Un-Crossing Jordan----CHAPTER 2

When I woke up the next morning I pulled on a pair of track pants and wandered into the kitchen. Jordan was already there and cooking eggs at the stove; in my high school football jersey and most likely nothing else. She turned and looked at me standing in the doorway and tried to hide it when she did a double take of my bare chest. I let my eyes travel up her bare leg and settled on her eyes. She arched an eyebrow at me.

"All you had to do was ask Jordan." I said with a chuckle and she smiled back.

"What? You apparently didn't need it. I snuck in and grabbed it while you were making dinner." She said then with a smirk pointed the spatula down at herself and said, "Or do you want me to take it off now?" She asked and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I'd like that very much. But no you keep it," I said walking towards the little breakfast nook near the door. "Looks better on you than it ever did on me anyway."  I mumbled scratching my head as I sat down on the window seat and laid my head down on my crossed arms on the table. Jordan flipped my eggs onto a plate and set it in front of me after nudging my head off of the table with the edge of the plate. I smiled and thanked her before digging in. She took a seat next to me on the bench-like windowsill and asked if the shower really was outside. I nodded.

"Uh huh," I said between mouthfuls. "It rarely drops below 80 degrees around here and Uncle Jimmy made the inside bathroom into…well…I'm a cop and I shouldn't even let on that I know what he made the bathroom into."  I said alluding to my uncle's illegal greenhouse. Jordan chuckled finishing up her eggs and taking her plate to the sink.

"Okay, well then I am gonna go take a shower, clean up a little around here, and I could use a little help by the way, and then, Surf's up!" she called throwing me the pinkie and thumb surfer dude hand signal. I smiled and shook my head as Jordan popped the back door open with her butt and slipped around the side of the house to the shower. When I heard the shower start, I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it off.

"Holy mother of God! That's freezing!" I heard Jordan yell from outside and I peeked my head out the window.

"Problem Jordan?" I asked with a smirk. She turned to face me and I had to make an effort at playing it cool when I knew full well and good that she was naked inside that 5-foot tall shower stall. Jordan turned to look at me, her teeth chattering coldly.
"Jordan get out of there! You're lips are dark blue." I said and she put stuck her sudsy shampoo covered head under the shower only long enough to rinse it out. Then she quickly turned off the shower and asked me to grab her a towel. I did so and walked outside to the stall to hand it to her. She took the towel from me over the top of the stall and I turned my back while she dried off. Then, when I heard the stall door creak open, I turned back and she was tightening the top of the towel around herself. She looked up and smiled at me then proudly sauntered by me.

'That woman is gonna be the death of me.', I thought shaking my head as Jordan entered the house. She said she would be out in a minute and I hurried into my room to find my bathing suit. 

I changed as fast as I could and hurried out to the shed to dig up the boards. When I found a starter board for Jordan, I picked it up under my left arm and grabbed one for myself under my right arm. I ran to the waters edge and placed Jordan's board standing in the sand before running out into the waves. I sensed Jordan walking over just as I was paddling to catch up with what I hoped was a good wave. It was nice but not perfect. I caught the wave, stood up and rode the curl. When it finally broke, I settled down into the water and then straddled my board and flipped my hair out of the way. Jordan was standing next to her board, arms crossed and smiling. I waved to her and beckoned her in. She shook her head and called for me to come in. I rolled my eyes and lay flat on my stomach to paddle in.

"What's the matter?" I asked sitting up on my board again as I got closer in to the beach.

"I barely know what to do here Wood, you're gonna have to help a little more than that!" She said picking up her board. I was too busy looking her over and admiring the two-piece bikini she was wearing.

"You know Jordan, bikinis are very impractical for surfing." I said with a smirk and Jordan waded into the chilly water and laid her board on the surface.

"Well, Woody, YOU picked it out for me so it's your own stupid fault." She said smiling and tried to sit on her board like I was. I took her by the arm gently and pulled it forward. She got the idea and lay on her stomach.

"Okay, now are you gonna make fun of me or are you gonna pay attention and listen to what I tell you?" I asked seriously. Jordan nodded.

"I'll be good." She said gripping the front of her board. I nodded, pleased with her response, and pulled up closer to her.

"okay, now first thing is paddling." I said laying down on my board as well. Jordan mimicked my position.

"Your paddle stroke should be essentially like a crawl swimming stroke. Center yourself on the board," I said and Jordan did her best to find the center of balance in her board, "keep your legs straight behind you, with the board nose level with the water surface." I said and Jordan nodded and followed my directions. "Now try paddling, like I said, just like a crawl swimming stroke." I said and Jordan imitated the stroke.

"Good, good…you got it." I said and we both smiled happily. "Now, lets try and get out a little further…I think you can handle the real waves…now you're not gonna find the wave you want every time so just wait a few out and see what is coming, it will also give you a chance to get used to the feel of the ocean." I said as we paddled out a little and rode over a few waves. I told Jordan that she needed to turn so that she was parallel with the shore now and she followed how I turned.

"Okay, now here comes a little wave, it's good to start on one like that. Here it comes, now you are gonna feel yourself surge forward a little and that means you caught the wave, now stop paddling and hold onto the sides of the board and let it take you a little…now you're gonna do like a push-up still holding on and kind of pop you're feet forward, DON'T kneel just go right to your feet. And keep in the center now, keep in the center!" Jordan followed my instructions easily and I told her to slowly rise into a crouching position which she did, albeit a little wobbly. And she rode the wave in. It wasn't a very attractive looking ride, but she made it about 10 feet before she fell. When she came up I was right beside her and cheering her on.

"That was great Jordan! Most people fall off the second they stand up! You did great! Hop back on!" I said and she smiled ear-to-ear, happy that she was getting a lot of praise. She climbed back onto her board and followed me back out past the foamies. We spent the rest of the afternoon intermittently surfing and swimming. As the sun was going down, we were having a catch with an old football of my brother's and mine I found in the shed. Jordan seemed tired so I told her to go grab a shower and I was gonna surf a little more before dinner. When Jordan waved me in to let me know she was finished with the shower, I waved back and caught my last wave of the day and rode it in to the shore. I carried my board up and left it beside the hammock standing so it could dry. By the time I grabbed a towel and headed out to the shower, it was already dark out. I smiled at Jordan who was frying up some shrimp and French fries. She smiled back and as I was rounding the corner to the shower, I heard her say thank you. I turned back to her and threw the towel over my shoulder.

"Huh?" I asked pretending I hadn't heard her.
"I said Thank you. I haven't had this much fun

in only two days in….well, longer than I can remember." She said sincerely and I nodded. Then, with a gracious smile, headed to the shower. I was to hungry to even go in and dress before we ate and I just hurried to the table with the towel wrapped around me. Jordan chuckled and shook her head at me.

"Are you hungry little boy?" She asked as I placed plates and glasses of water on the table. I nodded vigorously and leaned forward, turning the little radio in the middle of the table on. Jordan smiled and placed the food on the table. We each took heaping plates of shrimp and fries as we talked hurriedly about what tomorrow would bring. I told Jordan about the local sight seeing activities that were further towards the center of the island and we decided we would hit them tomorrow. I noticed Jordan was beat and told her to go lay down and I would finish cleaning up the table. She nodded and yawned. Before she went in though, she came over to where I was sitting and I stood quickly. Jordan smiled and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around my bare shoulders. I relaxed into her soft skin and sighed heavily. When she pulled back, she looked into my eyes for a long moment. I started to protest because I knew what was coming but before the words could leave my mouth, Jordan smothered them with her lips. We kissed long and deep and when Jordan reached for the edges of my towel, I pulled back.

"Jordan," I said warningly. She narrowed her eyes in confusion at me. I pulled back a little and smiled weakly. "We have to see each other for the next week and a half." I said stepping back away from her a little. She nodded, understanding that I wanted to take this a little slower than she was clearly planning on.

"Goodnight Woody." She said smiling and I kissed her softly on the lips one last time that night.

"Goodnight Jordan." I said smiling and released her arms. She turned and headed into the house and I sat down with a huff. Another shower was just about in order for me.

The next day we ate breakfast casually while we went over what we were going to do that day.
 "And then we'll come back here for dinner by about 7 right?" Jordan asked raising her eyes from the list we had made the day before. I smiled and looked shyly down at the table and shook my head.

"No? We're not coming back here for dinner?" She asked hopefully. I nodded.

"I made a call…how do you feel about Mexican food tonight?" I asked quietly. Jordan clapped her hands softly and we raced for the door.

Later that night, we were dragging bags of souvenirs for our friends around with us.

"Did you think we had this many friends, Jordan?" I asked playfully as we dragged the heavy bags up the stairs of the restaurant. We checked our bags into a convenient little room designed specifically for the purpose of temporarily housing the heaping tourists' souvenir bags. We were seated almost immediately and Both ordered fajitas which we had to make ourselves, and which led to some sporadic childish laughter on both our parts as they constantly fell apart on us. There was a dance floor in the middle of the room and music started to play about halfway through our meal. I was sipping a beer and looked over at Jordan, bent on asking her to dance. She was already standing with her hand out for me to take. I stood and took her hand leading her out onto the floor where a few other couples were already slowly dancing. The song was something local and had a reggae feel to it. When the song finished, another immediately began. More couples joined us on the floor as Jimmy Buffet's smooth voice flowed out of the speakers singing about Margarita Ville. I held Jordan close to me as we swayed with the music and she tucked her forehead under my chin, trying to get as close to me as she could. I wrapped her arms around my middle and wrapped my own around her shoulders as we continued to sway. Then I pulled back a little, waiting for Jordan to look up at me and allow me to test the waters of my newly acquired permission to touch her. When she finally looked up into my eyes, I leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. Jordan returned the kiss and smiled before laying her head back down against my chest.

We walked back to the house hand in hand. We were quiet most of the way, just enjoying each other's company and then,

"So when do I get to hear about the boy that changed Jordan Cavanaugh's life?" I asked and Jordan smiled. I let her think for a moment.

"Holden Caulfield." She said and I stopped walking and looked at her puzzled. "The Catcher in The Rye?" She asked searching my eyes for a sign that I knew what she was talking about.

"Yeah, I know who he is." I said with a chuckle. Jordan nodded and we kept on walking.

"I read that book when I was a kid and…it changed my life…" She said with a laugh. "Kinda silly huh?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Not at all. A lot of people can identify with that character. Young kid, little direction in his life…runs away from problems a lot of the time." I said looking out at the lights along the street.

"It was more than that…When I read that…I wished that I could have been the Catcher in the Rye…trying to protect children from knowing what a drag being an adult was…I had…been an adult for so long…after my mom died…probably even before that while she was sick…I was always trying to learn how to do adult things and be involved in the adult world that my dad had told me didn't concern me. It was always, 'you're just a little girl Jordan, you don't understand adult problems.' So after a while, I made it a point to learn about what these adult things were. So that he would accept me into that world. But he never really has, he gets mad when I talk about my mom's murder. He even asked me a little while ago if I ever thought about how my life would be if I didn't spend all of my time obsessing over my mother's murder." She said and I hissed through my teeth.

"Ouch." I said squeezing her hand a little. Jordan nodded. "I think that…you're dad is so used to trying to shield you from everything concerning your mother's death, that he doesn't realize it is causing the "No" affect." I said and Jordan looked at me.

"The NO effect?" She asked raising an eyebrow at me. I nodded.

"Yeah, the "no" effect." I could tell that Jordan was lost so I tried to think of an example. "Okay, so when I was a kid, there was this rope swing that was hung over about a 40 ft cliff that went into creek near my house. And when I was about 8 or 9, my dad said something to me about staying away from that rope and that he didn't want to hear I had been on it. The thing is, I never thought to go on it before. Ever, honestly. I wasn't that adventurous of a young kid. But, when my dad said that I couldn't go on it, then I wanted to. Not because I wanted to piss him off, but it was just the simple fact of doing something I wasn't supposed to. Your dad has tried to get you to forget your mother's murder by saying that he doesn't want you to talk about it, and it's probably all you can think about most of the time. Right?" I said and Jordan nodded.

"But now you have me to talk about it with, so do you think that maybe you can allow yourself to consider some other aspects of your life?" I asked and Jordan smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Like what?" She asked and I looked all around me for the answer.

"Like…like…kid stuff…yeah…kid stuff that you never got to do. You give me a list and we'll do it all this coming week. I said as we walked up the little path to my uncle's place.
"But you have to do one tonight…so think of a good one." I said playfully and Jordan regarded my question carefully.

"Ummmm…..well our little breakdown in the desert aside….I've never camped out for real." She said and I nodded.

"Okay then, you go get the blankets and I'll build a little fire out back." I said and Headed to the back of the house. I found some beach wood and piled it up far enough from the house that we wouldn't wake up beside ruins, and then made a little pile next to where Jordan would place the blankets. She slipped out the back door shortly later, and I took her comforter from her and laid it out on the sand. Without a word, Jordan flopped two pillows down next to each other on it and then laid another blanket on top. I snuck into the house and changed into a pair track pants and an undershirt and then grabbed a box of gram crackers, a bag of marshmallows and two Hershey bars on my way out. Jordan was sitting in the middle of the blankets and she held out a roasting stick to me which I took gratefully and then sat down next to her and opened the bag of marshmallows.

Another chapter by tomorrow morning I swear!!