Chapter Seven

Cole had arranged for another wonderful meal to be delivered to Tess in the guest house. Her eyes lit up when she saw it and she immediately snuggled up by the television to eat the grilled chicken with white barbecue sauce. Picking the slightly charred edges off the meat, she savored the flavor of the oregano and paprika. It wasn't spicy in the least, just full-bodied flavor which submerged her mouth and turned eating into an experience rather than a necessity.

She wondered if it would be bad for her unborn child if she were to drink the leftover white, barbecue sauce. An image of her baby backstroking through the thick white gravy popped into her mind and she smiled. Compromising, she ripped apart a flaky buttermilk biscuit and used it to scrape up the leftover sauce and ate every, last bite, washing it all down with some homemade sweet tea.

If Cole's father wanted to get rid of her, he'd made a mistake hiring the chef. He knew how to make, good, old fashioned food and she could definitely get used to it. Much better than the hotdogs from the street vendors in New York. They'd become her staple diet just before she'd left the city. They were cheap, quick and not nearly as bad as people said. Although, there was no way they compared to the meals she'd been eating at the ranch.

Sitting back, she rubbed her belly. It'd been a long day, and all she wanted was to climb into bed and sleep. But guilt kept her from doing so. Getting up she straightened up the cushions, hitting at them in an attempt to plump them back up. She picked up her dinner plates and took them to the kitchen and washed them, before placing them back on the tray they came on. She supposed someone would come and get them in the morning and return them to the main house.

Contemplating if she should vacuum the rugs, she realized she hadn't seen a vacuum cleaner. Maybe she could sweep them tomorrow morning. The last thing she wanted was Cole's father thinking she was taking advantage of the staff and the privileges. If she could keep the place clean and tidy, he'd have to realize she wasn't there for the money. She'd always worked hard for what she had and she hoped he would be able to see that eventually. Thinking of cleaning, she remembered the clothes she'd put in the dryer that morning.

Padding across the floor, her bare feet moved silently along the polished boards to the laundry room. She grabbed the basket from the top of the machine and pulled open the door of the dryer. Only to find, her clothes weren't there, they'd gone. First the coffee mug and now her clothing. Frantically, her heart beating hard, she pulled open every cupboard in the laundry room.

Nothing.

Inside the washing machine.

Nothing.

Checked the dryer again.

Nothing.

Panic clutched at her heart and made it difficult to breathe. She was being ridiculous. Wasn't she?

She pulled out her phone, her hands jumping, and called Cole's number. Her head was spinning; she couldn't understand what was happening to her. By the time Cole answered, she'd worked herself up into a frenzied state.

"Cole, come quickly. I need you." She practically cried on the phone.

"What's going on? What happened? Are you in labor?" Cole's voice matched her own.

"Just hurry, please."

She paced the floor waiting for him to arrive, worried she'd wear a hole in the wood. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, a frantic knocking on the door jolted her, sending her pulse jumping. She hurried to answer the door, uncaring that she waddled like an angry goose. Geese moved like they were 100 years old, but were terrifyingly fast. That was her at that moment.

Flinging open the door, she pulled Cole inside, before slamming it and locking it behind him. Her breath labored, she dragged him all the way to the laundry room.

"Look." She practically screamed.

Cole's eyes were large. "Look at what? What's wrong Tess?"

"Look in the dryer and tell me what you see." She demanded and flung open the door.

Cole bent down and looked in. "Nothing. I don't see anything."

"Exactly. I washed my bags of clothes this morning before our picnic and set them in the dryer."

"Okay, you've lost me. If you want a laundry service I can send someone from the main house to come and do your laundry."

"No. I don't need anyone to do my laundry. I told you, I did it myself. Today!"

"Okay..." He risked a look in her direction. "Where are you going with this?"

"Well, I just went to get them and they're gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Caput." Her hands flailing around over her head. She was aware she was acting like a crazy person but at this point, she wasn't sure she was acting at all.

"You think someone stole your tutus?" He shook his head. "That's what this is all about?"

'No, I don't think someone stole them. I think they moved them." She screeched.

"You've lost me. Why would someone move them?"

"I don't know why, but if they didn't I think I'm going crazy."

Cole moved over to her and placed his arm around her shoulders. Normally having Cole that close to her, would set her pulse racing. But tonight, she was too distracted.

"Come on, there are maids all over this place, you know that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped at him.

"I just mean, they come in behind me and clean up all the time. They've probably hung them in the closet.

Of course. Why hadn't she thought of that instead of screeching like a banshee?

"Come on." He rubbed her arm, "Let's go check."

She followed along behind him to the master bedroom. She waited just inside the door, while Cole stalked over to the closet and looked inside. Only to see it was empty. He moved to the end of the bed and meticulously opened each drawer at a time until he had checked every last one. Finally, he turned to her. "How strange," he admitted.

"Right?" Tess placed her hands on her hips. "Things are getting really weird around here."

"What sort of things?" Cole asked while continuing to search under the bed and in the bathroom with Tess following closely behind. He pulled out the sports bag the clothes had been brought from the city in and began to draw back the zip.

"Well to start with my coffee mu—" She began before Cole interrupted.

"Are these the clothes you're looking for?" He pointed in the bag.

Peeking over his arm she spotted her tutu's and other items. "Oh yes! Thank God. I was beginning to think I'd gone crazy." She said and dived for the bag. Pulling them out, a putrid stench assaulted her nostrils, causing her to drawback. "Argh, they're dirty."

She tossed them on the bed and crumbled in a heap next to them. What is happening to me?

Cole sat, his back straight, on the very end of the bed. "You mustn't have washed them, Tess." There was pity in his eyes, she could see it, in the downward slant of his mouth and his furrowed brow. Did he think she was going crazy too?

"Don't patronize me, Cole. I know I washed them. It's just like I knew I left the unicorn on the coffee table and then on the sink."

She looked up into Cole's large eyes. "Unicorns?" He muttered. "Now I am worried."

"No, a coffee mug." She sighed. "Yesterday I left a mug on the coffee table while I went to answer the door and when I came back it was gone. I found it later, back in the cupboard. Then again, this morning, I'd left it on the sink and it had been put away."

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation." Cole soothed, but she could tell he didn't believe his own words.

She was frantic now. "And what about breakfast? You said the chef didn't send any, yet I know I ate pancakes."

Cole sat quietly, looking down at his shoes. She wondered what the hell he was thinking about. Was he planning on calling the men in white coats to come and drag her out of there? Was he regretting inviting her? What if he thought she was an unfit mother? She couldn't stand not knowing.

"Maybe I should go back to New York." She stood and picked up the sports bag and began to shove her laundry back into it.

"Wait." Cole's voice caused her to stop. "I read about this in one of the baby books."

"You read about unicorn coffee mugs and dirty laundry?"

"No, about baby brain." He jumped up off the bed and stood in front of her. "It's a condition that some women get during pregnancy."

"I can't say I've heard of that." She lowered her eyes at him.

"I'm serious. It said something about your IQ remaining the same but the quick recall section of your brain is preoccupied with baby stuff." He whipped out his phone and went straight to Google. He scrolled for a moment before he stretched his arm out and offered her his phone. "Look."

She sat quietly reading and after a moment she let out a sigh and straightened her shoulders. Tears brimmed her eyes. "Really? This is an actual thing?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "Thank goodness."

"Come here." Cole soothed.

Without hesitation, she stood up and threw herself into his arms. Who cared about the past? She needed him right now and he was here. Looking down at her, he used his thumb to wipe her tears and swooped down slightly to plant a tiny peck on her nose.

She raised up on her toes, running her hands up his spine to the back of his neck. She pulled him down, raised her chin to meet him and hovered, her lips merely a breath from his. Waiting, hoping, willing him to break through the invisible boundary and kiss her. She hung there like that, for an eternity before, finally, he lowered his lips and kissed her. Hard. Passionately. The kiss she'd been craving for days. He groaned and tightened his grip around her waist with one hand and tangled his hand in her hair with the other.

Images of them, back when they were together invaded her thoughts. The love she believed he'd had for her, the passion they felt for each other, how they'd found it impossible to keep their hands off of each other. Nothing had really changed. Well, not for her at least. She wanted to be with him, to lay with him, to have him by her side when she woke up. Stuff the consequences, she would deal with that later. For now, she wanted him and that's all she could focus on. Even the thought nagging at her to stop this train of desire was cloudy.

She pulled back slowly from their kiss, her eyes darting across his, and he stared back. She took in the line of his jaw, strong and assured, to his mouth that still sat slightly open. Waiting for more. Running her hands across his strong shoulder, she let her slightly chewed fingernail, draw a line up to his chin to his mouth. She trailed her finger across his lips. His eyes swept shut and he kissed her finger gently.

Leaning in, she whispered in his ear, "I want you to stay with me tonight."

His body stiffened under her touch and something shifted in the air between them. Pulling back, she looked up into his eyes, she saw they were wide and he chewed at his bottom lip. Grabbing her arms, he removed them from him and stepped away. "Tess... I can't, I'm sorry."

Her heart fell into her stomach, and color stained her cheeks. Rejected again. Why oh, why did she keep doing this to herself? Tilting her chin defiantly she said "That's fine. You can show yourself out."