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then turned bright red. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry.”
    “No need, thank you,” she said and looked out the window. “We have no other relatives to speak of.”
    Tess winced at her own stupidity but said nothing. She glanced in the backseat and noticed Jack eagerly looking out the window. “It’s a long bus ride from Helena,” Tess said, and Mrs. Redmond nodded as she looked around.
    “It is beautiful and so open. My God, you can see forever,” she said in amazement.
    Tess grinned as she looked around, as well. “Yeah. They mean it when they say Big Sky country,” she said, realizing she sounded proud of that. “We’re almost there, another half hour.”
    As Tess neared the entrance, she pointed out a few things to her new cook. “This is Rawlins land as far as the eye can see.”
    Jack suddenly came alive and leaned in between them. “Wow, you own all this?” he asked with enthusiasm.
    “Yep, wait till you see the cattle and the horses. Do you ride, Jack?” Tess asked and stole a glance in the rearview mirror.
    “A little,” he said sadly. “Not as much as I’d like.”
    Tess noticed his mother’s face. A look of resignation flashed across the soft features. “Then I guess I’ll have to get you on a horse. My father’s an excellent teacher. I think he’d like having another man around the house,” Tess said, and the boy’s eyes lit up. She glanced at Mrs. Redmond, who gave her a smile of thanks.
    “Speaking of the house, where will we be staying?” Mrs. Redmond asked.
    “We only have one bedroom left. It was my brother’s, but it’s huge. We’ve already put a small bed in there for Jack. I didn’t know he was older. Maybe he can bunk with the boys after we get you all settled.” Tess saw the look of uncertainty on Mrs. Redmond’s face. “Only if it’s okay with your mom.”
    Jack gave his mother a pleading look. “We’ll see,” she said.
    They pulled through the fenced gate that led to their property. Above the fence, the arched gateway read Double R Ranch . Jack looked up and grinned. Tess could see his eyes fill with anticipation of being on a real live ranch.
    “You must love living here, Miss Rawlins,” Mrs. Redmond said, still taking in the scenery.
    “I’ve been gone for quite a while,” Tess said with a shrug.
    Mrs. Redmond looked at her then. “You have another home?”
    “This will always be home. But I live in California. I’m a professor in the agriculture department at Berkeley.”
    “Really?”
    Tess raised an eyebrow and glanced from the road to the near shocked look on Mrs. Redmond’s face. She laughed. “That’s what my students say, as well.”
    Mrs. Redmond laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so incredulous. What made you want to teach instead of ranching?”
    “It was my great-uncle’s fault. He made it sound so appealing. He developed the seed that’s planted in the pastures. Uncle Jeremiah wanted to do his part to save this.” Tess motioned out the window. “He said he was a better teacher than he was a rancher.” She stopped, very aware of Mrs. Redmond’s scrutiny. She glanced once again and saw the curious look.
    “So you followed in his footsteps,” Mrs. Redmond said.
    Tess heard the softness in her voice and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Something like that, I guess. All I know is now I’m horribly out of shape for cattle ranching.”
    Tess wasn’t sure if she was grateful or not when Mrs. Redmond laughed and drew her attention away from Tess and back to the sprawling landscape.

    Jed met them at the front steps with a welcoming wave. He opened the car door for the woman. “Welcome, Mrs. Redmond. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this on such short notice. Are you sure you can cook for—?” he blurted out.
    Tess grimaced and turned bright red as she cleared her throat. “Um, Dad, Mrs. Redmond is more than qualified,” she said, giving him the eye.
    Her father winced