Chapter Four

The Wedding Planner

Jordan buried her head in her hands….if yesterday she had to remind herself that she was in a good mood, today she needed it tattooed on her forehead that she was supposed to be in a good mood…she was, after all, getting married….

For was wonderful as yesterday was…and the night before, last night and this morning had undone all the feng shui she may have in her life.

First of all was the fight she and Woody had. It had been their first since Kim's wedding…And while Woody wasn't having doubts about marrying her, he had continued to voice his concern over Lily's and Nigel's involvement.

He had totally opposed the Harmony Wellness Center. "Ritualistic cleansing ceremony?

Contradicting energy stream? What kind of bullshit is that for a wedding, Jordan?" he had argued.

"It's the only place we could find that would accommodate the number of guests that are going to be invited," she replied, in a much sharper voice than she wanted to. All this wedding planning was getting on her already-stretched-too-thin last nerve.

"And my devoutly Catholic Aunt Edna from Milwaukee will curl up and die if some feng shui master asks if he can cleanse her before she sets foot in the building…."

"Can't you warn her ahead of time?" she suggested.

"Jordan!" Woody's voiced had reached the top of his Richter scale at that point. "Think about what you're doing….what you're doing to us…"

"All I'm doing is trying to find us a place to get married…." She retorted with as much fire in her voice as he had. "You make some phone calls for a change. See what you can come up with."

"I'm planning the honeymoon…"

"And that's easy….call a travel agent, give them a destination and a dollar amount and BAM! It's done….you try doing all this, working a full-time job, and scheduling everything in a month."

"I was the one who told you we needed to take a year to plan this, remember? Remember? I told you it would take a year. You were the one who didn't want to wait…"

"And I didn't hear you objecting!"

It had gone down hill from there. Soon they both were yelling at each other and not listening to what the other one had to say. Finally Woody threw up his hands in defeat. "You know what….a quick stop at the justice of the peace during lunch is sounding better all the time…"

"We can't do that. What would we tell Lily and Nigel?"

"It's not their wedding, Jordan…and until you remember whose wedding it really is….I think I'll go back to my apartment….let us both cool down awhile…."

He had left without a backwards glance or a good night kiss. She had slept alone in a cold bed and woke up with a splitting headache. She was late for the morning meeting and was in a foul mood. And if Sydney asked her one more time if her bad attitude was because she wasn't getting any, she would clean his clock….kill him…and she knew ways to do it and not get caught.

To further add to the chaos in her mind, Nigel had been shoving sketches of wedding dresses in front of her nose all morning…none of which she really liked. "When I said less is more Nigel, I meant simplicity. I do actually want to be wearing something more than a cocktail napkin when I'm standing at the altar. This would work dandy during the honeymoon, but not during the service. Sorry -- you're going to have to start over from scratch…"

And Nigel had huffed off, his boxers in a twist over her rejection of his design work.

Then if that wasn't enough Drew Hailey had returned called her this morning. Once Jordan had set the date for her wedding, she decided she wanted her father there to give her away….like any traditional Irish girl.

The problem was, she couldn't find Max. Nigel and Bug had looked for him….so had some of Woody's buddies at the Nineteenth and in Sunny D. Max wasn't to be found. Finally, Jordan called in her favors due to her from the FBI. If anyone could find her wayward father, they could. She had phoned Hailey three weeks ago and asked him to look for her father. While highly amused at the fact that Jordan Cavanaugh was getting married, Drew did agree to run Max through the system and see what could be found.

The answer to that was a big, fat, zero. It was as if Max had dropped off the face of the earth. "I'll keep looking, I promise," Hailey had told her. But right now it looked like Jordan would be traveling solo down the aisle to meet Woody…if she met him there at all.

A soft knock on her door pulled her out of her morose thoughts. "Come in," she answered, not raising her head off her desk. She'd really like a cup of coffee laced with Bailey's right now…a hot shower….and a nap….with Woody.

"Thought you might need this," Woody's voice said from above her.

"Oh, hi…" she smiled gamely at him and took the cup of hot caffeine he offered. "How did you know?"

"Figured you had a rough night, too … and a rough morning like I did…I'm no good anymore if I don't wake up next to you…" He chuckled then, but was trying to get a look at her face…trying to fathom if it held rejection or regret.

He didn't have to look too hard to see the second emotion. "I'm so sorry, Wood," she said.

"Not as sorry as I am," Woody replied, setting his cup down and pulling her into his arms, kissing her soundly. "I had no right to talk to you that way. I know planning this wedding is a bitch…trying to get everything done in a month. Is it any better this morning?"

Dismally she shook her head. "No…it's not. Nigel's idea of a wedding dress is scandalous even by my definition…and I still can't find any place other than the BoSox stadium that might accommodate our guest list…and that's only if the Sox aren't in the running for the pennant this year…."

"Bite your tongue," Woody replied, pulling her just a little tighter to him. "It'll all work out…trust me."

"I know…I just wanted this to be special…instead, it's like a three ring circus. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but this is not at all what I remotely planned. I don't want octopus served at the reception…I want melted chocolate and strawberries….a real wedding cake and not some soy-based substitute….I want champagne and not organic fruit smoothies…"

"In other words, Jordan Cavanaugh is more of a closet romantic, traditional girl than she has ever let on?" he asked looking deep in her eyes.

Miserably she nodded. "I guess I just need to come clean with Lily and Nigel…"

Woody nodded slowly and thoughtfully. "Yeah, you do. And they'll understand…"

"But that puts me back at square one with a wedding date set, and no wedding planned."

Woody kissed her soundly again. "It will happen, Jordan. Don't worry….just tell Lily and Nigel what you really want…."

He had finally gotten her to agree to go out to lunch with him…and even managed to get a few smiles out of her during that hour. Once back at his office at the precinct, he sat down at his desk and thought some things through, penciling in notes on a legal pad. When he was finally satisfied, he picked up his phone and made a call. "Garret?" he said to the voice on the other end of the line. "This is Woody. Can you meet me for drinks tonight after work? It won't take long, I promise." There was pause. "No, Jordan and I are fine…just fine. I just need to talk to you about the wedding." Another pause. "No, I'm not getting cold feet. What's it about?"

Woody hesitated for a moment. "Well…have you ever thought about a second career as a wedding planner?"