Chapter Two

"Nigel…" was all Jordan managed to get out before the Englishman had caught her in a tight hug.

"Let me look at you, lass….I see Southern men and barbeque haven't done you any worse…you look wonderful."

She gave Nigel one more hug. "It was great…but I'm glad to be home. The Braves aren't the BoSox, and they eat hotdogs with slaw and not relish."

Nigel made a face. "Well…you're back home now…ready to go to Max's?" Jordan was going to stay with her dad until she could find another apartment.

"Yeah, but fill me in on everything and everybody on the way."

"Well, let's see. Lily and Bug are sort of dating."

"Sort of? How do you sort of date?"

"She drags him to poetry readings and holistic medicine lectures and he pretends like he enjoys it."

"Oh."

"And of course, there's the whole Garret and Rene saga still going on…."

"I thought they were through…the baby wasn't his and he didn't want to see her anymore."

"So she says. If you ask me, the baby has Garret's eyes…but that's just me. Anyway, they are 'talking', whatever that means. I just know you see her in his office a lot more now than before you left."

"Shit."

"And as for yours truly…"

"Spill it, Nige…."

"The regular assortment lady friends….but the best news is, I got myself a new bike…"

"Sweet! Take me out on it?"

"Just as soon as you want love…"

Jordan thought for a minute. That caught her up on everyone but Woody. Cautiously, she asked, "What about our favorite detective?"

"Don't you mean your favorite detective?"

"How's Woody, Nige?" she asked, finally deciding to cut to the chase and not play twenty questions.

"Woody's…Woody's still with homicide in the Boston PD. Just got promoted…he now has a couple of guys under him. Doing well professionally. But he's not the same, Jordan….Not the same at all. He hasn't been the same since Devan died and you left."

"What's the matter with him?"

Nigel squirmed in his seat in the van. He was taking Jordan back to Garret's to pick up her El Camino before they went on to Max's. house. "He's quieter…not so happy-go-lucky anymore. Withdrawn. Still friendly with everyone, but you can tell he's basically by himself now and seems to be pretty happy with that fact. So if you're asking if he has a girlfriend now, he doesn't. Come to think about it, he doesn't have many close friends at all, except maybe your dad."

"Dad?"

"Yeah. Woody spends a lot of time at the Pogue now…not necessarily drinking. Just talking with Max…maybe shooting a game of pool. At first, I thought it was to perhaps fill the gap in your dad's life that you left when you went to Atlanta, but it's more. I think Max understands where he's at and is a help to him."

"Oh…I guess it's good Woody has someone to talk to."

"Yeah. We've all tried to reach out to him…but we haven't been very good at it."

Jordan nodded. At least he had moved on in his life…been successful in his job. Maybe he just needed more time to grieve…grief can take different cycles in different people. No two timelines were the same. Maybe it was just taking him longer to get over Devan. They had obviously been close when she died.

But she had gone to Atlanta to get over Woody and how she felt about him. There was no use in revisiting old hurts. Picking at them could only just make both of them bleed again and they both had obviously come a long way in a year. She would be friendly and professional, but nothing more to the detective.

"Hi, Dad," Jordan called out as she entered the bar.

"Jordan, sweetheart, you're back…" replied Max, coming out from around the bar to hug his daughter hello. Once she had gotten back to her father's house, Jordan had changed and driven over to see her dad. "Are you settled in your old room? How was your flight?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm settled, and the flight was good. How are things here?"

"Not bad, not bad. What can I get you?"

"Guinness?"

"Coming up."

She sat down at the bar, noting that nothing had really changed here. The menu may have expanded a little, but not anything else. "Heard you were coming back into town," said a voice.

"Woody…" she said, turning on her bar stool to see him better. He sat down beside her. She let her eyes wander over him. Still tall. Thinner, perhaps. His eyes still as blue as the Atlantic after a storm. Despite a year away, her heart lurched at the sight of him. "It's good to see you. How've you been?"

"Good. I'm good. It's good to see you, too. How was Atlanta? Macy said you've learned a lot….and he's glad you're back. The sub the state brought in for you nearly drove him up a wall."

Jordan laughed. "I heard you got a promotion. Way to go, Farm Boy."

Woody nodded. "It was a long time in coming, but I got it about three months ago. It's been great…of course, it means more work and responsibility along with a better paycheck, but it's worth it."

"So you're planning to stay in homicide a while longer?"

"I don't have plans to move from that department anytime soon, if that's what you mean. What about you? What are your plans now?"

"I've got to find another apartment. If I live with Dad more than a few weeks, we'll end up killing each other and you'll have a double homicide to figure out."

Woody chuckled. He had figured that much. Although Jordan and her dad were getting along better, he knew things still were not what they used to be….they weren't quite as close as they once were. "What else is on your agenda?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm going back to work on Monday. I imagine it'll take me a couple of weeks to get up to speed on things. I guess I'll be answering your calls next week, maybe?"

Woody's face darkened just a bit. "Jordan…it's great having you back. On some level, I've missed you…you're expertise in forensics has been sorely absent from the morgue. But I work mainly with Sydney now. He's the new guy, remember? He's pretty good. And it's not that I won't work with you…I guess what I'm trying to say is that as far as my feeling for you, those haven't changed while you've been gone. While I like you and respect you as a ME, I don't want any kind of relationship with you. It's just too difficult…."

Jordan swallowed hard. That hurt. But isn't that what she wanted? Isn't that part of the reason why she left to go to Atlanta – to get over him and allow him and her to go on with their lives? He obviously had and so had she. She knew what she wanted out of life now…and Woody wasn't in that picture.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Woody," she replied. "Because I feel the same way. I enjoy working with you. You're one of the best homicide detectives I've ever dealt with. But personally, we're like oil and water…we don't mix well. So I agree with you completely. I'm glad we had a chance to see each other today to talk about this before work on Monday….this way we both know where we stand with each other and there are no awkward moments in the office. I hope we can at least be friends…but nothing more, okay?"

"Friends," he agreed, sticking out his hand for her to shake it. She took his hand, and for a moment he looked deep into those whiskey-colored eyes and wondered, just fleetingly, why it all had to go so wrong between them.