So here I am, embarking with my second chapter. Don't expect another one until about a week from now. Finals have come and they are so kicking my butt.

There was a question in one of the reviews as to how convient it was that Kayla Silverfox just happened to be in the town where Logan ended up and I actually considered this. I felt like maybe Kayla was a first choice and that Stryker probably had a few back up plans in case things didn't work out the way he'd planned them. but for hthe purpose of this fic, it sort of needs to work this way....

Anywhoo... I hope you guys enjoy!

Dislcaimer: I own nothing but ideas.

Chapter 2: The Line

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." ~ Jane Austen

"Paul says there's a new guy with the company!" Delia sang the next morning when I picked her up.

"Oh," I took a left out of her driveway. "Have you met him yet?"

"No! But you did! Last night!" She squealed. Delia was one of those women whose life goal was to match make everyone around her. Maybe it was just her, maybe because she wanted everyone to be as happy as she was with Paul, but she'd already tried to tie me down twice this year alone, once with Parker even. In the last two months, she seemed to have picked up on the fact that I wasn't interested in any of the guys in town but now with Logan here, apparently all the rules had changed. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

I winced at her shrillness. "Dee, do you have to be so loud? It's seven in the morning!"

Delia's dimples appeared in a wide smile. "Well, tell me and then I won't have to guess!" She ran her fingers through her auburn hair and waited, excitement brightening her huge blue eyes. God, I hated it when she did that. Disappointing her was like pushing a very small cute kitten toward a bucket of water and the kitten looks up at you with a plaintive yowl that seems to say: Why are you doing this to me?

I shrugged, pointedly not look at her. "There isn't anything to tell. We talked for a few minutes and then I had to go. That's all."

I could hear Delia's frown. "You're awfully short this morning….I think you're hiding something…"

"Delia! What could I possibly be hiding?!"

Delia tapped her fingers on her knee, a knowing smile on her face. "It doesn't matter, I'll find out for myself." She brought out a lunch box. Paul's to be accurate. "Paul forgot it this morning it this morning and we can take it to the pickup site."

"Oh, he 'forgot' did he?" I made air quotes with my free hand.

It was Delia's turn to shrug and indicate the turn I should make and I did. As we cruised along the dirt road, I couldn't help but smile when I thought of how everyone was already pushing us together. Stryker from my end and Paul and Delia from his. That poor man never had a chance.

"Good, we're just in time!" Delia grinned as I pulled into the makeshift parking lot. The guys were only just getting into Robert's truck, loading their chainsaws and axes, Logan among them, a quiet contented smile on his face.

Delia and I parked the car and got out to the hoots and hollers of the other jacks. "Jeez," I rolled my eyes. "You'd think we were that first women they've seen in months."

But Delia was too focused on her mission to pick up on my sarcasm. She approached the truck bed where Paul was sitting. "You forgot this," She handed it to him.

Paul beamed; his smile was just for Delia, as it should be. "Thanks, hon." He glanced up to see me, his hazel eyes focusing on for a moment. "Hey Kayla."

"Hi Paul. Guys." I gave them a nod.

"Here's the guy I was talking about, Dee." Paul pointed behind us. "Hey, Logan. Come 'ere!"

The same man from last night, my target, loped toward us. For some reason I didn't notice how well his shoulders filled out his shirt, how pale he looked when he rolled the sleeves up, which led me down to his hands. His hands-

"Logan," Paul introduced us, snapping me out of my reverie. "This is my girl, Delia," he placed a hand on Delia's petite shoulder. "And her friend Kayla-"

"Silverfox," Logan finished with a smile directed at me. "I wasn't expecting to run into you so soon."

"I was giving Dee a ride." I deferred, glancing at Dee. God, sometimes she was just evil.

"You two know each other?" Paul was bewildered.

"We met last night," Logan informed him without taking his eyes from my face.

"Dee, we better go." I gave her a poke in the shoulder. "We're gonna be late."

Delia reluctantly gave Paul one last kiss and returned to my side as Logan climbed in after we'd moved out of the way. We waved them off, telling them to be safe. They laughed as Robert started the truck and pulled away.

As the truck began its bumpy journey, I could feel Logan's eyes on me. It reminded me of that photo I saw weeks ago, a quiet happiness, a quiet wonder at where he was. And suddenly, I wasn't sure if I could do this. I had to destroy this man, for Emma, for the last bit of family I had left.

It was like he could see the new turmoil on my face because his sharp brown eyes never left mine as the truck disappeared over the hill.

Delia elbowed me. "Well, well, well, Miss Silverfox." She laughed as we got back in the car.

"What?" I put the car in gear.

"You think he's cute!" Again with the squealing.

"He's not a dog, Dee. He's a man."

"I think he thinks the same!" Delia barreled on as if she hadn't heard me. "He never looked away!"

"Seriously!" I growled. "Let it go!"

Delia was quiet for a minute or two. "There isn't anything wrong with finding a handsome guy, Kay. He doesn't seem like the others."

"Yeah, well…that's the problem isn't it?" I cranked up the radio, Billie Holiday was singing about how she'll be seeing me soon. So, I switched it, and found The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever." "They always seem nice at first."

"Kay…" Delia put her small hand on my shoulder, serious for the first time in a long time. "I know that you don't like to be close to other people…"

I frowned. To make things easier, I let the public story of my dad and Emma's color my past. Everyone in town knew that Emma and I had different fathers, that mine had skipped out on me and that Emma's had died in a car crash. But no one outside Emma and my mother knew about our…abilities, not even our fathers knew. It was easier that way.

"…that it's really hard for you to let them in," Delia was saying. "But, honey…"

Against my better judgment, I stole a glance at her. Her normally huge blue eyes were bigger than usual and I couldn't look away. "There's something different about this one." She whispered. "I can feel it." And then she lost me. "He's got a very old soul, like you."

I couldn't help but laugh at her. "God, Dee, not more of that new age-hippie bullshit?! Please tell me you don't actually believe that!"

Dee snorted. "Just look the guy in the eyes. It's right there, that's all I'm telling you."

I would have never admitted it, even under torture, but what she said gave me goosebumps. Sometimes even Dee was dead on.

"Somehow you two are connected. Maybe you knew each other in a former life?" Dee was saying. "I bet your auras are either the same color or opposites. Maybe blue? Green?"

"Dee…" I groaned. "Please, it's just too early in the morning for this."

"Oh fine! But you'll be thinking about it later."

And it was true. I thought about what she said all day. "He's got an old soul, just like you." "It's there" "Don't like to be close to other people…"

When I was younger, I would use it ruthlessly, and without prejudice. But as I grew older I started to wonder if anyone I was friends with was because they liked me or because I'd ordered them too. I even questioned if my mother and sister loved me the way they would if I hadn't been born like this.

"Oh, sweetheart," Mom cupped my cheeks. "You are my baby and I will love you no matter who you are, what you look like. You are mine and I am yours. Never forget that." I didn't question after that.

Just like everything else, it was a blessing and a curse and I'd learned to live with it. Sure, it had its handy moments, especially when trying to keep our secret a secret. However, that niggling question of whether or not someone loved me for me and not for what I influenced them to think was always there in the back of my head.

Later, as I was driving into town when the school day had ended, I saw a familiar figure walking down the road.

I pulled up next to him, honking the horn to get his attention. "Need a ride?" I asked.

"You sure?" Logan squinted down at me.

"Get in!" I leaned over and pushed the door open for him.

He slid in next to me and shut the door. "You know you really shouldn't pick up hitchhikers." Logan said as I drove up a big hill.

"You're not a hitchhiker, you weren't asking for the ride, I volunteered it. So really, it's more carpooling than anything. " I shrugged. "Besides, I know who you are."

A cloud passed over his face as he looked down at his hands. "You know my name. That's all." When he looked at me a moment later, his eyes were a well spring of self-loathing mired in shame and regret. It was so deep, he was drowning in it. Hand it to Stryker to give me a man to break who was already broken.

I tried to keep it light. "I know more than that. I'm a psychic on the side."

He went white for a moment. His eyes were wary as they darted back and forth, looking for an exit but all the while trying to play if off as a joke. "Really?"

I laughed. "Yes, I am." I squinted at him before looking back at the road. "I have foreseen that you will live a very long life, surrounded by many many children and lots of family…" I waved my hand the way a carnival gypsy might. This time, Logan cracked a genuine smile so I kept going. "I have foreseen you shaping the world with your own two hands and will find a treasure more valuable than gold."

"And what's that?" he asked after he was done laughing.

I looked over at him. "Love, of course. What else is there?"

He paused and considered this for a minute. "I really wouldn't know."

"'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.'" I replied quietly, suddenly thinking of Emma. "It's Lao-Tzu. Chinese philosopher."

"Is it true?" He wondered. "What he says?"

I nodded. "Of course it's true."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

"My sister and I…." I swallowed as I reach over to pull my favorite picture out of the glove compartment and hand it to him.

Emma and I had our arms around each other as we were standing in the doorway. Her suitcases and boxes were everywhere but our smiles were real and true and our eyes, almost the same shade of blue. "We're really close." I admitted. "Our mom died a few years ago and we've only got each other now."

He kept looking at the picture, our frozen smiles of hope. It was almost as if he were looking for something there, something beyond the picture.

"Any siblings?" I poked.

For a moment, I didn't think he would answer, he was so quiet. But he surprised me when he leaned back against the seat. "I've got an older brother but we…" he glanced at me, his eyes, as usual, revealing more than he could have ever say. "We aren't speaking. We don't see eye-to-eye anymore."

"I see." I took the next left into town. "Was it over a girl?"

That at least pulled him back from the edge with a smile. "No. It wasn't a girl."

"Well, then, that makes for a much less interesting story," I laughed. "If you're going to stop talking to your brother, at least make it over something good."

He outright laughed at that. "So if I were to lie to you and tell you that it was over some beautiful girl, it would make it worthwhile?"

I looked over at him. "I'd know if you lied."

"Sure you would," he grinned, that half smile coming back.

"I'm psychic, remember?" I smiled.

"I'll remember it from now on." He promised, looking around. "You can drop me off here." He indicated a quiet four way stop.

I pulled over and turned off the engine.

"Are you going to impart some other kind of wisdom on me before I go?" He asked as he moved to get out of the car.

I nodded. "Yeah. I hope you have flannel sheets, because it's going to snow tonight."

Logan pointed up at the sky, puzzled as it was a picture perfect Indian summer's day. "You sure about that?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Yep. Tonight."

He leaned over. "How about a friendly wager then?"

"The terms?" I asked him.

"If it does snow tonight," he tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Then-"

"You owe me a drink." I chimed in.

"Fair enough, and if it doesn't snow, then…" He got out of the car and closed the door behind him. "I'll just have to think of something."

"Fine." I held out my hand. "Deal."

He shook my offered hand. "Deal." He replied.

hmmm...intersting......R&R please!!