Chapter 7
Cody rode up to the station a week later, a folder tucked securely in his saddle bag and dismounted with a slight smile on his lips. Several of the photos he'd taken of Clara on the roof had turned out to be those 'million-dollar heart-stopper shots' in his book and he was willing to make Matt squirm, maybe even Jimmy, for a copy of them. He knew Clara might beat the crap out of him for it but hey, he couldn't deny natural beauty when he saw it. Even he'd been surprised when the photos had come out of the development solution. How he'd managed to capture her in just the right light, the right angle to make the most of her curves in those jean shorts and t-shirt with sun on her face…
Opening the front door, he headed inside and found Frank and Jimmy shooting a game of pool while Izzy sat at the radio desk, reading a magazine. Robin was nowhere to be seen but it must be her day off since her desk chair was pushed in. Matt's office door was open, indicating he was around somewhere.
"Hey Cody!" called Jimmy from his game, "Matt's out back. What do we owe the pleasure of your company today?"
Cody shrugged, "Just came down to see what Matt was up to. He hasn't been up to see dad for awhile. Thought I'd come down and give him some crap about it…"
"I heard you have a house guest. Maybe Matt's trying to avoid them?" said Avila with a grin.
Cody shrugged again and went over to see what Izzy was looking at. He saw it was one of Jimmy's girly magazines and chuckled, "I've seen better," he teased the tall man.
Izzy raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And where would you see better up on that mountain top…?" he asked in a snarky comeback.
The young man only grinned, "Well at least I can say that what I saw wasn't air brushed…," he teased.
That had all three of the men's attention, "Cody…you better not be spying on that guest of yours. You're dad will have your hide," warned Jimmy.
Cody opened up his saddle bag and pulled out the photo of Clara grinning down at his dad, "Nope," he said and gave Izzy a quick look, "See…like I said, I've seen better."
The look on Izzy's face was almost comical. He went to grab for the picture and Cody kept it just out of his reach, "Sorry…only the first look's for free," he teased as Jimmy and Frank moved over towards him.
"Hey!" Izzy growled. "That's not fair!"
Before things could get too out of hand, the sound of the back door shutting made them turn their heads. Matt stood there looking at the four of them, "Do I want to know?"
"Cody's been taking pictures of some hot chick and he's not sharing," whined Jimmy playfully.
Matt's blonde eyebrows went upward, "Oh really? And just where would you find some 'hot chick' that would let you take her picture…," he asked as he moved over to his kid brother.
Cody grinned and slid the photo back into his saddle bag before Matt could get a look, "That information is classified big brother and will cost you lunch to get anything further from me on that subject."
Frank and Jimmy laughed at Matt's look of surprise. "Bribery. Wow! And here you said he was isolated up there on that mountain. If that's isolation, I'd hate to see what he'd pick up living down here," snarked Jimmy.
Matt gave a deep sigh, "Fine." He looked around, "You three hold things down and when Hart gets back tell him I found that part he needed. It's on the workbench in the shop." With that, he grabbed his light windbreaker from the hook, then grabbed his brother around the neck and kept him in a headlock, moving him towards the door.
Matt looked across the table at Papa Murphy's to stare at his kid brother who had remained silent and smiling the entire way there from the Ranger station. Matt knew that 'smirk' all too well since it meant Cody was up to something.
"All right Toad, out with it. You've obviously got something up your sleeve or you wouldn't have bribed me to take you to lunch," said Matt as he planted an elbow on the table in front of him and put his chin in his palm.
Cody raised an eyebrow, "It's Ace and answer me this Matt…when are you going to go up and see her?"
Matt blinked, "See who?"
Cody sighed as he thought that there were times his brother could be so totally dense. He reached into the saddle bag he'd brought in with him and pulled out the best photo he had of Clara and held it up in front of Matt's face. "Her."
Silence reigned at the table for a moment as Cody saw his brother stare in shock at the picture. "Is that…?
"Yup. And you keep asking dad and I about her. We're not your messenger boys. You should go up and visit with her yourself. She doesn't bite…," Cody paused at that for a moment, looking 'thoughtful'. "Well, she probably doesn't unless you ask her to," said Cody with a sudden sly grin.
Matt's face turned bright red and he sputtered, "Cody! Jesus! I need to stop Jimmy from sending those books up to you…" Matt reached forward to take the picture but Cody held onto it for a few more seconds.
"You going to go up and see her? We can't always be up there to help her out with repairs to the cabin. Might be nice if you took some time off and helped her out." With that, he let go of the picture so Matt could take it from him.
Matt looked at it for a few more seconds before he leaned it up against his chest as the waitress came over with glasses of water and asked for their orders. When she was gone, Matt glared at his little brother. "This is extortion. You know that, right?"
Cody shrugged with a sly smirk, "Hey, you're the one that keeps asking us about her. Besides, you two were friends once. Time you caught up with her and had some friends outside of the Rangers."
Matt rolled his eyes and looked at the picture again before putting it on the table, face down out of 'harms' way of any water rings or potential food spillage. "I'll think about it," was all he said.
"Oh, and while you're thinking about it Matt, you can also call that logging company to come up and grade the road that runs up past her cabin. Dad's called them once already when we were in town last time but I think a call from the CO of the Rangers would move things along a bit faster. They were supposed to fix it several years ago and they never took care of it. It's only gotten worse since then." Cody paused to take a drink of his water then leveled a look at Matt. "You do know she busted her truck and bent the frame on her horse trailer on that road trying to get up to the cabin, didn't you?"
The look of surprise on Matt's features told him he hadn't. "No. I didn't. Is her truck in the shop?"
It was Cody's turn to roll his eyes, "No Matt. Her truck is 'busted', as in 'it will never run again'. Apparently the drive shaft broke off after hitting one too many bad ruts and impaled itself in the ground. Made her stop so suddenly the horse trailer slammed into the back of the truck and bent its frame. Jaime's dad's friend came up and hauled it away for scrap. Only way she has in or out of there now is her horses."
Matt gave a low whistle. "Damned. Didn't know that." He was quiet then for a few moments, "Fine. I'll go up and visit."
"Good," said Cody, looking rather pleased with himself as if he'd suckered his brother into something. "Then you can stop by Truxels Hardware and pick up the drywall and insulation he has set aside for her when you come up. It's paid for. She just needs someone to bring it up there for her so she can finish the roof inside the cabin."
"Now wait a minute…," Matt started to protest.
"Look at it this way. It gives you a perfect excuse to come up to visit and maybe help out." He knew he had his brother cornered and one hand gripped the bench seat under the table tightly, hoping his brother would take the bait.
Matt eyed him wearily. Finally he exhaled, "Fine! Next day I get off I'll pick up the stuff from the hardware store and drive up there…and I'll call the logging company to get them up there to make right on that road they should have fixed several years ago." Matt mock scowled at his brother, "There! Now will that make you happy?"
Cody grinned and pulled out the other two candid photos he had taken of Clara on the roof out of the saddle bag and turned them around for Matt to look at, "With getting to see this almost every day, why wouldn't I be happy?" he joked.