I shrug a little. “After the fabrication placed started doing well, we decided to invest in land aroundhere.”

“And has that been worthit?”

I grin at her. “So far, not atall.”

She laughs and falls into step next to me. “I didn’t expect to see you again,” sheadmits.

“Because the twins stoleyou?”

She shrugs a little, looking away. “I guessso.”

“They have a tendency to do that. I’m not worried aboutit.”

“I kissed them,” she blurts out. I hesitate before laughing. She looks at me a little angrily. “It’s notfunny.”

“It is,” I answer. “But not for the reason you think. The twins are just always doingthat.”

“They… like toshare?”

“That’s putting it mildly.” I grin at her, and hope she comes to the rightconclusions.

I can tell she does as she blushes slightly. “I don’t think…” She trailsoff.

“Nobody thinks they would,” I say. “But youwill.”

She looks at me strangely but I just ignore her. If the twins want to fuck her together, I won’t stop them. Hell, I might even be into it, considering my reaction last night. We’ve never done that before, but I’m always up for newthings.

We move along a path and come around a bend. The trees thin out and up ahead is a wooden picnic table with a cooler at the base and two placesettings.

She laughs when she spots it. “Here we are,” Isay.

“You really go allout.”

“I don’t do anythinghalfway.”

I lead her over to the table and get her settled. I serve our lunch, just some simple sandwiches and little salads. I sit down on my side and we eat together, sipping some soda and enjoying our conversation. I learn more about her family and what she’s been doing, about her time at college, and about her internship at theMoMA.

“That’ll be fun,” I say, finishing mymeal.

She nods. “I’m looking forward toit.”

“So I assume you’re not really a Leadwood liferthen?”

“Absolutely not.” She spits that out pretty fast. “I mean, nooffense.”

I smile softly. “None taken. I never thought I’d be back here either, but it’s funny how thingshappen.”

“Why did you comehere?”

I shrug. “James had a business opportunity, and well, I’d just gotten clean. So I jumped on thechance.”

“Clean?” She lookssurprised.

“Heroin,” I admit. “I went to school for modern design, bummed around New York and Chicago for a while, before finally getting a shitty drug habit. I kicked it before it kicked me, and that’s when James brought me into thefold.”

I watch her carefully, but she doesn’t seem upset by that story. If anything, she seemsinterested.

“You’re an artist,” she saysfinally.