"What?" Annie demanded.

"Nothing," Chris said, hiding her smile with her hand. "It's just... well, I've never seen you like this."

"Like what?"

"Well... happy, Annie."

Annie blushed and busied herself with the fire while Chris and Jessie shared smiles.

"I'm happy, too," Jessie said. "And I think I have the most to be thankful for."

Annie turned around and Chris watched the warm smile transform Annie's face as she looked at Jessie.

"Let's eat, huh?"

Chris was the only one who went back for seconds but was not the least bit shy while she piled her plate high a second time.

"I think she starves herself in between our dinner dates," Annie explained to Jessie. "She eats likes she's starving, anyway."

"I think you're right. Last night, I saw her plate at the Rock House. I don't think she even knew what it was."

"I don't think it's polite to talk about me as if I'm not here," Chris said around a mouthful.

"Why do you insist on eating there?" Annie asked.

"Because I can't cook, as you very well know."

"Nonsense. How hard can it be?"

"Okay, I don't like to cook. Is that better?"

Annie reached across the table and patted her hand.

"I'm just teasing you. It does my heart good to cook a decent meal and have you consume it with such gusto."

Jessie watched the exchange between them, feeling a stab of jealously at the easy banter they enjoyed. She looked up, startled to find Chris watching her.

"Did you ever get any firewood?" Chris asked suddenly.

"I picked some up at the lodge today."

"Good. We're getting a storm in a couple of days. I was going to take Bobby and Greg out for training tomorrow, while things are fairly slow here, but Roger said he got word that we might get ten inches down here in town."

"But not tomorrow?" Annie asked.

"No. But we've not put out all the cross-county ski markers yet so I'll help with that tomorrow. I'm sure if we get a good snow, we'll be packed with skiers this weekend."

"It seems every year around Thanksgiving we get a storm. But it'll be fun to pull out my snowshoes." She turned to Jessie then, to include her in their conversation. "I love to hike and I don't like winter to slow me down."

"Do you ski, too?"

"Oh, no. I tried those long skis but ended up on my butt more than my feet," Annie said and they laughed. "I stick to walking." She paused. "Do you ski?"

Jessie shook her head. She had learned to cross-country ski as a kid, but had not been out since she had left.

"No, I've really not had the opportunity," she said, not wanting to explain her avoidance of anything that would remind her of the mountains.

"Well, if you feel the need to try, you can go out with me," Chris offered.

"Thank you. If we get the chance between now and December twentieth I'm in."

"The twentieth?"

"That's when I've got to be out of the cabin," Jessie explained.

Chris nodded slowly. She had known that Jessie would be leaving, of course. Back to New York.

"But that doesn't mean you have to leave then, does it?" Annie asked. "I told you..."

"That's more than a month away, Annie. Let's just see what happens."

An uncomfortable silence settled around them and Chris absentmindedly twirled the uneaten spaghetti on her plate. Annie finished the small amount of wine in her glass and Jessie stared at her own empty glass. Chris tried to think of something witty to say to break the tension, but nothing came. Annie finally stood up and took the empty bottle of wine into the kitchen. Chris knew she would return with another one.

"I'm sorry," Jessie said softly.

"You don't have to apologize to me," Chris said.

"She offered a room here," Jessie explained. "But I just think that would be too strange. I mean, it's been so many years."

Chris met her eyes across the table and held them.

"If you want to leave, then leave. But don't use the excuse that you don't have a place to stay."

Jessie's eyes flashed, but she knew she should not be angry with Chris. She had spoken the truth. In fact, it had been a comfort that she had to be out by the twentieth. It gave her an excuse to flee if she needed it.

Annie came back in and stood at the table with another bottle of wine. She looked at Chris first before addressing Jessie.

"You just came back into my life," she said. "The idea of you leaving again so soon is painful. I'm sorry. But you do what you have to do. You have a place here if you'd like to stay longer."

"Thank you, Annie. We'll see when the time comes."

"Good. Fair enough. Now, let's take the wine into the living room and enjoy the fire."

Their conversation moved to less personal things and Chris filled Annie in on what was happening in town and Jessie listened quietly, only occasionally interjecting her own thoughts. They stayed nearly another hour before Chris yawned and stood.

"I should really get going. I'll be hiking all over the place tomorrow, I'm sure. Thanks again for dinner, Annie. It was delicious, as always." She bent quickly and kissed Annie's cheek.

"I should get going, too," Jessie said. As much as she was enjoying her visit with Annie, she wanted a chance to finish her conversation with Chris.

"I understand," Annie said.

"Tomorrow may be my last day to get a run in before the snows come," Jessie offered as an excuse.

"I didn't know you jogged," Annie said as she walked them to the door.

"My lone form of exercise, I'm afraid. I'm not a serious runner, though. I usually only do five miles or so."

"And that's not serious?" Chris asked. "Just give me a hiking trail and I'll be fine."

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Annie. You've got my phone number, right?"

"Yes. And you've got mine."


Chris and Jessie walked out together, then stopped between the Jeep and Jessie's rental car, their backs to the house. The cedar blocked out the light from the porch and they stood in the shadows, watching each other as their breath frosted around them.

"Was that rough on you?" Chris asked. "I mean, about your leaving in a month."

"A little. It's not like I'm in a hurry to get back, that's not it. I've got my apartment there, but nothing else. I'm just not sure staying here with her would be a good idea. Not yet, anyway."

"Well, like you said, you can decide when the time comes."

They were quiet and Chris shifted her feet, not wanting the evening to end but knowing she should go.

Jessie glanced up at the house to see if Annie could see them, then moved closer to Chris.

"When can I see you again?" she asked quietly.

"See me? I'm sure we'll see each other, Jessie."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"You mean, like a date?" Chris asked with a small smile.

"A date? Well, if that's what you want to call it. I just want to see you, to spend time with you." It was Jessie's turn to fidget and she shifted from one foot to the other. "In case you haven't realized it... I'm extremely attracted to you."

"Extremely?"

"Yeah, McKenna, extremely."

Chris searched Jessie's eyes, trying to figure out what game Jessie was playing, if any. Her breath caught when she saw desire in Jessie's dark eyes, desire that she didn't even try to hide. She shook her head slowly but was unable to look away. Those black eyes were drawing her close, pulling her in and she tried to resist their power, but she was paralyzed. She stood there, as unmoving as the mountains around them, watching as Jessie moved closer, her head bending to Chris's ear.

"If you don't stop looking at me that way, I'll be forced to kiss you right here," Jessie whispered into her ear. She pulled back slowly, breathing deeply, remembering the unique smell of Chris from other nights. Was it perfume or simply the sweet smell of cedars and the mountains? She saw Chris's pulse throbbing rapidly in her throat and she wanted to put her mouth there. And it was all so new to her, this attraction. For the first time in her life, she ached to wake up with a lover in her bed. Not alone and with all the emptiness that usually followed after her trysts with strangers.

Chris moved her head without thinking, taking the lips that were so close to her own. Jessie's lips were soft, tender... so unlike the bruising kisses that she remembered from that night on the ledge.

Jessie moved into Chris's arms, sliding her own over Chris's shoulders. She pressed her body tight against Chris, her eyes closed as her mouth opened to the kiss, and she searched out Chris's tongue, pulling it inside her own mouth.

"I want you so much," Jessie whispered. "Please, come home with me," she pleaded, uttering the one phrase she had never said to anyone before.

"Jessie..."

"Please. Make love to me. Let me make love to you." Her hands slid down and cupped Chris's small breasts, her hands as hungry as her mouth.

Chris lost her resolve and pulled Jessie up against her, her hips pressing into Jessie's. She felt herself grow wet and she ached for Jessie's touch.

"I'll follow you," Chris whispered into Jessie's ear. "Hurry."

Chris drove without thinking. She wanted her. She had wanted her since the first time they met, since before that even. She couldn't stop what was about to happen even if she wanted to. She refused to think about the last time.

When the cabin door closed behind them, Jessie pushed Chris against the wall, her mouth starving for her kisses. They pressed together, lips and tongues moving wildly as they struggled to touch through their clothes.