Chapter Three

And so Jordan's life went on…without Woody. She knew the detective was still seeing Kim. But she had heard through Annie Capra that he was behaving himself…coming into work on time both in the morning and from lunch. She had sighed in relief…she hadn't wanted him fired or confined to desk duty. She hoped his change in behavior was due to her warning in the autopsy room.

They still saw each other. At homicide scenes. At the bar. He would still come to the Pogue, with Kim in tow. Jordan never waited on them. Max saw to that. He wondered many times how his daughter coped with seeing the other woman and having her heart broken all over again. But Jordan never asked to be relieved of her work duties, even though Max had offered.

And Max wondered about Woody and the attraction he had for this woman. Woody had always seemed so solid…believing in traditional values. Kim appeared to have none of those same beliefs. On the outside, Max knew what was appealing to Woody. Kim was everything Jordan said she was…a pretty face, a pretty figure….a pretty package…just like a Barbie And like the fashion doll, Kim's head was just as full of air.

But when a woman looks like that, a man doesn't care what's going on in her mind. He doesn't even care if she has one. And Max believed that's the place Woody was at. Kim knew just what Woody wanted to hear and said it. She flirted with him, stroked his ego, and slept with him. In return, Woody took care of her. Max had heard though his connections at the police department that Woody was paying part of the rent on her apartment and her cell phone bill.

Max had also heard that Woody wasn't the only man she had on her leash. Kim had been spotted with another man at another bar on the nights that Woody had to work. Max wondered if he should tell the detective, but decided against it. Woody may think it was Max's way of retaliating against Woody's rejection of Jordan. Max also knew that odds and luck being what they were, the detective would find out on his own. Infidelity had a way of tripping up people all by itself.

Meanwhile, Jordan was finding her own way of coping. She stayed busy with her work at the morgue…even offering to serve on a task force overseeing the accreditation of the state's crime labs and morgues. Garret didn't know how to react when she volunteered for that. She was the last person he could see involving herself in committee meetings. She just seemed too much of an individual to concern herself with a group opinion.

She still helped Max at the Pogue most weekends, playing bartender, waitress, or office help, depending on what her father needed at the time. If Max saw Woody come in, he would often try to hustle her in the back to do paperwork, away from the couple, trying to keep his daughter's heart and emotions intact. He knew Jordan still loved Woody. It was hard for him as her father to watch her feelings get run over every time the detective came in with Kim.

The weekends she wasn't at the bar or the morgue, she went out with friends…Nigel…Garret…Lily. She even occasionally had dinner with her friend Paul, the priest at St. Inez. But her social calendar wasn't nearly as full as she wanted. So when she read about a songwriting class that was being held at one of the local music stores, she had impulsively signed up.

Her music, her guitar had been her solace during some of the roughest times in her life. Anytime she had left Boston, the guitar had accompanied her. She learned to play shortly after her mother had died, her father enrolling her for lessons in the hopes that they would relieve some of the pain and hurt inside her.

And they did. Music filled a spot in Jordan's soul that nothing and no one else could. But she had always played other people's music. With this class, she would learn to write her own lyrics and music. She eagerly looked forward to her Thursday night classes, showing up for the first one a few minutes ahead of time, guitar in hand.

The classroom was already nearly full, and Jordan finally found a seat next to a man with salt and pepper hair and piercing green eyes. "Hi," he said softly, extending his hand to her, "My name is John. John Perkins."

She shook his hand. "My name is Jordan Cavanaugh. Nice to meet you, John."

"Same here, Jordan. Been playing long?"

"Since I was about ten. What about you?"

"I was about the same age when I started, but I bet I've been playing longer than you have…"

"Really? I've played the guitar for nearly twenty-five years."

"So that makes you thirty-five. I've been playing nearly thirty years."

"And that makes you forty?"

John smiled and nodded.

Class started then and Jordan quickly got caught up in the details of matching lyrics to music. All too soon, the two hours were over, and she and John were putting their guitars in their cases. "See you next week?" he asked.

"Yeah…have a good weekend," she returned.

"You do the same."

The next week she saw him again, and he sat beside her. When class was over, he asked her out for coffee. After a moment's hesitation, she agreed to meet him at Starbucks.

And started a weekly habit between the two of them. After class was over, they'd meet at the coffee shop and talk. She found out he was a lawyer. Jordan had wondered why they had never crossed paths since she was a medical examiner. John had chuckled. "I'm a real estate lawyer," he replied. "I sure as heck hope I don't cross your path…If I do, I'm in big trouble."

Jordan had laughed. It was nice to be with someone who wasn't in her field of work. It was gratifying to have someone who shared her views of music. She found that she was looking forward as much to coffee with John after class as she was to the class itself. And when John asked her out for dinner on Friday, she found herself accepting immediately…not even thinking about it. John was easy to be with…easy to talk to…

But he didn't make her forget about Woody. She sighed as she lay in bed the Friday night after their date. He had taken her out for dinner and a movie. She had a great time. He had gently kissed her on the cheek before he left her at her door.

Of course he didn't make you forget about Woody. He's John. Not Woody. And you've got to give him a chance….Woody's seeing someone else. There's nothing between the two of you now, not even the remnants of a friendship. So accept John for who he is and what he is….and put Woody behind you. Remember what you once nearly had together with fondness…your last girlhood crush and romance. John's a good man. If something comes out of this relationship, it will be steady and stable…sure, the passion may not be there that was with Woody, but passion isn't everything. You have fun with this man. You two share a lot of common interests and hobbies. And you don't work together….that could be a big plus in his favor. So just go with it now, Jordan. Don't fight it, don't be over anxious….just go with it.

Those were the thoughts running through her head before sleep claimed her. He's John. Not Woody. John. But it wasn't a man with a pair of piercing green eyes that haunted her dreams that night.

No, the man's eyes were decidedly blue.