Before he left Uncle Del's house, Barrett made arrangements to use one of the construction trailers. It would give him more protection than a tent and it would make his part more convincing. Although he had never been a supervisor, he knew what would be expected of him. Of course, this wasn't going to be like any logging he had ever done, so he'd be making up the rules as he went along. Anyone Uncle Del sent could be trusted, but the fewer people who knew his real purpose, the better. The men wouldn't expect him to know that much about logging professionally. That might work out to his advantage. As long as they were practicing safety, adding time to the project only gave him more opportunity to investigate.
He'd never considered being a private investigator, but he had to admit he was intrigued. Uncle Del might be right about the source of his interest, though. The more Mary Jo pushed him away, the more he was drawn to her. Why was that? He'd never felt that way about a woman before. He wasn't any Casanova, but he'd had the normal interest in the opposite sex - and they in him. This was different and he couldn't specifically define how. That troubled him to some extent. He liked doing things in an orderly fashion and that wasn't going to happen with Mary Jo. He didn't know from one minute to the next what to expect.
When he had announced his desire to visit her, she had acted disinterested, but the way she glanced back over her shoulder indicated she hoped he would. Then there was the exchange in the forest about his balding scalp and her hair. For a few minutes they connected, tossing humor back and forth like a tennis ball - first in her court and then in his. It felt natural - as if he had known her a long time.
He pushed the thought from his mind. His mission wasn't to romance the tree hugger. In fact, letting his mind linger on her could get him into trouble - in more ways than one.
After a good night's sleep and time to ponder the situation, Mary Jo wasn't sure about Monroe. She went about her chores in a methodical way. Her mind was busy making plans, but it kept interrupting with questions for which she had no answer. For instance, why had Monroe been so eager to accept her idea about cutting down select trees? What did he have to gain - other than a few trees? Maybe it was his way of getting a foot inside the door. It wasn't his company, but it was a family business, not merely a former place of employment. Cutting down trees on their land would give him a reason to be there - an opportunity to look the forest over for further harvesting. If she agreed to cut a few trees, then maybe he could convince her to let him cut a few more. The next thing she knew, the entire forest would be gone - and all the critters with it.