Chapter Eight
His uncle's house was off the beaten track, in Marathon, Florida….in the middle of the Keys. Woody had loved it from the moment he sat foot there as a boy. After their mother died, Woody and Cal would often spend their summer vacations with Uncle Jack. It would give their father a break from the pressures of single parenthood…and give the boys a much needed respite from their stressed-out dad.
His first priority was Jordan's safety. Marathon was small. He had gotten to know the police and harbor patrol there pretty well…they had been fascinated with his former life as a "big city cop" in Boston. Woody knew he could count on their cooperation in watching over Jordan. They would let him know if there was anything or anyone suspicious around.
But he also hoped that maybe, in this place where time seemed to stand still, both of their guards could slip down just a little. He could explain why he had to leave Boston and stay gone for so long. Maybe he could restore her faith in a humanity that seemed to repeatedly keep knocking her feet out from under her.
And maybe, just maybe, she could learn to trust him again.
She hadn't said a word to him after their "puddle jumper" landed and they drove into Marathon in Woody's jeep. She was too busy looking around, taking in the sights of the bay and the tropical growth, her hair blowing in the wind, whipping around her face. "It's beautiful," she finally shouted to him, over the noise of the engine and breeze flipping the canvas top of his vehicle.
"Yeah. I've been coming here since I was ten…and I still find myself awed over the beauty of it….wait until you see the sunsets."
She nodded, one hand holding onto the side of the jeep. "Why here, Woody?"
"It's small…and I know the law enforcement here," he said, turning the jeep onto a small, gravel road. "If there's anyone suspicious around, I'll know in a matter of minutes. People tend to watch out for each other in Marathon." He pulled into a driveway. His uncle's house sat back off the road a couple of hundred yards or so. "Here it is, Jordan. You'll be safe here until Denning and his men can make an arrest."
It was a rambling gray house…two stories with a wrap around porch, looking directly over the bay. A short walk out the den door would lead you to the ocean. A large, yellow cat lay on the porch railing. He arched his back and tried to rub against Jordan as she climbed up the steps. "Scat, Butterbean," Woody said.
"Butterbean?" Jordan asked.
Woody pulled a face. "Don't ask. People are big animal lovers here. Uncle Jack has that cat and two dogs. The island has a dolphin refuge and a turtle hospital."
"Dolphins?" Woody caught the delighted note in her voice.
"Yeah. I'll take you over one day. You can swim with them."
Her face darkened for a moment. "I don't have a swimsuit."
He grinned. "I'm sure we can find you one in town. Don't worry about it."
Opening the door, he led Jordan in the house. Stairs led off the entrance, the den was on the left and the kitchen and dining room was on the right. Woody motioned her to follow him up the stairs. "Your bedroom is there…and mine is next to it." He pushed her bedroom door open. It was tastefully furnished in blues tones. "Make yourself at home. By the way, we're sharing an adjoining bathroom. Just lock my door when you're in there and I'll know not to barge through."
Jordan did. She unpacked and made a list of a few personal things she needed when she and Woody went in town to get her bathing suit. She set up her laptop and changed into cooler clothes. Then she went back downstairs to find Woody on the back deck, looking at the bay.
"I can see why you ran to Florida," she said, coming up quietly behind him.
"Can you?" he asked, turning around to face her, leaning on the deck railing.
"Yes. It's beautiful here….warm and quiet. You can think. If I would have known about this place, I would have come here long ago."
"It's not Boston, though."
"Yeah…I know what they say about 'there's no place like home', but Boston hasn't exactly been fair to either of us."
"How are things there, Jo? You've barely mentioned it since I first saw you in North Carolina."
She shrugged and leaned against the deck rail, facing him, her forearms resting on the wood. She had on jean shorts and a t-shirt, and sunglasses covered her honey-colored eyes so he couldn't read her thoughts. "Things are okay…Garret still stresses out over the least little thing sometimes…he and Rene' never worked anything out…he's not seeing anyone right now. Lily and Seely are dating. Sort of. I think he assumes it's dating…I believe she's trying to reform him…make him more liberal in his way of thinking."
Woody grimaced. "I could never see those two together…they're so opposite."
"You know what they say. Opposites attract. I just know she has this….glow…on her face now whenever you mention his name or he walks into the morgue. Whatever they have, it agrees with her."
"What about Bug?"
"That's the most confusing part. He never said a word when Lily started dating Matthew. And I know he's been crazy about her for years."
"He gave up gracefully?"
"He wimped out without a fight, in my opinion."
Woody chuckled. "The morgue soap opera…what about Nigel?"
"With Nigel, who knows? Nigel's Nigel and he keeps his personal life very….personal."
Woody gently rubbed her arm with a finger. "What about your dad, Jo/"
Her breath caught in her throat. I still feel sparks when he touches me…she thought, swallowing hard and glancing down at his hand on her arm…inhaling deeply to steady herself, she replied, "Fine. Working hard. But okay."
"Things still well between you two?"
"Yeah. Not that we don't disagree at times, but overall, it's good."
He nodded. "I missed everyone."
"But not enough to call."
He sighed. "It got complicated, Jordan."
"How so? You told me you were going to go clear your head for a month or so….find yourself. I understood that part. But you were gone for two years…no phone call…no e-mail. Do you have any idea how worried I was?" She pulled her sunglasses off to look him in the eyes. "You could have least had the decency to pick up the phone and let me know you were okay…God, I loved you….then you wanted me to promise not to find you…."
"I'm sorry….but I needed more than a month…I got here and everything was so convoluted in my mind…you…the Boston PD…the arrest…these murders…us…I should have called, but I was afraid that everyone would want me to come back to Boston then, and I wasn't ready."
"That's all you had to tell me…that you were okay and that you weren't ready to come home. I would have understood. Believe me, I would have…remember, I was the one who would leave Boston for a couple of years to clear my head. Instead, you leave me hanging…"
"I'm sorry, Jordan. There's just a lot about me you don't know yet. I had to work through a lot of ….stuff. I told you one time…several years ago, I was complicated. I am. You think I'm just a simple backwoods guy from Kewuanne, Wisconsin. Boy Scout. Farm Boy. Cheese Head. But there's more to me than that…and I had to figure out how that all fit into my life now…before I could make a commitment to someone else. Your arrest in Boston…it yanked the last stable thing out from under my feet. I no longer knew if my career and you could exist in my life together…and I was at the point where I had to have something….someone I could count on. I have gone through too much in my life …. I need to know that there's somebody…something ….that will always be there for me….so I can be there for them."
"And you couldn't talk to me about it?" Her voice was low…but didn't carry the heat of anger in it…just a tone of disappointment.
Woody sighed. "I couldn't talk to anyone about it. I had to figure it out myself first."
"Have you? Figured it out, that is?"
"No…not everything."
She sighed. "Are you close?"
"I don't know."
"Care to share what you do know?"
Woody gently took her by the arm. "My first priority right now is keeping you safe," he said, looking her in the eyes. "Neither of us can forget that. You're going to be one of the main witnesses in this case…the one that links all these murders and puts Slash and Dash away for a very long time. When this is over….we'll talk. I know we both still have a lot to say to each other."
She looked into his blue eyes…and she didn't know whether she could believe him or not. Trust is a fragile thing…and the past couple of years had taken a toll on hers…She could count on one hand the people she really had faith in and have three fingers left over.
And Woody wasn't one of the two.
But the man still held her heart in the palm of his hand. What was he going to do with it? Finally, taking another deep breath, she replied. "Fine. We'll talk then." She turned on her heel to go back inside the house.
"Jo."
She turned around to face him once again.
"One thing hasn't changed in two years. My feelings for you. They're the same."
