“I’m okay now, I’m ready.”

When Clay opened her eyes, she saw something that might have been regret pass across Tess’s face, before Tess smiled fleetingly and slid out of the car. In the next second, Ella leaned in, one hand extended. Clay grasped it and slowly climbed out of the vehicle. As she stood, Ella’s hand came to rest on her waist where Tess’s had been, respectful and supportive. Ella’s boundaries had always been unassailable, but she somehow still let Clay know she cared.

“Thanks,” Clay said.

Ella said, “I’m glad the original owner had that elevator put in so he could get upstairs from his car without people seeing him in the main house. Can you make it?”

“If we go slow,” Clay muttered. Every breath was a punch in the chest and her stomach was back to threatening revolt. She was not going to get sick in front of Tess.

“Lean on me if you need to,” Ella said.

Tess closed the SUV door and stepped away. “I’ll be going.”

“Tess, wait.” Clay searched frantically for some way to keep Tess from walking away. What could she say? Can you forget why I came—who I am? What I’ve done? What I will do? With no words that might not be lies, she called, “Thanks.”

Tess looked back over her shoulder. “Listen to Ella. Get some rest.”

Clay stood still, letting Ella think she needed another minute to get her legs under her, but really just waiting until Tess disappeared around the corner. Suddenly more tired than she could ever recall, she sagged slightly. Ella was there, her arm sliding more firmly around Clay’s waist. Ella was taller than Tess, more muscular, and when Clay let herself lean into her, Ella’s scent was cool and crisp, like an ocean breeze. Tess was earth, Ella the sea.

“Did you know she’d be all tied up in this before we got here?” Ella asked.

“No,” Clay said. “I knew she’d be here, but not right in the middle of it all. I walked into this pretty much blind.”

“Maybe you should walk out again.”

Clay tensed and a shaft of the pain pierced her chest. She drew a shallow breath. “They’ll just send someone else. At least with me, she’ll get a fair deal.”

“You might not want to voice that opinion out loud.” Ella guided Clay toward the back entrance. “Especially around any of the project people. Their loyalty is to the one whose name is on their paycheck.”

“I guess I’m lucky you’re not a corporate spy, then.” Clay waited while Ella opened the door and held it for her. “Although I imagine you’ve been asked to provide intelligence on me.”

Ella met her gaze. “The corporation provides my paycheck, but I’ve always considered that I work for you. Not NorthAm Fuel.”

“Or my father?”

Ella’s gaze didn’t waver. “Or your father.”

“But he’s asked you, hasn’t he? To keep him updated?”

“Of course, frequently.” Ella smiled. “You have been known to drop off the grid.”

“And since we’ve been here?”

“Yes.”

A cold hand reached in and squeezed Clay’s heart. “Did he mention Tess?”

The rippling blue seas in Ella’s eyes iced over. Polar caps, dense and impenetrable. “Yes.”

Clay gritted her teeth. “When?”

“Apparently you weren’t answering your phone for anyone last night, not just me. He wanted a progress report. I informed him you’d probably have something for him soon, and I’d pass on the message.”

“And?”

“He asked about landowners, and he mentioned Tess.” Ella pressed the button to call the small elevator down to their level. “He wanted to know if she presented any kind of special problems.”

“Special problems.” Clay started to shake her head and abruptly stopped when a geyser of pain shot out the top of her skull. “By that he means am I losing my perspective. Taking my eye off the ball.”

Ella regarded her steadily. “Are you?”

The elevator door slid open and Clay stepped inside. “No.”



* * *

Tess walked quickly through the early-morning streets. At not quite six on a Saturday morning, the usual hustle and bustle of contractors, electricians, and other tradesmen ferrying supplies from the Agway and hardware store to pickups and flatbeds was absent. Farmers were busy with morning chores in barns and fields, and truckers with long-distance hauls had grabbed breakfast in the diner at three or four a.m. and were long gone. A runner or two passed by, barely noticing her, absorbed in the music from their iPods or the beat of their own hearts. An elderly woman being pulled along by a squat, fat dachshund smiled and gave her a wave. Tess waved back and a bit of the fatigue weighing on her shoulders lifted away.

“Beautiful day,” the woman said.

“Yes, it is,” Tess replied absently, her attention on her truck. The Ford was where she’d left it the night before, three blocks from the bed-and-breakfast, across the street from the now-closed Sly Fox Tavern. She slowed as she approached, eyeing Jimmy Larsen, who leaned against the front of her truck.

“Jimmy?” Tess asked.

The young man spun around, saw her, and smiled broadly. “Hi, Ms. Rogers. I saw your truck sitting out here and thought maybe I should keep an eye on it. It was here all night, right?”

“Thanks, Jimmy.” Feeling awkward, Tess halted by the driver’s door. “Are you working at the feed store today?”

“Not till noon.” Jimmy loped around the front of the truck to join her.

Tess wanted to get home, but he’d been trying to do her a favor and she appreciated the thought, however unnecessary. “How’d you know my truck was here since last night?”

“Oh.” Jimmy shrugged. “Everybody heard about what happened pretty quick. I came over to see, but you were busy. When I saw the truck still here this morning, I figured you’d be back for it sooner or later.”

“Well, it was probably safe but I appreciate you looking after it.” Tess pulled her keys from her pocket where they’d been all night. She’d left the house with nothing but her wallet and keys, not expecting to be out very long. Luckily she’d managed to hold on to both, although she had no memory of putting her keys in her pocket when she’d heard the crash. Her stomach lurched. When she’d heard the truck hit Clay. God, she could have been killed.

“You okay, Tess?” Jimmy asked, moving a step closer.

“Yes, fine,” Tess said, smiling to prove her point. “But I’m running late. Thanks again.”

“Oh sure, anytime.” He gripped the top of her door when she unlocked it, pulling it the rest of the way open, holding it for her as if she were about to enter a fine hotel. She slid behind the wheel and reached for the handle to pull it closed. He looked much bigger standing beside the truck, looming over her, than he had when she was outside. “Bye, Jimmy.”

His smile never wavered. “So how is she? The one from the drilling company.”

“She’s fine. Luckily nothing serious.” Tess didn’t want anyone thinking Clay was vulnerable, even though she had no reason to believe Clay was still in danger.

“I guess she was lucky this time, huh?”

“This time?” A chill raced down Tess’s spine.

“Well, you know, accidents and stuff are pretty common in that line of work.”

“I suppose so. Although this had nothing to do with her work.”

He was silent for a moment. Then nodded slowly. “I suppose not.”

Tess tugged on the door. “Well, I’d better be going. Chores.”

“Right.” He let go of the door and stepped back an inch. “If you need me to put in some extra hours or want anything delivered special, you just let me know. Anytime.”

“I’ll do that. Bye now.” She pulled the door closed and carefully eased the truck forward, afraid she might run over his feet if he didn’t move back a little bit more. Finally he did.

She turned the corner and at last she was free. Heading toward home, she rolled down her windows to let in the morning air and the first heat of the day swept in with it. She wondered if Clay was asleep yet. If Ella was with her. For an instant, she imagined Ella sitting on the side of Clay’s bed, her hand resting on Clay’s shoulder or her face. The intimacy pierced her and she ruthlessly cut the image from her mind. “It’s not your place to wonder. Or to care. Why can’t you remember that?”

As she drove the last few miles to the farm, she forced herself to review the things she needed to do that day. By the time she arrived, she’d almost forgotten the worry-filled hours in the hospital, the press of Clay’s face against her abdomen, and the way Clay’s arm circled her waist—possessively, trustingly. She might have forgotten all of it if she hadn’t still felt Clay’s hair gliding between her fingertips and the warmth of her breath against her skin.

The sight of her big red barn standing sentry over the sweeping fields of corn and soybeans and hay soothed away the hard edges of the night, and she pulled into the dirt lot in front of the main barn with a sigh of relief. So good to be home. Cutting the engine, she jumped out and hurried inside. Tomas already had the last of the cows in the milking stations.

“I’m so sorry,” Tess said. “I couldn’t get back in time.”

“That’s all right, I heard what happened. Everything’s all right now, I hope.”

“Yes, I think so.” She watched the creamy milk flowing through the clear tubes to the vacuum pipes. “How was the yield this morning?”

“About the same. So far, the feed is holding up and they’re all looking pretty good. The well is starting to run a little low, though.” He shook his head and stated the obvious. “We sure could use some rain.”

“Yes. We could.”

Tess kept busy in the barn, checking the calves and waiting for the vet. They didn’t finish with the examinations, the paperwork, the vaccinations, the tagging, and all the other things she needed to do to certify to the state that her herd was healthy until midday. Finally, with nothing more than lunch and a cool glass of lemonade on her mind, she drove back along the road that bordered the farm and turned into her drive. Pete Townsend’s truck was parked in her dooryard. Sighing, she got out and found him sitting on the steps of her front porch. “Hi, Pete.”