Chapter Twenty

"Devan....what are you doing here?" Woody asked, knowing it sounded cliché and trite.

"Like I said, Paris can get pretty boring," she teased.

"Oh....so you're back for good?"

"Maybe.....I talk with Macy tomorrow morning. I heard they're still short one ME and at least if they hire me back, they won't have to train anyone. I know the procedures."

"Oh. That's nice," Woody said absent-mindedly, still looking around for Jordan to reappear. The last thing he wanted Jordan to see was him with Devan...no matter how innocent.

"Woody, you okay? I thought that maybe we could have a few dances and then go somewhere else for drinks?"

"Um. No. I'm with someone." He moved away from the bar and began to walk to the entrance of the ballroom.

"Oh. Well. Later, hmm?" Devan was following him closely. She caught up with him at the door, put her hand on his arm and turned him towards her. "I've missed you Woody....I'm hoping we can pick up where we left off." Her blue eyes were warm and laughing.

"Devan....there's been more happened than you could ever dream of since you've been gone. I haven't heard a word from you since you left. Things change. I've changed. And no, we can't pick up where we left off."

"Woody? What happened?"

"Let's just say the blind have finally seen the light."

He turned to push past her, but she wasn't letting go...her hand still on his arm, when Woody caught sight of Jordan, quietly standing by the door. He wasn't sure how much she had seen, but he would wager she'd been there quite a while by the look on her face. Without a word, she turned and walked out the entrance – alone.

Jordan hadn't been the only one who had witnessed the event. Nigel, Garrett, and Lily had watched from the sidelines. "I'm going to stop her," Garrett said, indicating Devan. He managed to waylay her at the entrance with the excuse they needed to talk about her job. "It won't take but a minute," he lied.

"But..." Devan said.

"You want your job back don't you?" he said, smiling at her. They walked off to talk at the bar.

Meanwhile, Nigel and Lily had made left and tried to find Jordan...Nigel finally located her El Camino in the parking lot, with a shell-shocked Jordan sitting inside. "Love?" he questioned softly.

"I'm fine Nigel," she said in a flat voice. "At least I have my answers now." She put her key in the ignition. "I just wonder how long she's been back," meaning Devan.

"I haven't seen her," said Lily. "If I had, you'd been the first to know."

"He may have known. They may have been talking for weeks. I don't know. He doesn't say that much to me anymore. And to think I believed him tonight...that he missed me. Missed regular sex with Devan, maybe. But not me. I was the substitute." Her voice lowered and she leaned her head on the steering wheel.

"Jordan, I don't think Woody knew she was back...I really don't," said Nigel. "I'll be the last person to defend the boy, but I don't think he knew."

Jordan nodded numbly. She started her car. She wanted to get out of there before Woody found her. She had no desire to talk tonight...or even tomorrow. She'd go back to work on Monday. She'd call Mike Beechler. Chapel Hill wouldn't be so bad for a couple of years.

"Jordan – here's the key to my apartment. Let yourself in. Take a shower. I have some extra sleep pants and a shirt in my dresser. Stay with me tonight – you don't need to be alone and Woody doesn't know where I live.," offered Lily, her blue eyes concerned

Jordan took the key and nodded. "Thanks, Lil."

He couldn't find her. He looked everywhere and no Jordan. Her car was gone. She wasn't at her apartment. She wasn't at the Pogue. No one at the morgue had seen her since earlier in the day. And although it was unlikely she'd crawl over to Max's to lick her wounds, he drove by the house anyway to check. She wasn't there, either. Damn, where could she be? He asked himself for the millionth time that night. Damn Devan...clingy, pushy bitch...why did I ever..... he ran his fingers through his hair.

He kept dialing her cell phone. Time after time. She wouldn't answer. Not that he expected her to. He left voice mail after voice mail. And when her cell phone mailbox was full, he did the same thing to her home phone. He had to find her.....he had to let her know how he felt. Finally, after hours of searching....talking to Nigel and Garrett, who both feigned innocence of her whereabouts, he reluctantly drove back to his apartment to spend a sleepless light pacing the floor and worrying. About her....about them....about what was going to happen.

The hot water of the shower felt good...washing away all of her thoughts....numbing her for a little while...if only my memories could be washed away as easily, she grimaced. She had spent a sleepless night on the couch at Lily's...tossing and turning. At the first light, she had left her friend's apartment and went back to her own. She needed some time alone. She had a lot of work to do. Lily was coming over later with some boxes to help her begin to pack up her things. Jordan dreaded it....not the task of packing, so much. She really didn't own lot. It was fact that she was packing up more than her material possessions before she took the position at Chapel Hill. She was packing up her hopes and dreams.

She had never been one to dream much about a husband when she as a little girl. Nor as a teenager. It was like that was some elusive goal out there she would never reach...never be good enough to obtain. She had been far to obsessed with her job and her mother's murder to even think about reaching out and trying to grab it, even when it was dangled in front of her eyes. By the time she had been ready to try a relationship with Woody, he had grown tired of sitting in her emotional waiting room and had started seeing Devan.

Devan. Blonde. Blue eyes. Petite. And she had looked drop dead gorgeous in that blue slip dress she had on last night. There was no way she could compete. Jordan sighed and reached for a towel. Another slight comfort this morning. A full length bath sheet still warm from the dryer. It wrapped around her twice and fell to her feet. She tucked the end of the towel in front and was combing out her wet hair when she heard a knock at the door.