Chapter 15

It had been a few weeks since Alex had proposed to Claire and they were as happy as they had ever been. They had used the last two days on moving Alex's stuff into Drover's and they could finally see an end to it. Claire was standing in the middle of her bedroom - or their bedroom now, she couldn't believe all this stuff he had. She picked up an old toy car from one of the boxes and frowned at it before smiling.
"Hey, easy with that" Alex said and rushed to her side. He took the toy car out of her hand, and gently studied it for any fractions, before putting it back in the box. "What? It's my whole collection from childhood" he said as he saw Claire's confused look on her face. His collection meant everything to him and he was really picky about who got to hold them. Claire smiled at him and let out a small laugh, it was just cars, she couldn't really see what the big deal was. "What are you doing?" Claire asked as Alex started to place some of the cars on one of the shelves on the wall. "They fit in nicely there, don't you think?" he said as he took a step back and admired his cars. "You must be kidding" Claire said and walked to shelf "These, goes back in there and into the basement" she said and looked at him with a confident look.
"What, Claire - come on" he said. But he knew it was pointless to argue any further with her as she placed both hands on her sides and shook her head. "Yeah yeah, I'll bring them to the basement" Alex said with a bit of sadness in his voice - He really liked his collection but he also knew it had been a long shot, for Claire to allow them in the bedroom. Hmm, maybe I could sneak them onto a shelf in the study he thought to himself as he started to put the cars back in the box.
"Where do you want this?" Nick asked from the doorway holding a box in his hand. "That depends on the content of the box" Claire said with a laugh and walked to his side to take a look. She quickly rummaged through it to see if there was anything worth keeping of Alex's things, but it was mostly some old books and car magazines. "Alex?" she asked and turned to him with a magazine in her hand. "That box can go to the basement" he said and removed the last car from the shelf. "Basement it is" Nick said before leaving the bedroom again. Claire placed herself on the edge of the bed and studied how gentle Alex was with his car, they really meant a lot to him, didn't they? She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, he was always this macho man in everything he did, except when it came to BOM and from what she could she, his prized collection of cars. "I moved your lamp to the other side of the bed, and I put mine down on this side" he said and walked closer to her. Claire looked to her left to see her lamp replaced by his, she looked back at him with a cheeky smile. "And why is that?" she said and got up from the bed. "Well, 'cause I sleep on this side" Alex said and pointed to the bed "and you always sleep on the other side, so I kindly moved your lamp" he continued and placed his hands around her waist. "What if I want to sleep on your side?" Claire asked and frowned. "You can't, live with it" he said and placed a kiss on her mouth. She couldn't help herself from laughing at his comment - She couldn't wait to see what the future had in hold for them.
A gentle knock interrupted their moment and Nick once again came in sight in the door. "Sorry to disturb" he said, knowing he had just walked in on them. "I just took the last box out of the car - so I'm heading back to Wilgul now".
"You don't want to stay for dinner?" Claire asked and walked towards him. "Nah I better get home, still have a few things to get done before it get's dark" he said and tapped on the door with his fingers. Claire nodded in response to his answer, she could understand him - Running a property alone wasn't easy and you always have to race time. "You sure you'll get by without me?" Alex laughed and walked to their side. "Please mate, I got by fine before you came - I reckon I'll get more done without you hanging around all day, slacking" Nick's remark got all three of them to laugh. "Is that right?" Alex said and placed his arm around Claire's shoulder. "Yeah, watch out for him Claire - the next you know you'll be doing his boxers" Nick said with a laugh before leaving the room. Claire turned her head to Alex "I'm not doing your boxers" she said with big eyes and a laugh.


"You leaving already?" Tess asked as she saw Nick on his way to his ute. "Yeah, I have a few things I need to get done before it get's too dark" he said and turned to her. "Why don't you stay for dinner? Celebrate Claire and Alex" Tess asked with a smile.
"Claire already offered - See you tomorrow" he said a opened the car door with a smile. "Actually Nick. There is something I have been meaning to ask you" Tess said - she had been doing a lot of thinking lately, on how she could add something to Drover's. She already had the organic wheat with Nick, but she was eager to have some more on her plate. "I've been thinking about a breeding program with the alpacas" she said and awaited his reaction. She knew everyone around her thought the alpacas was a bit of a joke, but Nick didn't. He was the only one who took her serious. "Yeah?" he said halfway in.
"Yeah, and I thought you could help me with a business plan or something - since you are quite good at stuff like that"
"I would love to" he said and smiled. Tess could ask him anything and he would do it, anything for being near her. "What does Claire say about it?" he asked and closed the door to his ute. "Well, she doesn't exactly know yet." she said with a nervous smile. She had put off the topic about the breeding program as long as she could, she knew Claire wasn't too keen on having the alpacas in the first place. Nick shook his head and laughed. "Good thing I ain't going to be around tonight then, she'll have a stroke - I'll come by tomorrow, then we can sit down and go through everything, yeah?"
"Yeah, that sounds good" Tess said with a smile and waved him off. All that was left to do now, was telling Claire about her big plan and hope she wouldn't throw it out of the window.
"This looks really good Meg" Tess said as she joined the others around the table. She was starving and Meg's chicken pie looked really delicious. "Oh, it's nothing" Meg said trying to hide her enthusiasm. "It sure does" Alex said and started to dig in. They were all laughing, eating, talking, having a good time. Claire found herself feeling extraordinarily happy - This was what would be in store for her in the future and she loved the idea about it. She and Tess finally had the family they had missed out on as kids, and knowing BOM would be surrounded by all of these people who loved her unconditionally almost brought tears to her eyes - Sure she missed Jack around, but this was indeed the next best thing. "Can we just raise our glasses for the changes around Drover's and the happy couple" Terry said. He for once had joined them during dinner, which was a rare sight even though he had been living at the cottage with Meg for some time now. Alex smiled at Claire and took her hand, he couldn't believe how blessed he was and soon he would have the honor of calling her his wife.
"I have some news as well" Tess said and smiled. She was ready to tell Claire and the others about her alpaca plans, it was now or never. "I've decided I want to start an alpaca breeding program." Claire stopped her eating and looked up from her plate. "Please tell me I didn't just hear that?" she said and stared at Tess. Alex and Jodi were busy trying to keep their laughs in. "You have your horses and training to do - I need something as well to keep busy with. Beside, it would be another income for Drover's, which we could use" Tess said, trying to get Claire, well the others as well, to see the logic. "But you have your wheat?" Claire said and took a bite of her food. "Come on Claire, what do you expect me to do with that? Look at it in the ground?" Tess asked. The wheat couldn't really keep her occupied and it wasn't all that fun to work with either. "Nick is coming by tomorrow to go through a business plan" she said and sipped of her wine. "You didn't think to discuss it with me before starting on a business plan?" Claire said a bit annoyed about the fact Tess didn't involve her in the plans - it was her place after all, or theirs. She knew Tess had the right to take on whatever business she found suiting, but she would have wished and hoped for her to go through it with her - she had after all been living on Drover's all her life and somewhere deep down, she still felt she should have the final say in what gives and takes. "That's why I'm telling you now" Tess said. "I didn't think of it as a big deal or anything". The others were quiet and Alex and Jodi no longer felt the urge to laugh, it was obvious to them that Claire was trying to keep herself from bursting out in a minor fit. Claire was about to open her mouth and tell Tess off, when Charlotte dropped the spoon she was trying to hold in her little hand and made Claire change her focus from Tess to her. She soften up as soon as saw the smile on Charlotte's face and she couldn't help but smile - Maybe she had been too hard on Tess, if she really wanted to do this, she wouldn't stand in her way. "You gotta take care of all the financials yourself - And I don't have time on my hands to check up on them either" Claire said, to everyone's surprise.
"Yup, of course" Tess said and sent her sister a smile, she didn't expect it to be this easy to convince her.


"I think we should start using the legs more with him" Claire said and jumped down from Casino and walked towards the fence where Alex was standing with Charlotte in his arms. "I reckon we should keep using the arms, it makes him jump much better" Alex said and started to rock Charlotte gently from side to side. "Yeah but with some more leg work, the jump would come more naturally and it doesn't look forced as well" She said and crawled over the fence.
"Hey guys"
"G'day Nick" Claire shouted to him and turned her head towards the house. "Have you guys seen Tess?" he asked and stood still. "Yeah she is probably in the study or on the veranda". Nick nodded to Claire to let her know he had heard her and made his way to the house. He didn't find her in the study and made his way to the veranda and there she was. Wearing her work clothes like no other could, she always managed to look as if she hadn't been working at all - most of the times anyway.
"Nick, hey" She said as she noticed him in the door. "I've found everything" she said and pointed to the table full of paperwork. "You want something to drink?"
"Yeah, a drink would be nice" he said and took a seat at the table. She came back with glass of iced lemonade. "Let's get to work" she said with a smile and placed herself on the other side of the table.
After a good hour they got interrupted by Alex and Claire's laughs from the distance. Tess turned her head towards the driveway as they came closer. They had been together for a while now and they still acted like they were on cloud nine. "It must be nice" Nick said and interrupted Tess in her wonder on their secret to still be in love. "What?" she asked and turned her head to Nick. "Knowing you have found the one person you can't live without" he said and leant back in the chair. Tess looked at him, he was right. Sometimes she wished she could be more like Claire, she had truly found her love and she wasn't scared to show it or rely on it. "I'm not sure I could ever give myself to a person like that" she said and broke her stare from Nick. Truth be told, she missed everything Claire had but she was too scared to go for what she really wanted, what if something went wrong?
"Maybe you just haven't found the right person?" Nick asked with a curious look. His words made her look at him once again. She had found the right person, he was sitting right in front of her - Nick was the only one that always supported her, even if her ideas was a bit crazy. He was the only one she could see a future with, a feeling she had never had with anyone before - still she was too scared to do anything about it. "What if I have found that person, but the problem is me?" she said and gazed at him. He couldn't help but feel his heart beat a little faster as they looked in each other's eyes. Was she talking about him? They both knew there was something between them, but they had never acted on it - he didn't exactly know why. He placed himself on the edge on the chair without taking his look from her. "If you have found that special someone, you gotta let yourself fall and trust he will catch you." he sure would catch her, without a doubt. "How do I know he will catch me?" Tess asked and sent him a shy smile. "He will" Nick said. Before they knew it their heads were millimeters away from each other, and none of them knew how they had moved so close to each other. Tess felt her heart skip a beat as she could feel his breath on her lips, just as she was about to let her mouth meet his, they got interrupted by Claire's voice.

"Tess?"
"Out here" Tess said and pulled away from Nick with a startled look. "Can you look after BOM for a half an hour? I need to pick up the sheep cutter at Vincent's place, he lend the other day". Claire asked. "Oh, I'm going through the business plan with Nick" Tess said. "I think we are done with pretty much everything for now" Nick said and got up from the chair. He walked to Claire and gave Charlotte a little tickle before turning his head to Tess. "We can talk later" he said and walked towards his ute. "Did I interrupt something?" Claire asked as she had noticed how Nick's last word came out. Tess shook her head and got up from the chair. "No you haven't. Come here little BOM" she said and freed Claire's arm. "What shall we play with, huh?" Tess asked her niece and walked towards the sandbox Alex had build beside the veranda. Tess couldn't believe how fast time had gone by these past months, and she found herself gazing when Claire placed herself on the edge of the sandbox. "You back already?" Tess asked, didn't she just leave? "Yeah, I told you a half an hour - you ok?" Claire asked and shoved to her sister's shoulder. She looked like she was in a whole different world, like she had a lot of thinking to do. "Look, I'm sorry about last night with the alpacas and all that, I was a bit too harsh on you" Claire said, afraid it was her fault Tess was lost in her own world. "What?" Tess asked Claire, she hadn't heard one word - her mind was busy thinking of Nick. They almost kissed before Claire interrupted them and she needed to figure out what that meant. "I have to go" Tess said and placed her hand on Claire's knee to pick herself up. Claire frowned and looked at Tess back as she disappeared into the house. "Auntie is a bit out of place sometimes, huh?" Claire said and placed herself in the sand with Charlotte to meet her in the little play she had going on.


Tess soon found herself outside of Wilgul - She couldn't forget about what almost happened earlier and she needed to talk to Nick about it. She was determined as ever to figure what was going on between them, once and for all. But as soon as he stood in front of her she lost all the guts she had gathered - it was too risky.
"What's up?" he asked her and walked closer. He felt drawn to her and he could feel she did as well, but something stopped her from coming any closer. "I eh .. I need help with the alpaca shed" Tess said and looked away from him. "Are you sure that is all you want to ask me?" he said and took a step forward. He kept trying to catch her eyes but she wouldn't allow it, if she did she would fall and she just simply couldn't allow that. "Tess .. " he said in a gentle voice as he tilted her head and forced her to look at him - he knew she felt it, he could see it in her eyes. For a few seconds she was captured by his touch and look, but her mind hurried on her to pull away from him, so she did. "Can you come by someday when you have the time?" she asked and hurried back to Oscar. She needed to get away from him, this was getting too awkward for her to handle. "Tess!" Nick shouted at her as she rode off and soon the only trail she left was the dust from Oscar's hoofs. He kicked the ground under him, why was it this difficult for her? He had done nothing but being patience, couldn't she see he wanted what was best for her and nothing else?

"Thought you would be out here" Claire said as she walked to the table outside at the veranda. "Mmmh" was the only thing Tess could answer her, her mind was spinning with thoughts about what had happened with Nick. "What's wrong?" Claire asked and pulled out a chair and made herself comfortable - it was a bit chilly with the evening air so she covered herself up in the blanket Tess had around her legs. Tess turned her head and looked Claire in the eyes, if someone would have told her 4 years ago that she would be sitting with her sister by her side, she wouldn't have believed them. "Is it Nick?" Claire asked and got her out of her thoughts. How could she know? Tess thought for herself. She nodded in response, didn't know what to say. "Tess .. A word of advise" Claire said and turned her upper body to face Tess. "Nick is very sensitive, he is not like other guys"
"I know that" Tess said a bit accusing. "My point is. If you want him, tell him, don't let him go around hoping whatever you two have, can lead to anything, if you aren't sure you want it" Claire said and hardened her stare to make sure Tess understood where she was coming from. "You think I'm playing him?" Tess asked in self defense. She wasn't playing with him, she would never do that and how could Claire even assume that was what she was doing?! "No! That was not what I meant" Claire said "All I'm saying is he won't wait around forever" Claire begged her to understand, but without luck - Tess was already up from the chair and on her way into the house. "If you think for one second I'm having fun with this, you are wrong - I'm going to bed" but she turned around one more time before leaving. "And you should be the last to talk about playing with someone .. Claire - Goodnight" She instantly regretted the last words, why did she even say that? She shook her head and walked with great pace towards her room. She wished everybody could get off her back when it came to Nick, and would stop telling her what to do and not to do.
Tess's words lingered to Claire's thoughts as she found her way to the bedroom - she was mad and hurt at the same time. She couldn't believe Tess had used her situation to justify what was going on with Nick, it wasn't the same thing. Claire slammed the door a bit too hard as she walked into the bedroom. "Aigh, you gonna wake Charlotte" Alex said and quickly looked at the crib at the end of their bed. "Do you think I played with your feelings?" Claire asked him directly and placed herself in front of him. "What?" Alex asked, not knowing where all this came from. "Do you?" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down because of Charlotte. "I don't understand what you are on about Claire" he said and placed himself beside her.
"Back then, with Peter and the pregnancy - everything Alex. Did I play with your feelings?" She said, making sure to cut it out for him. Alex sighed and shook on his head, he thought they were past this months ago. "Why are you bringing this up now?" he asked and looked her in the eyes, he could see she was hurt and angry. "Tess told me I was playing with your feelings when I talked to her about her and Nick" Claire said and crossed her arms. "You know, sometimes people say things they don't mean when they are angry - I reckon you should forget about it and come to bed" Alex said and stroke her hair. Claire looked into his bright blue eyes and got lost in them - he was the only one that could calm her down like this, and without him even saying a word to assure her she didn't play with him, she knew what he thought - Words weren't necessary. "I'm sorry" she said and smiled at him. Alex leant in to kiss her on the cheek and patted her on the arm. "Come to bed and get some sleep" he said and gave her a cheeky smile.