This is the latest longer installment of this FF story. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for the feedback, and reading!
C.J. looked out the window as the scenery flashed on by her. She didn't look over at the car's driver who had been gunning down the highway like a speed demon for the past hour since they had left the motel that morning to continue their journey.
Julia sat behind the wheel, the scarf around her neck hiding the bruises from the medical tests that she had just endured for the past several days, tests that had confirmed an earlier diagnosis of cancer. She had left the hospital resolute and had gone back to the apartment that she shared with C.J. and had packed her bags while her friend had stood there watching. But C.J. didn't remain silent for long.
"Where do you think you're going," she asked.
"Out."
C.J. followed her friend as she tossed more clothing and other items into a suitcase.
"Out where?"
"Traveling, you know the way we planned up the coast to Martha's Vineyard," Julia said evenly.
"But that was before you got sick," C.J. pointed out, "You've got to go to the hospital and get treatment so you can get better."
Julia shrugged.
"I've got time to think about it," she said, "I need the time to get my head straight and I can't do it here."
"But it's just going to get worse."
Julia snapped one suitcase shut and started on another.
"You're not packed are you?"
C.J. looked at her as if she were crazy.
"We're not going anywhere," she said, "You're going back to Boston Medical…"
Julia shook her head, her blonde curls dancing.
"I'm going to Martha's Vineyard to my parent's bungalow," she said, "You're free to join me or you can stay here and stew over Steve."
C.J. folded her arms.
"I'm over him," she said, "I don't miss him at all."
"Okay then that's settled, get packed and we're leaving in an hour," Julia said, disappearing outside.
C.J. followed her to the front porch.
"Where are you going," she asked.
Julia headed to her car.
"To the store to get us some serious road snacks," she said, "I'll be back soon."
C.J. watched her go and she wondered if Julia was really serious about getting in her car and leaving this town behind her for a while. Maybe she remained in shock over her diagnosis and wasn't facing reality or she could be right and she needed some distance from Boston and her life here to discover some clarity.
And it wasn't like C.J. didn't want to leave Boston to get away and spend time on the beach soaking up some rays and swimming out in the surf. Maybe she and Julia could rent a sailboat around the cape if her friend felt up to it. She had a couple of weeks before she had to come back and begin her clerking job in Cambridge and some time spent kicking up her heels and temporarily leaving the life of the law felt most inviting. Steve had always told her that she had needed to loosen up more and become less serious about everything even when they had been…well she pushed that thought aside. Seriously he could use some serious improvement in that area of his expertise as well.
She knew that Matt would be on leave soon and have some time to spend back on the East Coast before heading back to parts unknown. They corresponded regularly at some times and then not at all during others when he had been placed in more sensitive assignments performing intelligence work. She had missed him an awful lot when she had time to think about anything outside the course load at law school which completely consumed her life.
Still it made her feel better to receive news from him when it came rarely and that from Will who wrote even less frequently. It made her feel less alone…and far away from home.
But at the last moment, she decided to hell with responsibility, she would take off with Julia for some time away from all that and have some fun, while keeping a close eye on her friend's health. She would talk to her and convince her to come back for treatment that she needed to live and she would return ready to start her clerking.
Matt packed his bag which rested on top of his bunk. His quarters had been tiny but neat on the aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. In an hour, he would be hopping on board a chopper and be heading to where he planned to spend his leave for several days. With luck, Christina would be joining him while on layover between modeling gigs in Miami and New York City. They hadn't seen each other in several months and he had been too busy to notice the time flying by until suddenly, he had some days leave to forget about being in the middle of a war for a while.
He couldn't make it worthwhile enough to go back to Wild Fork and besides, his uncle had been called away on some business of which Matt guessed had something to do with the war. Whether Roy had been drawn back into his clandestine life as a covert operative, Matt didn't know but he doubted that his Aunt Flo had been thrilled about it. Her life no doubt felt at loose ends with both her husband and son far away. Will had been assigned even closer to the front and appeared to love what he did, at least according to his sporadic emails.
As for C.J., Matt knew that she had finished at the top of her class after her first year of law school and her last email indicated that she would summer in Boston and work there until law school resumed in the autumn. He imagined her there working during the day for a law firm and then getting dressed up and going out dancing at night, no doubt making up for the time spent studying during the school year. And no doubt, she wouldn't be dancing alone. Another man's hands would be settling around her neck or on her hips, drawing her close to him as they moved in time to the music. He felt a stab of well something hit him suddenly, but then his thoughts returned to the weekend he would be spending on a bungalow on the beach with Christina.
While he packed for the trip, he heard his cell phone ring and went to answer it.
"So how do you like it," Julia had asked C.J. after unlocking the door to what turned out to be a two bedroom, one bath cozy dwelling, practically on the beach. C.J. knew she would love lying in bed at night listening to the waves breaking on the shore and during the days, there would be plenty for her to do to forget Boston.
"I love it," she said, "How long have your parents owned it?"
Julia crashed on the plush sofa.
"Since I was a little girl," she said, "We summered here every year until I graduated from high school."
C.J. wondered what that must have been like to have a place like this to come during the oppressive heat of the Texan summer. Some of the wealthier denizens of Wild Fork would flee the town during the summer months and head towards their chalets on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico but C.J. remained behind on the ranch, spending her days working in the steamy heat that shrouded the region that time of year.
"The only relief that we had in Wild Fork from all the heat was the pond," she said, "and the stream that arose from it. My friends and I spent most of our free time there during the summer."
Julia smiled.
"Are these the ones you went skinny dipping with," she asked.
C.J. nodded.
"When we dared each other to do it of course," she said, "Sometimes we attracted an audience."
Julia chuckled.
"We used to have the same problem," she said, "if you could call it that."
"Not as much fun as a waterfall," C.J. said, winking at her friend as she headed off to the kitchen.
Julia joined her there as they both dug up some iced tea mix in the cupboard and C.J. mixed up a batch while Julia brought them some ice cubes.
"This place is pretty well stacked," C.J. noted, "We won't starve."
"My parents just spent a week here for their anniversary," Julia said, "They always bring more than they can eat."
C.J. searched for the fixings to make some sandwiches.
"Are you going to tell them?"
"You mean about my illness…I don't know about that right now."
C.J. paired up the bread slices.
"They care about you," she said, "I don't really think you can keep this from them."
"I don't want to think about it right now," Julia said, "I'm here to have a good time…sit on the beach…do some dancing, maybe meet someone."
"That sounds good."
Julia sipped her tea.
"What about you," she said, "What do you want to do?"
"Just spend the days sitting on the beach and forgetting about school," she said, "Eat some good food and the dancing sounds good."
"But…"
"But what…Julia," C.J. said, "I'm here like you to have a good time."
Julia shrugged.
"There's supposed to be some great guys here."
C.J. bit into her sandwich.
"I'm not sure that's what I want right now," she said, "I think I need a break from men too."
Julia frowned at the thought of that.
"Was Steve really that bad?"
No, he wasn't, C.J. thought but he wasn't what she wanted either.
"Horrible in bed," Julia continued checking items off of her list.
C.J.'s brows shot up in indignation.
"Julia, I don't want to get into that."
"Oh come on," Julia cajoled, "I need some details. My own love life really hasn't been much since Charlie…"
A second-year law student from Michigan who had decided he didn't like Boston winters. C.J. just looked at her friend after finishing her sandwich.
"I'm going swimming…"
She went to find her bikini in her suitcase and went into the bedroom to change. The water they had passed on the way to the bungalow had looked inviting after a day and a half spent meandering their way up to the Vineyard. She ran a brush through her hair and then got a hat to put on her head, before grabbing her towel and heading towards the beach. And it wasn't just the ocean and the warm sand that had lured her away from the bungalow; it had been to get away from Julia's probing into her relationships.
C.J. knew her friend meant well but she preferred to keep the great romances of her life private. Not that there had been that many of them but she wasn't one to hang out with a pack of women friends and analyze them either. The only man that Julia really knew anything about had been Matt and that had been because C.J. had mentioned him in passing. But she kept that relationship including the interlude they had spent together closest to her vest.
When she left the bedroom, she ran into Julia in the hallway dressed in her bathing suit with a wrap around her waist. At least the bruises on Julia's arms had been healing and new ones hadn't replaced them yet.
The glistening water beckoned them in straight into its embrace and C.J. dove into a wave, surfacing on the other side of it. In the distance, she saw the outlines of cruisers and sailboats and people sitting on surfboards down the coast away from the swimmers, waiting for the next waves. C.J. looked over at Julia who had taken longer to swim past the breaking waves but now treaded water. A man, his hair slicked back talked to her as they bobbed in the waves that passed beneath them. Suddenly, C.J. felt someone surface behind her.
"Carl, is that you?"
"It's me," he said, with a smile.
He had been a second year student in Harvard's business school in the past year and they had bumped into each other regularly in the nearby coffeehouse. He had gotten his bachelor's degree in business and economics in California and then had opted to go Ivy League instead of getting his master's at UCLA. Still, it became clear that he would always be a Californian who enjoyed the Beach Boys and had grown up in the Bay Area.
"What are you doing here," she asked.
"I'm heading back to San Francisco for an internship in the summer," he said, "but I thought I'd vacation here first. I heard it was quite the party town."
She chuckled at that because Carl had never been the type of guy to party, being as dedicated to his studies as she had been with hers. In their discussions about their future plans, he had told her he wanted to start a new information technology company.
"Swim back with me and I'll buy you some lunch," he offered.
"I already ate but I'd like to try one of those clam sticks they're selling everywhere," she said.
He smiled at her and she shouted over to Julia that she was heading back to shore but her friend paid her little mind caught up in her own conversation with the guy next to her. C.J. swam in easily enough, slicing through the water with each stroke and let the surf push her ashore. Carl had beaten her ashore and she felt his hand brush her shoulder as he helped her to her feet. They grabbed their towels and headed to the clam shack and C.J. had decided that she liked Martha's Vineyard just fine.
Matt hit the bungalow just off the beach and headed off into the bedroom to change before hitting the water. He had arrived by helicopter at the airstrip just outside of town and had rented a car to use during his vacation. Christina had left another message on his phone apologizing for not being able to get out of an impromptu modeling job in Wilmington but would join him as soon as she could get away.
The sunlight hit him as he left the bungalow, and the noises of people enjoying the beach reminded him that he had truly left the war half a world away behind him at least for a few days. He ditched his towel and entered the water, swimming out past the breaking waves. Matt loved swimming, whether it was doing laps in a pool wherever he could find one, or in a lake or open ocean. While gliding through the water, his mind would wander away from his everyday grind, which intermixed with the hazards and unpredictability of his assignment. He thought of his close proximity to C.J. who must be back in Boston beginning her summer job. He had thought about calling her and inviting her to spend time with him before nixing that plan. Christina had never really gotten along well with C.J. the couple of times they had met up. They were civil to each other and very polite but so different from each other in ways that were difficult to bridge. And part of him knew he would get himself into serious trouble with Christina if he invited his best friend who he hadn't seen in nearly a year. Considering how they had spent their last time together.
He continued swimming to the next buoy.
Carl and C.J. sat on the beach, on their towels eating their clam sticks and laughing together. She had always thought he was a guy with a wicked sense of humor who hung out with other business students at the Coffeehouse but she hadn't realized how great he looked, especially since he had been crewing out on the river in the mornings. Not exactly a sport that one would expect a Californian to immerse himself in but she couldn't deny that it had provided him some fringe benefits.
"So you staying here the rest of the week," he asked, sipping his drink.
"Julia and I just got here but we've both got some time before we have to head back," she said, "We might do some road tripping after a few days here."
"I'm driving out to California after I'm done here," Carl said, "Might stop and do some camping in Yellowstone."
That surprised her.
"I never took you for the outdoor type," she said, "You are surprising."
"You are very beautiful."
She smiled at the way he said it as much as the words.
"And you are also very smart," she said.
"I always thought you were the prettiest law student I'd ever seen," he continued.
"And you're very nice," she said, looking at him, "and funny."
He raised his brows.
"How would you like to go to the clam bake tonight," he asked.
She looked down at her now empty stick.
"I thought we just ate clam."
He took her stick and put it next to his on the towel and then took her hands. She liked the warmth of his skin, the assuredness of his grip and the way he looked at her.
"It's not just the food," he said, "it's the atmosphere, the festivity of it all. There's music and dancing and everything else you can do on a beach under the moonlight."
Her eyes widened.
"Oh I like that," she said, "Count me in."
She looked up and saw Julia approach her with the guy that C.J. had seen with her in the ocean.
"C.J., so this is what you ditched me for," Julia chided, "Who's he?"
"He's a business student at Harvard named Carl," C.J. said, "We've met up a few times at the coffeehouse."
"Nice to meet you Carl," Julia said, "This is Stefan; he's from Norway on an exchange program."
C.J. shook Stefan's hand and took in his impressive build, understanding what had drawn Julia to him.
"Julia, Carl just told me about the clam bake on the beach tonight," she said, "You want to come with us?"
Her friend pretended to think about it.
"Okay, it sounds cool," she said, "but we're not going together and we might not be leaving together either."
C.J. just smiled at her friend.
"Okay, that sounds like a plan."
Matt lay on the beach after his swim, his body drying in the hot sun. He had closed his eyes and relaxed, but something caused them to open them. A sound maybe, that of a familiar voice from back then. He saw dozens of men and women dressed in swimsuits enjoying the beach, many of them recovering from the academic year that had just ended. His eyes widened as he focused on a woman, with wavy brunette hair and a strong yet supple figure sheathed by a bikini. Something about her struck him as familiar, if he could just see her face. She had been shaking sand out of her towel and conversing with a man with sandy brown hair and built like a linebacker. No it couldn't be, not the woman who not too long ago he had been in his arms, his hands holding onto hips not unlike that woman's, as water cascaded over them and around them from the rocks above where they stood lost in time.
He sighed and reminded himself that he should be thinking about Christina who would be joining him the next day. It should be her body filling his head and her that he might see in other women. Not the woman who had shared with him one special weekend.
"Hey Matt is that you?"
Matt looked up and saw his old college friend, Robert who had graduated with a degree in film making and had then taken off traveling around the world shooting one documentary or another in the years since. Every once in a while, he received a postcard from him while back on the ranch in Texas with words taunting Matt by reminding him a whole world existed outside where he had grown up.
"Robert, what are you doing here?"
His friend sat down next to him and looked out into the surf.
"I just left New York City with some funding for my next film and thought I'd get some R &R before heading on to the next location."
"Where you off to next…South America…Asia?"
"Africa my friend," Robert answered, "Nairobi and then Tanzania to go on safari."
Matt envied his friend's ability to just take off at a moment's notice and travel around the globe having one adventure after another. He had hoped the military would satisfy his own wanderlust but he had spent the last year mostly holed up inside a concrete bunker filled with equipment with a dangerous recognizance mission here and there to break up the monotony. Still, Robert's nomadic existence held some appeal to him.
"I saw C.J. when I stopped in Boston to crash with a friend," Robert said, "She's one hot girl; she just doesn't realize it yet."
Matt remembered that Robert had always been attracted to his best friend but she hadn't really been all that interested in his brand of charm. Still Robert never gave up on what he wanted. But if he didn't think that C.J. realized what kind of effect she had on at least one man, he really didn't know her that well.
"I haven't had a chance to see her," Matt said, "I came here to meet my girlfriend Christina. You remember her."
Robert did indeed.
"You mean the one who called you Rooster or something ridiculous like that?"
Matt sighed. Not everyone got the nicknames that he and Christina had coined for each other when they were dating in college.
"She's a model now, and after she's finished with some modeling jobs, she'll be joining me here," Matt said.
"Aren't you supposed to be out defending our country," Robert asked.
"I'm working intelligence and even us working stiffs get some time off every once in a while," Matt said.
Robert nodded.
"So you're getting ready to spend some romantic downtime with your girl," he said, "Sounds like a great vacation. I'm hoping to get lucky myself."
Matt didn't doubt that Robert would as when they had been in college, Robert's never do well attitude might have kept Matt busy getting him out of trouble but it drew the ladies to him as if he were the Pied Piper of beautiful women at Rice University.
Robert stood up.
"We'll nice running into you," he said, "Perhaps we can go out on the town here and get drunk. That is if your old lady doesn't mind."
Matt just said goodbye to his friend as Robert took off down the beach and sure enough, two young women came up to him not more than one minute after he had left Matt. He didn't have any plans for this evening but maybe he would check out the night life and enjoy a night out before Christina arrived.
C.J. allowed her hair to dry naturally as she picked out her outfit for the clam bake, a short wraparound skirt and a tank top, with a wrap in case the ocean breeze kicked in later on. Julia had picked a summer dress and had piled her curls on top of her head in a bun.
"We look absolutely awesome," Julia said, approvingly as they checked themselves out in the mirror.
"You ready to go," C.J. asked, reaching for her purse.
"Always," Julia said, "Now remember the plan, we might arrive together and then leave it open ended after that."
"Look I'm going to have some fun, enjoy Carl's company but I'm coming back here alone," C.J. said, "So you don't have to worry about bumping into him in the bathroom in the morning."
Julia shrugged.
"I won't because I'm planning for some serious action with Stefan," she said, "Did you see how hot he looked in those Speedos?"
C.J. hadn't noticed, not being into surfer types and she sensed that Stefan beneath his suave attitude was a player and she didn't want to see Julia get hurt. She knew that her brush with her mortality made her more vulnerable and if Stefan was bad news…
"Julia, maybe you should slow things down with Stefan," C.J. said, "You barely know him."
Julia rolled her eyes.
"Just because you're not willing to get it on with Carl, doesn't mean I have to pretend I'm in a nunnery around Stefan."
"I never said that," C.J. pointed out, "I just think you should be careful."
Julia glowered.
"I'm always careful," she said, "and I always protect myself."
C.J. decided not to argue with her friend about it. After all, maybe if she were facing what Julia was, she would want to throw caution in the wind as well. Julia threw her another look.
"Come on, let's get going before they run out of food," she said.
They left the bungalow to head off to the clam bake, joining the throngs of other beachgoers heading in that direction, where C.J. could hear band music playing.
The two of them walked straight to the bar where the drinks flowed freely. C.J. grabbed a beer and ran into Carl who sat at a table in the sand.
"It's really packed tonight," he noted, sipping his beer.
She looked at the crowd around her including couples dancing to the rhythm of the band and she asked him if he wanted to join her.
Matt had hit the bars and had run into Robert who had met up with a bunch of his old crew members from some of the documentaries that he had worked on. He introduced them to Matt who joined them to shoot a couple of games of pool. He hadn't played a good game in a while but he hadn't lost his skill and won them. The two men just looked at him as they handed them their money. Robert slapped them on the shoulder before they could get too upset.
"Matt's quite the pool shark," Robert said, "Come on, let's buy another round."
"I think I'll call it a night," Matt said, putting the cue on the rack, "It's been good bumping into you again. Look forward to your next film."
"You wouldn't mind financing it," Robert said, "just thought I'd ask."
Matt just shook his head and left the bar but soon enough Robert tailed on behind him, slapping Matt's shoulder.
"So are you heading off to that shindig that they're having on the beach?"
Matt just looked at his friend.
"I believe that in this part of the country, it's called a clam bake," Robert said, "It sounds a bit tame for me but maybe we can go liven it up a bit."
Matt shrugged and they took off in the direction of where the music played.
C.J. enjoyed dancing and Carl proved to be a great partner, better than she ever would have thought just by looking at him. They danced several songs and out of the corner of her eye, C.J. could see that Julia had bumped into Stefan. Although she still had her misgivings about the man, Julia's smile lit up her entire face as they slow danced across the floor.
But even as Carl held her close to him, C.J.'s thoughts drifted to a different night where she had been held as tightly by another man, who had caressed her back with his hands as they drifted in time to the music coming from a juke box. She had looked up into his face and he had smiled, and she remembered that night as clearly now as she had lived it back then. Back before the world had changed around them and had drawn them into its shifting currents.
And then she looked up suddenly and saw him.
Matt blinked as he saw the woman dancing with a partner on the dance floor who reminded him of the woman he had spotted on the beach earlier, the one who had looked like…no it couldn't be but this time Matt took the closer look that he had felt drawn to take and saw that indeed the woman that he had been thinking of now stood before him. The song had just ended and she held onto the arm of the man standing with her. She laughed at something that the man said and then her face changed and she knew she had spotted him. Her hand shifted from the man's arm to his hand and the both of them headed towards Matt.
"Houston, what are you doing here," she asked him, just looking at him as if she couldn't believe he stood there.
She let go of the man's hand and swooped into his arms quickly and his own arms wrapped around her. After she embraced him tightly taking in him for a long moment, she released him with a kiss on the cheek.
"I can't believe you're here."
His eyes never left hers.
"I got a few days leave," he said, "and I thought I'd spend it here."
She ran her hand through her hair.
"Wow, this is amazing," she said, "Houston, this is Carl, he's a business student at Harvard. He's going to be moving to California to begin his company."
"Great state for a fresh start," Matt said, shaking Carl's hand, "What will you be specializing in?"
Carl didn't miss a beat.
"Information technology," he said, "It's a quickly growing field with both creative and earning potential. I've got a business partner already getting the process started."
Matt nodded.
"I'll be heading out there as soon as I'm done in the military," he said, "I'm trying to get C.J. to come out with me but she's got her heart on being a criminal attorney."
"Top in her class," Carl said, "I used to run into her study groups at the coffeehouse. That's how we met."
C.J. looked at Matt.
"Did you come here alone," she said, "I heard you met someone."
"Actually I met up again with Christina, my girlfriend from Rice."
She nodded thoughtfully, remembering the times that she had spent with Matt when Christina had been with him.
"Christina's doing some modeling jobs before she'll join me here," Matt said, "She should be flying in tomorrow."
C.J. smiled.
"That sounds great…well we'd better get going. It's great to see you."
She and Carl started to head to the bar. Matt saw that they appeared happy together and wasn't at all sure how he felt about that. She was his best friend and he wanted the very best for her but...
"Wait," he said, as he searched for the words.
She turned around to look at him.
"Maybe we could get together," Matt said, "and catch up. It's been a long time."
C.J. didn't need to be reminded of that. She had missed him so much but the news that he had gotten back together with Christina…well it didn't surprise her in a good way. She had always found her to be a bit aloof and someone who looked down on people not of her social stature. But if Matt dug her so much, there must be something about her that definitely appealed to him.
"Sure," she said, with a nod, "Maybe we can get together tomorrow for lunch. There's a good steakhouse near the pier."
"I'll pick you up then,'" he said.
"I'll meet you," she said and then with a final smile, she left with Carl.
After kissing Carl goodnight and giving them her phone number, she walked into the bungalow. It was dark when she arrived with no sign of life. She flipped on the light switch and sure enough, no sign of Julia. Sighing, she went into the kitchen to pour herself some iced tea and she tossed her shoes off as she went. Damn, if he hadn't looked the same as when she had last seen him, and it appeared that he had moved on with his life much easier than she had done. There had been times during the past year when she had thought about what she would say to him when they did reunite and in moments of weakness, that meant telling him what she had felt the last night they had spent together before he left for basic training.
She got her tea and went to sit on the couch, trying to unwind before heading off to bed. She worried a bit about Julia because she had obviously decided to spend the night with some guy she barely knew but then what else was new? Had she really expected Julia's illness to stop her from living like the free spirit that she had been since C.J. met her? Spending time with Carl had been really nice, she related to him in the way that she did most men. He hadn't tried to push any envelopes with her, didn't try to press the issue of coming inside with her. Not that she knew what she would do if he had, as she had been thrown through a loop after seeing Matt again after all this time and here of all places. She had believed that he had been working somewhere across the world in his latest classified assignment not showing up at a clam bake in Martha's Vineyard.
She couldn't describe the feelings that had rushed through her when she had been in his embrace, the familiar sensations and scents striking her full force. And she realized how easily it would have been to let him slip inside past her defenses to the part of her that she had reserved just for him. But she knew she couldn't do that, they had slid back into their roles defined by their lifelong friendship and Matt had gotten back together with his college sweetheart.
Matt sat on his porch after leaving Robert dancing on some tables at the clam bake. Running into C.J. had really surprised him and so had the feelings running through his mind when he had seen her with the guy that she had been hanging with at the clam bake. He had to check himself to keep from asking questions that he knew he had no business asking but when she had been in his arms, his mind had slipped back to earlier memories that he thought he had sealed away some place. And now he sat up late at night staring out towards the ocean thinking about her, when if his mind had been on anyone female, it should have been Christina who would be joining him soon. Relating with her had been easy because she didn't make any demands on him, she moved on in her career and her life like he did with his army assignment. Both enjoyed the days and nights they spent together in the interims but right now in her absence, Christina had stayed there.
He had nixed drinking another beer and had instead stuck with ginger ale that he had found in a cabinet and spiked with ice. The stars twinkled above him and a pale sliver of moon lit the sky as he found his mind wandering down the path where it shouldn't go. Back towards a simpler time when he and his best friend had been wrapped up in each other, after he had shown her the waterfall on their road trip and they had spent that final afternoon near the cascading water that his father had shown him as a child. The moments they shared there had been perfectly etched in time but when he left for the military, he had tucked them away for safe keeping. After all, C.J. hadn't been interested in anything serious, in fact she had asked him to treat her as if she were one of his other women right up to the moment she seduced him.
He of course had told her that he couldn't do that but he got her message that she sent to him loud and clear that she wanted things to remain casual between them so their friendship would remain intact and weather the weekend their relationship had taken another turn. His newer feelings for her had become so intertwined with his friendship that he had discovered that he couldn't separate them from one another as easily as she. But that part of his observations he kept to himself, after all with thousands of miles and a war between them, part of that remained out of necessity.
But at moments like tonight, there were times that his resolve had been tested and the best he could do was to tuck those times he had treasured with her even further into their safe place and to keep his thoughts focused where they belonged, on Christina.
C.J. woke with a start as the sunlight hit her and she looked around her bedroom, seeing the clothes she had worn the night before on the chair where she had left them. She grabbed her robe and got up to get some breakfast in the kitchen, figuring that she probably wouldn't have company given that Julia had clearly spent the night elsewhere. She had tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep, not able to get her thoughts off of Matt. Damn, when she first saw him there at the bake, her first instinct was to jump in his arms and then take it someplace more private. Her cheeks flushed at the thought but this decision to restore the boundaries of their friendship which had kept everything else in check during the years they had known each other really tormented her at times. When she didn't have him visible in her life, she could focus her attention elsewhere on other men, like Carl who she had enjoyed hanging out with the previous day.
But with Matt now in the vicinity, she felt her feelings tumble over themselves all over again. And she thought it silly given that he now had gotten together with Christina, a woman who probably suited him much better than her anyway. Refined and cultured, a woman who chose her words as carefully as her wardrobe, Christina was the perfect girlfriend for a man of Matt's social standing and despite their friendship, C.J. had always been aware that she and he had been born into and had grown up in different worlds even while working side by side together on the ranch.
Still, when she had offered herself to him and he had taken her up on it, she had discovered another side of him, one she hadn't seen before and there were moments when she thought that maybe something deeper could grow between them.
"C.J. is that you," Julia said, coming into the kitchen.
"Did you just get in," C.J asked, "I came in last night and you weren't here."
Julia went to prepare some coffee.
"I was with Stefan, where else?"
C.J. shook her head.
"Julia, you barely know him," she said, "or anything about him for that matter."
"Hey we just talked…and kissed but I didn't sleep with him," Julia said, "I have some ability to restrain myself though it was tough with a guy built like that."
"So you showed some restraint then," C.J. continued.
Julia snorted.
"Amazed, well maybe you should be," she said, "but what about you, did you and Carl hook up in my absence?"
C.J. rolled her eyes.
"Why would we do that," she said, "We don't know each other all that way."
Julia's eyes glimmered.
"Okay, so what about you and Matt?"
C.J. looked up startled.
"What does he have to do with it," she said, "We just bumped into each other that's all."
Julia looked at her skeptically.
"You didn't sleep with him?"
C.J. looked indignant, as she began preparing some cereal.
"No I didn't," she said, "It's not like that between us and he's got a girlfriend."
Julia tilted her head.
"Somehow I don't quite believe you," she said, "I think you're hung up on him and that's why you didn't sleep with Carl."
C.J. just sighed.
"I didn't…why am I explaining anything to you?"
Julia chuckled.
"C.J. you need to loosen up and shack up with someone before you go nuts," she said, "or drive me nuts."
C.J. got the milk from the frig.
"I'm meeting him for lunch," she said.
"That's a start…to what I'm not sure but something."
"Julia just give it a rest."
To her surprise, her friend did just that and the two of them ate a quiet breakfast.
A few hours later, C.J. headed to the steakhouse where she had plans to meet Matt. It was a cozy eatery at the end of a pier and it overlooked the ocean. She stepped inside and ran into the host there who asked if she had reservations. She gave her and Matt's name and he looked confused.
"Wait a minute here," he said, reaching under the counter, "A gentlemen by that name left you this."
He handed her an envelope.