Chapter 32 Untitled

It was weeks later. Still there was no sign of Rob and Jodi and they tried hard to keep things up at Drovers, but Stevie had a tough time. It had gone all so well till the moment Jodi disappeared. She thought about how happy Jodi had been with Rob, how it all was working out, and now there was this emptiness. She was missed.

These days Stevie felt the strong support of Alex and the closeness of her daughter. 'How can we make it without her?' Stevie said, a question she kept repeating. Regan rubbed her back, feeling the sadness of her cousin not being around. 'We only can do our best. Wherever she is, Jodi would want us to go on.' 'Or just sit down and drink a beer', Stevie said softly. 'That would be an option too', Regan softly smiled to her friend.

'You're doing a great job Steves. And don't forget you have me, Kate, Moira, Taylor and you know if you would ask Riley, he would help too.' Stevie sighed about the thought of Riley. He had left her training the last horse, but happily everything was finished before Jodi disappeared. Now he worked at Kinsella's and the rumor went there was something going on between Sandra and him, but that was the last thing Stevie worried about.

'And you have Alex', Regan added. Stevie looked at her, nodding softly, thinking of Alex. 'I know, he has been great, not only for me, but also for Rose. He's acting so strong while he has seen Jodi grow up and Rob was a good friend of him.' Somewhere Stevie was a bit worried about that. It sometimes felt he put so much effort in being strong just to support her that he would forget about his own feelings. But after all he was a guy so maybe this was the best way for him to deal with the constant doubt.

Rose had taken an extra working week cause of all the commotion and offered up her free vacation week for it. There only were a few days left till she would leave Drovers Run and Stevie didn't really know how to feel about it. She was thankful for the time she had with her daughter, but it had made her long for more. Rose on the other hand had made clear she wanted to come back to Drovers.

'I'm pretty curious how my stay at Michelle and Tom will turn out', Stevie said, looking at Alex who sat next to her. She would leave with Rose to talk things through. There was definitely a lot to talk about if Rose really wanted to come back to Drovers after she finished school. 'It will be all right', Alex said, glaring at the beer he was holding in his hand. 'Rose is old enough to make her own decisions. She will almost be eighteen when she can come back. Michelle and Tom have to understand that, besides Rose can visit them on a regular basis.'

It sounded all so easy, but Stevie wasn't sure if that would be the case. 'Anyway, if I don't see you anymore before you leave. I just wanna say I'm probably not around when you return', Alex said. 'Oh yeah you had a thing in Adelaide'. He had to laugh about the way she said it. It was some banking business for Killarney. 'A thing, you could call it like that. Anyway, I called Dave, gonna spend some time at his place.' Stevie looked up at him and smiled. She was glad he would go to Dave. 'Say hi from me'. 'I will. Well I'm gonna get some sleep, cause I'll have a early day tomorrow with the last working day of Rose.'

Stevie's stay at her sisters place wasn't that bad. She could see the hurt in Michelle eyes when Rose told her she wanted to go back to work on Drovers, but her sister knew there wasn't a way to talk her out of it. Working against her would only make her want to live with Stevie more. For now Rose had to go back to school to follow her last courses. If everything went well she would finish in eight months.

Stevie had a hard time to let go of Rose. 'Don't worry ... mum', she said the last word really softly so Michelle couldn't hear it. 'I'll come back and we will have lots of fun. Thanks so much for the stay and I hope you'll hear from Jodi soon. And say thank you to Alex once more, for everything. He's great, so you know what to do ...'

Rose could hardly stop talking, half hugging her mother. She winked making her last comment. Rose had been aware of the chemistry between Stevie and Alex and had figured she could be the reason why they not openly showed their feelings. She hoped that would be different when she returned.

Stevie was smiling through her tears. 'I'm gonna miss you so much'. She held her daughter in a strong embrace, seeing Michelle watching the two, knowing they had developed a strong bond and she couldn't help to feel jealous, after all she wasn't Rose's biological mother.

Alex' stay at Dave had been great, like good old times and he couldn't wait to tell Stevie about it and to hear how her visit had been. He even had confessed his feelings for Stevie towards Dave, who asked if there was someone in his life when he told Alex about his new girlfriend. Dave had picked up his life in the city and was truly happy with his move, but of course he had missed the countryside and Alex' friendship.

It wasn't remarkable that within a sec Stevie and Alex had found each other's company again when they were both back home. There wasn't much time to talk so they told each other a short version. 'A new girlfriend? Really?', Stevie said surprised and happy for Dave. Alex nodded. 'She's nice, met her, pretty, cute, bit of a weird sense of humor.' 'Perfect for Dave I see'. Alex had to laugh. 'Surely, those two together don't make sense for the common people'. For a moment they glared at each other, and a weak shy smile appeared on both of their faces.

'We should talk soon', Alex said while he prepared himself to leave to Killarney again. 'Why don't you come to my place the day after tomorrow.' Stevie nodded pleased, already looking forward to it. 'And take a six pack with you, will ya?' 'I shouldn't dare to show up without it', Stevie said teasingly.

'Good, I knew I could count on you.' Alex gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, saying goodbye. There was this light pleasing feeling washing over Stevie, seeing him walk away. She sighed, a smile on her face, her lower lip pressed inside. For a moment she felt like a lovesick puppy, hardly able to wait till she would see him again.