Chapter Two
One Thing Money Can't Change
Things would change now that she had money. He'd bet on it.
Things…and her. She would change as well. No one could inherit that much money and not change, Woody thought, sitting in his office chair and staring out the window. He wasn't sure how or when, but Jordan would change.
She would probably start subtly at first. New haircut…better clothes…but that would escalate. Soon her old, water-logged El Camino would be destined for the junk heap and he would wager she'd either buy some foreign sports car or one of those designer Hummers.
Not to mention where she lived. He had already overheard Lily telling Bug and Nigel that Jordan was giving up her Pearle Street apartment and moving into her grandmother's old house. Well…old mansion was more like it.
He knew that for a fact. He had ridden past the estate at lunch time just to see if there was a moving van in front of it yet. He wasn't very successful. The house stood hundreds of feet from the road, fronted by a fence and trees and a gate that wasn't yielding even to his detective's badge. The guy that answered the intercom said that Ms. Cavanaugh wasn't at home yet and they anticipated her arrival sometime in the next coming weeks.
Damn it. She would have a butler. And a maid.
And certain more than he ever hoped to give her on his detective's salary. When they had worked things out between them, the best he could possibly offer her was a Cape Cod in some nameless, faceless suburb. If they were lucky, the housing development would have a pool.
Woody winced inwardly and awkwardly stood up. He had been sitting far too long and his back was telling him that in no uncertain terms. Despite the successful surgeries and therapy, there were days when his back and legs bothered him tremendously. Days that were particularly wet and cold, days when he sat too long in one position, or days he was on his feet for far too many hours. The doctors had promised him it would get better and eventually go away. And it was…gradually. Just not fast enough for him.
He was still a cripple in some ways. Jordan should never have to put up with that. Especially now. He turned to put on his coat and gathered his briefcase and papers. The truth was that despite everything, he still loved her.
But sometimes love just wasn't enough for a relationship to blossom and then bloom. They had danced around each other for too long…she pushed him away the he pushed her away…and just when Jordan had gotten over the hurt of his rejection and they were making progress, what does he do? Gets cold feet and tell her they need to take it slow and make sure this was really right between them.
Woody didn't know anything could be more right than that one night at the Lucy Carver Inn. Give and take and communication in a relationship were well and good….and needed, he believed. But a night of hot sex could go a long way in establishing all three.
And that night was the best sex he could ever remember. Mind-blowing, hot, feel-it-throbbing-all-the-way-to-your-gums sex.
Instead of thanking the powers that be that it had finally happened between them, he gets scared that she'll run from him again. So in an effort to save his male pride, he pushed her away first. I don't want to be the rebound guy, he told her.
In desperation, he had begun dating…Santana, Lu, Annie…a few others. He knew Jordan was aware of it. She had seen him out with Lu. The hurt on Jordan's face had haunted him for days. She didn't understand him or his reasoning. Let's take things slow…the look on her face after he had said that told him her thoughts plainly: Fuck you. Fuck slow.
But in a way, his actions made sense. Perfectly awful, tragically real sense. Get over her before she hurts you again. Move on. Jordan will never be serious about anyone and any relationship. It's better to just keep moving and just remember that one night at the Lucy Carver Inn. It may hurt now, but it will get better. Hell, one day he might even laugh over it.
Maybe they both would…years from now.
Many years from now.
Okay, maybe never.
However, it all could be a moot point. The money…the money would make her change. She might not even want him any longer…she may think she's too good for him now. He had endured enough pain and rejection in his life. No, it was better this way. Just keep pushing her away and moving ahead with his own life.
"You got that autopsy report on Charles Van Guard complete yet?" Woody asked, walking into Jordan's office. He didn't bother to knock.
"Almost. I'm waiting on the final tox screens to come back."
Woody stifled an impatient sigh. "The man was not drugged, Jordan. Nor was he pushed. He simply had the misfortune of slipping on a patch of ice and falling off the train platform."
"Yeah, well, that's what they all say. Personally, I'd rather be given the truth forensically. It stands up better in a court of law, you know?"
"Look…I just need to get this case closed and off my desk. I have twenty-five more just like it staring at me."
"You'll have your report when I get my tox screen," Jordan replied, her eyes taking in his form. He had been cold to her in the past, ever since his decision to take their relationship slowly. And the temperature in the room was getting chillier by the minute as they stared each other down. Jordan silently wondered just what the hell had happened between them. For a while they were so close they could feel each other's heartbeat across the room.
Now they were barely strangers.
Catching her throat growing tight, she stood and walked around the corner of her desk, propping against it…within inches of him. "What happened this time, Woody?" she softly asked.
"I don't know what you mean.."
"Tell me another one, Farm Boy. On my birthday, after you thought I turned down your ring, you told me we were better off as friends. But then you had no clue that the reason I was calling you was to ask you if I could change my mind…and take the ring. You know now, but you didn't know then. And at the hospital, after Riggs shot you, you pushed me away when I finally said the words you told me you had been wanting to hear – that I loved you and couldn't imagine my life without you. And now…when I'm ready to go forward with the relationship, you decide we need to slow it down. Every time I'm ready…and you get cold feet. Why?'
"We….we just aren't suited for each other, Jordan."
She eyed him up and down, giving Woody the distinct feeling she was undressing him with her eyes. "That night at the Lucy Carver Inn proves otherwise."
"That was just sex."
Jordan raised her eyebrow. "Really? Just sex?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
Woody nodded. "And besides, anything between us would be out of the question now, your heiress…"
Jordan let out a hissing sigh. "Money. So it all comes back to that. You think I'll change…become something and someone else because my grandmother left me her estate?"
"I've seen less money change lesser people."
"And they weren't me. I'm not going to change."
"Time will tell, Jordan. Look, I gotta be going. Give me a call when the report is ready, okay?" With that Woody turned sharply on his heel and strode out of her office, eating up the ground with his quick, long strides.
"Sure will, your high assiness…." Jordan replied before sitting down her couch and covering her face with her hands.
So Woody still thought she would change because of the money. She hadn't. She still reported to work everyday. She didn't go out much…her life really hadn't changed other than the fact that she was moving into her grandmother's house this weekend.
Well, that wasn't quite the whole truth. She did go out with Steve. She had listened to Lily and called Steve back. They went to dinner. He turned out to be a very nice looking, interesting man…for an investment banker. His talk about mutual funds and 400 accounts went right over her head, but he loved to run, like she did, and he played the guitar, too…albeit an electric one.
He was a nice guy.
He just didn't have those piercing blue eyes and an awful taste in ties.
He wasn't Woody.
And neither was Neil or Todd or Patrick….the other guys that had left messages with Emmy a few weeks ago. They were all super-nice gentlemen who sincerely seemed to want to spend time with her. They were all nice looking…generous….sweet.
But they weren't Woody.
Funny how a cop from Wisconsin could upset her dating psyche so…but she knew what was wrong. She loved Woody.
She didn't love any of these other guys.
However, if Woody had sailed away from her port with no ticket to return, the best thing she could do for herself and for him was to forget what they had in the past and look to her future, possibly with Steve or Neil or Todd or Patrick.
Money might change a lot of things, but not one fact…
She still loved him. Even though he acted like an ass, she still wanted to be his.
