Calvin generously agreed to let us take over his car while we were there as a means of escape from my parents house. He was working with the Sheriff's office anyway and had a police cruiser for his own use.

We decided to return to our hotel for a little peace and quiet before we had to return to the inquisition board for dinner. As soon as we had driven safely out of sight Jordan broke out in hysterical laughter.

"Oh my God, that sucked" Jordan managed to say when she finally caught her breath.

I just smiled " I think it went pretty well considering"

She watched me in disbelief "Are you kidding? Your mom hates me and your girlfriend, well if looks could kill"

"Ex-girlfriend" I corrected. "You're my girlfriend now remember? Of course I don't know how much longer you'll want that title"

She just rolled her eyes in response. We go to our hotel and got settled in then I took her around town, showing her where I went to school and how there really weren't any farms, the lake, that kind of stuff.

When we returned to my parents' house, my dad, the avid photographer took Jordan and me aside to show us his latest photos. We didn't mind this at all since Annie was helping my mom in the kitchen with dinner. I certainly didn't want Mom and Annie to get Jordan alone and tag team her.

My cheeks went deep red when my dad pulled out the pictures of Cal and me as kids. Jordan already knew that I was a chunky kid but she'd never actually seen it. I figured she was building up enough ammunition to last a month of teasing, easy. I smiled to myself when I saw her flipping happily through the pages listening intently to my Dad's stories about us. I was delighted that she was becoming so comfortable with my dad, he had a way about putting people at ease and he seemed to be genuinely enjoying spending time with Jordan. I figured she was naturally more comfortable with Dad's too since she grew up with hers and was still so close to him.

I left them sitting there engrossed in the old photo albums and went to see if I could assist Mom and Annie in the kitchen. Instead my mom insisted that she had everything under control and sent Annie and me outside to talk. I eyed my mother suspiciously, wondering what she could be up to. She knew Annie was engaged to be married and that I was with Jordan, this couldn't be an attempt to get us back together could it? You never know with my mom.

We sat down side by side on the front porch in the cool evening air. "Your mom doesn't like Jordan very much huh?" she stated more than asked.

"Yeah well she hasn't really given her a chance because she's not you," I said half accusingly.

"Hey! Geez, I'm sorry that your mom likes me" she smiled.

I smiled back "I just wish she'd stop being so damn stubborn and give her a chance. I love Jordan and that's not going to change" I said matter of factly.

"She just wants you to be happy you know?" she said trying to help.

"I am happy though, I'm happier than I have ever been in my whole life but when I try to tell her that she just starts talking about you"

"So you weren't happy when we were together?" she asked sadly.

"It was different with us, I guess I was happy but you and I both know we were never going to make it to forever"

She looked away across the distance, a slight trace of pain and regret showing on her face. I felt a pain in my chest, I didn't want to hurt her but I wanted to clear the air about us.

"Come on Annie, you know what I mean, you're about to get married. When you see your soon to be husband don't you feel this complete happiness? This feeling that you don't get from anything else except seeing this one person, your perfect person"

She smiled at my sappy rant, knowing exactly what I was talking about. "Yeah I do," she said reflectively.

"Well did you get that feeling with me?" I asked, determined to make her see the difference.

She hesitated, not wanting to hurt me. I smiled "It's okay, I know" I assured her.

"I'm really happy for you Woody, I'm glad you finally found what you were looking for"

"I'm happy for you too, he's a lucky guy" I said kissing her cheek. She hugged me. I felt a huge sense of relief, no longer feeling guilty about the way I left things with Annie and knowing that we could finally be friends.

I went back inside to check on Jordan, I heard two voices coming from the kitchen as I walked down the hall making my way to the sound of the voices. I stopped when I realized it was Jordan talking to my mother. I waited and listened. I know it's not polite to eavesdrop but were they actually having a conversation? I had to hear this. Well it sounded more like an argument.

"Mrs. Hoyt, I know I'm not your first choice for your son, I know you wanted him to marry Annie, hell there's probably still a million people you'd rather see him with than me but the thing is, I am his choice. He loves me and I love him, he makes me happy and that may seem like a pretty simple thing to most people but if you knew me then you would know how amazing it actually is"

Jordan's words touched my heart, my breath actually caught in my throat. I wasn't sure if my mother would react the same way so I decided I'd better get in there quick.

"Hey" I said walking casually into the kitchen as if I hadn't heard a word.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked interestedly.

"Oh nothing" they answered in sync.

I smiled and reached out and took Jordan's hand and led her outside as Annie entered the kitchen and winked at me, ready to give mom a talking to about Jordan.

When we got outside onto the porch Jordan turned to me and hugged me tight "I love you Woodrow" she said kissing me.

I grinned back at her. "Are you sure? Now that you've seen the family photo album's and met the family and the ex-girlfriend and been to my hometown, seen the farm"

"Yep, the more I find out the more I love" she said sincerely. "Besides, you're the one who should want to run when you find out more about me" she said looking down.

I took her chin in my hand and directed her eyes to mine. "Hey, I loved you before I really knew much about you and I've just fallen more in love along the way knowing everything, there is nothing I could find out, or you could say to me that would scare me off now, you're stuck"

She grinned slyly "You sure about that?"

I nodded "Why? You keeping secrets?" I teased.

"No, not anymore" she said wrapping her arms around me tightly, I hugged her close to me and just held her for a while, enjoying the feel of her in my arms.

Mom came out and called us in for dinner, it actually went pretty smoothly. My mom seemed to be opening up to her, Annie's talk must have worked, I winked at her to say job well done. I think the things Jordan had said about us helped a lot too. Now she knew how serious we were about each other and that was exactly what she wanted to know.