A month went by before Max heard from his daughter. The argument with Garrett had been bad or so he assumed from what he heard. At first he feared that his daughter had packed up and disappeared again. This wouldn't have surprised him as fast as she had left that night. But then out of the blue he got a call from her. All that he could feel at that time was relief that she was still around and hadn't decided to leave. She was calling to ask if he wanted to spend some time with Eve while she ran some errands. He would have gladly accepted except for that fact that he was watching a very sick Spencer. He didn't tell his daughter that. Instead, he made up an excuse about himself being ill and that he'd gladly see his granddaughter when he got well. That ended the conversation rather abruptly and all he heard on the other end was a dial tone. Another two weeks would go by before he had any other contact with Jordan. Accidental contact but contact none the less.
Jordan was livid when she left her fathers bar that night. She had drove around Boston until dawn trying to calm her nerves. That's when she made a promise to herself that living in Boston would be no different than living in Louisville. She pushed any thoughts of her father out of her mind in order to introduce a feeling of normalcy into her and Eve's life. But she caved after a month of isolation. The phone call to her father was her way of trying to make amends. She made up an excuse about having to run errands and thought that maybe he would want to spend a little time getting to know Eve. It back fired and he claimed to be sick and would see Eve when he was feeling better. She wanted to believe his story but he hadn't sounded sick until she mentioned Eve. This caused her to assume that he wasn't willing to accept Eve as his grandchild. Why would he? He already had Spencer to spoil. Why would he want another one? That just made her resolve to include him in Eve's life, fade. Well if he didn't want anything to do with Eve then he would get his wish. But in the process he'd lose his daughter as well.
Jordan pulled her Nissan Murano into the parking lot of Madison Heights Academy. Eve had been enrolled there for two weeks now. She waved to Eve when she appeared with several other kids and Mrs. Otas, Eve's daycare teacher. With a smile and after several minutes of polite conversation with Mrs. Otas, Jordan and Eve were on their way to Duncan's, a nice family restaurant downtown. This was their dinner and had been for the past two weeks.
Basicly, Madison Heights Academy was a glorified daycare, preschool and elementary school all rolled into one. Children as young as six months could be enrolled there and their enrollment would last until they reached middle school age when they would then be transferred into the public school system or to one of the local private schools associated with Madison Heights. This was schooling for the wealthy. Tuition payments bordered on fifteen thousand a year just for those enrolled in the daycare and preschool programs. This price rose when the child reached kindergarten and again when they moved onto first grade.
She was proud to be able to do this for her daughter. Mark's death left her with several large summed life insurance polices and a hefty pension check every month. Even without that income, Jordan would have been able to afford it.
The night Jordan returned and spoke with her father, she had failed to mention one thing. The fact that she had attended the University of Louisville, night classes, for four years, getting her medical degree in Pediatrics. She had only been practicing for six months when Mark was killed. She knew that she couldn't apply for a job at the Boston Medical Examiners since that is where Garrett probably still worked so she took a job at one of Boston Generals Pediatric clinics. It payed well and she was able to provide Eve with all the comforts a child her age needed.
Dinner at Duncan's was great. Their food was wonderful and the staff even better. So while Eve was enjoying a piece of caramel cheesecake, Jordan just relaxed. She had to smile while looking at Eve. She looked so cute in her green and silver Madison Heights Academy uniform. All children, male and female, were required to wear one. It was supposed to decrease negative attitudes between children since one couldn't out dress another. At first Jordan had been hesitant on forcing her daughter to conform with the masses but she and Mark had talked, at length, about sending Eve to a private school when she got older. He had agreed that she would get a better education and head start on life that way. Jordan was only following his wishes so that made it a little easier on her. That and the fact that Eve didn't seem to mind dressing like everyone else. She shook her head in order to focus on the present instead of the past. Eve now seemed to be having a conversation with a little boy wearing the same uniform. She looked around and spotted the boys mother sitting close by. A wave indicated to Jordan that the other mother was watching them. Grateful, Jordan waved back.
Max was tired by the time Garrett picked Spencer up. The little boy just seemed miserable. So after they left, Max decided that instead of fixing dinner, he'd go out. Duncan's was within walking distance of his house so he grabbed his coat and left. He heard the food was great but never actually ate there so he just smiled as a waiter seated him and then took his drink and food order. It seemed nice enough. Mostly families with children dotted the varies tables and booths around him but he did spot one or two elderly couples mixed in the crowd. But his eyes, that had been sweeping the crowd, spotted Jordan. She wasn't sitting more than three tables away from him. Eve was with her, dressed in what he was sure was a school uniform. He frowned. That couldn't be right. Eve was only three, not old enough for school. So with that in mind, he stood and walked over to the table. "Is this seat taken?" He asked from behind Jordan.
Jordan jumped at the question having been daydreaming again. Looking up, she caught sight of the person asking the question. "No dad. Join us?" She said with a sigh. "Hi grampa." Came the soft greeting from Eve who had looked up long enough to investigate the new arrival before turning her attention back to the little boy, Ethan.
Nodding, Max caught his waiter and requested that his ordered items be brought to the new table. Sitting down, he eyed Jordan. "So you want to explain, Jordan?" He asked as he took a sip of his newly received ice tea. He wasn't clear on what he wanted explained since there was so many things. He just hoped she'd picked something and start from there.
Rolling her eyes, she looked over at her daughter. "I'm sorry I haven't called you. I've been busy. I started work and Eve started daycare. There just wasn't anytime to socialize." She shrugged.
"Socialize? I'm your father, Jordan. Not a friend or a passing acquaintance of yours. Picking up the phone doesn't take that long." He was quiet then.
Jordan sighed and played with a discarded french fry that was on her plate. He was right of course. But what was she supposed to say? 'Oh by the way I've been avoiding you since you want nothing to do with my daughter?' Ya, that would go over real well. "I've just been busy." She tried again, lamely.
"Garrett said that you haven't applied for your old job back." That made Max wonder at what his daughter was doing with her life now.
"I'm glad Garrett has been keeping tabs on me." She hissed out, still not looking up from her plate. She didn't want to fight. This was her father and she had missed him. But it just seemed so hard to let him in on her new life. A life she spent seven years creating and perfecting only to have it end up in shambles. Starting over was hard and including him, after being away from him for so long, was even harder. "I'm sorry." She laid a hand on his sleeved arm. "I guess I'm still getting used to being back and having family around. Jebadiah, Mark's dad was great but he wasn't you." She said quietly.
Silence greeted him as he ate. Jordan appeared to be lost in thought and Eve was still talking to the little boy but in hushed whispered and an occasional giggle. 'So much like Jordan.' He thought to himself as he pushed his plate away and managed to pay both bills without Jordan even noticing until it was already done and over with. Even the walk that they had opted to take was met with silence. Eve was ahead of them slightly, playing with a rock she had found on the sidewalk along the way. "I didn't know what to think went you disappeared those seven years ago." He broke the silence. "I knew about the divorce and custody hearing but I didn't know..." He stopped and sighed.
"You didn't know what, Dad?" Jordan finally looked over at him, noticing that he really looked his age. Lines and wrinkles crisscrossed his once strong and handsome face. He walked with a slight limp and moved slower than she had ever remembered him moving. "You thought that I had offed myself, didn't you?" She asked in surprise.
Max stopped and stared at her. "Yes. Ok Jordan. I thought that you had gone off somewhere to..." He still couldn't say it. "You never talked about your problems. You'd show up crying and never said why. Then after you lost custody of Spencer...you never reacted. Never told me why you hadn't fought for that little boy. So when Garrett told me about finding the divorce papers signed and you nowhere to be found..." He shrugged and looked down at his feet as he began to move again.
She actually chuckled then. An actually good-hearted chuckle but didn't say anything for a few minutes. "I could have never done myself in, Dad. Not even if I had wanted to." She shook her head. "There had been a few times that I had thought about it but I couldn't. It would have caused those left behind more pain than if I had just left. Do you actually wanna know the whole truth about what happened then? About Spencer and the divorce?" She actually felt ready to talk. To get it all off her chest once and for all. Maybe then she could get past the pain she still felt.
"Of course I do, Jordan. I wish you would have told me back then. Maybe then I could have helped you." Max was a little surprised at hearing Jordan admit to thoughts of suicide. Things must have been worse than he suspected for her to actually consider taking her own life. More than once at that.
"Alright." They had arrived at his house so she sat down on the steps and smiled as Eve sat down beside her, still playing with the rock. She stroked her daughters long brown hair as she gathered her thoughts and courage. Taking a deep breath, she began. "I was the happiest person in the world when Garrett asked me out and even happier when he purposed. Things were great. Even after we got married, things were still great. Then we found out I was pregnant." She had sounded wistful in the beginning but by the end she sounded sad. "Things began to change then. Garrett became overly protective. He cut my work load almost down to nothing. NOTHING! So I went over his head and took cases from Bug and Nigel. They were swamped with work that I should have been helping with. I couldn't do that to them. So I started staying late with them, helping with the workload. Sharing it like it should've been. There was so many cases backlogged. So many autopsies that needed done that all three of us were working well into the early morning. It wouldn't have come to that if Garrett hadn't been acting like an ass." She shook her head. "He was angry when I'd finally get home. Some days he wouldn't say anything and other days he'd...he'd accuse me of having an affair. Can you believe that? I was pregnant with his kid and he had the balls to accuse me, more than once, of sleeping around. Those were the times I showed up at your door in tears." A dry chuckle followed. "I was a workaholic in his eyes and he never once stopped and considered why I was working so much. After Spencer was born...things went from bad to worse. I started to drink to escape his accusations and anger. I'd spend hours at the office and then head straight for the nearest bar. I wasn't alone. I never drank alone. Bug and/or Nigel was always with me. Nigel listened to my drunken rants. He was there for me when my own husband wasn't." She shrugged and fell silent.
Max listened to his daughters story with wide eyes. Garrett had...After everything...He shook his head. "Go on."
A rueful smile formed on her lips. "I think I could have been happy with Nigel if I hadn't been so emotionally distressed." She said out of the blue then continued. "It lasted eight months. The affair that is. For eight months I had someone who cared for me. Loved me for who and what I was. He didn't try to change me. Didn't try to take away my passion and enjoyment of life. He was just there."
"You had an affair? What were you thinking, Jordan? Is that why Garrett filed for custody of Spencer." Max was truly at a loss. He had so many questions.
"No, Garrett had already filed for full custody of Spencer a month before the affair started. On grounds that I was an unfit, alcoholic mother who neglected her own son. I don't think Garrett ever knew about Nigel. We were very close friends so hiding an affair wasn't difficult. I broke it off with Nigel the day I got the divorce papers. I told him that I had to leave. To get away. Garrett had already won custody of Spencer and was taking me to the cleaners in the divorce. Nigel understood. He was there when I signed the papers. He wished me luck with my new life and saw me off. I think I drank my way to Kentucky not like that was my original destination. I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get away. I stopped off at every bar and tavern that I could find. And I stayed until they kicked me out. I would fall asleep in my car, wake up with a hangover and start all over again. I had nothing to lose. Who would have thought that I actually had something to gain?"
Silence. That's the only reply Max could give to that truthful confession. No wonder his daughter ran. She was an emotional wreck and literally watched her life fall apart before her eyes. Affairs, custody proceedings, divorce papers, it all had finally caught up with her and her safety guard kicked in. He could now understand why she disappeared. Why she wouldn't want to come back. It was painful for her. "Oh Jordan." He pulled her in to a loving embrace.
She left her father hold her and rock her. There was no tears. She had shed those tears long ago. Right now she bask in the feeling of being loved. "We should get going. I have to work early tomorrow and Eve has daycare." Jordan smiled as she pulled back and stood. Her smile got bigger when Eve kissed her grandfather on the cheek. "Bye grampa." She stated in such a sweet, innocent voice that it would have made a statue melt. Maybe Eve could make her way into Max's heart. She wasn't a little kid you could just ignore. And Jordan knew that her father was a big softy under his rough exterior. She'd just have to wait and see. Maybe there was a place for him within their lives.
"Bye Sweetheart. Bye Eve." He touched his cheek where the little girl kissed him and smiled. Maybe Jordan would be ok now. Maybe she was strong enough now to face her past. Max could only stand there and watch as they disappeared down the sidewalk.