Dinner was too much fun to spoil with a lot of excuses about why he couldn't stay for the weekend, so Logan kept his mouth shut and let Max take the spotlight. She ate voraciously, raved about how delicious everything was, asked a million questions about the farm and Maria's high school and the college days at Yale. The only thing missing was a bottle of wine, which, of course, Logan had been too preoccupied to think about bringing. Nice, he told himself. Rich friend of poor farmers shows up empty handed, with a hungry X-5 eating them out of house and home. Great guy.

After dinner Max leaned over and said quietly into his ear, "Your turn to socialize. I'd like to scope the place out before it gets too dark."

It was the first time she had spoken to him since the car ride. "Sure," he answered as calmly as he could, considering the way her warm breath on his cheek made him feel. Not that she was in that kind of mood. Even if it hadn't been for the unfortunate motorcycle incident, now she was the one focused on work.

In his opinion there really wasn't any reason to worry about Maria. She was probably dramatizing her fears to get some attention, which was perfectly understandable after all she'd been through. But if Max wanted to take the situation so seriously he wasn't going to stop her. He'd had enough of the wrath of Max for a while.

He offered to help clear away dinner, but Sam refused. "Go spend some time with David," she insisted, waving towards the porch, where David stood surveying the farmyard. When Logan opened the door he turned to hold it, watching with frank interest as Logan maneuvered onto the porch, positioned the chair, and snapped the brakes. With a nod of approval he said,

"You drive that thing pretty good."

Around them evening fell quietly over the farm. The cold air was clear and still. The crescent moon and a single briliant star hung in the darkening sky. Across the farmyard Max moved in silhouette against the last of the light. The beauty nearly broke Logan's heart. He looked up at David and said, "I hate it."

Their eyes met for a long moment. "I'm sorry," David said simply. Then he looked across the yard to Max and smiled. "But you've got her."

"It's not like that."

"Get out of here." David was genuinely astonished. "Is that some lame way of proving to me that you've still got a sense of humor?"

"It's not a joke," Logan said irritably. How many times was he going to have this conversation? "We work together. We're not a couple."

"But you're going to fix that."

"No, I'm not."

"What, she's already got a boyfriend? You've never let that stand in your way before."

"I'm ... just not, that's all."

"Well." David regarded him with considerably less sympathy than he had a few moments earlier. "That might make things a bit awkward tonight, because we only have one guest room. We just assumed you'd be together."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not staying."

Max was coming towards them, graceful and sure in the deepening dusk. David shook his head. "You know, if I wasn't worried about you before, I am now," he said. Then he went into the house.

Bouncing up the porch steps as the door closed, Max asked, "What's up with him?"

"I annoyed him," Logan said sourly.

"I hear that," Max said, but before he could respond, she motioned him to the far end of the porch, away from the lighted kitchen windows. "Looks like maybe Maria's imagination isn't so overactive after all," she told him quietly.

"Why?" Logan was beginning to shiver. As night fell the temperature was dropping quickly.

"You think maybe David's sneaking a smoke up there behind the barn when nobody's looking?"

"No. He hates cigarettes."

Max nodded towards the barn. "Up there, in that clump of trees, I found two fresh butts. Couple of used matches. It rained three nights ago, but this stuff is dry. Which means --"

"--it's new," Logan finished. He frowned. "Anything else?"

Max shook her head. "No, but you know something? I think I'll stay up a while tonight. And speaking of staying, think you could get over yourself long enough to give me a hand? If we don't find anything you can clear out of here first thing in the morning. I'll find my own ride back to town."

"They only have one guest room," he warned her.

Max shrugged. "I guess I can stand you for one night. I don't plan to sleep anyway." Then, with a sly little grin, her first in days, she added, "Too bad you didn't pack a bag. I'd love to see what kind of pajamas rich guys wear."

After the cabin he had promised himself he wouldn't even joke with her, but here in the darkness the temptation was too much. "What makes you think I wear pajamas?" he returned.

Max raised her eyebrows. "Gets awfully cold out in the country at night."

"If you can take it I can too."

At that Max laughed out loud. "Hey, I packed mine," she told him, and held the door open so he could go in.

-----------------------------------------------

Before midnight the house was quiet. Max turned out the guest room light and they sat together in the darkness, Max at one window and Logan at the other. The moon was too small and low to provide much light, and Logan could see very little. Max watched alertly, aware of so much that was invisible to him.

He loved the feeling of being alone with her, even if surveillance wasn't the first thing on his mind in a dark room at midnight with a beautiful woman. Talk about Eyes Only, he thought ruefully. Propping an elbow on the windowsill, he rested his chin in his hand and stifled a yawn. The room was warm and peaceful. Gradually his thoughts wandered to what might have been, that night, if his life had turned out differently. If he could rise from that chair to go to Max, to touch her hair, to kiss her, to take her hand and lead her to the bed. Oh, Max, he heard himself whispering, oh, Max, I l--

He was jolted wide awake by a terrifying bellow. "Jesus!" Max hissed, and the next thing he knew she was beside him, eyes wide, rapidly scanning the yard. "What the hell was that?"

After the first shock Logan began to laugh. "That, Max, was a cow."

"A cow!" She sounded outraged. "Are you sure? In the middle of the night?"

"Cows can't tell time, Max."

She wasn't amused. "Yeah? Well, what made it do that? I'm going out there." She looked as serious as if she were about to break into a top-secret military installation on high alert status. Logan knew he shouldn't tease her, but really, it was too funny, seeing her go into battle mode over a cow. Reaching over to the bookshelf behind him, he picked up the heaviest book he could find and tossed it to her.

"What's this for?"

"When you find that cow, you have orders to take her out. With extreme prejudice if necessary."

She didn't bother to answer, just dropped the book on the bed and left the room without a sound.

It was a while before he saw her again.