Chapter 18

Clara had awakened from a pleasant dream the morning after Matt had come up to help, vaguely remembering falling asleep on the couch next to him. At some time in the early morning, she'd awakened to the sound of his pager going off, felt him stir and swear a little. As she'd groggily realized she was still on the couch in front of a fire that was now down to glowing embers, Matt shifted next to her and sighed.

"Come on," he'd said as he carefully picked her up off the couch, "Into bed with you. Duty calls." With that, he'd carried her half awake into her bedroom and put her to bed.

She didn't remember much after that but when she'd awakened with the sound of thunder growling through the valley, she realized it was late morning already. She'd made her way out of the bedroom and found that the living room had been put to rights and the kitchen cleaned up though the dishes hadn't been done; only stacked in the sink to soak.

There was a note on the table. 'Clara – had a great day with you yesterday. Enjoyed our dinner together and sorry I fell asleep before I could do the dishes. Work calls and I need to take off. Consider going to dad's for a few days if you don't feel comfortable after what happened with that guy yesterday. I'll check on you later. Matt'

Feeling how sore she was, Clara looked outside and was almost thankful for the growing thunderheads on the horizon. She didn't think she could handle a day of splitting logs, not after the tortures of the day before. She sighed though. Just because she was sore didn't mean she could put off her morning chores and if she didn't hurry, all of the shavings they'd made yesterday cutting logs would get wet and soggy, basically becoming useless until they dried out again.

Getting dressed for the weather, she quickly went outside to gather up what she could and do her morning chores around the barn. She was putting away the last bag of shavings when she finally noticed the bags of feed sitting just inside one of the empty stalls. Going over to investigate, she looked around for anything else that might have been misplaced or extra. Finding nothing, she hesitantly opened one bag and gave each horse a measure of it in their buckets before gathering a couple of eggs and hurrying back across the yard to the cabin as the first cold drops of rain began to fall.

Upon entering the house, she went about stoking the fires and setting about heating water to do up the supper dishes. As she went to the pantry to fetch a jar of salsa to go with her scrambled eggs, she froze at the sight of her shelves full of canned and dried goods. Part of her mind fumed at the audacity of 'that man' for doing this, for hurting her pride and part of her wanted to break down and weep in thanks because she finally had enough to last her for another month or so if she was careful and could save what little bit of money she had left for when it was an emergency to buy supplies.

Slowly reaching in, she pulled out the jar of salsa she had been going for, looked again at the supplies on her shelves and quietly closed the door, almost afraid that if she slammed it, everything might disappear. The rest of her day was filled with staring out the window, watching the rain while her mind and heart were at war within her. She longed to see him again while a little voice inside her head whispered that he would only cause her heartache in the end.

After two days of rain, the sun came out and the weather changed to being unseasonably warm for that time of year. Clara took that time to catch up on her work outside and within three days was well on her way to being almost through the stack of logs that she and Matt had cut.

The sound of an engine made her look up from her work mid-afternoon on the fifth day after Matt had been up to visit her and she'd secretly hoped that it was him. But a red Chevy Blazer rolled up into her yard and within moments a well dressed woman stepped out of the driver's seat, pulling a briefcase out behind her.

Clara looked at the woman warily and it must have shown because the professionally dressed woman stopped after shutting the door to the Blazer and spoke. "Clara Rodgers? I'm Lisa Elliot. I believe we have a mutual acquaintance, one Mr. Cody Hawkes?" she said with a casual smile, her eyes holding a touch of conspiratorial humor.

When her adrenaline had finally dumped out of her system enough that Clara could think straight, she put down the splitting maul and walked over towards Lisa. "Hi. Uhm…I'd offer to shake your hand but I'm a bit…sweaty at the moment."

Lisa waved the statement away and stuck out her hand, "That's all right. It's nice to finally meet you. Shall we go inside and talk? We have quite a bit to talk about, all of it good I assure you," said Lisa, pausing to give Clara a reassuring smile when she saw Clara tense a bit. "But we should get to it so I can get back down to Tahoe tonight to get a room before heading back to LA in the morning."

Clara removed her glove and shook Lisa's hand, then motioned her towards the cabin. "Well, I could offer you my spare bedroom for the night if you don't mind rather 'primitive' accommodations. It isn't much but it might save you the hassle of having to rush back to town and possibly in the dark." The woman's handshake was firm and she had a relaxed ease about her that made Clara trust her almost instantly.

Lisa blinked and then smiled warmly, "You know, I think I might just take you up on that offer."

As they entered the cabin, Clara moved towards the kitchen, "Can I offer you something to drink? Tea, coffee?" She wouldn't have been able to offer the latter before five days ago but she'd found a can of coffee in the supplies Matt had put in her pantry and she'd been very stingy with it so far.

"Sure. Coffee sounds great," replied Lisa as she looked around in amazement at the interior of the cabin. "This place is beautiful. I've often thought about getting myself a little getaway place up here. I love it up in these mountains and I've always envied the Hawkes men," she joked quietly.

Smiling, Clara disappeared into the kitchen, followed by the lawyer. "It hasn't been all sunshine and roses up here, I can tell you that. I've had to learn a lot in the months since I've been here and Jesse's made sure I've learned them through the 'School of Hard Knox'."

There was a loud chuckle from Lisa as she set her briefcase down on the kitchen table and settled into a chair, "Oh I can just imagine that. You're lucky to have people like the Hawkes' to help you out. I couldn't think of a family more suited to helping out someone like you or I learn the ropes in a place like this."

Clara put a few logs into the kitchen stove, stoking the fire up from the bed of coals still inside then put the kettle of water on to begin heating. "If you'll give me a few minutes, I'll go clean up and then we can talk."

Lisa nodded, "Take your time. If I'm going to take you up on the offer to stay for the night, there's no rush to go over everything this instant. Perhaps if you could point me to the spare bedroom first, I'll get settled in while you clean up and then we'll get started."

Clara nodded and motioned her to follow. She was coming to like Lisa more and more by the minute and it was the first true company and it made her feel just a touch giddy. With a sudden realization Clara knew that this was the first person other than Cody that she could truly be herself around. She wouldn't have to watch her words, hide her secrets or dance around the truth as to who she really was. For once, it felt as if she had a heavy weight lifted off her shoulders, even if it was just for a short time. This meeting could prove to be interesting…

By the time Lisa left Clara's the next morning, she couldn't have been more impressed with the young woman. Shandra Lee or Clara was a very competent and intelligent young woman and easily grasped the logistics of what Lisa had to show her. After Clara had shown her the spare bedroom, she'd left to go clean up her tools outside and then gone off to shower. She had fixed them both a hearty supper of venison stew and cornbread and by the time dinner was over, the two had been well into the logistics of the research Lisa had done so far. The two of them had talked until the early morning hours about Clara's past, problems and issues that she could remember having with her manager.

They talked about many things from Clara's past but she didn't seem to say much about her life once she'd arrived in the mountains. Lisa just got the feeling that it was a matter of course that the Hawkes men were helping her out and keeping her whereabouts hidden from the rest of the world until this case could be solved. The only tidbit she got from Clara was that she used to come up to this cabin that had belonged to her Great Uncle and stay over the summers when she was younger. That's where she had met and played with Matt as kids.

When yawns had punctuated the conversation more than words, Clara showed Lisa where things were in the bathroom and then excused herself so she could get some sleep. Lisa had watched her head off to her bedroom, thinking about how much Clara had changed physically compared to the photos and video she had seen of the young woman. Gone were the soft edges, replaced by hard muscle and a surety of movement. To say Lisa was impressed was an understatement. But Lisa also had to admit silently to herself that this place suited Clara. She 'belonged' here more than she thought Clara belonged in some place like LA. But she wouldn't know for sure until she saw the woman in both settings. But this 'felt' right somehow.

She'd given herself a mental shake and had seen herself off to bed. Clara had gotten her up in the morning to a breakfast of omelets and fried potatoes. Their conversation picked up where it had left off from the night before and when Lisa was finally satisfied she had the last few details she needed to wrap up her research and fact finding on the case, she had handed Clara a stack of papers to read as well as an envelope with some cash in it. She still chuckled at remembering the expression on the other woman's face.

"What's this?" stammered Clara as she opened the envelope and drew out five hundred dollars in twenties.

"Call it a loan. A little birdie told me that your funds were very low and if there's a chance you might have to stay up here over the winter, you're going to need a way to buy supplies until this case comes to court and we can get you safely down to LA," replied Lisa.

"But…I can't accept this! What if they win? What if I can't pay you back?" said Clara, looking almost terrified at the money in her hands. She should be angry with Cody for having told a complete stranger about her lack of money but all she could feel was embarrassment, as if she incapable of managing her own finances well enough to keep herself from needing charity from others.

Lisa found this almost hilarious due to the fact that most rock stars wouldn't even blink at holding five hundred dollars in their hands. Here was a popular, big time singer trying to hand her the money back as if it might bite her. "Then call it a gift, a favor. If things don't go well and we lose the case, well, you can always invite me up here to stay for a weekend or two to pay me back. But honestly, they haven't a prayer in winning. You're in the right and they are in the wrong. Have faith. It'll all work out in the end."

It took a little more convincing on Lisa's part but finally Clara had taken the money and tucked it away, her hands trembling slightly. Lisa hadn't missed how pale she'd become and wondered if she'd be all right. Finally it had been time for her to say her farewells and leave, though she did so somewhat reluctantly. She truly was rather fond of these mountains But she had a bit of a drive back to LA and she had work to do.

As she pulled into the gas station in South Tahoe to refuel, pick up a can of soda and a granola bar, she saw one of the High Mountain Ranger vehicles pull up behind her as she finished putting the gas nozzle in the holder on the pump. A tall blonde headed man stepped out and walked towards her with a wicked little grin to his face.

"License and registration ma'am," he drawled playfully.

"On what grounds, Commander Hawkes?" asked Lisa as she handed the money to the attendant that came to give her a receipt.

"On the grounds that you were in town and didn't stop by to see us," said Matt as he leaned up against her rented Blazer.

Chuckling, she looked him over. He was looking really good. "Well I was only in town only for a few hours to help Cody out on his 'pet project'," she said, doing little finger quotes around 'pet project', "But I'll be back in town a few more times as things progress. Maybe we can…." The look on Matt's face suddenly made her stomach feel like it had a lead weight in it, cutting her sentence short.

He looked startled, then almost scared. "Pet project? What pet project?" he asked suddenly, fully alert, all playfulness gone.

Lisa swallowed, "I'm sorry Matt. If you don't know then it's not my place to say."

"Why not? Does this have something to do with my dad or my brother? What's this about?" he said, his voice low but demanding, sounding worried.

"No, it has nothing to do with your dad or your brother but the rest I can't say anything about. It's called 'client confidentiality'. If you don't know what this is about, then I've said way too much already," replied Lisa, her nerves a tight ball. Cody hadn't said anything about Matt not knowing. She had just assumed he knew since the Hawkes men were all a tight knit group and didn't seem to hide anything from each other.

Matt's face turned slightly red, then white. "Sorry Lisa. Guess I need to have a talk with dad and Cody. Didn't mean to snap at you."

Lisa let out a breath. She could only hope that Cody and Jesse would let Matt in on all of this and she'd be off the hook for 'letting the cat out of the bag' so to speak. "It's all right. I need to get going. I have a long drive back to LA."

"Drive safe," was all Matt could manage to say as he turned on his heel and strode off towards his Bronco.

Lisa got into her vehicle and watched him for a moment as he left. She swallowed and took a moment to take a deep breath. What had she just done?

TBC - (What will happen next? Stay tuned for Chapter 19 when Matt goes in search of answers!)