Free Sea Of Grass by Kate Sweeney Page B

saw Telford this afternoon when I was in town with Claire and Jack. He made a comment about Steve.”
    “What did he say?”
    “Oh, nothing,” she said quickly, seeing the anger in his eyes. “But that I even hear Steve’s name on that fat fucker’s lips,” Tess hissed. “How could Steve have been thrown from his horse? I still can’t believe it. Do you buy it at all?”
    He took a deep sad breath. “No, I don’t believe it. But Pat Hayward investigated and…”
    “Shit, Dad. Telford had Pat in his back pocket for some reason. I don’t trust him.”
    “Maybe there is something to what Tom said about the night Steve died. He said Steve was on his way home to tell me something. Damn it, I wish I knew what it was.” Jed put a gentle hand on Tess’s shoulder. “There was just nothing I could do. I tried getting the district attorney in Helena involved, but with Pat Hayward finding it an accident…” His voice trailed off.
    Tess saw the tired look in his blue eyes.
    “I’m so tired of thinking about it.”
    Tess remembered when she got the call about Stephen. She made it home just in time for the funeral. Warren Telford had the nerve to show his ugly face. He hated her family and Tess never quite understood why. Perhaps it was because her father was an honest man who owned most of the land in the county. Everyone respected Jed Rawlins, and no one seemed to care for Warren Telford. He was a money-grubbing old man who would steal from his mother if he could make a profit.
    When a couple of other farms went under, instead of helping, Telford foreclosed without a moment’s hesitation. Tess remembered her father and the other ranchers going to Telford, pleading with him to give the owners until the end of the planting season. Jed was furious when he came home that night. She and Stephen were sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. Her father came in swearing, and her mother tried to calm him down. Young Tess had never seen her father so angry. From then on, the name Warren Telford was synonymous with Satan.
    “What makes him hate so much?”  
    Jed took a deep contemplative breath. “I don’t know. Well, I know why he hates me.”
    “Why?” Tess asked and sat forward.
    “He had his sights on your mother, and I think he just couldn’t stand it when I married her.”
    “Yuck, he loved Ma?”
    Jed laughed and nodded. “So remember, it could always be worse. You could have Telford as your father.” He kissed her head. “Go to bed, Tess. Let’s not worry about Telford.”
    Tess agreed as she reached up and kissed him. “I’m sorry I left,” she whispered.
    Jed kissed her once again. “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters. I miss your brother every day and your mother. I tried getting the district attorney in Helena involved. Did you know that?”
    Tess saw the flash of confusion in his eyes. “Yes, Dad. You told me.”
    Jed nodded. “Well, I’m off to bed. G’night , Em.”
    Tess hesitated for a minute, close to tears. “ G’night , Dad,” she whispered. He ruffled her hair and walked away.
    Tess took off her boots and let out a sigh of relief as she put her feet up on the desk and leaned back in the chair. She picked up the brandy and sipped it, not wanting to think of her father calling her Em. She shrugged it off. People do that all time, she thought. It doesn’t mean his mind is slipping. Trying to think of something, anything else, her mind drifted back to the day she came home after her father called.
    She had gone straight to the sheriff’s office after she viewed Stephen’s body, which Chuck had found after Stephen’s horse wandered back to the ranch. His body was in the south pasture, his head crushed. The coroner determined that the horse threw him and kicked him in the head. Tess remembered the conversation clearly.

    “What the fuck is this called, Pat? You’ve known Steve his whole life. When was he ever thrown from his horse?” Tess bellowed.
    Jed gently