Chapter Two

Friends in Need are Friends Indeed

"So how's the wedding plans coming?" Woody asked, as he greeted his fiancé with a kiss on the cheek at Mike's Grill. After seeing Jordan at her field call, they had decided to catch a quick lunch together before going back to work. As busy as both of them were putting in extra hours so they could have a decent honeymoon, time together was becoming a rarity. Too rare, Woody thought, as he felt his body reacting to her closeness and perfume. Down boy, we've only got time for lunch ….

Jordan hesitated a moment before she decided to hide behind her menu. "Okay, I guess…"

"You guess?" Woody pulled the menu down so he could look her in the eyes. And her eyes were telling him that something could be seriously wrong. She couldn't be getting cold feet, could she? "What's wrong…you're not having second thoughts, are you?"

Jordan's eyes widened. "No…no… not at all. Never. Ever. Don't even think that."

"Good," Woody responded, visibly relieved. "Then what's up?"

Jordan sighed and put her menu away. "Everything's going wrong, Woody. The entire city of Boston and God Himself have conspired against us getting married. The park needs six weeks to approve the permit, we can't use the morgue, or even the chapel at the hospital, because it's against the rules for city employees to use city facilities for personal reasons….your church is being fumigated that week….so we have no place to get married…The only thing going right is that Paul will marry us…." She propped her head on her hand, looking totally exasperated.

"The gazebo at …?"

"Reserved for a family reunion…"

"Damn…then our choices are limited…"

"There's always the courthouse and a justice of the peace…"

"No…This is our wedding, Jordan. I want it to be special…."

"Then how do you feel about Vegas?"

"And chance running into Sam or Danny McCoy? I don't think so. I believe we need to go back to my original plan."

"Wait a whole year?"

"It's only 365 days…we probably can get the hotel that Kim used, and the same suite we…"

Jordan felt her cheeks grow warm at the memory. Woody's love and support were the only things getting her through this wedding planning. And she wanted those on a permanent basis…just as soon as she could get them. She was more than ready for a ring to go on her finger and her last name to be changed to Hoyt. She gulped as the realization hit her once again just how ready she was to become Woody's wife. Not just his girlfriend…Not just his best friend…not just his co-worker. His wife…Mrs. Woodrow Wilson Hoyt….for better or for worse…for richer or for poorer…..

"I don't want to wait a year," she whispered. "I've waited nearly four years…another year just seems too long…"

Woody flashed her a smile. "I know…we can still be together while we wait…"

Jordan shook her head. "That's not it…I can't explain it other than I'm ready … ready for this…more ready than I've ever been for anything."

"Then at least give it at least six months?"

"That's still too long…Anyway, I've got Nigel and Lily helping with the planning now. Lily says she knows people that can help us and Nigel is going to get my dress…"

"Lily's planning the ceremony and Nigel's making your dress?" The shock in Woody's voice rose with each syllable of every word. "I don't think that's a good idea, Jordan."

"What else am I supposed to do? I don't want one of those air-head, Barbie doll wedding planners …and I can't afford one. I'm working as many extra hours as I can right now and so my time is limited…."

Woody sighed. "Are you sure they know what they're doing?"

"Lily has probably had her own wedding planned for years, so yeah, I think she would have a pretty good idea of what I would like…and Nigel has designed some women's clothing in the past…he has an idea of what looks good on me."

"I don't know, Jordan. This is our wedding. I want it to be…be…."

"Perfect?"

He shook his head. "Not perfect…but ours. Something that reflects us…who we are…and how much we love each other…how much I love you…"

Jordan felt another blush rise to her cheeks. How this man pursued her with gentle relentlessness for years and put up with all of her issues for so long never ceased to amaze her…that and the fact that when he gave her that look from underneath his long lashes made her just want to take him back to her apartment and have her wicked ways with him….She cleared her throat. "I did tell Lily that I didn't want to be married by a Buddhist monk and told Nigel that less is more as far as wedding dresses were concerned…"

Woody groaned inwardly…Now images of a New Age ceremony and his wife-to-be in a white bikini with a veil flooded his mind….

"Besides, they'll check with me before they make any final decisions…don't worry. Anyway….we need to plan the honeymoon. Want to come by my place after work?"

"And look at travel brochures?"

"No…I told you I'd let you decide where we were going. I thought maybe we could practice up for the honeymoon activities…."

"Having any luck?" Nigel asked Lily, popping his head in her office at the end of the day. "Have you found somewhere our lovebirds can tie the knot at?"

"I've got a few leads…but I need to talk to Jordan first. There's that small Catholic chapel in the next parish over that is available, but it is small. It will seat 100 people, max. Then there's the President's Parlor at UMass…Jordan did graduate from there, so she's eligible to use it…but it has a limited seating capacity, too. The largest room I could find is at the Harmony Center…"

"The New Age church on Commerce?"

"Yeah. I go there, so I could get it at a reasonable cost for her and Woody. It seats 250…300, if we use the balcony. Do you know how many people they're inviting?"

Nigel thought for a minute. "Well…neither one of them have large families…With Jordan, it's just Max…if I can find him. And Woody mentioned inviting the aunt and uncle he and Cal lived with after his father died…But both of them have a lot of friends, and with Jordan working for the state and Woody in the Boston PD, that's a lot of people…"

"So the Harmony Center looks like the best bet.."

"I would think so."

"Is Jordan still here? She needs to okay this asap…"

"No, she left about fifteen minutes ago. I think she mentioned that she and Woody were going to finalize the honeymoon or something to that effect…."

"If I wait, she may not get the reservation…"

"Then go ahead and tell the church you'll take it…then tell Jordan tomorrow. Her choices are limited…she can't say no…"

"Are you sure?" Lily looked dubious…she didn't want to anything that might upset Jordan right now. Her job was stressful enough…Lily didn't want the wedding to add to that too much.

"You can always cancel the reservation…the main thing is that she and Woody find somewhere to be married…."

"You're right, Nige….how's the wedding dress coming?"

Nigel sighed and gave Lily a mournful look. "I did a few sketches, but realized that I probably won't have time to make it…I'm going to have to find an off-the-rack frock and alter it to my ideal…"

"So you and Jordan need to go shopping…"

"Well, she's on call for the next three days….so it's sort of out of the question for her to take the time off for a shopping spree…but on the other hand, I need to get to work on it. So I'm going shopping for her after work…"

"Nigel, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Is the Pope Catholic? Want to come along, love?"

Lily considered her British friend for a moment. She wanted this wedding to be special for Jordan and Woody. Everyone had seen them both dance around each other for years and now that they had finally agreed to marry, Lily was bound and determined that their wedding would be the social event of the season…something that people would talk about for years to come.

Even if she only had four weeks to pull it off.

She knew Nigel's taste in clothes could run from the classic to the eccentric and Jordan's comment of "less is more" bothered her. Yeah, this was an event she would definitely need to supervise. "Sure," she replied, picking up her phone, "Just let me call the Harmony Center and reserve the chapel there."