BlueMiles Baby --Watty Awards 2011--

Chapter 2: Timing

                    Tess turned into the drive of BlueMile Ranch, admiring the ripple in the fields of bluegrass and wheat that had given this ranch its name. The sun sent up its final salute as it set, giving way to the inky blue of the evening with a fireburst of golds and pinks and oranges dappling the sky and land around her.

 Taking the keys out of the ignition Tess hopped down from the high platform of the old pickup and headed towards the welcoming lights on the porch. Dusty and aching from a day’s long work she headed up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to wash off the dirt of the day in a hot bath and fall into bed.

 But a familiar voice stopped her before she’d gotten onto the first step; “Miss Pherson? Miranda’s set some dinner aside on the stove for you to warm up if you like – she said she would have stayed only tonight’s her turn for the bridge club”.

 Joseph, her groundskeeper stood in the dim light of the porch, and in the moment before her eyes focused to the light of the setting sun she could have sworn it was her father’s form standing there in the shadows.

“Thank you Joe, and how many times have I told you to call me Tess?” she chided gently “have you had your dinner yet?”

 “Yes thank you ma’am, I’m just headed home now if you’re not needing anything else fer the night”. Tess sent him a smile as he tipped his hat and walked out the door. The man was nearing his seventies but he still did everything around the ranch he’d done for her father 50 years ago when he’d come there to work as a boy.

Tess let her hand trail lightly up the polished oak of the staircase, smiling as she came to the top where there was a large triangular window that looked out over the property. Her property, she decided, and no one and nobody was going to make her leave she told herself firmly.

At first it had been little things, small accidents that could easily be overlooked as bad luck. Jimmy, her main horseman taking a fall that had badly broken his wrist; the stable doors being left unlocked and open so that the horses ran out two or three times, but more recently the strange occurrences had taken on a more sinister tinge.  

Two of her cows had gone unaccounted for when the herd returned from the grazing field, and the porch steps – which had seemed sturdy as anything – suddenly collapsing and falling through one day as her housekeeper Miranda had gone in the house, twisting her ankle badly – although it could have been much worse she told herself pragmatically.

 All the same, her gut feeling was that something was amiss at BlueMiles. Although that wasn’t her only gut feeling these days. Morning, noon and night nausea were her constant companions.

 She kicked her jeans into the dirty clothes hamper and automatically slid a hand to her belly.  Keeping her hand there as she walked into the adjoining bathroom she turned and studied her profile in the mirror.

 At 10 weeks pregnant she’d just started to be able to feel a new firmness in her belly and her waist had started to thicken as well. The baby in her belly only made about a hand’s worth of bump, but she loved it – well, him or her – she mentally corrected herself, already.

She probably would have waited a lot longer to advertise for help if it hadn’t been for that bulge in her waistline. She sighed and reached over to turn on the hot water for the shower.

She let her head fall back as the hot water sluiced over her tired body. It felt like heaven after riding around the property’s perimeter today to check fences and then getting up the nerve to post her ad in the bar.

She groaned, eurgh and to top it all off she’d been manhandled by that leering farmhand. Although Colton Derricks had come to her rescue before she was even sure she really needed it.

 A heat that had nothing to do with the warm water started deep in the pit of her belly, coiling wanton tendrils around her core. But there was no use dwelling on what she couldn’t have and what she didn’t want – she told herself. As she massaged shampoo into her hair she let her mind drift to a few months back.

She’d come home early from a show where she’d purchased some livestock, her greatest catch of the day being a pregnant heifer from prize winning stock that had gone up for auction suddenly.

 As she pulled in, she saw her boyfriend of four months – Paul swinging his leg up into his black 4 x 4. “That’s odd” she thought, “Why would he leave before I got home?”

 “Hey darlin’, what’s your rush?” she had pulled up next to his truck and gotten out, stepping up on the platform to the driver’s seat and leaning in for a kiss. Paul looked none too pleased to see her, and she could see his foot itching to press on the gas.

 “Tess honey, you knew I couldn’t stay here long. There’s an opportunity for me up in Jacksonville that I plan on checking out”. Tess hadn’t been able to say anything for the first moment, only looking into those brown eyes she’d fallen into without a second thought months ago after he’d swept into town with a new job.

 “Now Tess, don’t look like that, we had fun, but that was it. You didn’t think we were gettin’ serious now did you”. At her hurt expression he’d laughed and chucked her under the chin, something she hated. “Ain’t no such thing as a fairytale Tess”. And with that parting remark he drove off, leaving Tess in the dust.

But she had believed in fairytales and true love, and Paul had been so charming and handsome. She didn’t make a habit of jumping into bed with men she’d only known for a short while, but Paul had seemed so right for her, so easygoing – that when he’d brought her to a hotel room their third week of dating she couldn’t bring herself to say no to him.

And then he’d left her, although without knowing it, he’d left a part of himself here as well.

Wrapping a towel around herself she put a reassuring hand to her tummy. “It’s alright little one, we’re gonna be just fine without him. Better even” she murmured, and after the first month of denial she believed it too.

 When she’d finally managed to track him down he wasn’t even in Tennessee anymore, he’d moved on to Arkansas and a sweet young thing had picked up the phone when she’d called. His new girlfriend, she found out when he got around to calling her back at the insistence of his new girlfriend.

When she told him about the baby, there’d been silence on the other line. When he finally got around to speaking his voice took on that tone she knew so well, that silver tongued tone that could get any woman anywhere to do as he asked.

 “Now honey, you’ll be fine. Listen to me, you don’t need me around, you’ll get along fine”.

“But what about the baby?” she had pressed him, didn’t he want a part in his child’s life? His answer had come quick and clear, he had no children that he was aware of and he didn’t plan on getting any anytime soon and he’d fight her in court if she came after him from child support.

“How am I even supposed to know the damn thing’s mine? Why didn’t you just get rid of it? I’ll send you the money for that Tess just go to a clinic and get rid of it”.

She’d hung up, not needing to hear another word, and not knowing if she could listen to him another moment without being sick – and that wasn’t because of the morning sickness.

But although she loathed its father, she loved this baby dearly – from the moment the stick turned blue and she’d gotten over her initial shock a warm glow had settled over her along with a thin veil of fear.

 And she was going to do right by her baby, that’s why she was hiring an extra hand slash hired gun.  “Even though she was going to have to bleed her savings dry to do it” she thought wryly as she pulled on an oversize cotton t-shirt and fell into bed, and she was unconscious before she hit the pillow.