"Do I know you, Miss?" he murmured wryly.

Alex only laughed. "Right now, I'm not sure I know myself. Well, come on, which way should we go?"

"You pick. I'm tired of leading."

"Ten-four. My stud here is still raring to go." Alex chose the left fork and picked up a brisk trot, for the trail was wide and clear. He asked Lilah for a soft, easy lope, and followed.

After several minutes of slow climbing, Alex called over her shoulder, "I think I've been this way before!" The trail suddenly dipped, and the trees thickened measurably.

Jamie noted scores of large white pines, statuesque hemlocks, interwoven with a mixture of oaks and beech... but his eyes kept returning to the pert rump that rose and fell in front of him, the human rump, as Alex posted in time with the stallion's sure gait.

When he managed to tear his eyes away from the tantalizing view, he pulled Lilah up sharp. "Hold it, Alex!" Jamie swiveled around in the saddle, craning his neck up at the towering canopy. "Jesus Christ!"

Alex wheeled the stallion around and trotted back. "Never seen a tree before, Jamie?" she chided.

"Look at the size of these things!"

"Yeah, ain't it grand?" Her voice was near to bubbling with glee. "Everything started to look familiar after the fork, and then I knew where we were heading."

"You've actually been here before?" he murmured, still staring around him, too absorbed to notice her attempt at humor. "I've lived here all my life and I had no idea this was here."

"Yeah, I neglected to tell you, I, ah, took a different course from what the map suggested during my hike. When I fell, I, umm, we'll say landed in this fairy land here. Literally. Anyway, when I eventually ended up down at Ezra's, I just fell in love with the place. When I found out what had befallen them, and that he wanted to retire to Florida, I saw the chance to make it mine."

"I guess so." His words were mumbled. Jamie shook his head. "This is simply amazing. It's Old Growth, Alexandra, virgin forest. But even bigger than any I've seen before. There are only a couple of pockets of this type of virgin timber left in Pennsylvania. Everything, and I mean everything, has been logged at some point or another."

He nudged Lilah foreword again. "I have to check this out. This is a forester's ultimate dream. This is a huge area. How could we not have spotted this from aerial or satellite?"

"Hmm, not sure." Alex grinned in amusement and followed him, both pausing often while Jamie inspected one particular tree or another.

"There's a good mixture of white pine and hemlock here. Some hardwood oaks and poplars too. The original forests of Pennsylvania were mainly evergreen, you know."

"Really? And everything's been logged? I find that hard to believe."

"It's true. Logging up here started in the mid to late 1800's. And they were very methodical with their cuts. They didn't leave anything behind."

"Just a few pockets," she added, repeating his earlier words.

"Yeah, there's a small area of Old Growth virgin timber in the Hammersley Wild Area, about twenty miles south of here. A very small hollow. And the tree diameters are only about three to four feet there.

"These are certainly bigger," Alex added, squinting upward toward the canopy far above.

"Hell, yes, there are some monstrosities here, Alex! Look at this one hemlock. It must be ten feet in diameter!" Alex craned her neck at his insistence, but they couldn't even discern where the top of the tree began, really.

Jamie felt like an ant within a corn field, wandering from stalk to stalk. The giant trees were barren of branches to nearly forty feet. The result was a dimly lit understory, barren of any vegetation other than scattered emerald beds of luxuriant moss and the occasional rhododendron.

Silence was predominant as they passed beneath the colossal timber, even the horses' hoof beats were muffled against the thick carpet of pine needles that now covered the trail.

Alex seemed at a loss for words, but as the silence thickened, she cleared her throat. "Isn't this just amazing?"

"God. It's so... primeval. I've read old accounts about the virgin forests of Potter County. It was said that the forest was so immense and open beneath that a yoke of oxen could be driven for miles through the unbroken forest without encountering an obstacle. And trees upwards of ten to twelve feet in diameter were common. I never truly believed it, until now."

"I just can't believe this area was missed," he repeated again, shaking his head. It's steep, but it's a big area, probably a couple hundred acres, conservatively.

"Well Ezra said the house was built in the late 1800's and his wife's family had always sworn to protect it," Alex recounted.

"They did a damned good job of concealing it from the locals and the loggers," he exclaimed. He looked at her curiously. "I wonder why he suddenly decided to sell it to a stranger?"

"Well, he and Marta were never able to have children," she explained.

"Yes, but why not sell it to another family member. Or a local? Why..." his voice dropped away as he realized what he was about to utter.

With a hurt glare she finished for him. "A yuppie city woman?" She huffed. "Perhaps he found me likeable. Perhaps he found something worthwhile in my nature."

Jamie cleared his throat, wondering how to disentangle himself from the direction of the conversation without starting another war of words. "I just meant not local. Mountain folk are often very distrustful of outsiders."

"Are you considered *Mountain Folk' yourself, Jamie?" she inquired nearly dripping with sarcasm. "Your mother seemed quite friendly and outgoing to me."

He chuckled self-consciously. "Yeah I suppose that was a bit of a stereotype. But you have to know a lot of people really are like that in these small, country communities. And Ezra and Marta were not exactly known for their friendliness."

Alex sighed audibly and chewed on her lower lip. "So why do you think he sold it to me, then? If I'm an outsider and not worthy of trust?"

"Well, I may have insinuated that you were an outsider, but I certainly did not mean that you weren't worthy of trust." He reached out and swished her pony tail, trying to lighten her mood. "After all, you even returned that old beat up stove of mine." She laughed then, and he was pleased.

"If that had been a real ticket you gave me Jamie, you never would have seen that stove again," she threatened teasingly. "I would have hocked it."

"I doubt you'd need to hock much again, Alex," he returned, looking upward at the trees.

"Are we talking big bucks on this property?" she inquired with interest.

He scoffed. "Huge. Shit, there must be ten thousand board feet in this one tree alone. He reached out to touch the ridged bark that ran the length of the pine like a thick, ancient hide. "Remarkable."

"So that's what Ridgeway is all about," she mused.

Jamie looked at her sharply. "Ridgeway? The logging company out of Ohio?"

"I guess. Ridgeway Incorporated."

Jamie shook his head. "Don't let him put any ideas in your head. This piece of land should be in protection. How the hell did we miss ever this? Mike is going to crap. Not too far over this ridge, state forest begins. We should have known about this piece of land."

"Ezra was crazy-protective about these trees."

"As well he should have been. I'd say he was hiding close to four million dollars worth of lumber up here. You can say you're now worth a pretty penny, Alex."

Four million dollars. Alex blinked but said nothing. Ridgeway was trying to pull the wool over her eyes. I'll be damned. She grinned to herself, and began re-calculating her retirement options.

"Hungry?"

"Huh?"

"I said, are you hungry? It's close to six o'clock."

"Oh. Yeah, I could use a bite, I guess. There should be a stream up ahead, if I remember correctly."

They found the gurgling stream with little trouble, and slowly dismounted. The horses touched noses, and Lilah squealed pertly when the stallion blew on her shoulder softly.

Jamie laughed. "She's not in heat, but it would probably be a good idea to tie them a few feet apart."

After securing the horses, they found a moss and fern-laden spot close to the edge of the flowing water. The now-familiar sound of the wood thrush took up its throaty warble nearby.

"I've so grown to love that song," Alex commented as Jamie opened the saddlebags, and he nodded his agreement.

"It's the sound of the Black Forest," he added. "Oohh, we've got cold fried chicken and potato salad. And here's some homemade wheat bread too. Mom's specialty. Sound good to you?"

Her stomach responded with gusto. She realized that she hadn't eaten much over the past few weeks. Diana's neighborly basket of provisions had been a God send. "Your mom is really the absolute best."

He grinned and patted his stomach. "I guess I show it too."

Alex looked at the broad flat expanse of abdomen dubiously. "You have a belly? I highly doubt it, farm boy."

He sighed and rubbed it a little harder. "It's a pot belly. Can't resist that fine cookin'."

"Pot belly my ass," she muttered, rolling her eyes. On a whim, Alex reached across and lifted the edge of his tee-shirt with a bravado she didn't feel. But goodness, his stomach was rock hard, and the series of washboard muscles were each clearly even in the dim forest light. Her fingers itched to run across them. "Liar."

Jamie grabbed her wrist swiftly, with a feral grin of triumph. "Okay, I was hoping you would do that, now I get to see yours. Fair is fair."

"No way! Mine stays covered unless I'm on the beach after a week of severe dieting."

"You're too skinny. You've lost weight, haven't you?"

"Well, maybe a few pounds. I've been too absorbed to eat much lately."

"Here, Mom's cooking will help that. Don't lose any more," Jamie pronounced firmly. He handed her a meaty drumstick.

"How can you tell I lost weight anyway?" she demanded.

"I have a good memory. You weren't wearing much at the swimming hole, if I recall."

He had been spying on her that day. The little shit! "You're a peeping tom, Jamie Sheldon," she sputtered, flushing red with the memory. She had only been wearing her undies. "Well, I hope you got yourself a good, satisfying look."

He grinned, and his blue eyes touched hers daringly. "Oh, it was a good one. But not exactly satisfying..."

He reached out and touched a lock of hair that had tumbled across her cheek, and then tucked it behind her ear. His knuckles scraped the soft lobe, sending a tremor through her. The mere touch of his hand brought a rush of warm between her legs, and her lips parted with the power of the impact of it.

"I like your curves."

"Thank you," she mumbled inanely. Alex dropped her eyes and tore into the piece of chicken self-consciously. Eventually, James did too.

The moment had passed and Alexandra heaved a sigh of relief. She had to be an idiot not to realize what was happening here. It was attraction, pure, direct, and elemental. And very dangerous to her mental health.

She had only recently lost the most important man in her life, even though he had not been faithful. But she had. And the fact that she felt lust for another did not speak well of her. The guilt was thickening with her involvement and it had to stop now.

As they devoured their lunches in mutual silence, Jamie gave himself one hell of a mental ass-whooping. Alex had recently lost a mate. He wasn't even sure what kind of relationship they had had as husband and wife, although judging from her bitterness toward men, he doubted it was an ideal one.

Yet it wasn't helping matters to push her any by touching her joking with her about... physical things. After all, he had her smiling for the first time ever, and he thought that they might actually be having a good time together. Remembering her tears and her barbed words of the previous week, he hoped that this outing was helping to ease her pain.

Stretching her legs out in front of her, Alex now rested her weight on her palms and sighed contentedly. Jamie watched her thoughtfully, wondering if he should even broach the subject of her tragedy. She seemed so content at the moment, but her husband's death suddenly loomed in front of him like a huge hurdle that had to be addressed and acknowledged.

He cleared his throat determinedly. He needed to say something. "Alex, I heard about your husband. Only yesterday, actually. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been flirting with you just now."

Alex froze at the words, and Jamie read a strange fear and uncertainty in her widened eyes, before they coldly clouded over altogether. He swore silently. Wrong choice, James.

"Thank you," she said stiffly. She looked aghast at the reminder.

Jamie remained silent for a moment, searching for a way to break the awkward silence that he had created. He cleared his throat and began, "I lost my own father several years back and-"

"Jamie, maybe we shouldn't discuss such personal details at this moment," she interrupted firmly and resolutely. "If you think about it, we are strangers, really."

He was taken aback by the sharp finality of her words. "I see."

Alex pushed herself to her knees and began packing the saddlebags with rapid, jerky movements. "I'm a very private person, you see. I don't make friends that easily." Her words just kept spilling out like sour milk as he gaped at her with disbelief. "And when I choose to do so, well, I do it very carefully."

"Okay, I get it, Alex," Jamie finally responded, gritting his teeth at her bitter lecture.

She continued on anyway, as if she hadn't heard his response. "I enjoyed our ride, but you and I are from completely different worlds."

He scoffed, getting thoroughly pissed off again, even though he had tried to rein it in. "Oh. You mean that you are upper class and I'm just a local... mountain hick? Is that it?"

Alex stared at him, and for a moment, he thought he saw regret in her hazel eyes. But he wouldn't bet on it.

"No, absolutely not, James, I merely-"

"Don't bother, Alex. I get the picture."

Alex watched helplessly as Jamie hefted the saddlebags under his left arm and stalked toward Lilah. She rested her hands on her hips, her breath coming raggedly now, but words just failed her. He had been flirting with her. And she had enjoyed it. She had wanted more.

Say something! A voice bellowed in her head, but her jaw gritted down, biting off any words of apology before they could escape. Jamie was soon mounted and moving off through the trunks of giant trees, that yawned stolidly up into the air like pillars of granite coated with textured, living cells.

Alex got her body moving then, untying her pawing stallion, and following Jamie reluctantly. She'd be damned if she'd get lost again.

She tasted an acrid bitterness in her mouth, and the heat of unshed tears burgeoned behind her eyelids, but she lifted her chin and fought them off determinedly.

You're so stupid, Alex, honestly. Just admit it. Why did you go with him in the first place? What did you think would happen? What did you WANT to happen?