Forever Angels

by Simmons, Trana Mae

  "If you want," Rose said with a shrug. "But one of the reasons Stone has me make Flower's clothing is because I have a sewing machine. This winter, when we're not so busy with other things, Stone's supposed to bring Flower over so I can teach her to use it."

  Somehow Tess controlled the longing in her to tell Rose Brown that her sewing lessons wouldn't be necessary — that she would teach Flower herself. But she had no earthly idea if she would even be here this winter — or even tomorrow for that matter.

  When Tess remained silent, Rose picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. "How is your ankle?" she asked after she set the cup down. "Stone said you'd probably get your cast off in time for the social. There's going to be a dance afterwards, you know, and Stone truly does like to dance."

  Stone said this. Stone said that. Tess mentally gritted her teeth. Didn't this woman have anything to say except what she parroted of someone else's words?

  "My ankle's almost healed," Tess confirmed flatly. "But thank you for asking. I'm sure it will be in shape for at least some dancing by Saturday night." And more than just some dancing, Tess continued in her mind, because she knew exactly who would fill in as Stone's partner in any dance Tess was forced to sit out.

  "Well, you really shouldn't overdo at first," Rose said. "And I'm sure you're going to be glad to have your injury healed, so you can contact your family and let them know you're all right. Stone never did say how you happened to be so far out here all by yourself."

  "You seemed to have had several conversations about me with Stone."

  Rose slipped Tess a sideways look, making Tess realize the blonde had avoided her eyes during the entire conversation.

  "Stone and I are the closest neighbors out here," Rose said with a shrug. "We've always done what we can to help each other out."

  "Tillie Peterson mentioned that," Tess replied.

  "That witch!" Rose spat. "You'd think she'd have the grace to at least be half-way embarrassed about that convict father of hers planning to come here and live after he gets out of prison. Instead, she acts like she's glad about it."

  "Tillie's father's moving here?" Tess asked.

  ""Hasn't Stone told you?" Rose asked. "We were talking about it the other day. Oh, Stone's so stingy sometimes with words. Haven't you noticed that about him?"

  "Not really," Tess denied, unable to suppress a smirk of satisfaction when Rose's lips tightened in annoyance. "I guess we've just had more important things to talk about than gossip."

  "I see," Rose said with a contemplating look. "However, your not being able to visit in town because of your injury probably has kept you from knowing that you and Stone are the major topic of gossip now. I do keep up on things, what with the customers I have coming out to my place to have special dresses made. I really hope Flower doesn't hear any of it at the social. Children can be so cruel to one another when they repeat things they've heard from their parents."

  "Flower's hardly a child."

  "No, she's not, is she?" Rose sipped her coffee before she threw her next barb. "And it is so important for a young girl to have proper influence in her life. Reputations are so fragile for women. Men don't understand that sometimes, and I'm sure Stone will be devastated if Flower is shunned at the dance because her father is allowing you to stay out here with him."

  A flush crawled up Tess's cheeks. "Spiteful gossips really are bitches, aren't they?" she said in a deadly voice. "I'm sure you wouldn't foster the kind of talk that would cause any damage to Stone's family, since you obviously want me to believe you're such a close friend of his."

  Flower danced back into the room and swirled around. "Look, Tess. Isn't it pretty?" The pink dress skirt billowed around Flower's ankles, then settled against the floor, the hem just barely touching the pine boards.

  "Very pretty," Tess had to admit. "And it fits you perfectly."

  "Go try your dress on, Tess."

  "In a little while," Tess murmured.

  Rose stood up, seeming a little flustered to Tess. "I really must be getting back," she said. "There's so much to do this time of year and I've got a couple other dresses to finish for others before the social."

  "Aren't you going to stay for supper?" Flower asked.

  "Not this time," Rose said as she walked over to retrieve her hat. "Besides, I promised your father I'd fill his canteen from the well and drop it off on my way home. He said he forgot to do that when he rode in a while ago."

  "You really don't have to trouble yourself," Tess said. "I was going to ride out myself in a few minutes and take Stone and Rain some sandwiches. I can drop the water off, too."

  "Oh, it's no trouble at all." Rose settled her hat on her head and went out the door, calling over her shoulder, "It was nice to meet you, Miss Foster. I guess I'll see you Saturday afternoon."

  By the time Tess managed to limp to the door, Rose had gathered up her reins and was leading her horse towards the well. Tess watched her drop the wooden bucket into the well and crank it back to the top, brimming with cold water. She dipped the canteen in, then draped it over her saddlehorn and mounted the sorrel.

  "I wish she wasn't riding in to the social with us," Flower murmured beside Tess.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Oh, Mrs. Brown said her buggy horse was lame and asked me to tell Pa she'd appreciate a ride in with us. 'Course Pa said sure. We have to help our neighbors out, you know."

  "Doesn't look like there's a thing wrong with that horse to me," Tess said, her eyes shooting green sparks in the direction of the woman riding out of the ranch yard.

  "That's her riding horse," Flower explained. "It's not trained to pull a buggy."

  "Why don't you want her going in with us?"

  Flower flushed and pulled at her skirt. "I didn't mean to say that I don't like Mrs. Brown," she said with her head ducked. "I mean, she made this pretty dress for me and all. It's just...well, it would have been nice for just the four of us to go in together."

  "Yes, it would have," Tess agreed in a murmur. It would be nicer yet if she knew whether she would be there herself on Saturday — or tomorrow — or an hour from now!

  As Flower walked back into the house, Tess gripped her hands into fists until her nails bit into her palms. Maybe Stone had come to terms with this day-to-day uncertainty, but he wasn't the one who woke up each morning, afraid to open his eyes and look around the room. Who laid there rigid — fearful that slitting her eyes would reveal the familiar bedroom back in her apartment and shatter her into a million pieces when she realized this had all been a dream.

  The one who held her breath until she heard the even sound of Flower's breathing beside her in the bed, confirming that she was still in Oklahoma, not New York. Who knew she would die a thousand deaths if woke up a hundred years from Stone.

  Nothing back there mattered any longer. Why had she ever thought the epitome of her career would be walking into a roomful of stuffy lawyers in almost identical, pin-striped suits and being accepted? That finding her name at the top of the list for the most client billable hours of the firm would give her any satisfaction?

  Robert had made his own problems by trying to circumvent the law, even though the case law research Tess had turned up mitigated him somewhat. There were other, fully capable attorneys in the firm who could now take Tess's research and mediate the case to conclusion. Shoot, they could probably take the brief she had slaved over for two weeks and win a judgment.

  But Tess frowned as she recalled Stone's dictatorial attitude when he informed her flatly that she would not be allowed to look for a job. Not be allowed, huh! Well, she'd see about that. Granny had seemed satisfied canning and cooking all her life. Granny, though, had never left the West Virginia mountains in her life — never felt the gratification of proving her mind could match any man's when it came to logical deductions and detailed thinking.

  Where would her mind grow here, Tess wondered. Granted, she thoroughly enjoyed helping Flower keep house and feed Stone and Rain after a hard day's wo
rk, even though the lack of conveniences made cooking a time-consuming job. And she enjoyed teaching the children now, which freed Stone to have more time for the ranch work.

  Would that be enough for her? Or would she soon find her mind stagnating, yearning for a challenge?

  She bet Rose Brown never worried about having an intelligent conversation with another adult. Huh. Rose seemed perfectly happy echoing thoughts planted in her mind by a male.

  Trouble was, that male was Stone.

  "Gosh darn it, Angie," Michael grumbled. "How are we supposed to know what to do if we don't know what's going to happen? Huh? I mean, if Tess is going back to her own time, maybe Stone would be better off with Rose."

  "Bite your tongue! That shallow-minded woman would bore Stone to death in a month. There's a darn sight more to a relationship between a man and woman than a man having a woman around to keep his stomach full and his clothes clean."

  "I know that, blast it. But at least having someone to do that would be a help. And Rose seems to like the kids."

  "Oh for pity sakes. You're just like all men. Show you a half-way pretty face and you can't see beneath the surface. Rose is kind to Flower because she wants to get to Stone through her. She's been working on Stone for three years, ever since her husband died."

  "Well, they've both been alone out here. What would make more sense than them teaming up together? If Tess hadn't come into the picture...."

  "She did come into the picture," Angela interrupted with a stamp of her foot. "And you're the one who put her here. Now you just stick to your assignment and protect Tess from danger, Michael. Don't you dare try to interfere in her love life."

  Michael grabbed his cigar stub from his mouth and glared at Angela. "If someone had interfered a year ago, she wouldn't have gotten mixed up with that idiot who broke her heart. And I'm getting mighty sick of you ordering me around."

  "It was Tess's own decision to get involved with Robert, and she grew from the experience," Angela yelled, plopping her fists on her hips and jutting out her chin. "It made her able to appreciate a man like Stone. And I wouldn't have to order you around if you'd remember what the rules are!"

  "Rules! Schmules! I know what the rules are and I'm not about to break any of them. But that doesn't mean my mind's completely dead and that I don't have my own opinions about things. I reckon I've got an interest in this, since you keep throwing it up to me that it's my fault Tess is even here. You'll probably be reminding me a thousand years from now that I was the one responsible for Stone's heartache if Mr. G sends Tess back to 1993."

  "So you figure it might ease your guilty conscience if Stone at least has Rose to step into Tess's space, huh?"

  "Maybe," Michael shot back. "But let me tell you this, Angie, baby. I'm not convinced that I'm entirely at fault for Tess's tumble through time. You jumped in up on that mountain, and you could have screwed up when you used your own powers!"

  "Me?! I've had a hundred years practice using my powers! You're the one who messed up!"

  "Did not!" Michael snapped.

  "Did too!" Angela stomped over to the edge of the cloud and turned her back on Michael, crossing her arms over her chest, her wings fluttering in agitation. Men!

  Tess gave up looking for the two birds she could have sworn she heard chittering overhead as they fought to drive one another from the space each called its own territory. She had watched those aerial sparring matches many times on her backpacking trips. Always before, though, she'd had no trouble locating the feathered combatants. Good grief! Surely all those long hours pouring over fine printed legal contracts couldn't have already strained her eyes to the point where she needed glasses at age thirty!

  ***

  Chapter 21

  Tess's fingers flew and she blessed Granny with every stitch. The hours she spent learning to sew when she would rather have been roaming the mountain meadows now seemed well worth the effort.

  She should have tried that darned dress on before this morning, but it had given her a distasteful feeling in her mouth each time she looked at it. She had to wear it today, but she'd be damned if she was going to look like the prune faced spinster Rose had evidently had in mind when she designed that high-necked, tight-bodiced piece of trash.

  Luckily Rose hadn't bothered to trim off the excess material on the blouse seams. Probably she hadn't anticipated in her mislaid plan that Tess would be handy with a needle.

  Tess snugged a final stitch and anchored the thread before she bit it off with her teeth. She stuck the needle in the pincushion beside her on the bed, then held the dress up and studied it carefully.

  The color was fine — a pale ivory that would set off the tan she had acquired on her frequent rides on the ranch. But she had almost choked when she tried to fasten the top button, and forget about flattening her breasts enough to pull the bodice together. She wasn't about to put up with those long, tight sleeves, either.

  Tess shook the dress and the lace-edged red ruffle settled back into place around the altered scoop neck. Her spare teddy lay beside the pincushion, scavenged of its beige lace and elastic, and only scraps remained of the red blouse she had worn the morning she arrived in Keene Valley. She had even covered her leather belt in red to match the ruffle. It would highlight her slender waist, especially since she had taken a nip and tuck or two in the waist gathers.

  Capped sleeves now poofed out from the wide neckline and Tess had only to press out the crease where she had let down the too short hem. She thought longingly of the gold and red sandals in the closet of her apartment, but at least the long dress style would hide her Reeboks — the only footwear she owned now, except for her hiking boots.

  "Oh, let me see what you've done, Tess," Flower said from the doorway.

  Tess smiled at her and shifted the dress around so Flower could see the front. "Do you think it looks all right, honey?" she asked.

  "It's gorgeous," Flower replied. "And I'll tell you a secret, if you promise not to let on to Pa that you already know. I talked him into it, but it wasn't very hard."

  "And what could that be?"

  "I'm going to run over to the general store while Doctor Calder takes your cast off and find you a pair of dancing slippers. I just need to measure your other shoes to see what size to get."

  "That's not necessary, Flower. No one will see my shoes under this dress."

  "Sure they will. Why, ladies get swung around a lot, especially later on in the evening, after the men have slipped outside a few times."

  "Slipped outside? To get a drink, I guess."

  "Uh huh. But we always pretend we don't know. It's kind of hard sometimes not to wrinkle up our noses when we smell their breath, though."

  "I better practice then, huh?" Tess turned her head sideways and pursed her lips, aiming her nose up an inch.

  Flower giggled and imitated Tess for a second, until they both broke up into laughter.

  ~~

  "You might as well drop Rose off at the picnic grounds, Stone," Tess said several hours later as the wagon entered the small town. "I'm sure she would rather visit with people instead of waiting around for us at the doctor's office."

  ""Oh, I don't mind a bit," Rose demurred. "I can keep Stone company."

  "That's not necessary," Tess replied, shifting a half inch closer to Stone on the wagon seat and cupping her hand beneath his elbow. "I'm sure the doctor won't mind if Stone comes in and holds my hand."

  Tess slipped a smirk at Rose, who had sat on the far edge of the wagon seat on the ride to town. Tess had plopped herself in the middle, assuring that Stone would be on one side or the other of her, separated from Rose. She hadn't missed the look of consternation on Rose's face when Stone escorted her from her small cabin an hour or so before.

  Nor had she missed the look of surprise on Rose's face when she saw the altered dress Tess wore, though Rose had at least had the grace to blush slightly and murmur a compliment on Tess's handiwork.

  Rose had obviously designed her own pal
e blue gown to enhance her more petite figure. A hint of rounded breast showed over the low-cut neckline, edged with a white lace ruffle to give an impression of more fullness than she possessed. Tess thought the ruffled skirt a little much for a woman of Rose's age, but she managed to swallow that catty remark.

  With a jangle of reins and a "whoa", Stone pulled the wagon up beside a small, white washed church. Already Flower and Rain were calling greetings to several youngsters their own age and they both scrambled from the wagon bed.

  "I'll see you over at the doctor's office in a few minutes, Pa," Flower said as she turned to wave. "I just want to say hi to Sally and Missy first."

  Rain had already joined a group of boys, and Stone nodded at Flower as he climbed down from the wagon. He came around and reached up to assist Rose to the ground, giving her only a small smile when she thanked him.

  "I'll keep an eye on Flower and Rain for you," Rose said as Stone started back around the wagon.

  "They'll be fine," Stone said over his shoulder. "You just enjoy yourself with the other women folk."

  A few minutes later, Stone pulled up in front of Doc Calder's office and soon Tess had the freedom to move her ankle for the first time in a month. She wiggled the ankle back and forth and gave a sigh.

  "It feels wonderful, Doctor. You did a fine job."

  "You did your part, too, young lady," Doc Calder replied. "And seems like you had good nursing care." He winked at Stone and noticed Stone tear his eyes away from Tess's lower leg, which Doc had uncovered to remove the cast.

  "Now," Doc continued. "You be careful for a little while yet, until your muscles adjust to not having the support of that cast. Don't try to dance every dance tonight, or your foot will be swelled up in the morning."

  "Well, I expect to at least have one dance with my doctor," Tess said in a flirtatious voice. "I don't want to end up a wallflower."