In an instant, Claire’s body temperature rose perceptively. She knew she was blushing and tried to hide it in the daisy she held.

“Hi.” Tess walked onto the porch and leaned against the railing, her hands deep in the pockets of her jeans.

“Hi,” Claire said. Her heart was pounding, and she only hoped Tess was on the verge of a mild heart attack, as well. “Did you do this?” She offered the daisy.

Tess grinned. “That depends on if they please you or not.”

Once again, tears leapt to her eyes. Claire only nodded; she didn’t trust her voice just then, and blubbering like a fool was not an option. When Tess didn’t answer, she knew she had to say something. “Yes, they please me very much.”

Tess let out an audible sigh of relief. “Then yes. It was me.”

Claire laughed nervously, reverently holding the flower. Tess closed the distance between them but looked out at the setting sun, her hands resting on the railing. Claire did the same but reached over and placed her hand on Tess’s; their fingers immediately intertwined.

Tess looked down at their hands. “Please tell me this is the way to your heart, Claire.”

When Claire heard the quiet plea in Tess’s voice, she couldn’t control the sob that seemed to come from her soul. “Yes,” she said, trying not to cry.

In the next instant, she was in Tess’s arms, crying into her shoulder as Tess stroked her hair. “How did you know?”

“I have my ways. I’m a college professor, remember?” Tess tightened her embrace.

Claire looked up and studied her face. “I never realized how blue your eyes are.”

Tess raised an eyebrow and leaned back. “I hope when you realize more, it won’t send you screaming into the night.”

Claire chuckled and pulled Tess back in her arms. “I doubt that, Miss Rawlins, but I’ll let you know.”

“I love the feel of you against me.” Tess placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

“I do too.” Claire sighed. She immediately thought of Jack and pulled back. “Tess, what about Jack? I need to—” When she felt Tess’s warm lips against hers, she melted. Her mind reeled and her body betrayed her as she fiercely clung to Tess and returned her kiss.

It was Tess who now pulled back. “Jack loves you very much and he’s very intelligent.”

“You’re finding that out, too, huh?” Claire took a step away from Tess. Suddenly, she felt the distance between them was needed right now.

As if sensing the same thing, Tess stepped back and leaned against the railing.

“There’s so much I need to tell you. I’m not sure what Jack said.” She stopped for a moment. “It’s been so long. I haven’t been very forthcoming with you. I wasn’t with Jack.”

“You were protecting him. It couldn’t have been easy for either of you.”

Claire looked into the darkness. “I was running from what I was. Coming from a wealthy Long Island family, being a lesbian was just not acceptable. So I tried not to think about it and deny it. As I’m sure many women have. I met a man who was from the same background as I was. I thought I loved him and everything would be fine, everyone would be happy.

“I got pregnant, and Lawrence did an about-face. He questioned whether he was the father.” She laughed and shook her head. “I suppose that was predictable. I realized then he would never be the man I thought he was or the father my baby needed. I decided I’d lived a lie long enough. It was time to realize who I was and what I was doing. I even went to my parents for help and foolishly told them the truth.”

“About the baby and you?” Tess asked.

“Yes. I knew if I was going to have this baby, I needed to be honest. That proved a disaster. They practically disowned me, told me to give the baby up for adoption.” She laughed again, this time with more than a trace of sarcasm. “They’re old money and very Catholic, and my father suggested an abortion. I was shocked, and that’s when I knew the only thing to do was to do this on my own. I had some money. I left college in my senior year and contacted a friend who lived in Portland and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“So you did this all on your own with no help from anyone but your friend.”

“Yes. It’s what thousands of women do every day, Tess, so don’t go thinking I’m someone special—”

“Too late.”

Claire looked at Tess and smiled. “Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome, now continue.”

“Well, I had Jack,” Claire said; she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “He was such a gift, and he changed my life. I knew there was more than my feeling sorry for myself. I had a son.”

“You made the effort with his father, and I use that term very loosely, and he took the low road and denied both of you. So you told him his father died before he was born, and he loved him very much.”

Claire looked down. “I see he told you everything.”

“Yes, because he loves you and he understand what you did and why. If I were in your place, I think I would have done the same thing.”

“I know you have a great deal going on with the ranch and your job at the university—”

“And the idea of turning said ranch into a working ranch and my great-grandparent’s house into a guesthouse.”

Claire’s head shot up then. “Really? That’s a wonderful idea.”

“I haven’t completely thought it out yet.” Tess scratched her head.

“It’s a wonderful idea. It’ll take time, but the ranch is already well known in Montana. It’ll generate more income.”

“It’ll take money to get things going, but I have a good savings, which I’ve already…”

Claire cocked her head and smiled. “You used your money for Claude, didn’t you?” She could see Tess’s embarrassment. “You did.”

“I transferred some to Dad’s account. I knew he wouldn’t find out. Anyway, I think this might work. There’s one thing. I-I need someone to help me and you know how hard it is to ask for help.”

Claire wasn’t sure what Tess was asking. It was so long for her; Claire didn’t trust her heart, but she knew she was falling in love with Tess. She needed to know. “What kind of help?”

“I need a partner, someone I can trust.”

“A financial partner?” Claire counted the number of planks in the porch.

“No, Claire. I need someone I can love. Someone who might love me, too. I thought maybe you and I could be partners.”

Claire grinned and put the daisy to her nose. “Are you saying you love me?”

Tess chuckled and folded her arms across her chest. “I drove out to the north pasture with Dad and Chuck, for chrissakes, and picked daisies for you. So, yeah, damn it, I’m saying I love you.” She looked at Claire from across the porch and whispered, “Do you love me?”

Claire slowly walked up to her. “You did find the way to my heart.”

“That must count for something.”

Claire hesitated, her mind racing, as well as her heart. She turned and walked to the opposite side of the porch.

“Claire, I know you have so much to think about. You have Jack, and as you said, it’s been so long for you. If you tell me to back off, I-I will—”

Claire heard the resignation in Tess’s voice, and all at once something inside broke. She whirled around and ran to Tess, who seemed stunned and took a step back.

“No,” Claire said frantically, trying not to cry. “I-I don’t want that. I don’t want to be like Billy Bigelow—”

“Who?”

“I don’t want to be like that,” she cried and held on to Tess’s shirt. “I don’t want to say, if I loved you and th-then it be too late and say soon you’d leave me, off you would go in the mist of day.”

“Claire—”

“And you’d never, never know how I loved you,” Claire said, tears streaming down her face. She sobbed mournfully into Tess’s shoulder.

Tess held her and whispered, “Claire, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.”

Claire couldn’t stop the tears. All the lonely years suddenly caught up with her; she desperately clung to Tess.

“You don’t have to worry, honey.” She sniffed loudly and held Claire at arm’s length. She wiped the tears from her eyes with the heel of her hand. “I’m not leaving in the mist of day, or night for that matter. And we won’t let…” She stopped, her gaze darting back and forth in a panic. “…our golden chances, um, shit, I can’t remember the next line.”

Claire laughed and cried at the same time at the helpless tone in her voice. She stopped crying and took a quivering breath. “I guess I must love you.”

Tess took her hand and brought it to her lips. She gently smelled the daisy, then kissed Claire’s hand. “Yes, you must.”

Claire touched Tess’s cheek. “Jack and I are a package deal.”

Tess nodded. “So is my father and Chuck and Pedro and...”

Claire let out a genuine laugh along with Tess. “Then we have the beginning of a wonderful partnership, Tess.”

“Thank God.” Tess pulled her into her arms.

“Kiss me, please,” Claire whispered against her lips. She threw her arms around Tess’s neck, leaving Tess no choice.

After a moment, Tess pulled back and whispered, “Am I going to have to memorize all of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals?”