See prologue for disclaimer. Please review! Thanks.

Chapter 11

About ten minutes after I hung up with my mom, the phone rang again.

"Hello."

"Hiya, Darlin'," came Woody's voice over the line. Crap, I guessed wrong.

"Hey, Woody. How is it going?"

"It's going good. We're having a slow day around here and it isn't nearly so interesting to monitor the building without you in it."

"Sorry you have to do actual work."

"Not a problem, Darlin'," he responded, "cause Tank has given me the rest of the day off and I wanted to see of you would be free to spend it with me?"

"Sure, I can be ready in an hour."

"Perfect, I'll see you then."

"Um, Woody, what are we doing? A girl needs to know how to dress."

"Dress casually, we're gonna be outside all afternoon and you should wear boots with a little heel, or tennis shoes."

"Cool. I'll see you in a bit."

I hung up the phone and did a little fist pump. Sounded like extreme sporting was a possibility. I just hoped I didn't break any really valuable bones.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the shower. I did the make-up thing and the hair thing and got dressed. I was finishing off a piece of burnt toast when there was a knock at the door.

I opened the door with a smile. "Hi, Woody." Woody greeted me with a slow sweet smile of his own and leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, Darlin'. You ready?" He looked totally at ease in a pair of faded jeans and a washed out green t-shirt under a light cream and green flannel shirt. Woody had dark blonde hair that was kind longish, brushing against his collar. He had a dreamy southern accent, was tall and muscular, but lean compared to the other Merry Men. He reminded me of the Stetson man. Yum.

"Yeah. Am I dressed okay for our mystery date?" I was wearing a pair of comfy jeans, tennis shoes and light blue knit top with short cap sleeves that matched my eyes. I had my hair pulled back in a barrette and I'd slathered sunscreen on liberally, because I could go from girl to lobster with 30 minutes of direct exposure to sunlight.

"You look beautiful," he smiled, his blue eyes crinkling. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. "Let's hit the road, Darlin'."

Woody and I made our way down to the parking lot. Woody opened the door to his red Chevy pick-up truck and helped me up into the cab. I settled myself in as he walked around to the other side.

We headed north out of town on a road that followed the Delaware River. After less than a half hour, Woody pulled off the main road and on to a small back road. Who knew there was anything resembling rural within a half-hour of Trenton? He turned again onto a graveled lane and drove down it kicking up a cloud of dust behind us. Finally we reached an old farm house next to a large barn where we stopped.

"Do you live here?"

"Nah, but my horse does."

"You have a horse?"

"Yeah, I grew up on a ranch and my parents sent my horse up to me after I got settled in up here. I don't get to ride as much as I'd like and around here there aren't a whole lot of wide open spaces, but at least it feels a little like home with Shadow here."

"Shadow?"

"Yeah, you want to meet him?"

"Sure." Woody held my hand as we made our way into the barn. We passed a few stalls where horses poked their heads out in curiosity, whickering in greeting. We stopped in front of a large black horse.

"This is Shadow, Darlin'. Shadow, this is Stephanie." I smiled as he formally introduced us and let the animal nuzzle my outstretched hand. "Have you ever ridden?" Woody asked.

"Only a couple times on trail rides, that kind of thing. Can I ride him?"

"Well, Shadow is a bit temperamental," Woody drawled, "but Dixie here is sweet and gentle and I think she would suit you just fine." He motioned to a cream colored horse in the next stall. I moved to stroke her nose could tell that we would get along just fine.

I was so excited, I had loved horses as a little girl, but the closest I'd gotten to a horse in the past decade was sitting across the dinner table from my niece Mary Alice.

After a few minutes we were saddled up and making our way through the meadow at an easy pace. I took the opportunity to get a feel for the motion of the horse under me and Woody reminded me how to steer and brake and get the horse to go.

I could see what Woody meant. Shadow was definitely more skittish than Dixie. Woody's muscles flexed with the effort of holding the dark horse in check. Dixie, however, seemed content to follow Shadow's lead and was easy to manage, even for me. The trail through the meadow led to a small copse of trees and we wound through them in companionable silence. A few minutes later, the trees gave way to a clearing at the edge of the river. It was beautiful.

"Wow," I breathed. "I never would have guessed that there was any place this serene here. It's beautiful." We rode the horses side by side along the banks of the river and talked, mostly about Woody's background. He grew up in Texas and his family still owned a lot of land and had a ranch. Woody had gone in the military after high school and that's where he met Ranger and Tank. When his contract was up, he sought them out and liked the work they were doing enough to stay in Trenton even though it was far from everything else he loved.

After a half hour of leisurely walking, Woody reined in and dismounted. He helped me down and secured the horses to the low branch of a near-by tree.

He unstrapped a bag and a blanket from behind his horse's saddle. Spreading the blanket under the canopy of an oak tree, we settled in. Our location gave us an amazing vantage of the river twisting lazily through the land and the multitude of birds it attracted.

"This land is part of the Washington Crossing State Park. George Washington made his famous trek across the Delaware just upstream from here."

"I can't believe I've never been here before. My whole life I've lived less than an hour away and I've never been here to enjoy this. Thank you for sharing this with me."

"You are welcome, Darlin'."

Woody pulled out an assortment of lunch items and wine from the bag and spread them before us.

We ate and talked and lounged under the trees, the breeze from the river sweet and the drone of the summer cicadas in the fields a soothing lullaby. After lunch, we were lying on the blanket just enjoying the dappled sun and the quiet. Woody rested on his left side, his body bent at the waist, his head propped on his hand. I was on my back, leaning up against his thighs, my body stretched against his. Woody plucked a wild flower from the grass and twirled it in his fingers. He trailed the flower along my forehead, down the slope of my nose, across each cheek bone and then down my neck, along the scoop neck of my top. I had goose bumps on my arms and I felt a rush of heat to my center. Woody replaced the flower with his thumb and trailed it along the sensitive skin of my chest revealed above my shirt.

He slid his hand behind my neck and shifted his legs out from behind me, laying me down against the soft blanket and moving so that he leaned over me, his body at right angles to mine. He leaned in to kiss me then paused with his mouth poised above mine our blue eyes locked.

"Miss Plum, you are an amazing woman," he said reverently. "May I kiss you?"

I tilted my head and lifted my lips to his in answer and we kissed, a lazy, thorough, hot kiss. I raised my hand to his hair, entangling my fingers in the soft, silky strands. A languid heat seeped into my body. I don't know if it was the wine or the fresh air or being soundly kissed by a man who knew what he was doing, but I felt utter contentment in that moment.

As the kiss ended I let my head drop back to the blanket and Woody caressed my cheek, drawing circles with his thumb. "Ranger's a fool."

And just like that the contentment was gone. I felt my throat tighten, and my eyes well up, and Woody said "Ah, hell. Darlin' don't. I shouldn't have brought him up. I couldn't help it."

I blinked back my tears and smiled, "It's okay."

"Forgive me Darlin'. We were having a good time and I ruined it. It's just that I can't believe that any man who truly got to see you, to know you, would let you slip away." He leaned down a pressed a kiss to my cheek.

The perfect moment was gone and I was no longer a girl on an amazing first date. I was a girl in love with a man she couldn't have, trying unsuccessfully to move on.

After long moments, Woody said regretfully, "Maybe we should think about heading back."

"Yeah."

We packed up the picnic and blanket in silence and walked to where the horses were grazing. Woody boosted me into the saddle and once he was settled we retraced our path down the river.