claire waved goodbye and sat silently until Jaz had walked away. Then they all burst into laughter.
"Good on ya, Claire! Great save with that penguin joke!" Jodi exclaimed
"Golly! Way to put me on the spot, Aunt Stevie! Thank God I heard that joke at school right before the holidays started," said Claire.
"Well, it was perfect. But, apparently, I need glasses from now on." said Stevie as her sides shook with laughter.
"Yes. Let's go back to searching for that missing contact lens," said Jodi as she laughed at the ridiculous situation they were all in.