“I take it you didn’t get much riding in, down in D.C.?”
“None, really. It’s been... years actually.”
“Well, there’s nothing like the forests on horseback.”
She glanced out of the open barn doors at the brilliance of the waiting spring day and nodded. “I have a feeling you’re right about that, Jamie.”
He raised his eyebrows in mock amazement. “Alexandra Aimee Winters is in agreement with her arch nemesis? That’s definitely cause for celebration.”
Shaking her head in amusement, she led her dancing mount out of the barn and swung up onto his back. “Don’t push your luck.” Alex settled down into her saddle with a happy sigh. “Aah. He fits me like an orthopedic shoe.”
Jamie eyed the long, slender thighs that gripped the stallion’s sides with ease. Her bottom fit into the small, English saddle perfectly. She had a body that was graceful in its curves, but firm and lithe, what he would consider ideally built for the sport of riding. It was no stretch of imagination to picture those supple legs wrapping around his waist as well.
Jamie broke that train of thought self-consciously, when he realized she was waiting for him, and the stallion’s patience was disintegrating rapidly. Alex handled him well, with quiet expertise that quickly took the edge off the stallion’s nervous energy.
“Any ideas where you want to ride?” Jamie questioned.
“Not really. You can lead the way, since you know these parts, I assume.”
“Well, to be honest, in all the years I’ve lived here, I haven’t been over much of this property. Should we investigate what you’ve purchased here?”
Alex grinned, and her sudden flush of excitement was transmitted to the stallion beneath her. He started to prance again, lifting his tail so that the golden strands streamed behind him like a silky banner. “You’re on.”
Waiting for Eden
~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 8
Marcus Allen leaned back in the leather swivel chair, and pushed himself away from the massive mahogany desktop. His head ached, due mainly to the fact that he’d been on either the computer or the telephone for the last two days straight. He needed a good martini and a three hour nap before he’d be in top condition again.
Bracing his long fingers across the nape of his neck, he focused on relaxing his rigid frame, but his mind continued to whirl at superhuman speed, investigating, cataloging, turning the little puzzle pieces of his newest game over and over again, searching for the right course of action. Eventually, his tightly coiled body came to follow a similar path, rising and pacing the large room with cat-like grace.
As he passed the desk a second time, he lifted the photograph he had downloaded from his computer and enlarged hours earlier. It had been sent to him by a contact in Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Alexandra Winters. Correction, Miss. He rolled the name on his tongue, tasting the bittersweet quality of it. “A lovely little lady,” he murmured. “And so very, very busy now.”
The photograph had been taken in some po-dunk grocery store parking lot. Blue jeans actually suited her, he noted. Her brunette hair flowed down her back, slightly wavy and shimmering with golden highlights. She walked with her chin lifted; her sinuous curves natural and lithe. There was nothing small-town about this woman.
She looked completely different than the tight-assed yuppie bitch from an earlier photo he had acquired, shot while she worked within the hallowed halls of Wycoff and Winters. His lips curled up at the corners, for he liked the change in her, physically anyway. Quite a bit actually.
What was happening in her vapid, female brain was another matter altogether. Refusing to double her investment in a shitty, rundown property? Her life was about money.
No matter, he would figure her out before long, Marcus Allen always did. They were all conniving whores at heart, whores for money, for jewelry, an outfit, a single, pathetic complement. Why wouldn’t she accept Ridgeway’s overly accommodating offer?
The old Wilkens woman – Marta, was it? - had been a cunt too, and an overly wrinkled one. Tough as the old tree bark in the mountains beyond. Refused to speak at all. Her belligerent silence had worked him into such a frenzy of anger that he wanted to beat her with the iron poker that he threatened her with, but marking her that way was not in his marching orders.
No matter. She’d wet herself when he finally cut into her wrists, yet she hadn’t made a sound. The thought that she had been that afraid in the end had given him such sweet satisfaction he had nearly moaned.
It pleasured him now to think of working over the Winters woman. Alexandra. If only Ridgeway would give him full leave to work his magic, she’d break with the first cigarette burn, properly placed on a very tender spot. Or perhaps….hand carved tattoos were a specialty of his, especially on women. So many possibilities.
Although such little games were not exactly in his job itinerary, he was not letting this little peach go without some fun. Marcus had been staring at her picture for days, thinking. His grip tightened, and the edges wrinkled in complaint against the pressure. His dark eyes traveled over the curve of her hips, the up thrust points her breasts made against the soft fabric of her tee-shirt. She truly was a luscious little cunt, one well worth obsessing over.
There were other ways to play with her first. Since Ridgeway held the reins at the moment, such ways would bring him a little pleasure before the business at hand. Ridgeway wanted to move slowly with this. Marcus rarely did – it was just not in his nature.
He lowered the photo and took a deliberate breath, slowing the rapid beat of his heart. He had to be extremely careful. After years on the street, his savage temper was his only remaining fault, and if given free rein, it could overwhelm him. Make him sloppy. But this was an issue that he could not leave to even his best man. This one was personal, and demanded his full attention.
“I can’t wait, pretty Alexandra,” he muttered. But even dealing with the dumbest of bitches required a little calculation and finesse. Marcus had done his homework and would now proceed slowly. Cautiously, like Ridgeway had requested. And in the end, successfully. Pleasurably.
Glancing at the photograph again, a wry smile tugged at his lips. Such a plus that she was gorgeous. He would have himself a world of fun with Alexandra Winters.
~~~~~~
Elation. That was the word she was looking for. Or maybe exuberance... but certainly something along those lines. They had galloped through several fields, allowing the horses to kick up their heels, ridding them of all their equine naughtiness and pent up energy.
Bold Venture had put in a few healthy bucks before settling down like a gentleman. Alex had hunkered down and clung to his back like a burr, although truth be told, it had scared her as it had been quite a few years since she’d handled such a spirited animal. But she could tell that she had impressed Jamie with her skill, and it had filled her with a slow, warm flow of pride.
Ascending into the hulking mountains had filled her with pure fascination. From horseback, one gained an entirely different perspective than when on foot. Alex saw more birdlife than she had known existed, thrushes and warblers, even a massive, pileated woodpecker had swooped across the trail, screeching in consternation at their passing.
There were scores of beautiful wildflowers in bloom, ivory-petaled bloodroot, vibrantly colored trillium, and jack-in-the-pulpits with stiff little hoods scattered in random pockets along the path they had chosen to follow. Jamie seemed to know the given name of everything, from trees to flowers, birds to beasts, and everything in between. She had to admit that his abundant knowledge had impressed her.
“Do you know where we’re going?” Alex inquired. She, for one, had no clue.
“Well, no. But we’re not lost. I have a good idea of where we are and how to get back down again, without having to retrace our steps.”
“I sure hope you can figure it out. I’ve been lost up here before and it was not fun.”
“Really?” he inquired.
“Really. I literally fell down the mountain and stumbled into the Wilkens’ backyard. Bloody and bruised. Covered with bugs.”
Jamie threw back his head and laughed. “Now why does that not surprise me?”
They came to a sudden fork in the trail, and both paused uncertainly.
Alex cast Jamie a devilish grin. “Ooh, how exciting. Which way shall we go?”
~~~~~~~
When Alex slanted him a dancing, hazel-eyed glance, Jamie had to smile at her uncharacteristic eagerness. Her eyes were sparkling, and when the light angling through the pines caught them, they reflected a shimmering wealth of green and gold iridescent flecks.
Her cheeks were lightly flushed and her full lips were softly parted as she breathed in the rich, forest air. It was the first time that he had seen her looking contented and... actually radiant. It transformed her.
“Do I know you, Miss?” he murmured wryly.
Alex only laughed. “Right now, I’m not sure I know myself. Well, come on, which way should we go?”
“You pick. I’m tired of leading.”
“Ten-four. My stud here is still raring to go.” Alex chose the left fork and picked up a brisk trot, for the trail was wide and clear. He asked Lilah for a soft, easy lope, and followed.
After several minutes of slow climbing, Alex called over her shoulder, “I think I’ve been this way before!” The trail suddenly dipped, and the trees thickened measurably.
Jamie noted scores of large white pines, statuesque hemlocks, interwoven with a mixture of oaks and beech... but his eyes kept returning to the pert rump that rose and fell in front of him, the human rump, as Alex posted in time with the stallion’s sure gait.
When he managed to tear his eyes away from the tantalizing view, he pulled Lilah up sharp. “Hold it, Alex!” Jamie swiveled around in the saddle, craning his neck up at the towering canopy. “Jesus Christ!”
Alex wheeled the stallion around and trotted back. “Never seen a tree before, Jamie?” she chided.
“Look at the size of these things!”
“Yeah, ain’t it grand?” Her voice was near to bubbling with glee. “Everything started to look familiar after the fork, and then I knew where we were heading.”
“You’ve actually been here before?” he murmured, still staring around him, too absorbed to notice her attempt at humor. “I’ve lived here all my life and I had no idea this was here.”
“Yeah, I neglected to tell you, I, ah, took a different course from what the map suggested during my hike. When I fell, I, umm, we’ll say landed in this fairy land here. Literally. Anyway, when I eventually ended up down at Ezra’s, I just fell in love with the place. When I found out what had befallen them, and that he wanted to retire to Florida, I saw the chance to make it mine.”
“I guess so.” His words were mumbled. Jamie shook his head. “This is simply amazing. It’s Old Growth, Alexandra, virgin forest. But even bigger than any I’ve seen before. There are only a couple of pockets of this type of virgin timber left in Pennsylvania. Everything, and I mean everything, has been logged at some point or another.”
He nudged Lilah foreword again. “I have to check this out. This is a forester’s ultimate dream. This is a huge area. How could we not have spotted this from aerial or satellite?”
“Hmm, not sure.” Alex grinned in amusement and followed him, both pausing often while Jamie inspected one particular tree or another.
“There’s a good mixture of white pine and hemlock here. Some hardwood oaks and poplars too. The original forests of Pennsylvania were mainly evergreen, you know.”
“Really? And everything’s been logged? I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true. Logging up here started in the mid to late 1800’s. And they were very methodical with their cuts. They didn’t leave anything behind.”
“Just a few pockets,” she added, repeating his earlier words.
“Yeah, there’s a small area of Old Growth virgin timber in the Hammersley Wild Area, about twenty miles south of here. A very small hollow. And the tree diameters are only about three to four feet there.
“These are certainly bigger,” Alex added, squinting upward toward the canopy far above.
“Hell, yes, there are some monstrosities here, Alex! Look at this one hemlock. It must be ten feet in diameter!” Alex craned her neck at his insistence, but they couldn’t even discern where the top of the tree began, really.
Jamie felt like an ant within a corn field, wandering from stalk to stalk. The giant trees were barren of branches to nearly forty feet. The result was a dimly lit understory, barren of any vegetation other than scattered emerald beds of luxuriant moss and the occasional rhododendron.
Silence was predominant as they passed beneath the colossal timber, even the horses’ hoof beats were muffled against the thick carpet of pine needles that now covered the trail.
Alex seemed at a loss for words, but as the silence thickened, she cleared her throat. “Isn’t this just amazing?”
“God. It’s so... primeval. I’ve read old accounts about the virgin forests of Potter County. It was said that the forest was so immense and open beneath that a yoke of oxen could be driven for miles through the unbroken forest without encountering an obstacle. And trees upwards of ten to twelve feet in diameter were common. I never truly believed it, until now.”
“I just can’t believe this area was missed,” he repeated again, shaking his head. It’s steep, but it’s a big area, probably a couple hundred acres, conservatively.
“Well Ezra said the house was built in the late 1800’s and his wife’s family had always sworn to protect it,” Alex recounted.
“They did a damned good job of concealing it from the locals and the loggers,” he exclaimed. He looked at her curiously. “I wonder why he suddenly decided to sell it to a stranger?”
“Well, he and Marta were never able to have children,” she explained.
“Yes, but why not sell it to another family member. Or a local? Why…” his voice dropped away as he realized what he was about to utter.
With a hurt glare she finished for him. “A yuppie city woman?” She huffed. “Perhaps he found me likeable. Perhaps he found something worthwhile in my nature.”
Jamie cleared his throat, wondering how to disentangle himself from the direction of the conversation without starting another war of words. “I just meant not local. Mountain folk are often very distrustful of outsiders.”
“Are you considered ‘Mountain Folk’ yourself, Jamie?” she inquired nearly dripping with sarcasm. “Your mother seemed quite friendly and outgoing to me.”
He chuckled self-consciously. “Yeah I suppose that was a bit of a stereotype. But you have to know a lot of people really are like that in these small, country communities. And Ezra and Marta were not exactly known for their friendliness.”
Alex sighed audibly and chewed on her lower lip. “So why do you think he sold it to me, then? If I’m an outsider and not worthy of trust?”
“Well, I may have insinuated that you were an outsider, but I certainly did not mean that you weren’t worthy of trust.” He reached out and swished her pony tail, trying to lighten her mood. “After all, you even returned that old beat up stove of mine.” She laughed then, and he was pleased.
“If that had been a real ticket you gave me Jamie, you never would have seen that stove again,” she threatened teasingly. “I would have hocked it.”
“I doubt you’d need to hock much again, Alex,” he returned, looking upward at the trees.
“Are we talking big bucks on this property?” she inquired with interest.
He scoffed. “Huge. Shit, there must be ten thousand board feet in this one tree alone. He reached out to touch the ridged bark that ran the length of the pine like a thick, ancient hide. “Remarkable.”
“So that’s what Ridgeway is all about,” she mused.
Jamie looked at her sharply. “Ridgeway? The logging company out of Ohio?”
“I guess. Ridgeway Incorporated.”
Jamie shook his head. “Don’t let him put any ideas in your head. This piece of land should be in protection. How the hell did we miss ever this? Mike is going to crap. Not too far over this ridge, state forest begins. We should have known about this piece of land.”
“Ezra was crazy-protective about these trees.”
“As well he should have been. I’d say he was hiding close to four million dollars worth of lumber up here. You can say you’re now worth a pretty penny, Alex.”
~~~~~~~
Four million dollars. Alex blinked but said nothing. Ridgeway was trying to pull the wool over her eyes. I’ll be damned. She grinned to herself, and began re-calculating her retirement options.
“Hungry?”
“Huh?”
“I said, are you hungry? It’s close to six o’clock.”
“Oh. Yeah, I could use a bite, I guess. There should be a stream up ahead, if I remember correctly.”
They found the gurgling stream with little trouble, and slowly dismounted. The horses touched noses, and Lilah squealed pertly when the stallion blew on her shoulder softly.
Jamie laughed. “She’s not in heat, but it would probably be a good idea to tie them a few feet apart.”
After securing the horses, they found a moss and fern-laden spot close to the edge of the flowing water. The now-familiar sound of the wood thrush took up its throaty warble nearby.
“I’ve so grown to love that song,” Alex commented as Jamie opened the saddlebags, and he nodded his agreement.
“It’s the sound of the Black Forest,” he added. “Oohh, we’ve got cold fried chicken and potato salad. And here’s some homemade wheat bread too. Mom’s specialty. Sound good to you?”
Her stomach responded with gusto. She realized that she hadn’t eaten much over the past few weeks. Diana’s neighborly basket of provisions had been a God send. “Your mom is really the absolute best.”
Waiting For Eden (Eden Series) Page 9