The Disclaimer:
I own nothing but my words. The characters and foundation that my words are built upon are not mine, but belong to those who created and brought these characters to life.
And here we go...
The story:
As Rob settled in for the long drive back to Killarney his mind and his heart were having an internal power struggle. He really appreciated the time to think that the travel on long country roads afforded him. Thinking over what Roger had said to him, the danger that both he and Jodi could be exposed to if they continue down the path they were on. He could nearly justify risking himself for the chance to get closer to her and feel the comfort that he knew he could find in her. She was the first person for so long that he had shared a part of his history with, and the lengths she went to in order to allow him to feel connected to his Dad again touched him deeply. It was the first time since being on witness protection that he genuinely felt like Matt again, so how could he not try to cling to that feeling.
But Rob knew he could never be so selfish as to endanger Jodi. Too many people had already suffered because they were in his life, what is losing one more connection when the alternative could compromise her safety. It was not an option. How could the opportunity to tuck her wavy locks behind her ear and lightly brush her cheek with his fingertips ever compare to her well-being. The feeling of his heart beating faster when their eyes met was expendable when faced with the possibility of his heart breaking if she came to any harm because of him.
He didn't want to admit to Roger, let alone himself, that Jodi was anything more to him than a look alike to his lost love Anna and a worker on a neighbouring farm. Logic and reason dictate that is where it needed to stop. But logic and reason were rarely present when Jodie and Rob crossed paths. Just like when he had found a hair clip in the cottage bathroom, he had known instantly who it's owner was. Or when Jodi mistook him as gay and stripped off in front of him in a paddock. She was many things but above all she was one of a kind.
Telling Jodi that they needed to forget the bonding they had experienced and go back to being workers on neighbouring farms took a great deal of determination. As Rob looked Jodi in the eyes she hit the nail on the head, she knew that it was his situation in witness protection that guided his words, and even as he knuckled down and stuck to his guns she proceeded to put to words what she knew he wouldn't say. If no one knows then there is no danger she said. But he would not take that chance. She meant too much to him to risk it. And so he walked away.
But she wasn't going to back down so easily...
