She woke up in the morning, warmed by a stream of sunlight that slipped through the window curtains telling her that she'd overslept.
C.J. sat up, wrapped in her bed covers looking around the room. The cat who'd been her constant companion at night blinked its eyes from where it lay at the foot of the bed. She frowned, realizing that for once, she had no memory of her dreams not even fragments.
Whether they'd been pleasant reenactments of fond memories or nightmares fueled by the last few months she had no idea. Not a bad thing, she thought as she pushed away her covers and got out of bed to get dressed.
Normally she was up before the dawn, not needing an alarm to rouse her. After all, there were the chores that needed to be done to keep a working ranch running and she pitched in as soon as she'd been able and kept herself busy just like the other hands.
From sunrise to past sundown, she was out riding Sienna out in frozen country dealing with wandering bands of horses and repairing fences which had splintered from the freezing temperatures. It kept her busy, her mind focused on day to day matters rather than the past, which she'd relegated only to nights when her defenses dropped with slumber.
She looked at the clock. 7:30 A.M. damn she really overslept. She went to the bathroom and stripped to take a quick shower, the only warmth she'd feel despite the sunshine outside. Winters in this corner of Colorado nestled in the Rockies were often brutal and she'd gotten more than a taste of nature.
The shower warmed her and since the bandage had been removed from her shoulder, she stuck to gently washing the injured area that had bred an infection which nearly killed her.
After showering, she got dressed in jeans and a woolen shirt and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Thea and Bonnie stood there drinking coffee while Thea stirred some eggs sizzling on the stove. They looked up when C.J. walked in. Thea smiled.
"Good morning Kelly…"
C.J.'s name while she remained in hiding. By now, she'd learned to respond to it as if it'd been her name since birth.
"Good morning…I'm sorry…I overslept. I'll get straight to work."
Thea shook her head.
"No it's all right," she said, "It's a light day…a storm's due later on so no one will be doing much riding today."
"Still I was going to go look at the fencing by the lake…"
Thea smiled.
"Not without breakfast…and I might need your help," she said, "We'll be having some company later for dinner…for the holiday. It's our turn to host this year."
"A party?"
Bonnie nodded.
"I hosted last year…guests mostly the other ranchers bring food and it's a lot of fun," she said, "Though with the storm front moving in…"
Thea nodded.
"Might see fewer guests this year. But Kelly, you did so well with the cider at the Halloween party I thought you might want to help with that."
C.J. nodded.
"Okay there's plenty of apples left," she said, "I'll get started…"
Thea got a plate and piled it high with eggs and thick strips of bacon.
"Eat some breakfast first," she said, "There's still plenty of time."
C.J. dug in her food, her appetite being quite vigorous since recovering from her illness. She'd started putting back some of the weight she'd lost during her months held captive. Thea poured herself another cup of coffee.
"How you feeling this morning?"
C.J. smiled.
"Good…I slept really well…too well."
"You're still recovering and getting plenty of rest is part of that," Thea said, "The men will be back by lunch."
C.J. ate her breakfast listening to Bonnie and Thea chat about the party and the latest news in the ranching community.
She found her own mind wandering not to her most recent past but to further back…back before her world had changed forever. The days spent working on cases with Matt and Uncle Roy…mornings spent sharing coffee and gossip with Chris and then the time when Matt's girlfriend Elizabeth returned back into his life.
Their whirlwind courtship. Their aborted wedding and Matt's downward slide afterward. She'd been busy working with the feds to find out who was siphoning money away from Houston Enterprises.
She'd had her own suspect but hadn't been able to prove it before…she closed her eyes not wanting to remember that. Better to focus on the present, lying low, pretending to be someone else and staying alive.
Matt finished his run along the coastline of the island and then headed back to the compound. Brady, Zeke and the others were heading out to sea to do some fishing. The business they ran when not out in the field working as mercenaries.
Today they'd be on the boat since they just returned from a job. Matt had been recruited to help them rescue a group of children who'd been kidnapped to serve as cannon fodder in some civil war between two factions on an island nation off of Venezuela.
They'd slipped in on a moonless night into the camp and liberated them and then shot it out with a small cadre of guards before boarding a boat and taking off across the harbor. The siding had been pocked with bullet holes and Zeke had been dinged by a shot that ricocheted.
The children were in a refugee camp being processed, though it seemed unlikely most would be reunited with their families. Some had been castoffs willingly sold by their kin to middlemen for the army recruiters.
Eluding them too had been the kingpin behind the sale of them to the rebel forces, a mysterious man who was legendary in these parts although he remained in the shadows.
A man who in short time had emerged as the top human trafficker in Latin America, beginning to spread his tentacles ever further as his organization expanded across the hemisphere.
Matt didn't think about all that right now. He sipped really strong java with his eggs and grits after getting up with the sun to hit the boat. Brady and Zeke sat across from him joking about the upcoming New Year's Eve party in town.
"So you ready to celebrate Houston?"
He looked up at them from his plate.
"I'm going to stop and make another call," he said, "I haven't been able to get through."
Zeke and Brady looked at each other.
"I'm sure everything's just fine. You know reception's spotty on this island. Serena will be lucky to be able to patch you through. But I'm sure your people are taking care of your business."
Matt believed that but he'd wanted to talk to her. His business partner he'd abruptly left six months ago after his aborted wedding to Elizabeth. Their last words…he didn't want to think about it.
He'd had six months to do that and occasionally sent postcards back to the office without leaving a forwarding address.
He'd fallen off the grid so to speak and savored the feeling of being truly anonymous out in the world away from his life most of the time…but lately…he'd grown restless. Not to mention he realized what…and who he really wanted.
"I just want to wish her a happy holiday and that I'll be coming home soon."
Brady chortled.
"You really mean it? This isn't the life for you?"
Matt smiled while taking a bite. Not that the island idyll wasn't a great place to relax in between jobs for the mercenary crew but he felt the pull to go back home to L.A. and pick up his life at last. Zeke jabbed outward with his fork.
"What's this woman of yours going to think when you tell her you want everything to change?"
Good question. Matt knew that he wanted his relationship with his lifelong friend C.J. to change but how would she feel about any sudden declarations? After all, he didn't know how much her life had changed since he left town. Had she met someone? Did she have a boyfriend and were they serious?
His throat tightened at the thought. No, he had to get back home and tell her. It couldn't be too late could it? He'd find out soon enough.
He poked his food.
"I don't know. She'll be surprised for sure."
"What if there's someone else in the picture?"
Matt just looked at Zeke.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
Both men chuckled
"I imagine she'll have something to say about it either way," Brady said, "Too Mean used to tell us about you two…wondering when you'd get your heads straight, your acts together and hook up."
Matt bristled.
"This isn't a hookup."
Zeke smirked.
"No it's true love…yeah we know," he said, "We're with you bro, we just hope it works out for you but if it doesn't and you need a job…"
Matt sighed.
"I'll appreciate the offer but L.A.'s my home."
Zeke shrugged.
"We'll be busy rolling in money here," he said, "especially with the slave cases…not that it's not a damn shame that ugly business is in our midst."
Brady nodded.
"This new guy…he's a rising star," he said, "Though he's focused mostly on the sex trade."
Matt shook his head. The guy was scum as far as he was concerned but he was also faceless. At any rate that world would be far behind him when he was back handling his caseload back in L.A. with C.J. and Roy helping him.
He missed those days. Hopefully he wasn't too far away from realizing more just like them.
Mostly he missed her.
C.J. walked up from the cellar with the apples to work on the cider. They would sterilize and heat the jars later so they'd be warm enough for the cider mix. Thea had taught her how to make the popular drink during Halloween and she knew she could handle it. It'd stop her from thinking about much else.
Thea glanced at her in the kitchen.
"Jed and the others are due back soon," she said, "Bonnie's going to be helping with the chicken."
C.J. nodded and went to the broad table with her apples.
"The weather improving?"
Thea shook her head.
"Three feet expected by morning," she said, "I expect about a baker's dozen for the party tonight."
C.J. digested that and though she could handle it. Ever since her escape she didn't like being around a lot of people, crowds of them in town she avoided. If she didn't…she'd break out in a cold sweat and feel faint.
She didn't like to be bumped or jostled…or even touched. Her skin had turned super sensitive even as her insides numbed.
She thought she could make it through the party tonight. Halloween had turned out to be enjoyable, a few hours of forgetting why she was here.
Forgetting about them, the two men.
The man of her dreams and the one in her nightmares.