Welcome Home, Tessa [Allure, Wyoming] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Madison Maxwell

  “Well, she is gonna be three years old in a couple months. She’s talking nonstop and is the smartest little thing you ever did see. Wait till you see her. She’s as cute as her momma with a temper to match. Plus, it’s more of an in-home daycare and we thought it would be a good idea for her to spend some time away from Annie so she can get used to sharing her and playing with other kids and all since Sophie is gonna have a little brother or sister in about six months.” Brad looked at both his sisters with a huge smile spread across his face.

  “Oh my God! Did you know?” Tessa turned and asked Ally.

  “No. Do Mom and Dad know?” Ally asked Brad.

  “No, we haven’t told anyone yet. We were gonna make the announcement at the Sunday family dinner, but since that’s not happening I can’t wait any longer to share the good news. I’ll tell Mama and Daddy when I go to the hospital tomorrow. Maybe that will brighten things up a bit and give Grandpa a little more incentive to get better faster. He always wanted a grandson to go fishing with so maybe the thought of us having a boy will help, although Sophie sure did like fishing with Grandpa when Dad and I took her a couple weeks ago.”

  “Well congrats, big brother. I can’t wait to meet Sophie and I promise I’ll be around more for my new little niece or nephew. How is Annie feeling? Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “She’s hanging in there, doing as well as expected. She’s tired and the morning sickness is kicking her butt, which is to be expected, but otherwise she’s one happy mama. Hopefully all the morning sickness will pass soon. Seems to be worse this time than last though, so maybe that means we will be having a boy.” Brad’s expression was that of one proud papa. “I think that it would be a good idea to still have Sunday dinner together tomorrow before Ally heads back to school for the week. That way you can also come out and see the ranch. Maybe if you come early enough we could see if this city girl can still ride a horse.” Brad glanced at Tessa with a teasing smile.

  “Oh my, I haven’t been on a horse for over six years.” Tessa had loved to ride and did every chance she could. Lanni’s parents had horses and they had spent many hours riding. Brad spent the majority of his time over at the Collins’ ranch. The oldest son Mitch was Brad’s best friend in high school and they were still as close as ever. Both of them rode in the rodeo chasing eight all through high school and then continued to compete. Even after Brad had hung up his rope, Mitch competed for another year until his parents were killed in a car accident and he had to come home and take over the ranch. The responsibility of the ranch would have been enough for a twenty-three year old, but Mitch also took over being a parent to his seventeen-year-old sister Della, and his fifteen-year-old twin brothers Kyle and Colton.

  Mitch Collins had to be one of the sexiest, most drop-dead-gorgeous men on the planet from what Tessa remembered. He had a swagger that could bring a woman to her knees and melt like butter in a sizzling fry pan. In fact all the Collins boys did. Sam was in the middle of the five boys and had graduated with Tessa. She had been so in love with him in high school, but he never even knew she existed. Once in a while he would show up at the house when Mitch stopped by to see Brad, and Tess fantasized that he was there to see her, to tell her that he had wasted enough time, that he didn’t care what anyone thought, and that he wanted them to be together. That thought made Tessa remember the very vivid dream she had had on the plane. But those kinds of dreams never came true. Men like the Collins brothers could have any woman they wanted and they were all way out of Tessa’s league, even now.

  The Collinses had always had a very successful ranch, not only breeding horses, but now some of the best beef in the country came from the cattle they raised. Brad said that all the brothers still worked from sunup to sundown except for Della and the twins, who were still in college. Brad did a lot of business with them, providing the stud service for their mares. They had a slew of hired hands, but they worked harder than any of them. Being involved was what made it more successful than ever before. Plus Brad said that Mitch didn’t want to let his parents down.

  Rance was two years younger than Mitch and Tessa had really never known that much about him. He had always kept to himself and was quiet. She had never seen him with girls when he was in high school and he wasn’t a flirt like Mitch and Sam. Rance was dark and mysterious and sometimes she wondered if high school girls were just too immature for him. He had the total bad-boy look. Even when he would come over to their house with Mitch to hang out with Brad, he rarely said anything. He had piercing, blue, erotic eyes. His dark features added to the bad-boy dangerous magnetism that flowed off him in waves.

  Mitch was the all-around nice guy. He had come to Tessa’s rescue many times at school when she was getting picked on. Sometimes it was his brother Sam that was doing the picking and Mitch really let him have it. It was nice of him to look out for his best buddy’s little sister and it gave Tessa endless sweet dreams when she closed her eyes, sometimes dreaming about Sam and other times dreaming about her hero Mitch, and as she got older, sometimes dreams about both of them together.

  Mitch seemed to take care of everyone, but who took care of him? From what Brad said, Mitch hadn’t married and didn’t have a steady girlfriend. Surely he must be lonely and the burden on his shoulders had to be weighing him down.

  Then there was Sam. Tessa just couldn’t figure out why he had always been so mean to her. She never bothered him, watched him from afar so he would never know how she really felt about him, but he still went out of his way when he saw her just to do something to make her feel inadequate. Even after all the years of him treating her so bad, she still was so in love with him that it sometimes physically hurt. She hadn’t seen him in over six years. Would she still feel the same way once she did see him? There was just something about him though that had stuck with her. She secretly hoped that her time at home would help her get over him so she could move on and seriously look for Mr. Right when she got back to Seattle. Maybe after all this time when she finally saw Sam, that spark wouldn’t be there and she could finally put the past behind her and look to the future. She definitely didn’t need to have any more dreams about it.

  Even though the three brothers were extremely different, they all had the same sex appeal that would make a woman’s heart beat faster and dampen her panties. Mitch had brown hair that always curled at the ends under his cowboy hat that he had on his head at all times. Tessa couldn’t remember ever seeing him without his hat. Rance’s hair was dark brown, almost black, and Sam had dirty-blond hair. Rance kept his shorter, but long enough to comfortably run your fingers through. Sam let his hair grow longer, hitting his shoulders. It was beautiful and Tessa would daydream about running her fingers through the silky, wavy strands of Sam’s hair. Tessa wondered if it was still long after all these years. All of them had the longest eye lashes she had ever seen, lashes that would make any woman envious, surrounding the most beautiful pale blue eyes. A girl could get lost looking into eyes like theirs. Tess had gotten lost in those eyes the times Mitch had come to her rescue. And then there were the dimples that would take your breath away when they smiled. She had only seen them one time on Rance’s face but that one time had seared a memory into her head. Brad had said none of them were married, that running the ranch took too much time, and that they hadn’t found the right woman yet. Tess found herself wondering if they had aged as well as her brother had.

  * * * *

  Brad pulled his truck into their mom and dad’s driveway and turned off the engine. “Welcome home, Tessa. Come on, let’s get your stuff inside.” Brad came around to the passenger side once again and helped her down from the truck, then helped Ally. Brad grabbed Tessa’s luggage as Ally unlocked the front door. Tessa stepped in and took a deep breath. It smelled of home. Nothing much had changed. Brad came through the door and took her luggage upstairs to her room as Tessa took off her jacket and hung it by the door. Brad came back down the stairs and gathered Tessa in his arms. “I know this is hard,
but we’ll get through it. I need to get home to Annie but call me if you need anything. God, it’s good to have you home, little girl.” Brad kissed her forehead then walked over to Ally and kissed hers also saying, “See ya later, squirt. Y’all lock the door behind me.” Then he headed home to his family.

  Ally broke the silence. “Come on, Tess, I’ll help you unpack.” Tessa smiled, knowing that would be the priority on her list. Ally loved clothes and when Tessa talked with her on the phone she would always ask what the fashion was in Seattle, as if that was the fashion capital of the world. I guess compared to Allure it would be. Tessa was tired, but she didn’t mind indulging her for a bit.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with before you explode from excitement,” Tessa told her laughing as she ran up the stairs.

  Tessa stood in the doorway of her childhood bedroom and sighed. It was exactly how she had left it. Nothing had changed. Tessa looked around at the shelves and the dresser and there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. “Mom still dusts your room every week and changes the sheets,” Ally said as if reading her mind. “She always puts everything right back where it was. I know she was always hard on you, but she really misses you, Tess,” Ally told her as she slung one of Tessa’s suitcases onto the bed.

  Tessa took a deep breath and said, “I’m tired so let’s get this done.” As they unpacked her suitcase you would have thought it was Christmas. Ally screamed every time she pulled out one of Tessa’s miniskirts and then she found the leather one that had the zippers up the sides. “Oh my God, this is amazing. You have to wear this when we go out next Saturday night. And I want to wear this one.” Ally had the hot-pink mini in her hands and was hugging it to her chest. “I can’t believe we wear the same size. Your clothes are amazing. I’m so glad you’re home, Tess.”

  Tessa had to laugh. She was just too cute. “So if my clothes would have shown up without me, you would have been OK with that, huh?”

  “Oh, Tess, this is just an added bonus. I’m really glad you’re here. Hey, can I borrow this top? Oh and this one also to take back with me to school this week?”

  “Sure but if you take those then you should take these pants and”—she quickly unzipped the suitcase that contained all of my shoes and boots—“these shoes to complete the outfit.” Tess handed her the items she had taken out of her suitcase and Ally threw her arms around her and hugged her. “Thanks, Tess. Oh, I hear my phone. I’ll be right back.”

  After Ally had left the room, Tessa sat down on her bed and let out another big sigh. She couldn’t believe she was here and she couldn’t believe how wonderful it actually felt. Her brother and sister accepted her with open arms and the most surprising part was that it appeared her mom missed her and was glad she was here. Maybe that was just because she was going to take care of the store so her dad could recover and not worry, but she hoped deep down there was more to it than that. Tess checked her watch. It was after six p.m. No wonder her stomach was growling. First though, before she ate, she needed to call Heather.

  Heather picked up on the first ring. “Hey, girl, you doing OK? I was beginning to worry and was seriously contemplating jumping on a plane and heading your way.”

  Tessa told Heather about her brother not recognizing her at the airport and she could hear the amusement in her voice. “So, does your brother look the same?” Heather asked. She had seen pictures of him and always joked with Tessa that it was too bad he was married.

  “Yes and no. He is even better looking and a 100 percent drop-dead-gorgeous cowboy, Heather. He has grown into an incredible man. He told us last night that Annie is pregnant again. I wonder how many women he has to fight off on a daily basis. Good thing he isn’t involved with the rodeo any more. Those buckle bunnies would be all over him, not that he was ever a player. But he’s changed, too. He’s a husband and a father and has a lot of responsibility now that he owns his own ranch, but he is real happy I’m home and so am I surprisingly.”

  Tessa told her about Ally, about her freaking out about the clothes, and about what her dad had said. “The weirdest thing is that my mom didn’t say anything about my appearance. She just hugged me. I mean really hugged me. I think she’s just happy I’m home to take care of everything.”

  “Tess, don’t sell yourself short. Give her a chance. People change.

  Shoot, look at you. You’re not the same girl that left there six years ago and I’m not just talking about your appearance. You just told me both your brother and sister have changed. Maybe this is a good thing, and if it’s not I’ll still come down there and kick some ass if you need me to,” she said with that same touch of amusement in her voice.

  Tessa thought about the fact that she had always felt plain, lacking, and undesirable with absolutely nothing of value to offer the opposite sex when she was younger. She was always on the outside looking in, wondering and dreaming about what it would be like to be wanted by a boy and to be beautiful and desirable. The ridicule from her mom hadn’t helped change those feelings over the years. But maybe Heather was right and her mom had changed.

  “Thanks, Heather. I needed that. You always make me feel better about myself. I’ll call you in a couple days. I need to get something to eat and I want to call the hospital before it gets too late. Kiss Bugsy for me.”

  Heather laughed. “I’m not kissing King Bugsy, even though he has completely taken over my apartment and seems to think he owns it and me, which reminds me that I’m out of tuna. He sure does like it. But I’ll give him an extra little scratch under the chin.”

  “Oh my God, you’re feeding him tuna? He’ll never want to come home if you’re spoiling him.” Tessa laughed.

  “Oh no, he will definitely be going home. Love you, girl.”

  “Love you, too, and thanks for everything.” Tessa hung up smiling that Bugsy had won Heather over.

  Tessa found Ally in the kitchen making some sandwiches for them so she poured the ice tea. After they ate and cleaned up the mess, Ally went to take a shower and Tessa called the hospital. Their dad was resting peacefully, but Tess could hear the strain in her mom’s voice. “Mom, try to get some rest, OK. You’re not going to do Dad any good if you make yourself sick, and you know it will upset him. We have everything here taken care of. I’m going into the pharmacy tomorrow to get myself ready for Monday. Brad said he is coming to the hospital in the morning and Ally said she will stop by on her way back to school. Do you need anything?”

  She could hear the shakiness in her mom’s voice when she said, “I don’t need anything except for your father to get better. I’m really glad you’re home, Tessa Rose. It means a lot to your dad that you are here. We’ve missed you. I love you, Tessa.”

  Tessa tried to keep herself together. “I love you, too, Mama. Get some rest. I’ll call tomorrow.” After Tessa hung up, she took a shower, thinking about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She was exhausted and by the time she crawled in to bed, she was already half asleep.

  Tessa woke the next morning with the smell of coffee in the air. God, she loved that smell first thing in the morning, the best part being she wasn’t going to have to wait for a cup since it was apparently already made. She slipped on her robe and slippers and headed for the kitchen. Brad sat at the table reading the paper, sipping a cup of coffee. “Hey, big brother, what you doing here so early?” she asked him as she poured herself a cup of coffee and warmed his up.

  “Thanks, Tess. Annie got up early. She couldn’t sleep. She was the same way with Sophie. She calls it pregnancy insomnia, so she made cinnamon rolls. I thought I would bring you and the squirt a couple for breakfast. Of course by the time she rolls out of bed it will probably be lunch.”

  “I heard that, Bradley,” Ally said as she walked into the kitchen, bypassed the coffee, and went straight for the rolls. “Oh my God, these are amazing. I love your wife,” she said as she took another bite. Tessa opened the fridge and poured Ally a glass of milk.

  “Thanks, Tess, you rememb
ered.”

  Tess smiled. “I guess some things never change,” she told Ally as she watched her finish off the cinnamon roll and down the glass of milk. Ally had always started her day with milk. Didn’t matter if their mom had made hot chocolate or juice was on the table. Ally always went for the milk.

  “Shouldn’t Annie be resting as much as possible?” Tessa asked.

  “She has horrible insomnia. Usually about noon she crashes and sleeps until three. She drops Sophie off at 11:00 a.m. and picks her up at 3:30 p.m., so it’s nice and peaceful at the house and she’s been able to sleep. Anyhow, she has been getting up about 4:00 a.m. every morning.” Brad laid down the paper. “Annie is fixing dinner for us tonight, and I’m gonna head into Casper and check on the folks when I leave here. I brought you the extra key Dad gave me to the pharmacy and Mom’s car keys are hanging on the hook by the door. I’ll see you guys around six at the ranch. Your niece is awful excited to finally meet her Auntie Tessa.” Brad kissed them both on the forehead and popped Ally on the butt. “Behave squirt.” Then he walked out the back door. Tessa heard his big dually truck start up and marveled once again at the man he had become. She was looking forward to dinner with her family.

  Tessa had another cup of coffee, ate the cinnamon roll, which was the best cinnamon roll she had ever had in her entire life, and got ready to head to town. Ally said she had some homework she needed to do before she left and that she would also change the sheets in their parents’ room since her mom wasn’t here to do it. Their mom always changed the sheets on Sunday. Ally also volunteered to tidy up before they went to the ranch for dinner. She wanted to make sure her mom would have nothing to do but rest when she came home.

  The drive into town was so surreal. It hadn’t changed much. The main street of this charming small town was lined with local merchants’ shops that had been owned by the same families for years. Family-owned businesses were what kept Allure alive and prosperous. There were no fast-food chains or national retailers because that would spoil the ambiance of this out-of-the-ordinary town. Tessa remembered the uproar that was caused when Walmart was looking at land in the area. Thank goodness they had moved onto a neighboring town. She passed the sheriff’s office, which also housed the jail, post office, and the court house, with the only attorney in town nestled right next door. When she pulled up to Walker’s Pharmacy & Sundries, she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. It had been six years since she had been inside. Tessa let herself in with the key, and then she deactivated the alarm system, thankful that the code was still the same. She hadn’t even thought to ask Brad about that.