Chapter Eight

Jordan checked the Boston legal data base for the third time that week. Her divorce had still not been filed. She was still married to Woody. She sighed and brushed the hair off her shoulders. "I swear I think I'm cursed, Nigel," she said, as they were working in his office on Friday afternoon.

"Cursed, love?"

"Yeah. Cursed. Everything I've ever done with my life has gone wrong."

Nigel turned and gave her a quizzical look. "What are you talking about, Jordan?"

"Well, look. I start out as a heart doctor and end up a medical examiner. I go trying to find justice for my mother….a good thing, right? It nearly cost me every relationship I have, and runs my dad out of Boston. I marry the man I love...and it all goes down in flames. I've tried…so hard….to do the best I could…and nothing has worked out."

"And?"

"Now I'm here, trying to put my life back together…to go on without him, and he won't file the damn papers."

"Maybe he's changed his mind?"

"See….I am cursed…now he's maybe changing his mind…if he wasn't sure about the divorce, he should have never had his lawyer draw up the papers to begin with."

"And then you wouldn't have landed here with me…us working again….one other chance for me to ogle your cute, little backside and for you to enjoy my equally sexy physique."

Jordan laughed and threw a paper wad at him. "Yeah…just what Ronnie needs."

Nigel laughed along with her. If Jordan had learned anything during her time in Phoenix, it was that Nigel had truly found his soul mate. He and Ronnie were made for each other…cut from the same cloth. She couldn't see Nigel ever going back to Boston, unless Ronnie agreed to come with him. That, coupled with the fact the pair were now expecting a baby, cemented the relationship in Jordan's mind.

She was glad for the both of them, but sometimes the obvious joy and companionship they shared made her wince inwardly … at everything of hers that she had lost. No, she was cursed. She wasn't sure what she had done in her past to deserve all of this, but there was no doubt in her mind….she was cursed.

"Well, love," Nigel said. "I wouldn't let the nonfiling of the divorce papers set me back. Just keep moving forward. Sooner or later he'll file them. Just don't worry about it now. You haven't met anyone yet…and who knows if you'll ever be that serious with anyone again. And if you are, you can always pick up a quickie divorce in Mexico. You're not that far away from the border now."

Jordan nodded. What Nigel said was true. She just needed to worry about her future.

It was going to be a long drive…it would take at least a week to get there. He could fly, but he needed the time to think….the time to rehearse what he was going to say to her when he got to Phoenix. Woody sighed and readjusted his rearview mirror.

After Garret's phone conversation with her, he had made up his mind. He had applied for emergency leave at the precinct and took three weeks off. He had the time off coming anyway. It had been approved the next day, and he went home, threw some things in a suitcase, called Max and told him he was going to see Jordan, climbed in his car and headed west. Much like his wife did three months ago.

As the miles slipped by him, he did have time to think…reflect on them. How difficult she had been at first…from the first day they had met. She had hated his ties and his hair. He found her attitude abrasive at best, even if he found her body one of the hottest he had ever seen. That hadn't changed. His wife was still the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. He remembered when they finally started dating…he had been just a little amazed that such a beautiful woman would want to spend time with him. He had called her his arm candy. She responded with a punch to the ribs. "I have a mind," she had retorted.

"Yes, and it's in one of the prettiest heads out there," he had teased back.

They had started "dating" late in their relationship. Years after they had first kissed in the California desert. Their second kiss had been much closer to home. It had been in the Pogue. Max had still been gone. It was a Saturday night. April 17. He remembered the date exactly. Even the time. 1:12 a.m. She was working the bar that night and had to close up. He had stayed with her…as usual. When she was through, he asked her to dance. They had gotten closer since Max had left…even after Devan, they still moved closer together. They talked for hours sometimes after work, while she was at the bar. He began to feel he not only knew her thoughts, he could read her soul.

And the sweetness, the vulnerability there, despite how hard she tried to mask it behind a cocky attitude, took his breath. The music had stopped, and they still stood there in the middle of the room, holding each other, reluctant to let each other go. Finally, she had been the one to begin to pull away. "I guess I need to…"she had gotten no further. He put a finger to her lips to stop her talking, looked into her eyes, then zeroed in on her mouth…kissing her softly at first, giving her a chance to break away if she needed to. But she didn't. She responded. And that was all it took. He had gently nipped her bottom lip…she opened her mouth…their tongues tangled. And the heavens and the earth shook.

He had told her she was beautiful. She had never believed him. "No…I'm not. Not when compared to…" and she'd name some buxom beauty on television or on a magazine cover.

"Jordan, that's not what's beautiful. And that's not what I want," he'd respond.

"Are you sure?"

He had been sure. Never more sure of anything in his life. He wanted her to talk to…her toothbrush by his in the bathroom…her car beside his in the garage.

Her beside him in their bed. Woody ran his fingers through his hair. Bed. With Jordan. He remembered the first time they had been in bed together…they both knew the relationship would eventually land there, but it took several months for it to happen. And then it was almost an accident – totally unplanned and unscripted. They had been at his apartment. They had cooked dinner together and were watching a movie. He was lying on his back on the couch and she was lying on top of him, with him rubbing lazy circles on her back, his hand under her shirt. The movie ended and she made no effort to move. "Jordan?" he had asked. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah…" she had chuckled. "I just don't want to get up."

"And the only reason is I give great backrubs, right?"

"No…not exactly." She had raised her head and kissed him full on the lips. She hadn't resisted when he tugged her shirt off over her head. Or unfastened her bra and discarded it. And he didn't utter a word when she unbuttoned his shirt. They ended up in his bedroom….he still wasn't quite sure how, but his bed was a hell of a lot more comfortable than the couch, not to mention bigger and more….accommodating.

When he woke the next morning, he had tentatively reached across the bed, fully expecting to find her gone…intimacy, either emotional or physical, had made her run in the past. But no. She was still there, curled up beside him, her head tucked on his shoulder, their legs still intertwined. He had brushed the curls off her face and her eyes had opened. He was afraid there'd be that awkward moment. There wasn't. She had smiled. And kissed him again. And they didn't leave his bedroom until late evening.

So why had he gone and screwed everything up? Because reality got in the way. And he hadn't figured reality into the equation of their life together. They had married…and things got busy. He got a promotion. Nigel and Bug left…Between his new job and her added responsibilities, they had no time for each other. And when they both were home, they were too tired to do anything but sleep. Before he knew it, weeks would go by before they had a chance to make love.

And then Amy…his new partner. She was bright and cute. And there. He had never slept with her…he swore to Jordan he hadn't and he didn't. But they worked together. And they were close. Your partner watched your back. You had to know their rhythms and moods as well as your own. He guessed it just got a little trickier when your partner is an attractive female. Maybe they had gotten too close for Jordan's comfort. He had never really thought about it, because Amy had meant nothing to him…not in that way. Evidently Amy had caught wind that she was the root of the problem between him and Jordan because she had transferred out of the department. His new partner was an older man…

But he had been angry at Jordan's accusations. He was tired of her hours…tired of days and weeks going by with no time for them…he had wanted Garret to quit working her so hard. She didn't seem to want to ask for a reduction in hours. In the end, their relationship had been like a Mexican stand off. So he decided to fire the final shot. Maybe the threat of a divorce would shock her back into reality.

Instead she had assumed the worst.

She wasn't supposed to do that.

So here he was now, on Interstate 40, traveling west…on the ragged edge of nowhere.