Chapter Five

She had originally only planned to stay four days at the most in LA. She ended up staying a week. She called Garret at the end of the second day and said things were taking just a little longer than she expected...did he mind?

"What things? The body or Woody?" he asked.

Jordan was honest. "Woody..." she replied. He gave her the extra time...no questions asked. So for a week, they had talked...worked on the case....made up...made love. When it came time for Woody to put her on the flight out to Boston on Monday, Jordan didn't know what to do or how to feel. They had made love that morning with the intensity knowing that after she flew back home, they really didn't know when they'd see each other. Or if life would get in the way and they wouldn't see each other again at all.

They had showered and she had slowly gotten dressed and packed her few remaining items. Woody had just as reluctantly drove her to the airport. He lingered until they called her flight. Then he had taken her face in his hands, looked deeply in her eyes, and kissed her one last time...hungrily...greedily...as if committing everything to memory. "Goodbye, Jordan. Be careful....I'm missing you already....I'll be in touch soon. Have a great Christmas, sweetheart." He had tucked her curls behind her ear, ran a finger down her cheek, turned her around, and gave her a gentle push toward the plane. "Go now while I can still let you. If you don't, Macy will have me up for kidnapping."

So now she was returning to work...to her schedule...to her old life, without him once again. She wasn't sure what she was expecting....but she knew he wouldn't return to Boston...She sighed and locked herself in her office, checking her e-mail before going to autopsy. She had called him last night to let him know she had gotten in safely. They had talked for nearly an hour. That only made it more difficult to sleep that night. She had gotten used to being held...she had never made it to Woody's guest room.

She gazed at her computer screen...nothing really important...nothing that couldn't wait. She clicked out of her e-mail and went to work.

He really didn't feel like going into the office yet...so he drove back to his apartment...he found himself in his now empty bedroom, sitting on her side of the bed...clutching her pillow...it still smelled of her shampoo. He had stood and watched her plane fly away from LA. Her stay here was over....she was going home.

Home. What was it really? A place of memories of the past? A thread, a connection to warm memories....people you love....people that love you. Was it somewhere merely to hang your hat, or was it really people that you felt safe enough around to hang your heart? Woody wondered. If that was really the case, then Wisconsin was truly no longer home. There was no one left there that he loved, or that loved him. And LA wasn't home, either. He didn't feel safe enough around anyone here to open his heart to. A string of girls and a challenging job didn't make it home...

He looked around his barren apartment...devoid of Christmas decorations. Not even a semblance of a tree...no lights, no candles. You'd never know it was the holiday season. Back in Boston, there would be Christmas trees, candles, eggnog...and her. If home was truly where you could open your heart to someone and feel safe, then she was home. Without thinking about it, Jordan had given him the best Christmas gift ever. She had pointed him home. And if she was home, what the hell was he still doing here? With a determined grin, he picked up the phone......

"Hello...Garret? This is Woody...."

Jordan hummed to herself as she came in the back door of the Pogue. "Merry Christmas, Dad," she called out to her father, who was standing behind the bar.

"Merry Christmas, Jordan, "Max replied with his thick Boston accent. "How are you, honey? Ready for Christmas?"

"Yeah...I think so. It's five days away...I'm about as ready as I'm going to be."

"Finished your shopping?"

"Except for a few small things..." she took a seat at the bar.

"I thought you were going to help tonight?"

"I am...just taking a load off for a few minutes," she replied, her eyes lowering to the beer her dad had just sat in front of her. Christmas...how quickly it had rolled around again. "Looks like you're all decorated out," she commented, noting the lights, evergreens, and the tree.

"Yeah... I think we did a pretty good job. Everyone still coming over after work?" Max asked. Jordan had been in LA during the big Christmas party with all the law enforcement offices. This was going to be a much smaller gathering....just the folks from the morgue.

"Sure. I'd better get busy...I'll help you set up."

So for the next hour, Jordan helped her dad get the bar ready for the morgue employees. They began to arrive a little after six...Garret, Bug and Lily, Nigel... Sydney... Emmie....all the others. Jordan stayed busy....filling the mugs, mixing drinks. There was joking and singing and dancing. The crowd began to wind down a little past midnight.

"One dance, love?" Nigel asked. "You've stayed behind that bar all night...Just one dance with me before I have to go?"

Jordan smiled at her friend. It was true she had hid behind the bar all night. Truth was, she didn't feel much like a party...she didn't feel much of anything except that ache in her heart that she knew was going to hit her after she left Woody in LA. He hadn't called again, nor responded to her e-mail...she wasn't sure what that meant...she knew he was busy catching up on work he had missed while she was out there. She was sure he'd call in a couple of days. "Sure," she replied to Nigel, stripping off her apron and throwing her dishtowel on the bar.

It was a slow song...one like she would have liked to dance with Woody. Not that she didn't like Nige...she closed her eyes and let him steer her across the floor. "You alright, love?" he asked, feeling her shoulders slump and her head rest against his chest.

He felt her nod. "I'm just a little tired, I guess...."

"And you miss Woody just a little bit."

She nodded. The lump in her throat was getting harder to swallow. She felt him steer her away off the dance floor....towards the back of the bar. "Where are you taking me?" she asked him, her eyes snapping open.

"I think someone else wants this dance," he replied.

Jordan felt a pair of hands gently circle her waist and turn her around. She found herself gazing up into a pair of familiar blue eyes..."Woody?" She hardly dared believe it.

He chuckled at the surprise on her face and wished he had a camera.

"How long have you been here?" she managed to get out, setting aside her astonishment.

"Only about an hour or so. Had to clear up some things in LA before I flew out."

She nodded...not really believing he was here, taking him in...wondering when she was going to wake up and find this all a dream. The sudden clearing of throats brought her to her senses. She looked around to find everyone looking at them. "What?" she asked.

Nigel pointed one long, boney finger upwards. He had deposited her in Woody's arms beneath Max's sprig of mistletoe. "Kiss..." Nigel commanded.

"Yeah, kiss," echoed Max.

Soon the small crowd took up the chant..."Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss..."

Woody held her eyes for a moment before he claimed her lips....and did, to everyone's delight and amusement, thoroughly kiss her in front of all of them. Not that she minded very much.

When he finally released her, she was a little unsteady on her feet. He pulled her close and hugged her. Finally Garret came to the young couple's rescue. He cleared his throat and said, "Gee...look at the time. I need to go..." And they all followed suite. Woody and Jordan were the last to leave, taking advantage of the quiet to dance one slow dance before Max closed.

"Do you mind if I skip helping you close?" Jordan asked.

"Go. Both of you. I'll see you tomorrow." Woody felt Max slip something in his coat pocket.

"Can I stay with you?" Woody asked, as they made their way out into the cold Boston night.

"Sure, but I don't have a guest bedroom."

"I think I could handle sharing your bed..."

She grinned up at him..."I think I could get used to it..."

Later that evening, Woody held her snuggled up close to his side. "Merry Christmas, Sweetheart," he murmured in her ear.

"It's merry now....you're here...but whatever possessed you to come back to Boston? You said you'd never be back....I didn't think..."

"Why did I come back? It's home."

"But you said, when you left....that it wasn't....not anymore and it couldn't be again...what happened?"

"Your Christmas gift..."

"Mine? But I haven't given it to you yet..."

"Yes you have, whether you know it or not. When I watched your plane fly out of LAX, I realized something. Home is not necessarily a place...it's not a place to live and spend your time. Home is people...people that you love and that love you. It's more than a place to hang your hat...it's a place to hang your heart....open it up...knowing it's safe to do that. Wisconsin isn't that way for me...neither is LA. But Boston is. And you are...safe. Without even knowing it, Jordan, you pointed me home. You told me one time home was right behind me, and you were right. It is. Here. With you." He gently kissed the top of her head.

"I did all that?"

He smiled, gently lifting her chin, so he could look in her eyes. "Yeah...you did. And I have something for you."

He sat up and reached for his pants. He pulled something out of the back pocket and handed it to her. She took the flat package and flipped it open. Inside was his Boston PD badge. "I got my old job back, Jo. I'm coming home...back to Boston."

She felt the tears well up in her eyes. "That means..."

"Homicide, finding a new apartment, and lots of Chinese delivery, if I remember correctly."

"It's good to have you home, Farm Boy." She sighed with contentment and looked at the badge again, tracing it with one of her fingers....she never dreamed....

Woody pulled the badge from her hands..."You can look at that later. Your dad gave me something tonight we need to deal with right now."

Jordan looked puzzled for a minute until Woody shook something above her head. It was the mistletoe from the bar.... "Kiss..." he said, before lowering his head to hers.

"Kiss...mistletoe kisses," she murmured against his lips.

"Hmmm. Mistletoe kisses...in California deserts or in Boston ... are wonderful Christmas traditions,' he replied, reflecting for a moment how he had once considered that his life here was over...and now it was where he had a new beginning. After everything that had happened...and all this time, it took mistletoe kisses and her to help him really know where home was.