CHAPTER 5 – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

The room had been quiet when Teresa woke up this morning. She could hear the ocean waves lapping the shore and she could smell the freshly brewed coffee sitting in the pot. Jane's gear was missing so he must have gone for another swim. She was feeling rested – Jane had done one of his hypnosis thingies to help her sleep, both of them fearing another sleepless night with her anxiety around babysitting today – at least that's what she said it was. She was too desperate to get a good night's rest to put up a fight. She was hungry and couldn't decide if she should wait for Jane to get room service or not. Her stomach won the match, and she ordered the works. She had multiple texts from Stan and Jimmy asking her to come to the beach – after eating breakfast and no Jane in sight, she headed over to meet her them.

She decided to walk over since the weather was so nice and she needed the exercise. This resort was so beautifully landscaped and romantic. There were lots of couples holding hands walking, eating ice cream, smiling at each other… the beach was packed too with more of the same. She thought wistfully… this was supposed to be her and Marcus, but instead of making her feel happy, it made her heart sink. Marcus was everything she could have hoped for in a boyfriend… and she heard herself say 'the opposite of Jane' which shocked her. Why was she measuring Marcus against Jane? Why did it matter what Marcus was or wasn't compared to him? She started taking inventory of her relationship with Marcus and realized that she wasn't in love with him at all, just the idea of him. She stopped at a railing and looked out at the ocean, the sun was so hot today and she couldn't decide if she was tired because of the heat or the exhausting thoughts that were running through her head. The future that she had carefully put together these last few months started to tumble and fall apart. She felt lost and disoriented. Marcus deserved better – she couldn't keep going on like this when she knew she didn't love him. The need to call him and break things off right away was overpowering, but she ultimately decided that tomorrow morning would be soon enough... she needed to save her energy for the babysitting tonight.

As she started walking again, her thoughts drifted to Jane. The last twelve years of her life have revolved around him, even when he was in exile, he'd had a hold on her. He was here with her at her brother's wedding for goodness sake. She was all jumbled up inside from last night's declaration as well and realized that she never could make sense of her feelings for him. She just couldn't think clearly when it came to him, but she knew that she couldn't live like this any longer. The truth had been staring her in the face all this time and she couldn't or wouldn't see it – she needed to move on from him. Knowing that she would be breaking up with Marcus made her feel guilty… but the thought of leaving Jane was making her feel like she couldn't breathe. For Jane… life, love, it was just a game that he played now, nothing to take seriously. He seemed happy to keep things just the way they were and had always been. She needed to go to D.C. regardless of her relationship ending with Marcus and live a life that didn't include Jane in any way… for her sanity. It's what was best for both of them. Tears were clogging her throat and she desperately tried to keep them at bay. The last thing she needed was for her brothers to see her crying.

Jane had been walking along the beach for a while now. He'd gotten up early to go for a swim. He hadn't expected to be gone this long – but once he started walking, he found that he couldn't stop. He needed a plan and soon. He tried to get her to open up yesterday and tell him about her plans, but she remained silent on it. I guess he could have asked her straight out, but he found it strange that she still hadn't mentioned it to him and he didn't want to push. It was almost noon and he was getting hungry. He stopped by the beach café to pick up a snack before he headed back to the hut. He'd noticed how uncomfortable she was when he tried to thank her for being there for him. He'd just wanted her to know how important she was to him… but she had looked physically uncomfortable during the interaction and maybe she misread the situation. He'd let himself flirt with her a little yesterday and usually, she didn't take it too seriously – but maybe that was the issue. He might have taken it too far – she was with Marcus and he needed to respect that. Maybe he should pick up a date to show her that he wasn't trying to come between her and Marcus. That would be easy enough. He looked around and found his target. He had to make it believable for Lisbon. Ten minutes later, he had a date for tomorrow evening before the bachelor party and he headed back to the hut with the woman's number on his phone.

Jane was halfway back to the hut when he spotted Teresa walking along the path by herself. He jogged over to her and he seemed to have startled her from her thoughts. She recovered, and her lips curved into a half-smiled.

"Hey stranger," said Lisbon.

"Hey," said Jane. "Sleep well?"

He flashed her a huge grin.

"Yes, I did. And thanks for making the coffee," she said beaming back at him. She couldn't help it… he looked so handsome with his windswept hair, squinting at her from the sun.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Everyone's apparently at the beach. I'm on my way to join them," she said matter-of-factly.

"You're welcome to join if you want to come along."

Something was different with Lisbon. He couldn't put his finger on it – she sounded sad even though she was smiling at him.

"Is everything okay?" Jane asked studying her face, but she was wearing her sunglasses – so he couldn't get an accurate read on her.

"Oh yeah, everything is fine actually. It's been a really great morning. I had a lot of time to think you know." – Her smile froze. – "Everyone's waiting, so I'll get going." Teresa pasted back her smile and said, "Join us later if you feel up to it."

"What time is your brother dropping off his kids?" Patrick asked to see if he would win the bet he made with her last night.

Teresa exhaled loudly. "You win, Jane… He asked to bring them at 4 pm – but I stayed firm and he's bringing them over around six."

Teresa smiled and continued on her walk. Patrick watched her walk away and wondered what she'd been thinking about that had made her sad.