Jamie and Mouse ate heartily, and Alex felt a strange contentment at the domesticity of the scene. Nibbling on her own sandwich, she glanced out through the window to the blue skies that domed her back yard, watching as the breeze tickled the lush greenery of the forest edge into a slow and lazy dance.

The mountain waited behind, dark and coolly inviting, guarding the little farmstead like a living, breathing presence. Crazy. But true, the forest was alive, a many-faceted, self-contained organism. The Susquehannock State Forest, she remembered. A Native American name, she had read, after a small, but fierce, tribe who once dwelt within these very lands. She wondered of their history, imagining the vivid richness of it.

"A day just can't get any nicer than this," Jamie commented.

Mouse frowned. "We gut hay to dew."

"If our luck holds, it shouldn't take more than two hours to finish up." He glanced at his watch. Twelve o'clock. "We should get going, I suppose. Thanks for feeding us, neighbor."

Alex turned from the window and smiled. "Don't let me hold you up. You both were a great help." She dug in her purse for money. "Let me pay you before you leave."

"Mouse is the one with the hourly rate," Jamie drawled with a grin. "His muscles are bigger than mine."

Alex looked up in surprise. "No, really, I want to give you something Jamie-"

He raised a hand, cutting off her words. "Miz Winters, you know I try not to mix business with pleasure." He caught her eyes and held them.

The effect hit her hard. Alex felt her stomach flip, and a light flush rose on her cheeks. She broke from his gaze with effort and handed some money to Mouse. "Well, I appreciate it, Jamie. You too, Mouse."

"Tank yew, Ow-lex."

"Thank you, Mouse."

Jamie rose, stretched, and carried a pile of dishes to the sink for her. "So what work do you have lined up for this fine afternoon?"

Alex leaned against the counter, and chewed her lip, contemplating. "Well, for starters, I have an appointment at one o'clock to look at a few trail horses from a breeder just over the border in New York State. If his directions are accurate, I'll be back somewhere around three. I'm planning to have Bold Venture cover the mares today. They're both in heat and primed."

"Primed?"

She laughed at how the word sounded. "Yeah, I've been letting the stallion tease them for the past week, through the bars of their stall. That's how you start this whole business the old fashioned way. With a little luck, they'll accept him without complaint."

Mouse looked puzzled. "Cov-ver?"

"Breed them," Jamie explained. "Alex wants to have a few baby horses at this time next year." He glanced back at her, interest making his eyes sparkle with clear, blue light. "I'd like to watch the whole process sometime. I've often thought about breeding Lilah."

Though casually spoken, Alex knew he was waiting for an invitation. She chewed her lip, hesitating... then swallowed her reservations before they could gather hold of her common sense. She could handle Jamie. She was sure of it.

"I could use an extra pair of hands. I'm not sure how... behaved Bold Venture will be when testosterone starts pumping through his veins. He could get a little rough."

"Give the guy a break. He'll have his own... technique," Jaime said with a chuckle.

Alex raised her eyebrows. "And of course, the mare could put up her own kind of fuss..."

"Mares usually do."

She stifled a giggle. "Well, they both have been bred before, so I'm hoping that they'll be... accepting of the process. With just a little finessing. Most breeders of today use a vet and artificial insemination. Safer for the mare."

Jamie tried to control his own grin quirking the corners of his mouth at the image. "Sounds sticky."

"It is sticky. Literally. Unfortunately." She laughed at their expressions. "Ugh."

Mouse and Jamie chuckled in unison, giving Alex cause to wonder just how much Mouse actually caught on to the play of words. "I should be home around three."

"We should be finishing up by then ourselves."

Alex watched the pair sail down the dusty driveway, then turned the mares out in the adjoining paddock. After viewing the way the stallion pranced and whinnied at their arrival, she decided to put him back in the barn while she was away. She didn't want to return to find the new fencing torn down while she was out and the breeding already completed au naturel.

Her stomach buzzed again with nervous fluttering as she considered the process of covering her two broodmares. She had never attempted it alone before, and only watched it once in person. Everything else was YouTube and video tutorials.

Admittedly, she was glad that Jamie had offered to help. It could be a tricky ordeal, potentially hazardous for both the animals and the handler. Hooves could be sharp and quick when primal instinct took over.

But it really wasn't the hooves that she was thinking about at all, was it? She was thinking of warm hands, a strong, lean body, hard lips, and fierce hunger. The true reason for her case of nerves.

Alex shook her head and hurried for the house to shower and change. She could handle Jamie. A friend, that was all. She would handle it.

It was two-fifty when Alex turned down the long driveway to the place she now called home. Eden Ranch.

The maples sighed and bowed beneath the wind's touch as she passed by, the mares where quietly grazing amongst the emerald grasses, and all was well.

The visit to Twin Elm Stables had gone quite well. It was a fairly large operation, smoothly run, and its owner was a woman, Jan Shaeffer. Ms. Shaeffer was a lady who didn't mince words, approaching the point of roughness, but she had struck Alex as honest and capable.

As a result, and after a half an hour of dickering, Alex had purchased three "bomb-proof" trail horses for the tidy sum of twenty-five hundred dollars. She had also wheedled the option to have her first pick of the next shipment of quality animals they received from Indiana.

Alex was pleased with the purchase, but now her coffers would soon be running low, for she needed the money for more horses, which meant more saddles, more vet bills, more hungry mouths to feed. Many more repairs.

She would hate to delve into the small but healthy portfolio of investments that she had held onto after Richard's death. A quiver of doubt ran through her, a sensation that was plaguing her more and more often as of late. Could she really make it in the business? It was time to hit the books, call her accountant, and do some heavy duty figuring.

The answering machine light was flashing, triple blips. Of the three messages, the first was from Jamie. He was running a little late, and would be over closer to three-thirty. The second was from a man named Curt Greenwick. He was interested in speaking with her about working with his two Quarterhorse geldings, cleaning up the rough edges a little, teaching them a little about manners on the trail and the basics of reining. Mr. Greenwick claimed to be a fairly good horseman, but his business took him out of town a lot, leaving little time for his animals.

The most interesting part of his message mentioned that she had come highly recommended to him by one Jamie Sheldon. Alex grinned, the smile spreading much further than the corners of her lips, filling her stomach with warmth and anticipation. It seemed she owned Jamie a big thank-you for sending a potential client her way.

Alex tensed when Brian Ridgeway's smooth, charming voice came across the machine speaker. He carefully went over the details of his offer once more. Would she please give him a call so they could further discuss the deal?

Indecision struck her forcefully... she had all but forgotten Brian's visit in the hustle and bustle of her daily activities. The money would sure help her cause. Alex plopped on the sofa and rested her forehead in her hands.

To sell off the massive trees would be a betrayal to Ezra. The guilt of even contemplating it nagged her, not to mention Jamie's own reaction to the name Ridgeway. But if it came down to Eden Ranch going under before it even had a chance... well, she would have to talk to her accountant before making any decisions.

She decided to phone Ridgeway and tell him so. He was distantly polite, but she could sense the disapproval in his voice. No, he was more than disapproving, he was pissed off. The realization sparked her anger.

"I know what I've got up there, Mr. Ridgeway."

"Oh? Lots of trees?"

"Lots of big trees. Old Growth trees. Valuable trees."

"I see. And where did you get the information on their approximate value?"

"I had a forester check the area personally." The silence on the other end was thick and heavy. "Mr. Ridgeway?"

"Ms. Winters, State governments and the private logging industry do not have a history of working hand in hand. I'm sure you made your... forester aware that we were interested in the property?"

"Yes."

"Well there you are. He probably inflated the values just so that you would reject our offer. If, in fact, those trees are Old Growth, their age will bring their strength and health into question as well. My guess is that the State will be after that land for one reason or another in no time. A park or natural area, something along those lines. You could lose it altogether."

"I think you're feeding me a line of bullshit," she snapped automatically. She thought of Jamie's words... preservation area - with apprehension.

"I see." His tone had turned to sharded ice by now. "Well, Ms. Winters, the best I can do is four thousand an acre, if your rights to use the property are to be included. That is much more than my best offer should be."

She struggled to bring her temper under control. Could Ridgeway be right? "Alright then, I will consider it, Mr. Ridgeway."

"Fine. But don't consider it too long, Ms. Winters. We have orders to fill, and I'm already looking to purchase elsewhere. Yours is a truly a very small property in the scheme of things. Good day."

Sighing, Alex set the phone in its cradle. She had tried to streamline her life, start afresh, but complications followed her like a bloodhound. When she heard a car in the driveway, she ran to splash water on her face, tucked her shirt back into her jeans, and batted at her hopelessly mussed up hair.

The doorbell bleated pathetically, obviously on its last legs. Jamie, or Complication Number Two, had arrived.

Waiting for Eden ~*~*~*~*~*~.

Chapter 11.

Jamie lifted his hand to ring the bell a second time. Before his fingers even made it to the button, the door swung open and a small, sexy female piled into his arms. Trying to mask his surprise, he hugged back, momentarily savoring the soft, curvy body against his own, then gently took her arms and peeled them from his back.

"Now that's the kind of greeting I like from the boss lady."

"Jamie, I think you got me my first client! I owe you a big favor." Her eyes shimmered at him like a rustle of fallen leaves on the forest floor, a mixture of autumn hues tossed alight by the breeze. He resisted the urge to lean in and kiss her. Hard.

He blinked the vivid thought away and managed to grin back. "I'll be sure to collect on that one. Hey, have you been through a tornado or something?" He lifted a wayward lock of thick brownish-gold strands.

"Oh." She patted at her wayward mane self-consciously and grinned when she realized a myriad of tendrils were poking out every which way.

"I...well, see I like the wind when I'm driving. But it doesn't appear to like me back," she explained wryly, pulling out a hair band and wrapping up the locks in a cute, if messy, pony tail.

"Oh, I think the wind does like you. You look very... back-country today." He grinned in appreciation of her snug little blue jeans that fit like a glove, and the white ribbed tank top that hugged the curve of her breasts.

Alex narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips, obviously wondering if that was a compliment or a sly dig. He let her wonder.

Jamie himself had donned a snug pair of faded blues and a gray tee-shirt that tamed the blue of his eyes to a cool shade of slate. He hooked his thumbs in the belt loops as he leaned against the doorjamb, casual as always. His own hair was rumpled too, damp and curling against the back of his neck from a recent shower.

With an eventual shrug, she stepped past him, heading for the barn. "Well, you look country yourself," she threw over her shoulder, "but you smell really good."

A compliment from her? Jamie grinned and followed right behind her with his easy, long-legged stride.

"But pretty soon you're gonna smell like sweaty horse... and possibly worse," she chuckled as they walked.

"This should be interesting," he replied with his own laugh.

They entered the barn, shadowy and still compared to the bright light and soft breeze of the afternoon that waited outside. She tossed Jamie a lead line and grabbed one for herself. "First, we must scrub clean all private parts. I'll go get Echo."

"I guess I should remind myself I did volunteer for this," he grumbled, opening the stallion's stall door. "Guess what you're in store for, buddy."

Jamie rubbed the white blaze that ran the length of the animal's long nose, ending in a little snip between his softly blowing nostrils. "A few moments of embarrassment, followed by the attentions of a lovely lady. You're still a lucky guy."

Alex returned with the older mare in tow. "Bold's in his prime. He could cover up to sixty mares in a season."

Jamie raised his eyebrows and grinned, then coughed away his lewd response when Alex flashed him a threatening look. "Best to leave that one alone, I suppose."

"Yeah, it's best, James. I'm wearing boots."

They washed the horses down with a bucket of soapy water that smelled faintly antiseptic, like the background aroma of a doctor's office. The stallion was already fussing, blowing air through his nostrils and swishing his tail impatiently. Echo whickered low in her throat, as if egging him on.

"They both know what this is all about," Alex explained. "And I've been using Bold to tease them both for the last week. He's more than ready."

"I see that." The stallion was gaining an erection.

"All right, we'd better move." Alex moved the mare to the position that seemed best, slipped the chain of the lead line over her soft nose, and handed her over to Jamie. She laid a thick leather rug over the mare's mane, securing it with thongs that tied beneath her neck. Then she fastened straps around her back legs.

"Stallions tend to get a little bite-happy in the heat of things," she responded to Jamie's questioning look. "The rug will protect her from his teeth. The straps will keep her from striking out at him. Equine bondage."

Jamie rolled his eyes at the explicitly sexual human images her words evoked. Damnation, this might be more difficult than he ever realized.

The animals touched noses, velvet flesh brushing velvet flesh. The mare quivered, emitting a soft squeal, and the stallion's neck arched in response with tense, bulging muscle. Alex allowed him a little more rein to tease and court the mare, further readying her for the coupling.

Jamie watched, entranced. The air seemed to grow ten degrees warmer within seconds. Alex coaxed the animals with a soft voice, slipping between them when their courting became overzealous, calming them, but allowing the process to slowly gain momentum.

He focused on her face, reading a tense excitement there, and her voice flowed like a current as she cooed and cajoled. It seemed to Jamie that Alex was an expert at the breeding process, coolly handling the stallion with just the right mixture of firmness and encouragement. A thin sheen of sweat broke out on her brow, and she caught her lower lip between her teeth. Jamie watched, transfixed by that soft mouth, as she worried those lush, little lips in intense concentration.

She shot him a bemused glance. "Are you with me, Jamie?"

He blinked. "Yeah, of course."

"Be ready." Taking a breath, Alex turned and led the stallion toward the rear of the pawing mare.

Alex realized that Jamie had been staring at her instead of focusing on the animals. At her.

The knowledge ate at her hungrily, causing her stomach to flip around in her gut like a teenager after being told by a first crush, I kind of like you. Ridiculous. It pissed her off. And yet it really didn't at all. She could still feel his eyes on her, but she refused to look again. The next few steps were critical.

The stallion tensed, the muscles in his giant hindquarters, bunching and contracting. He was ready.