Chapter 8--Here's the latest chapter of this FF. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading and the comments.

They reached the Brick and settled at a table by the window. C.J. felt famished after the activities of the morning and ordered a huge plateful of food. She didn't miss the morning sickness that had plagued her for several months at all but this enormous appetite, which was taking some getting used to. Hollings made sure that she always had plenty to eat and piled some extra fried potatoes on her plate with her chicken and rice soup and her sandwich.

Matt watched her while she dug into her food.

"You worked up quite an appetite," he said.

She put down her fork.

"Ed and I were out on the far edges of Cicely," she said, "We're almost done with the interviews for his project. We're going back out again this afternoon."

Matt bit into his burger.

"He's doing this for Maurice isn't he?"

She nodded.

"It's going to be interesting seeing what Maurice's reaction to the finished project is going to be," she said, "I have a feeling that Edward's about to learn a lesson about creative license."

"He'll be okay," Matt said, "Part of being a film maker is having to make compromises."

"Part of being a lawyer as well," C.J. said.

"Do you like working with Ed on his film," Matt asked.

She looked at him and nodded.

"I can't be a lawyer because I'll attract too much attention," she said, "But this is fun. I've met and talked with some wonderful people in town and found out so much about its rather…unique history."

Matt sighed.

"You don't have to give up being an attorney," he said, "The men that are after you have been put away. I made sure of that."

She tilted her head.

"Was this when you 'died' or did this come later," she asked.

Matt heard the pain in her voice. He knew that being an attorney to help other people had been one of her dreams she had shared with him from the time she was a child. Getting admitted into Harvard University of Law had been one of her dreams she had been accomplished and getting her diploma there reminded her of all of life's exciting possibilities.

"It was part of the deal," he said, "I wanted to make sure you were safe."

She looked down at her plate.

"But I wasn't," she said, "And I'm not talking about the physical danger Houston. I'm talking about what your death…your… whatever you call it did to my heart."

And in her eyes as she looked at him now, he saw what he had done. He ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," he said, "More than you know."

She looked at the sadness in his eyes and he spoke the truth. But she still felt wary of trusting him and even as she checked herself for feeling that way, she couldn't dismiss it. She tried to smile.

"So how's Uncle Roy doing?"

"He was surprised to see me back," Matt said, "Considering he's an operative…"

"That's what his rationale is based on Houston," she said, "But he loves you like a son. When he thought he lost you, he blamed himself."

Matt knew that after talking to his uncle.

"That's my fault," he said, "He gave me hell when I came back after he got over his shock but mostly for what I put you through."

C.J. raised her brows at that. His uncle was normally pretty unflappable so that must have been a sight. She sipped some of her soup and looked up at him.

"What did he say about what you put me through?"

Matt sighed.

"When you believed I was dead, you took it very hard," he said, "It took you a while to come out of it."

No, it was a pink line on a stick that had brought her back to reality after she spent several weeks pushing any future without him away. But she wasn't ready to tell him that.

"But you finally did," he continued, "and you moved away from L.A. and on with your life."

She tilted her head watching the emotions play out on his face.

"I didn't have a choice," she said, "I couldn't mourn you forever Houston. I had to move on or I was never going to make it."

"You were the first thing I wanted to see when I got back," Matt said, "I couldn't let it go unsaid what had happened."

She finished up her sandwich and continued working on her potatoes.

"Now that you've come all the way up here and said what you had to say," she said, "What are you going to do?"

"I meant what I said that night," he said.

She raised a brow.

"Before or after we slept together," she asked.

"All of it."

She considered that and nodded.

Shelli came up to the table, with a pitcher of coffee.

"Would you like some more," she said.

Matt nodded and she refilled his mug.

"I've got some tea for you if you'd like," Shelli offered, "No caffeine, just herbs."

C.J. smiled.

"That will be nice, Shelli thanks," she said.

Matt just looked at Shelli then at her. He knew that C.J. loved her jolt of java in the morning.

"Since when have you been a tea drinker?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Can't a woman change her mind about what she drinks?"

"Sure," he said, "So when will you be done today?"

"I'm not sure," she said, "We're trying to finish up this stage so we might be out later."

"I want to finish this conversation," he said.

"I thought you said everything that needed to be said," she said.

He looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment.

"I'm just getting started."

Not long after that, C.J. left the Brick and met up with Ed to finish their interviews. They had several individuals scheduled for that afternoon so they took off in his truck.

"I saw Chris," Ed announced, "He agreed to handle publicity for the film."

C.J. had been thinking about her conversation with Matt at lunch and still felt conflicted by how she had handled it. She still felt a touch of anger at him for his actions during the past two months but another part wanted the man who in a few hours of passion spent on the last night of his life had fathered her baby. She felt a pang of guilt about keeping that secret from him even though she knew she just wasn't ready to drop that bombshell on him until she knew he was back home for good.

"Ruth Anne is going to handle the rental of the theater for the premiere," Ed said.

C.J. returned to the present to look at him.

"I thought Maurice wanted a larger facility as the showcase," she said.

Ed shrugged his shoulders.

"He'll change his mind again," he said, "He always does."

She laughed.

"You're probably right about that."

"What about you?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Ed kept his eyes focused on the road ahead, which split two rows of trees with icicles hanging like ornaments off their branches.

"Will you be here when the film is done?"

She paused, thinking that was a fair enough question since he had hired her to help him with his project. She had come to Cicely to stay for a while, away from the danger and memories she had left behind but with Matt back in the picture, she felt her world had gone topsy turvy on her again.

"I'm not going anywhere Ed," she said, finally, "At least for a while."

"But he's back," Ed said, "from the dead."

She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

"I know but there's so much that still between us that we need to work out," she said.

"You're worried he might leave again," he said, simply.

His astuteness startled her.

"I can't help it," she said, "He…died and now he's back. And there's more to consider than just me."

Ed nodded.

"Your baby."

"Well yes," she said, "I have to do what's best for him or her and keep him safe and secure."

"He's not dangerous…"

She shook her head.

"No, but he's been gone for two months and someone tried to kill him," she said, "and it's not just the danger, my child needs to know his parents will be there."

Ed nodded again.

"I see."

She softened.

"I'm glad he's back," she said, "but it's hard for me to believe that it's permanent after what happened."

"Does he know…"

She looked at him.

"About the baby," she said, "No I haven't told him."

Ed just nodded again and didn't say anything after that for a while.

Matt sat at the Brick after calling his uncle to check in on the agency. His caseload had piled up while he had been gone and his uncle had tried to sort through the cases, picking out the high priority ones. He had no idea why people had tried to hire him for his investigative skills even after he had allegedly died but already his reemergence had resulted in more people calling the agency to make appointments to discuss cases with him. Roy had agreed to handle the screening while he went to Alaska to try to find C.J.

He worked on some documents to prepare for faxing to Chris in the L.A. office, that is if he could even locate a fax machine in this small town.

"You brought your office all the way up to this god forsaken corner of the wilderness," a voice said.

Matt looked up from his work and saw Joel taking off his parka and his gloves.

"I'm just catching up on some work," he said.

Joel nodded with a smile.

"The backlog that piled up while you were…dead."

"Something like that," Matt said.

Joel sat at the next table and ordered lunch.

"A few patients today," he said, "But just the usual athletes foot and sore throats, nothing exotic."

"Why did you come up here if you don't like the wilderness?"

Joel just shook his head at Matt.

"Long story," he said, "and I'm only taking a short break today. I'm assuming C.J. is out with Ed hunting down some more of Cicely's old timers."

"You assume right," Matt said, "I made sure she had lunch before going back out."

"That's good," he said, "It's good to see her eating more now."

"What's wrong with her," Matt asked, "You say you want tell me due to your oath and then you keep bringing her up as if something's wrong with her."

Joel shrugged.

"She's a very healthy young woman," he said, "who hasn't had an easy time of it given that she believed you were no longer in the land of the living."

Matt signed a document.

"We're working through that," he said, "I had to make some very difficult choices."

Joel raised his hands.

"Hey you don't have to tell me your life story," he said, "I'm just concerned about my patient and don't want you to do or say anything that will upset her."

Joel's face fell then and Matt looked where he had been looking to see Maggie enter the Brick, dressed against the weather like everyone else was and wearing a brightly colored scarf.

"I wonder what's got O'Connell in such a cheerful mood," Joel said, "besides the knowledge that she didn't kill you."

Matt watched as Maggie ordered a coffee and sandwich at the bar. She turned around to look at them smiling cheerfully.

"She's up to something," Joel muttered.

Matt looked perplexed.

"Is this how you handle Maggie," he asked, "No wonder she doesn't seem to like you very much."

Joel perked up.

"Did she say that?"

"She didn't say much of anything," Matt said, "But she's a nice woman who deserves better than someone who looks at her and sees an agenda instead of a woman."

Joel sat up straighter.

"That's not me you're talking about is it," he said, "Because you haven't been in this backwoods town very long and don't know what's been going on here since I arrived."

Matt looked at him thoughtfully while sipping some more coffee.

"I imagine this town existed a long time before you arrived," he said.

Joel's mouth opened and stayed that way.

"I am aware of that," he stammered.

Maggie walked over with her food and sat down next to Matt. Joel looked at her suspiciously but she seemed more concerned about her food than him.

"Are you tormenting him Fleishman?"

Joel frowned.

"I am most certainly not O'Connell," he said, "Must you always be so rude in every conversation."

She sighed impatiently.

"Only with you Fleishman, because you ooze hostility like a…"

"A fungus," he said, "I've been called that before as has just about every man in Cicely by you."

Maggie paused, furrowing her brow.

"Fleishmann…"

"What O'Connell?"

"Get over yourself," she said.

Matt looked at the both of them going at it.

"Do you do this every day," he asked.

Both of them looked at him.

"Well…no," Maggie said, "Only when he tries to push my buttons with his sanctimonious, 'I am better than the lot of you in this backwoods village' kind of crap."

"It's simply an observation, O'Connell."

Her eyes brightened dangerously and Joel's own eyes flitted around looking for any potential projectiles. But she just shook her head vehemently. Matt wondered how a man like Joel could be so incompetent when it came to flirting with a beautiful, spirited woman like Maggie. Of course some people were born with that skill from the cradle but Joel had plenty of time to pick up even the most rudimentary skills.

Joel and Maggie saw him smiling.

"What," she said.

"Nothing…," he said, getting up, "I need to find a fax machine in this town. Do you know where one is hooked up?"

"Sure, Ruth Ann has one in her store," Maggie said, "She's got just about everything you need."

"Yeah, you can eat kippers and moose milk while surfing the World Wide Web," Joel added, "All in one location."

Matt nodded and gathering his documents, left them sitting. They watched him leave the Brick.

"Definitely one of the strangest characters ever to show up here," Joel said.

Maggie gave him one of her looks.

"That guy came all the way back from the dead to find the woman he loves," she said, "You…you have the romantic IQ of a flatworm."

"Oh and this is coming from Cecily's own version of the Black Widow," Joel countered.

And on it went, as they continued arguing back and forth and the rest of Cicely paid them little mind.

C.J. and Ed finished one interview that involved them taking a tour of a greenhouse filled with the most beautiful orchids that C.J. had ever seen. In all colors, like a kaleidoscope within the glass walls, the most delicate of flowers protected from the harsh climate outside. She marveled at the loving care which had been given to nurture their growth and their overwhelming beauty.

"Wow," was all Ed said as they stood inside the warmth and humidity which recreated the conditions of their native habitat.

She nodded.

"Wow is right," she said, "I've never seen anything so beautiful."

He looked at her.

"We'll start the movie with this picture right here."

She smiled, envisioning it.

"That would be perfect," she said.

They stood there quiet in the brilliance of color and light before heading back to town.