Soon Jacob was parking the SUV in the familiar spot from the day of the great Christmas tree hunt. The cold winter air whistled around them, causing the pine trees to whistle their winter wind songs. The group hiked for about a mile when they started to notice that it was spitting snow.

"Now there's something that you don't see everyday in sunny LA," Stephanie chuckled.

"They don't live in LA stupid," Jacob fired back, liking the idea of putting one over on his cousin.

"Close enough, blockhead. You probably don't even know where California is any ways," Stephanie mouthed back as they made their way up the hill.

"Yes I do," Jacob said, stopping and facing her. Jason knew that they could not afford a big argument.

"Look, we need to keep it down and split up if we are going to find Jeb. It is obvious he wants to be alone so it is going to be hard to find him if we come up here sounding like a herd of elephants!" Jason broke in.

"Fine. Adam and I will follah' the ridge and you guys follah' the crick line at the bottom," Jacob said. He did not want to get stuck with Stephanie. Jason and Stephanie then continued along the small creek while Jacob and Adam started up towards the top of the ridge.

They had only walked just a few feet when Jacob yelled back to Stephanie; "It is out West where those famous people are, not to mention those California girls!"

Stephanie smirked at her cousin's remark, but allowed him to get in the last word--- that time at least.

While Jason and Stephanie made their way below, Adam and Jake made their way slowly to the top of the ridge. Neither boy said a word, but the silence was getting the best of Jake.

"Adam, you gotta girlfriend," He finally asked.

"Yes, why?" Adam asked back. He did not know where this conversation was going.

"What are California girls like?"

At first, Adam had to laugh at that question. Jake stopped and looked at his cousin with a frown. Adam noticed that Jake was not happy with his reaction and changed his laugh to a slight smirk.

"I would think just like the Ohio girls. I mean girls are girls" Adam replied. "Besides, Alyssa is a North Carolina girl."

"But the Beach Boys make em' out to be pertier' than the rest," Jake said. It seemed that he really did believe that myth, so Adam did not want to dash his dreams.

"Well, Jake, it is not so much the girls as it is the environment," Adam remarked, putting his arm around his cousin's shoulders. "You see there is nothing like seeing a beautiful girl with her long hair waving in the salty air and her smooth golden skin gleaming out from under a nice pair of shorts and a tank top."

Jake had to smile at that vision.

"I like it when they show ther' bellybuttons and those curves!" Jake quipped back. "Not ta mention nicely proportioned." Adam playfully punched his cousin in the arm.

"But that is not the only thing, Jake!"

"Why do ya like Alyssa then? She is a WOMAN if you don't mind me sayin' it."

"I was first attracted to her eyes and that long hair that laid in ringlets. She looked so delicate, yet as tough as they come. She was well worth the wait," Adam said, remembering the first time he had ever seen Alyssa. It was her first day of school and they were in Miss Meade's history class. It was before the accident that left her in a wheelchair. But Adam did not care. He knew in his heart that she would walk again and he was going to be there to see it. Oh, how he missed her and the smell of her hair. He loved the scent of her hair, as he would hold her in his arms.

"I'll tell ya, I am lookin' forward to seein' her across the table fer sure!" Jake remarked with an ornery grin, punching Adam back playfully. "She is sure gonna make a perty cousin-in-law!"

"What about you? I am sure you have a few in mind."

Jake stopped and looked back at his cousin with a weird look. "You mus be jokin'?"

"No, I am being serious," Adam replied. Both boys were talking while looking for any sign of life.

"Let's put it this way, I'm a dreamer. Girls around here don't go fer my type, they go fer yer type," Jake said as they made their way through some brush.

"Jacob, I am sure that there is someone," Adam said, looking at his cousin sadly. He knew what Jacob meant. He had seen the same thing happen to his own best friend. Chuck was the nicest person you could meet and he would make a great boyfriend. However, most of the girls made their eyes out for the better-looking boys who did not have Chuck's love for food. What amazed Adam was that most girls would chose Eric, Adam's worst enemy, over Chuck! If only they would take another look.

"Jake, I promise you that one day those girls are going to look at you in a different way and then you will be fighting them off," Adam said with great confidence. He really did believe that.

Jacob just looked back at him and rolled his eyes. Both boys continued to hike in silence.

Meanwhile, Jason was fielding questions from Stephanie. No wonder his cousin chose to go with Adam! Stephanie was always a talkative person, but she was not the type to have around during a stakeout. Jason thought she talked so much just to hear herself talk sometimes. However, he did listen to Stephanie as they made their way along the small creek. She told of her many boyfriends, friends and her secret spy missions of Jake. She just rattled on and on. She was talking about the last time the boys came to visit when she suddenly stopped and everything was silent. The silence startled Jason and he froze in his tracks.

"What is wrong?" he whispered to her. She just peered around, putting her finger to her mouth. Jason waited patiently and glanced around at their surroundings. All he could see was woods and the hillside that led up the ridge.

"I could have sworn I heard something," she whispered back. "But I must be imaging things."

The cousins started to walk again.

"So have you been working on that many cases lately with Uncle Carl?" she asked. She always had an interest in investigating cases. She got that from her mother.

"No, not since the accident. We did investigate a stolen and flood car ring, but the two main people got away," Jason commented, remembering the case involving Chris, his brother Rod Hardin, and of course, Wheels Johnson. "We really want Adam to concentrate on getting well right now. The accident really made things different."

"It is weird how you guys talk about the 'accident'. It is like it was a turning point instead of something that happened a few months ago," Stephanie remarked. "I mean, is there ever going to be a day that you don't think about it as the 'accident'."

"To us, it was a turning point. It changed everything, yet we are trying to live life like it was before it all happened. Adam wants us to go on with things and carry one like nothing happened, but we can't do that," Jason said with a sigh. "I am grateful though that he is alive and walking."

"You should be thankful for that. I personally don't see the problem. He seems like the same old Adam to me. Maybe you guys are the ones holding him back?"

Jason stopped in his tracks. It was apparent that he did not like his cousin's comment. "What do you mean by that? I have done everything to help him out."

"Maybe that is the problem. You guys baby him too much and he might not like that. You treat him like he can not think for himself!"

"Well, since when did you become the expert! You do the same to Jacob and he is just your cousin. Besides, Adam needs someone to look after him right now. He has had some problems since the accident with his memory and seizures."

Stephanie knew that comment was coming. "You are right, but it is because I care about Jake. He is alone in the world and the kids treat him so bad sometimes. And you had better not say that I said that or I will just deny it."

"I care about my brother too."

"I know you do, but you do not have to have this survivor guilt," Stephanie fired back at him.

"Survivor guilt? What on earth are you talking about?" Jason said in bewilderment.

"I think that you feel guilty that you are healthy and strong and your brother is not. Adam is always going to have problems stemming from this accident. Not to mention, I think you still have some guilt from where Bill babied you while beating the tar out of Adam. You think it is your job as the oldest to protect, but you are just a kid yourself."

Stephanie struck a nerve. It was not something that had not been brought up to him before in the past. Kara had often said the same thing, as well as his brother. But it was different coming from Stephanie. It is almost like she understood.

"It sounds like you feel the same way that I do about Jacob," Jason replied.

Stephanie stopped and turned around to face Jason. "You got me there. I do feel bad that Jacob was born the way he was and it does hurt me to see people make fun of him for it. He really is a nice guy. But you can't let it rule you. You sometimes have to accept things for what they are and work with it. You have to let go of the survivor guilt."

"Since when did you become a psychologist with those fancy terms like "survivor's guilt?"

"I read about it in Cosmopolitan Magazine," Stephanie said with a matter of fact tone. Jason burst out laughing. Irritated by her cousin's reaction, Stephanie pushed Jason back against the hillside. Jason just continued to snicker.

"Evidently it must be true though because you were listening to me," She said, crossing her arms and sporting a hurt look on her face. "You do pity your brother and you guilty about everything that has happened because you should have protected him."

This comment rocked to the core of Jason. Pity? He did not pity his brother. He was thankful that he was not a vegetable! Jason stopped chuckling and stood up and brushed himself off.

"You think you know everything, but you do not have a clue!" he said angrily.

Stephanie just stood there, with her arms crossed. "Then tell me."

"You do not know what it is like to see someone you care about struggling to live a life that he can not live anymore!"

"I think I do know what you are talking about. It is something that I have had suspicions of ever since I heard about all of this," Stephanie said pointing her finger to her cousin.

"Well, please tell me Miss Know-It-All!" Jason yelled back, not caring about what they were there to do.

"I think that you are afraid that Adam will never be able to investigate cases with you and your father ever again and that is why you feel guilty," Stephanie said with confidence. She waited for a verbal reaction, but she was only met with silence. She knew that she had struck a nerve. "You feel bad because YOU doubt your brother's abilities as your partner."

"Adam is always going to be my partner!" Jason fired back. "I would never turn my back on him."

"I never said that you would, Jason. You are very loyal to Adam, BUT are you going to ever treat him the way that you did before the accident when you are investigating cases."

"I don't understand what you are talking about?"

"Are you going to ever let him go on his own without worrying or tailing him? Are you ever going to not wonder if you are in tight spots if he is going to have a seizure? Are you ever going to have confidence in the fact that he will be able to testify in court without people making an issue out of his memory?" Stephanie said with an attitude. She should have stopped there, but she didn't. "Are you going to accept him as a true equal partner in every way?"

Jason remained silent at that statement. Stephanie did hit it right on the head. He did wonder all of those things and when he started thinking that way, Jason would instantly feel horrible. It made him feel like he was a traitor, but he would never dare tell Adam. It would destroy his younger brother if he thought that there was a doubt in Adam's abilities. For once, Jason realized that he was holding something back from Adam. But it was just going to remain between him and Stephanie.

Stephanie noticed her cousin's silence. She instantly felt bad, but she had to speak her mind. It was not because she was nosy, but it was because she truly cared about Jason and Adam.

"Jason, there is nothing wrong with admitting it. It is how you feel and it does not mean that you do not love your brother any less or that you are abandoning him. You just have some doubts. I think that you concentrate so much on Adam that you do not stop and take time out for your own feelings," Stephanie commented, reaching over to put her hand on Jason's shoulder.

But Jason did not say anything, but his silence said it all.