Like a Needle in a Haystack

**This story immediately follows "The Invisibility Factor"**

CHAPTER 1

"You boys look like you could use some lemonade!" CJ Parsons-Houston pulled up to the cowboys who were repairing the cattle guard. One of them was her husband, Matt Houston, who had grown up on the ranch just outside of Houston, Texas. "You got that right." He walked over to the truck and leaned in the window to give her a kiss. "Thanks, babe." Before CJ stepped out of the truck, Matt checked the area to make sure there were no copperheads near it. Since she was three months pregnant with their first child he wasn't taking any chances. He walked with her to the back of the truck and dropped the tailgate then picked her up and set her up on it.

"It won't be too long before you won't be able to pick me up anymore." She patted on her belly.

"Nah, you're not anywhere near as big as you think, CJ." He rubbed her belly and leaned forward to give her another kiss.

"How are we supposed to get any of this lemonade with you over here smooching on your wife?" Chuck Wylie popped Matt on the backside with his t-shirt that had been removed and had been hanging out of his back pocket for the last three hours. He and Matt had gone through school together and played on the high school baseball team. A deputy for the Harris County Sheriff's Department, Chuck had been helping Matt get the ranch ready to run cattle again. He was married and the father of five children, so the extra income was welcomed, not to mention the fun that he and Matt had working together.

"Jealous much?" Matt leaned forward and gave CJ another kiss and slid the cooler of lemonade to the tailgate as he did so. "They call that multi-tasking in LA. Whadaya think of that?"

"I think I'm ready for some lemonade." Chuck grinned at Matt.

"Well there's five gallons of it there, so maybe that will take care of you boys for a little while." CJ pulled out a pack of plastic cups as Matt slid a cooler of ice over so the guys could fill their cups.

After letting the other men fill their cups first, Matt settled down on the tailgate next to CJ. He looked at the crew that he had put together. The Hoffmann brothers, Marty and Pat, were two of the best cowboys in the area. Ollie Burckhardt had been a bullfighter, also known as a rodeo clown, back when Matt used to ride the circuit. He had saved Matt's life one time when he got hung up on a bull. And then there was Chuck. He and Chuck had been best friends since the age of five. It was a great crew and Matt had great expectations for this ranch.

As they drank and cooled off, Matt looked around at all they had accomplished in the last couple of weeks. They had replaced all of the fencing that wasn't up to snuff and repaired or replaced cattle guards that were no longer safe. Once the repairs were finished, Matt would be buying two Brahman bulls and some Gelbvieh cows to put on the spread. He had almost fifteen square miles of pastureland to graze them on and had decided to start fairly small with fifty cows to a herd, which would give him one hundred head of cattle to each herd after a successful calving season. He was planning on running the cattle on part of the acreage and using what was left for hayfields.

CJ watched Matt as he sat there, knowing that he was thinking about how it would be when he got the ranch up and running. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, giving Chuck another excuse to pick on Matt.

"Uh oh, here we go boys, only this time she's the one starting it!" He smiled at the couple. Although he loved to pick on them, he (like everyone else who had known them for a long time) was happy that they had finally gotten together. The other men laughed.

"Yep, Houston I think you were right – he's just jealous 'cause his wife ain't here." Marty Hoffmann swatted at Chuck with his shirt and the battle was on. Matt and CJ just sat there smiling at the group as all four of them started popping each other. He decided to take advantage of their distraction and pulled CJ into his arms for a little more intimate kiss. It took the others a while to notice, but when they did, they decided to have a little fun. Matt and CJ were so busy smooching on each other that Matt didn't notice when Marty and Pat snuck up behind him. Marty pulled the waistband of his jeans and Pat dumped a cup of ice down his backside. It didn't take Matt long to figure out what they had done, but he didn't even flinch, just kept kissing CJ. It had the desired effect.

"Dang it! He didn't even jump! Guess it's true love after all." The Hoffmann brothers stood there laughing as did Chuck and Ollie.

Matt finally broke the kiss and without a trace of a smile looked at the brothers and said, "Did y'all say something?" That was the last straw. All four of the men began to pop Matt with their shirts as CJ just sat there laughing at the sight. When they had calmed down a little Matt refilled his cup and sat back down on the tailgate. "Guess we better get back to work." He chugged down the rest of his drink, then moved the coolers to the back of the other truck and walked CJ back to the front of the truck she was driving. After opening the door for her and helping her in, he leaned over and gave her another kiss. "Thanks again, babe."

"It was worth all the work just to see the show." She started to drive off and looked in the mirror at her husband who was walking the other way. CJ stopped the truck and stuck her head out of the window. "Hey, Matt? Didja know your pants are wet?" He just waved his hand and kept on walking, leaving her to chuckle as she drove back to the house.