Chapter 77

Tess walked out of the bank and checked her phone. 6:25. She was right on time. She walked over to the Chinese restaurant and decided to send a text to Jodi.

She pulled out her phone and typed "About to meet up with Finn. Feeling nervous, but excited to see him."

She immediately received a text back. "You are gorgeous darling. Have a great date! ; )"

She smiled at her phone and looked up. There was Finn. He looked good. His hair was combed and wasn't covered by the baseball cap she had seen him wearing on all of their previous encounters. He was wearing a nice, blue button down shirt and dark brown Khakis with boots. He looked effortlessly masculine. Tess really liked what she saw.

"Tess, you look amazing. I love that color on you," said Finn.

"Thanks. You look really good too," replied Tess.

Finn bent down and gave her a hug. Tess liked how it felt and she held him close for an extra half second, allowing herself to linger just a little bit.

"Shall we?" Finn motioned to the door.

Stevie decided she needed to talk. She had a date tomorrow, but that wasn't the unusual part. It was who she had a date with. She was going out with a lawyer. Stevie knew she wouldn't have the same educational background as him. She dropped out of school when she had Rose. She found herself feeling intimidated about it. She had never intended to see James romantically. She was just trying to help a kid find a rodeo coach. She knew almost nothing about this man.

Why am I doing this? She wondered, as she accessed the situation.

I need a friend right now. What if he wants to talk about philosophy or fine literature? I'm in over my head, thought Stevie.

She dialed Tess's number. It rang twice and then went to voicemail.

"Damn." Stevie said as she tried Jaz next. They hadn't had tons of girl talk before, but she was basically her cousin, so they might as well get closer now.

"Hey, Stevie. What's up?" said Jaz.

"Hey. Are you busy?" asked Stevie.

"We just finished dinner. I'm helping Ben with the dishes," replied Jaz.

"I was hoping to have a little girl talk, actually. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Sure. I like girl talk. Let me just run upstairs. So i don't have Kelly singing in the background" Jaz felt honored that Stevie had called her. They didn't usually do this. "Okay. I'm in the bedroom. What's up?" Jaz asked.

"Um. So, I have a date tomorrow and I don't really know what I'm doing. He isn't like anyone I've ever dated before. He's a lawyer and knows nothing about farming or the rodeo. I might be out of my league here," said Stevie

"That's exciting. Who is the date with?" Jaz was smiling for her friend.

"His name is James. He has a son a couple years older than Xander," answered Stevie. "I didn't really plan on this. I had agreed to help him find a rodeo coach for his son and, when I was giving him the information, he asked me out. I was surprised, but he seemed very sincere, so I agreed. Now I'm regretting it. I don't know him very well, and I'm not sure we'll have anything to talk about.."

"Well, I reckon that's the purpose of a date. To get to know each other," teased Jaz. "So does his son go to school with Xander? Is that how you met him?"

"He actually lives out near Renmark. We met at Xander's rodeo last weekend. Xander and Joey finished first and second in the roping events. He approached me and asked if I would coach his kid because his ex-wife passed away, leaving his son without a mom or a coach. He said he doesn't know anything about rodeo, but that he was just trying to be supportive of his son because rodeo is his passion," said Stevie, who then explained how James was driving to meet her in Gungellan.

"Well, he sounds like a good man, at least, and a good father, stepping up for his son when he needed the support," said Jaz.

"Yeah. That's why I said yes. I don't think we will have very much in common, but he was kind, so I agreed to the date.

"It's nice of him to drive the extra distance to Gungellan when he is already driving so far. I reckon that means he really likes you," said Jaz.

"I know. I told him that was an awfully long way to go, but he said he would rather drive and eat with me in Gungellan than eat by himself in Fisher."

"That sounds promising, at least. It means he is sincerely interested," said Jaz. "So where are you going for the date?" she asked.

"We're having dinner at the pub. Nothing fancy. Just a chance to talk, I guess," said Stevie. "Although, I doubt we will have much to talk about. He is a solicitor. A highly educated man. I dropped out of high school after Rose. I don't know about all of the fancy academic stuff. He'd be better with Kate or Ingrid. They both have a doctor before their names. I only got my high school diploma by correspondence, years later," said Stevie, feeling ashamed of her lack of education.

"Oh, Stevie. Just because someone is well educated doesn't mean they only want to talk about fancy academic stuff, as you called it. You and Kate are close friends and she is 'highly educated', as you called it. So is Marcus, and you get along just fine with both of them," said Jaz, reminding her friend that she did know how to talk to people. "Just talk to him like any other person. He asked you out and he knows you're a rodeo legend. I don't think he is expecting you to have a hidden uni degree somewhere."

"Thanks, Jaz. I guess I'm just nervous because he is so different from other men I would normally date," said Stevie.

"Have you thought about what you're going to wear?" asked Jaz.

"I haven't really. I haven't thought about any of this. It was a completely spontaneous thing."

"Okay. Well do you want me to come over? We can look in your closet and create a plan," offered Jaz.

"Is that really something friends do before a date? I've always just tried to get ready on my own for a date. I never made a big deal of it," said Stevie. "I didn't like to bring attention to it for Xander's sake."

"I'll come over. It'll be fun," said Jaz.

"Okay."

Jaz checked with Ben to make sure he would be there for Kelly and headed over to Killarney for some girl talk with Stevie.