***Willow Pond***
It had been about 4 days since Jennifer moved to the beach house. She and Jonathan hadn't spoken since he was creeping around the beach house and she hit him on the head with a vase. The conversation that followed was extremely eye opening for Jonathan, and extremely depressing for Jennifer.
She hadn't spoken to Jonathan, but she had spoken to Max every day. He told her was determined to fix things.
Jonathan was at the house when he got a phone call. Lt. Grey was coming to see them. He had Max use the other line and call Jennifer and tell her that Lt. Grey needed to see her at Willow Pond right away.
"She said she's on her way, Mr. H. She also said this better not be a trick".
He chuckled a little bit. She was always too smart for her own good.
He was excited to see her, actually. He was hoping that he could convince her to have dinner with him after Lt. Grey left.
Jennifer arrived about 20 minutes later. She was absolutely breath taking. She had on a deep green colored wrap top, black capris and some silver flip flops.
He opened the door for her, and held it as she came inside.
She went to the table by the stairs and put her purse down.
He came up behind her and kissed her cheek.
"I'm glad you came, Jennifer".
She turned back towards him slightly.
"Thanks".
She went and sat on the couch. She had brought Freeway, so he could see Max.
Max came in and she got up and hugged him.
"Hiya Max".
"Hey there, Mrs. H. You look gorgeous today".
"Thanks Max".
Jonathan had come and sat by her.
"Ok Jonathan, what gives?"
"I don't know, honestly. Lt. Grey said he wanted to come by and speak with both of us, so I had Max call you and ask you to come over".
"I see. And he didn't say why he wanted to speak with us?"
"No. He said it had to be in person. I offered to come to the station, and he said no, it would be best if he came here".
They were quiet for a few minutes. Jonathan looked at her.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Some water would be nice, thank you".
He got up and got her some water. He made sure to use her favorite glass and crushed ice, just like she liked it. He even got her spring water, not tap. Jennifer hated tap water.
He brought it to her.
"Spring water, not tap. Crushed ice, not cubed. And in your favorite glass".
She was touched. "You remembered".
"I did."
The gate buzzed and Max let Lt. Grey in. He opened the door for them and showed them in.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Hart. I came here to tell you that the trial for Paul, Chip and Dylan will be next week. However, Paul has made some statements that are concerning. So, because of that, we are going to put you two in protective custody. It cannot be here, because he knows that you live here. It needs to be somewhere he doesn't know that you own".
"We have a beach house, in Malibu."
"That might work".
"Wait a minute. What is this going to entail?"
"You two will live there, and have police outside your home at all times."
"Can we go places?"
"It's not recommended".
She nodded.
They went over the details and then Lt. Grey said he would put his men on the beach house right away. Jonathan ran upstairs to pack his clothes. He looked at Jennifer as he was going up the stairs.
"Please wait for me before you leave".
She nodded.
She gathered up Freeway, and Max said he was going to go to Vegas.
"If you guys need me, I am just a phone call away".
She nodded.
Jonathan had come down pretty quickly. He grabbed a few more things from the house, and then they decided to go in Jennifer's Porsche.
"Secure the house, would you Max?"
"Sure thing, Mr. and Mrs. H."
They got in the car and headed to the beach house. It was a very quiet ride.
***Beach house***
They pulled up into the garage and parked. Jennifer had told herself she was going to be civil, but just because they were being forced to spend a week together, that didn't mean things had changed between them.
She was trying not to be angry with him, which was hard because he had really hurt her.
She decided to work on an article when they got to the beach house. She went upstairs and changed clothes, and then came back downstairs and took one end of the couch. She had a little moveable desk that allowed her to have her laptop right in front of her.
She worked on her article for hours, barely noticing what he was doing.
He sat on the other end of the couch, and tried to read. He had a hard time focusing on the words though, because he was staring at her.
"Gosh she is so beautiful…"
He turned the TV on, and turned the volume down low so that he wouldn't disturb her. But he was still staring at her.
She was trying to focus on her article. But in reality, she had written the same line 4 times.
She could feel him watching her. She wanted to just grab him and kiss him, but she couldn't. They were past that point.
She wanted to look over at him, but she couldn't, because he was looking at her and he would see it. This was so strange, but she reminded herself that she didn't drive them to this point, he did.
She had done all that she could do to try and fix things between them, and he had rebuffed each attempt that she made. Of course, once she stops, that's when he wants to join in. It was maddening.
She meant to ask Lt. Grey if they were going to have to testify. She made a note to herself that she needed to call him the next day and ask.
She put her article away for a little bit, and went over to the fridge.
She decided to make grilled chicken for dinner. They had a grill on the balcony.
"Is grilled chicken ok for dinner?"
"Sure. Can I help?"
"If you'd like".
He got up and went to the kitchen to join her.
"What do you want with the grilled chicken?"
"How about that brown rice that you make?"
"Ok."
She got out the ingredients for it, and assembled it.
"This takes an hour to bake, so why don't you marinate the chicken, and we can set the timer for that, and then when it goes off, I will put the rice in?"
"Ok".
He marinated the chicken and then put it in the fridge.
"Would you like a cocktail?"
"That sounds nice".
He made her usual, a double vodka martini, straight up, no olives, with a twist.
He made himself a Manhattan, and they took their cocktails out onto the terrace.
The sun was setting, and that was Jennifer's favorite time of day.
They were quiet for a little bit. Jonathan finally decided to break the ice.
"What is your article about?"
"The epidemic of HIV and people who are trying to erase the stigma of HIV."
"That sounds interesting".
She nodded.
"This is so awkward…why can't we just talk to each other?"
"Have you decided when you are going back to the office?"
"Well, I was going to go back this week, but then we got put here".
She didn't know how to respond to that, so she just stayed quiet.
A few minutes later, the timer went off, so she went to the kitchen, leaving him on the balcony.
He got up and went inside to help her.
"Can I help?"
"If you touch me, I will lose my mind…"
"Sure. Why don't you set the table?"
"Do you really think that's a good idea?"
She turned to face him.
"We are going to have to eat on plates, Jonathan".
"That's not what I mean".
"Well, explain please".
"Well, every time you ask me to set the table, you come back and tell me I did it wrong. And we are actually getting along right now, and I was only trying to avoid a fight".
"I appreciate that. I promise I won't say anything. Just set the table, please".
"Sure".
He grabbed them knives and forks, and plates and napkins and set the table.
He made sure to do it correctly. He got them glasses of water after he was finished.
He went and grilled the chicken, and she got everything else ready.
They had a nice dinner, and then he insisted on cleaning up since she had done the cooking.
She went and took a hot bath, and then came back downstairs to work on her article some more.
He was trying to read again, but it wasn't working.
He finally gave up and locked all the doors and then went upstairs.
She worked for another hour or so, and then went upstairs herself.
She was shocked to find that he had taken one of the bedrooms on the second floor.
She walked past his room, and saw that he had fallen asleep, with his clothes on. She went and gently took his shoes off, and put his book on the nightstand. She covered him with a blanket, and while she was able to resist the urge to kiss him, she did brush his hair from his forehead for a bit.
She leaned down and whispered in his ear.
"Goodnight. I love you", and then tiptoed out of the room.
She went up to her room, and tried to get some sleep.
***The next morning***
She woke up and found him still sleeping. She went downstairs and started making breakfast. She decided to make them eggs, bacon, and hash browns. She made some coffee, and took her breakfast out to the balcony.
He had smelled the bacon cooking, and woke up. He realized he had fallen asleep in his clothes, so he changed clothes and came downstairs.
She was on the balcony, listening to music.
The lyrics of the song she was listening to crushed him.
'Hey there, Mr. Tin man/You don't know how lucky you are/You shouldn't spend your whole life wishing/for something bound to fall apart
Every time you're feeling empty/better thank your lucky stars/If you ever felt one breaking/You'd never want a heart
Hey there Mr. Tin Man/You don't know how lucky you are/I've been on the road that you're on/It didn't get me very far
You ain't missing nothing/'Cause love is so damn hard/Take it from me darlin', you don't want a heart
Hey there Mr. Tin Man/Glad we talked this out/You can take mine if you want it/ It's in pieces now
By the way there, Mr. Tin Man/If you don't mind the scars/You give me your armor, and you can have my heart". -Miranda Lambert
He realized now that he hadn't just pushed her away and ignored her. He had broken her heart and made her feel unlovable. The one thing he had sworn to her recently that she had never been, and he had caused it.
He grabbed the plate she had made for him and joined her on the balcony.
He thought he saw her wipe tears from her eyes, but he wasn't sure.
"Morning. Thanks for making breakfast".
"Morning, and your welcome. Would you like some coffee?"
"Yes, please".
She got up and got him a cup and brought it back to him.
"Did you sleep ok?"
She nodded. "And so did you. You were passed out before I was".
He thought for a minute.
"Did you cover me with the blanket?"
She nodded. "I didn't want you to be cold".
"Thanks".
Neither of them were ready to acknowledge the baby steps they were taking. But they were both so glad they were taking them.
***Later that day***
The police watching them had allowed them to make a grocery store run, and Jonathan insisted on coming with Jennifer.
They were followed in an unmarked car, and he watched them safely from a distance the whole time they were in the store.
They stocked up on everything, just to be safe. He helped her unload and put away the groceries when they got back.
"This afternoon, why don't we take a walk on the beach?"
"Will they let us?"
"Can't hurt to ask".
Jonathan went to ask, and came back a few minutes later.
"They said no. Sorry, I tried".
"Thanks for trying".
She sat down and started working on her article some more, and he sat down at the other end of the couch and turned the TV on.
There was a storm brewing, and she could feel it coming. She started getting a migraine.
She got up and took one of her pills and drank a glass of water, but it didn't help.
She tried to lay down, but that just made it worse.
He could see she was really in pain.
He got up and got her a hot wash cloth and brought it to her. She put it on the back of her neck, and it helped some.
He sat behind her and started rubbing her shoulders and getting the knots out.
He could feel how tense she was, and he realized that he probably caused most of it.
After a few minutes of him rubbing her shoulders, he realized she was kind of limp.
"Is this helping?"
"Yes, actually."
He kept at it for another ten minutes.
"How do you feel now?"
"Better. Thank you".
They had always had a routine when Jennifer got a migraine. Hot towel for her neck, shoulder massage from him, and then a light back scratch.
"Do you want the next step?"
"Yes, if you don't mind".
"Of course I don't mind".
He started giving her a back scratch, but about halfway through it, she stood up.
"I think I'm going to go lay down. Thanks for helping".
She bolted up the steps.
She hoped his feelings weren't hurt, because she loved what he did for her. It was just that if he touched her for one more second, she would be all over him. That's not how she wanted to fix their issues.
She laid down on the bed, and fell asleep pretty easily, which was unusual for her. She usually couldn't sleep in the day.
After about an hour, he snuck upstairs and covered her with a blanket. He leaned down and lightly kissed her on the forehead and then went back downstairs.
She slept till way past dinner. He tried to wait till she woke up, but he was starving. He finally popped a frozen lasagna in the oven, and made a salad. She came downstairs about 10 minutes before it was ready.
"Feeling better?"
"Much".
He made her a spring water with crushed ice, and then he got the lasagna out of the oven. He took care of everything for dinner for them, and wouldn't let her help.
As soon as he sat down, the power went out.
"I got this, don't move".
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter, and lit the candles on the table.
He got up and walked to the sliding glass door and cracked it.
They ate their dinner by candle light.
"Remember our first candle light dinner?'
"I do. It was on a stormy night a lot like this".
"It was our 4th date, if I recall correctly".
"Yes, you recall correctly".
"If you don't mind me saying so, you were just as lovely then as you are now".
"I don't mind, thank you".
They ate their dinner and she moved the candles to the counter.
She did the dishes by candle light, and just as she finished, Jonathan found a radio that took batteries.
He got it working and found an easy listening station.
"Care to dance?"
"No thanks".
"Are you sure? You love to dance with me".
"Did. I did love to dance with you".
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you can't just swoop in here and think that our issues can be solved by dancing or giving me a massage or you fixing dinner. It doesn't work that way. You have to try and put in the effort".
"Jennifer, I am really trying here. Can't you see that?"
"I see you trying, but you aren't getting it. All these months, you could have been doing this and it would have worked."
"Tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it".
"I can't. I need you to know it on your own".
"Jennifer-"
"Look, Jonathan. It's hard being around you and not wanting things to be the way they used to be. But you hurt me, you pushed me away. You made me feel unlovable, and you swore to me that I had never been unlovable. That was a hard realization to come to, that you thought of me as unlovable. So, if you and I are going to get through this confinement period, it's best if we just keep our distance, ok?"
"I don't think you are unlovable. I am sorry I made you feel that way, but I swear, I don't think that you are unlovable".
She nodded.
"I'm going to bed. Good night".
She went to the third floor and got ready for bed.
He went up after her, and heard her crying. He went to her room to see if he could comfort her and try and get her to talk to him.
She was in the bathroom.
He came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"I will never forgive myself for hurting you like this. But, I promise you, it was about me, never about you. I love you, you know that".
"Then why did you push me away?"
"Because I was mad. Mad at myself and I didn't want to deal with it, so I blocked everyone and everything out".
"Mad at yourself for what?"
"For not protecting you from Paul. He set me up and I practically spoon fed you to him."
"Have I once said that any of that was your fault?"
"No, you haven't. Believe me, I said it enough in my head for the both of us".
"It wasn't your fault, and I never blamed you."
"I know that now."
"Good. It's about damn time!"
They didn't say anything for a minute or two, and then he just opened his arms and enveloped her. It was the first time he had touched her in 3 months. It was a nice hug, but they were a long way from all is forgiven.