Author's Notes: This chapter is a little shorter than some but it was the right place to end it. There's one more chapter of Las Brisas and then we're onto Reunion and starting to head towards a happy ending for our couple. Reviews are greatly appreciated and inspire me to update faster.

Part 35

Age: 34 Years 7 Months

Samantha was pleased and surprised when she spotted Ed. Although she wasn't quite certain how she felt accepting the red rose he held out to her. Maybe he simply had forgotten about red roses being Jack's signature or maybe he thought with the trial underway that it was all right. It was the first time she had seen Ed dressed in regular clothes and not his sheriff's uniform. He was simply dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt, seeing him out of uniform, he looked younger and leaner, Samantha decided.

"I was hoping you would let me take you to dinner, Samantha," Jack murmured.

"I'd like that, thank you."

As he drove to the restaurant, Samantha studied Ed silently. How old was he? In Otis she had guessed him to be about 38, here in jeans he looked more her age. Ed looked about the age Jack would have been if he'd lived. Would she and Jack still be married if he had lived? Common sense would say no, but in her heart she knew if Jack were alive they would still be married and as much in love as ever. Looking at Ed, she felt attracted to him, but was keenly aware of her wedding ring that hung on a chain nestled between her breasts.

When Samantha got out of the car and saw Ed's choice of restaurants she was surprised. The place was an out of the way restaurant that only native Atlanta residents and those who had lived in the city for years had known about. Sometimes Samantha ate lunch at the restaurant when she wanted to avoid her coworkers, it was surprising that Ed would find and select the place.

"One of the employees at my hotel suggested this place," Jack responded to her quizzical expression. "But if you don't like it-"

"It's perfect," Samantha hastened to reassure him.

Dinner consisted of simple steaks and salads. The restaurant wasn't very busy at the late hour and they had the place almost to themselves. As they ate, Samantha gazed into Ed's eyes and found herself disconcerted by the expression in them. For a moment she forgot who he was and pretended for one moment that he was her Jack and that they were having a nice ordinary meal out. Pushing her thoughts away, Samantha focused on Ed. Her Jack was dead and it wasn't fair to either man for her to pretend otherwise.

After dinner, Samantha let Ed drive her home, she didn't want to go home and she didn't want to end the evening. But, she didn't feel ready to take their relationship to the next level and she didn't want to tease Ed as she accidentally had in Otis, he deserved better than that. When they were nearing her house, she had him pull into an empty parking lot.

"I wanted to have a couple minutes alone with you without my daughter or my former roommate watching out the window,"Samantha told him. Taking his hand she continued, "I'm not ready to ask you to spend the night, but I wanted to say how much it meant to me when you held me and were a gentleman about me backing out of things back in Otis."

"Samantha, I would never wish to force myself on a lady."

"I know and that's one of the things I like about you. Maybe when the trial and this case I'm are over we could-" Samantha trailed off.

Placing a fingertip to her mouth, Jack softly whispered, "Shh. I already know my Samantha."

Leaning over, Jack kissed her tenderly and threaded his fingers through her hair. Desire would have it's place another time, this was about love and longing. Kissing my sleeping princess awake slowly, Jack thought. A hundred years of you being unaware and thorns keeping us apart, but roses have bloomed amongst the thorns and I will one day soon awaken you. Sleeping beauty will awaken and leave glorious death in her wake.

Samantha felt shaken when Ed lifted his mouth from hers and was still dazed when he pulled into her drive and she went into her house. The next morning in court, Ed was in his uniform again and was on the stand to testify. From her seat in the courtroom, Samantha watched as Ed testified, answering Paul Sterling's questions. It was on cross examination that things got interesting. Lucas' attorney tried to pain Sam as being biased against Lucas and the Otis business had been bent to her own will.

"Didn't she do everything possible to sway the investigation so it would satisfy a conclusion that she'd already-" the attorney prodded.

Furious and fighting hard to maintain the character of Ed Boast, Jack retorted, "Now just a darn minute! I will not have you question the integrity of Dr. Samantha Waters. She is an ethical responsible member of the law enforcement community who has suffered unspeakable tragedy at the hands of this Donald Lucas or Jack-Of-All-Trades or whatever the hell he's calling himself now!"

As the judge and attorney's began to argue, Samantha sat in her seat in disbelief. Had that outburst really just come from sweet Ed Boast? The passionate tone of his voice surprised her, but she found she liked it. Maybe it wasn't great for Paul's case but she was strangely pleased to have Ed rush to her defense that way. The judge told the jury to disregard Ed's last remarks and called a recess.

"Don't worry Dr. Waters," Ed told her. "The judge tells the jury to disregard all the time, but they never do."

Samantha smiled slightly, trying to refrain from bursting out laughing. The situation was so absurd, but she didn't dare laugh in front of the jury it would have been horribly inappropriate.

"Maybe you'll come back to Otis for a visit sometime," Jack told her softly.

Lucas was being lead away to a holding cell and struggled for a moment to stare at Sam. Jack moved and blocked his view of Samantha as he assured her, "It's all going to go just fine."

Outside the courthouse, Samantha reluctantly told Ed good-bye that she had to return to Las Brisas. Over the next couple of days, Samantha commuted between the Atlanta and Las Brisas. While she worked on the case in Mexico, her thoughts kept turning to Ed and in Atlanta she was frustrated to find her coworkers and the commute prevented her from seeing him for more than a few stolen moments. George's testimony went badly and was largely destroyed on cross examination. A lot of the pressure would be on Sam when she would testify.

Samantha nearly had her case in Mexico wrapped up and would hopefully only have to return for one more day after her testimony and then she could finally spend some time with Ed. It felt strange because she knew she would have to play the role her coworkers expected and for her to sound upset about Tom's death. While the pain she felt for the death of her first husband's death was intense and crippling after twenty years, Tom had never mattered that much and she felt hard pressed to muster any emotion about him, he was little more than a distant memory.

On the morning she would have to testify, Ed took Samantha out to breakfast the first time they had gotten together since their dinner that was more than five minutes long. Over breakfast they held hands and smiled at one another. Oddly, Ed seemed more tense than Samantha and she teased him about it.

"I'm the one on the stand today, there's no reason for you to be nervous."

"Guess I'm just nervous for you," Jack told her.

Ah Samantha, this is such a crucial day. Everything has been so carefully choreographed, every minute and it's coming down to the wire. Our future is riding on today and I couldn't bear it if I were to be kept from you much longer. Soon my sweet wife, soon I will make you mine once again. Nothing and no one will every come between us again, Jack thought as she smiled at Samantha.

"Ready to face the lions?" Jack asked and lead her out the car.

Driving towards the courthouse, Samantha had a strange feeling like her life was about to change forever...