I wrote some more of this interesting thing that I had been working on. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and the feedback.

Matt woke up with his fishing pole still in his hand and remembered that he had had a couple bites but had yet to reel one in. The sun had been hitting the lake, shimmering at its surface and he hadn't felt the sleepiness coming on, just the relaxation. He looked over and saw her curled up on the grass beside him, beneath the shade of the tree. Her hair had fanned over her face and her head rested on her hands, her book lying aside her.

He knew that she had been tired because she kept much later hours than he had since their arrival.
But she looked fairly peaceful now in her slumber so he didn't want to disturb her. Her face bore no lines save a scar just above her eye that wove into her brow and her lips remained closed.

Turning away from her, he cast his rod back in the lake because after all, he had promised her fish and he liked to deliver on his promises. The lake looked undisturbed but he knew it served as home to plenty of trout. Fishing relaxed him in ways that few other activities did and it was one of the pastimes he had shared with his father when he had been a little boy. His father had been a busy man running his own conglomerate and his endless list of responsibilities including traveling around the globe and to often be absent during holiday celebrations and even his own son's birthday. But their fishing trips helped mend the rifts which arose between them due to the demands of his father's life work.

C.J. and he had also fished in the river that ran through both of their ranches not long after they met when she moved in with a relative who owned a neighboring ranch. They had spent a lot of time together while they grew up until they had gone to their separate colleges, he to Rice University and she to UC Berkeley. Then there had been law school for her and military service to them and the distance had kept them apart in more ways than just physically. It hadn't been until she had remembered his job offer that he had dangled at her in his company that she had returned into his life.

The fishing line tugged suddenly.

C.J. had drifted off to sleep while reading her book. Well actually when she had been sitting next to Matt who had been trying to fish. She had been trying to make him feel better and he had accepted her embrace, and it had felt good to have him leaning on her. Like she had been able to help him when he had needed her. She hated being so tough on him but instinct told her that's what he really needed from her.

She had been so tired but even so the fatigue had just slipped up on her pulling her in its embrace and with him nearby, she relaxed into it.

But with sleep comes dreaming.

She found herself inside what looked like an apartment, what looked like the one she had shared with Julia one of her sorority sisters in college. Julia had done most of the decorating but C.J. had added a touch here and there to remind her of home back on the ranch. She had just come back from a night spent studying with some of her other sisters at the main house. Then she, Maureen and Carol had hit the diner for some sustenance before returning to their respective domiciles.

When she turned the lock into her apartment, it had turned too easily but she pushed the door forward into darkness. But even before she flipped the light switch, she saw him standing haloed by the moonlight coming through the window.

Then she woke up with a start. She maneuvered her way onto her side and then looked around her, feeling the thudding of her heart. Matt stood next to her trying to wrestle with the fishing line which meant that he had caught something. She watched him suddenly reel something in and it looked like a good-sized trout. He looked back at her quite proud of himself.

"Looks like a two-pounder," he said.

She snorted.

"Don't you start with the fish tales already."

He knelt to remove the fish from the hook which he did deftly enough and he packed it in the fish basket.

"How many you got there," she asked.

"Two…one for me and one for…someone."

She played along.

"And do you have anyone in mind," she said, "Anyone from your illustrious black book?"

He sighed.

"C.J. I don't have this black book you and the social columnists and…I don't have one period."

She tilted her head doubtfully.

"Then what do you have photographic recall," she said, "Because I don't know how you keep them all straight and keep them from bumping into each other."

He looked sheepish.

"It's not always easy…"

She chuckled.

"I'll bet."

"Well as it happens, I have an opening for dinner tonight so it's your lucky day Ms Parsons."

She just shook her head and got on her feet, brushing off her jeans.

"Oh so you think," she said, "Well I might have plans of my own."

His brow rose.

"Like what," he said, "We're both stuck with each other up in the mountains because we both promised my daddy that we'd stay up here for a while."

"I might decide to have my own dinner," she said, "I had a hankering for some steak actually and some…roasted potatoes with rosemary and…"

"Some of my special salad dressing with some salad…"

She folded her arms.

"That was Lamar's recipe," she said, "You got it out of him in a poker game."

He held up his hand, palm facing her.

"I won fair and square," he said, "Plus I always know when he's bluffing."

She nodded, thinking that Lamar's face was pretty readable most of the time. But she liked rankling her best friend. He changed the subject.

"I saw you sleeping on the job…"

She looked at him innocently.

"You had a nap," she said, "Why can't I take a short one now and then?"

"No reason," he said, eying her carefully, "You don't sleep much at night."

She threw him a piercing look.

"How would you know," she said, "We're in different beds…in different rooms."

Damn he knew he'd been caught but he had peeked in her room more than once and had seen her settled there, intent in a book or some paperwork. And that was after spending long evenings whiling away beautiful nights on the couch doing the same chores. Tough to miss even when he'd been focused on his own problems.

"You just not liking to sleep," he asked, "How do you handle it when you've got men over?"

Oh, she wanted to throw her book at him for that comment. But she knew that would alert him that his casual question had unraveled her and she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

"Houston, I don't kiss and tell," she said, "You might want to think about that a while."

He shrugged.

"I guess I'll be heading back to the cabin," he said, "but remember our deal, I catch the fish, you skin them."

She nodded.

"Okay, just keep them cool until I return," she said, "I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Want some company?"

She looked at him, shaking her head.

"You had enough exercise this morning," she said, "the afternoons are your own."

He waggled his brow in his own special way.

"What about the nights?"

Oh, and she felt his gaze looking at her in a way that nearly made her blush. Of course, he didn't mean anything by it. He never did and she had that one coming, she had to admit. But she didn't feel that she was in the wrong for pushing him to do the morning hikes and besides, he already had gotten much stronger than he had been when he had arrived. He could complain all he wanted, view her as a drill sergeant but he couldn't deny that the hiking had been healing him in more ways than one.

"I'll see you later Houston…"

She walked off into the forest without looking back as he watched her go.

Matt headed back to deal with the fish. Even though he had teased C.J. about it, he planned to skin them himself as part of his penance for giving her such a hard time about coming to the cabin. Did he like what his father had assigned her to do behind his back, not really. But he knew she had accepted the assignment because she had cared about him.

He entered the cabin and went into the kitchen, thinking that he really shouldn't have made that crass comment about nights. It hadn't really gotten her hackles up as he thought it might but she had just looked at him and almost before she started to respond, she just closed that book deftly and left him in the wake of his own comments. Even though he hadn't meant anything by it, especially since they had been close friends since they had been younger, but only friends. Not that he hadn't been tempted because after all, who wouldn't? His friend had always been pretty but since she had come to work at his company, he noticed that she had grown into her looks and had become downright gorgeous. And though she had always been intelligent, the smartest kid in her class, she didn't throw it around at people…at least not mostly.

She had risen to the top of the pool of attorneys that he had hired and had quickly assumed herself as the leader of the pack even though they were mostly male. He had thoughts about making her a vice president pretty soon figuring that she had proven herself especially on the last several business trips with him to both Japan and South Korea.

His cell phone message indicator lit up. Murray had tried to call him earlier but he had been too busy fishing to care about business. He pushed in the office number.

"Murray look I'm busy here…"

"Oh Houston…yes I did call you earlier," Murray said, "but if we want to get…"

"You mean steal."

"Okay if we want to…steal Grant Sullivan, we have to get him while he's hot."

Matt sighed.

"Murray, we're not talking about pizza here," he said, "Just a financial whiz that's climbing every chart."

He heard Murray's excitement on the other end and chalked it up to needing to spend more time away from the office. He had read all about Grant in the trade journals and even a national publication or two but there were other financial consultants that had come fast and furious out of the Ivy Leagues and had been snapped up by a business firm or two before finding their perfect gig. His company could really use someone of Grant's caliber but hadn't Murray assigned…

The accountant beat him to the punch.

"C.J. was really supposed to be handling this," he muttered, "I don't know why she's dragging her feet."

Matt waited for a break in Murray's monologue.

"Listen Murray, I'm sure C.J.'s working on it. I mean she's not the kind of person to drag her feet on anything but she's brought a lot here from the office and it's been keeping her busy."

"We need this guy to work for us Houston," Murray continued, "He's a miracle man especially since we're going public in a month or two."

"Murray…he can wait a few days can't he," Matt said, "then I'm sure C.J. will get working on it. She's up here looking after me as a favor to my father."

A long pause greeted him.

"I guess that would be okay," he said, "but we really need to jump on this."

Matt listened to Murray continue talking for a moment and then said he had to hang up and go skin a fish.

"A what Houston?"

"You heard me a fish, two of them actually" Matt said, "Talk to you later."

C.J. walked through the forest, past one glen of trees, a smallish meadow and then another grove of what looked like Oak trees intermixed with several species of conifers. She still saw the outline of the large lake through a thread of trees and listened to small animals scurry in the brush ahead of her. She loved the area around Matt's cabin and was so glad that he had purchased it, feeling better than she had when she had first arrived.

Her brow knit as she thought back to her conversation with Bill about Matt and how worried he had been about his son. She had reassured him that Matt would find his way through this latest challenge thrown at him and come out better for it. Bill had smiled and had nodded his head, hoping for the best. C.J. had looked at the expression on his face and felt duty bound to do her part to bring it.

But that hadn't been the only reason she had accompanied her friend to the cabin, hadn't it? She reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper that had yellowed with age and was nearly torn where the creases had crossed it from being opened and closed so many times. She couldn't help the circumstances that had led to that back then but it had spent several years untouched in her bureau drawer at home where she had kept most of her important papers, passports and such locked up.

Only recently had she revisited it again. When Murray had asked her to try to help him coax Grant into the fold or the team as Murray called it, at Houston Enterprises. She had tried to beg off of it but Murray wasn't anything if not one of the most persistent accountants on the planet. She had hoped by putting some miles and some forests between the two of them, that Murray would stop bothering her about it. But then she started getting phone calls from Grant about getting into touch with him to schedule a meeting but she hadn't returned him, so now the ones she picked up at the office had a rebuking tone to them, almost mocking as if he realized why she had been ignoring him.

Well of course he did, she thought.

A tree branch snapped behind her and she spun around to look. Nothing but the quiet of her natural surroundings greeted her and she put a hand on her chest. Everything had made her jump these days since he had started calling her. She looked at the paper and then folded it and returned it to her pocket and kept moving.

For her the remoteness of the mountains provided peace and relaxation but also security.

Matt's fish turned out great as it usually did and C.J. had arrived just in time to help him with the cooking. They had compromised and ate the fried fish along with the baked potatoes and rosemary that C.J. prepared. They didn't talk much as they both concentrated on their tasks in the kitchen but each realized the other's presence. She noticed that Matt looked better than he had earlier and she hoped that he had settled into the quiet routine here.

He looked at her and noticed how pretty she looked with her hair nestled around her shoulders and the tee-shirt she wore of an Eagles concert they had both attended when they had first arrived in L.A. She handled herself very well in the kitchen and a smile lit her face as she placed the sprigs of rosemary in her dish to give it an extra touch. Those fingers were probably talented at doing other things, he thought before reining himself in a bit. But Matt still had to grow accustomed to his social life slowing its pace a notch or two while he had been recuperating and rehabilitating. He didn't know how active C.J.'s personal life had been, the little she had, since she had started moving up in his company but she looked at ease in the mountain retreat…most of the time.

Still at times he saw the tension line her face and something besides lightness in her eyes. Some of it had to do with her concern over him but something else lived in her eyes as well. And he didn't know what it was or why he had just started noticing it. Of course he had been wrapped up in his own situation for a while now and had been oblivious to just about everything else around him. Something he intended to remedy now that he realized the impact that his attitude had taken on those who cared about him.

Including his best friend who stood over the stove putting the final touches on the meal they had both prepared.

"Do you have any wine left," she asked.

He looked in his storage place.

"A couple of bottles of that vintage we bought a while back," he said.

Oh yeah, on the trip to Monterey on business that thankfully included some time for recreation as well. But the wine had been delicious even if a couple of glasses of it made her a bit heady. Within these four walls, she felt she could handle that.

"I'll get the glasses," he offered.

Later, they sat on the deck and ate a delicious meal, in companionable silence. He glanced at her while they ate and saw her deep in thought. She chewed her food with deliberation but appeared to be elsewhere.

"Murray called…"

She looked up at him.

"I hope he didn't pile too much work on you."

Matt smiled.

"He's sounding like he's treading water at the office but he usually has everything under control by the time we return."

"That sounds like Murray," C.J. said, "but he's been bugging me about Grant Sullivan…"

Matt put his fork down.

"Yeah we were talking about that earlier."

She bit her lip and looked at him sideways.

"I'm sorry I didn't get on it right away but…"

He studied her carefully in a way that made her notice and feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Houston, I'll get to it right away if you want," she said, "He's called me a couple times at the office."

He remained silent for a moment.

"What's it about Sullivan that you aren't telling me?"

That question caught her by surprise, as did his town. Damn count on Matt to play the bloodhound with her. He should really think about going into investigation or something. He had set up his agency anyway, but the accident…well it had put that side of his life on hold for a while. She planted a smile on her face and speared a piece of potato with her fork.

"Houston, really it's no big deal."

"Did I say it was, I just am wondering if you knew him someplace else."

Actually she did, but that had been in the past. Ancient history or so she had thought. And as she had hoped. She chewed her food and then wiped her mouth with her napkin while Matt watched and waited.

"I asked you a question C.J."

Something flickered in her eyes then and she just shrugged.

"We went to Berkeley at the same time," she said, "Though he was several years ahead of me and in business."

"Okay so you went to school together."

She sighed.

"He pledged with a fraternity like I did with the sorority," she said, "We came into contact through social events."

"And…"

She fidgeted with her food.

"That's pretty much all I'm going to say about it Houston," she said, "We came here to relax, not talk about business."

"You came here to watch me."

She didn't argue with that but sipped her wine.

"I also came here to get away from the office for a while."

He leaned closer.

"But you spend most of your time doing the work you brought with you," he said, "So you're using your job as a means to block my questions and why is that?"

"I'm not doing any such thing."

She had closed a part of herself and he knew it. But he took a different tact.

"Look I'm thinking about hiring him on and if you know anything…"

She threw her napkin down and got up, gathering their empty dishes to rinse in the kitchen.

"Okay fine, if you want to hire him, you don't need my permission."

She left to go inside and he just sat there.

She washed and rinsed the dishes, allowing them to dry on the racks by the sink. Damn that man, she thought to herself, they couldn't even sit down to eat dinner without him trying to get information out of her. And about Grant Sullivan, from her college days. She could read on Matt's face that he was thinking about hiring the guy and she knew that his credentials and work experience put him at the top of the crop of financial analysts in the greater L.A. It wasn't her place to tell Matt what to do with his company and who to hire but if Grant did wind up at Houston Enterprises, then she didn't think she could still work there.

Matt dropped by the kitchen.

"Need any help?"

She just fired him a look.

"C.J. I'm sorry if I said anything to bother you but I'm not sure what it was that I said."

She sighed and put the dish rag down.

"It's not you…"

"I think I've heard this speech before."

That earned him a brief smile.

"Maybe you should turn in early," she said, "You had a long day."

His mouth twitched.

"Only if you come with me," he said, "Oh come on, think of the fun we could have…"

She caught his teasing tone and knew he was trying to cheer her up but seriously, one of these days, she was going to accept one of his flirtatious offers and then watch the expression on his face.

"Houston…"

"I know, I promised I would behave myself," he said, "That was just a slip."

"I'm sure it was."

He helped her put the dishes away once they had dried in the cabinets and the silverware in its proper place.

"Houston, you've bedded most of the young woman on the west side in just three years and I'm not interested in being number one thousand and one."

His brows rose.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration don't you think?"

Okay maybe it was, after all he had been out of town a lot so maybe she should expand the geographic boundaries a bit.

"You do get around."

He touched her shoulder and she turned around to look at him. His eyes looked serious and she braced herself for the impact.

"I've had my relationships but it's not as many as you think."

She conceded him that point.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind the next time you spill some more innuendo."

He told her then he was going to read in the living room and she thought he might just join him, as her mystery novel had been looking pretty intriguing so far. She heard some branches hit the side of the kitchen wall and flinched a little. Matt just looked at her.

"It's just a little wind C.J."

But she looked out the window anyway.

Matt started moving forward in the sand having last seen his cousin's face drifting further away from him. He had been hiking through the arid mountains of some foreign country and had seen Will slipping into what appeared to be quicksand. He had run to pull him out of it but it seemed like the harder he pulled on his cousin's arms, the faster he slid beneath the mire. Then suddenly both of them were pulled beneath the surface and found themselves surrounded by jungle. Only when Matt had looked for his cousin, he found only his skeleton next to him.

And then he had been running through that same endless jungle dressed in military fatigues so sure the kidnappers were following him. He stumbled and found himself falling into a pit and while falling, but even though he had this dream before, it seemed different.

He started flying through the air and out of the hole as it collapsed around him and then he stood on solid ground again. He looked up and saw her.

C.J. reaching out her hand to him.

"Come follow me," she said.

He saw her standing in front of him when he woke up. She sat on the bed, moving closer to him. He looked at her startled.

"Don't think this means anything's changed," she warned.

He nodded and she brushed the damp hair off of his face.

"Another one?"

Meaning another nightmare, Matt thought and he didn't know how to answer her. The dream had started out much worse than it had ended. Surely that had to mean something. He rested against her and closed his eyes as she wrapped her arm around him and they both settled in for the rest of the night.

"Were you still up," he asked.

"I was going to turn in anyway," she said, "I'd just changed into something more comfortable."

And indeed she had, wearing some blue silk pajamas, which felt cool against his skin. His heartbeat began to settle into a normal rhythm and his breath came easier.

"Go to sleep," she ordered him.

And in her arms he did.