Thank you again to all of you who continue to read and/or review so faithfully and a special thanks to those of you who are just discovering this story! I'm so grateful that people are liking it enough to stick with it- new readers are a lovely surprise!
Back with a longer chapter- I hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 11
"So," Grace sidled up next to Lisbon soon after arriving at work several days later. "Tonight's the big night, huh? Dinner with mom and dad?" she asked teasingly, her hazel eyes dancing.
Lisbon shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I told you yesterday it's not 'mom and dad'. It's Sam and Pete, the friends he's staying with. And it's not a big deal, just a casual dinner."
"If you say so," Grace responded skeptically as she grabbed her apron from the nearby peg, slipped it over her head and began fastening it around her waist. "But for someone who just a few weeks ago who was insisting this was just some summertime fling, meeting the guy's oldest and dearest friends seems like a pretty big step to me."
Grace raised her eyebrows expectantly, but Lisbon held her tongue, snorted a laugh and walked back to check on things in the kitchen rather than refute her friend's good-natured accusations. Any argument she offered would be half-hearted at best, and Grace was perceptive enough she would see right through it. Deep down Lisbon knew that despite her intentions and any claims she might make to the contrary, her relationship with Jane was moving along on a trajectory she had neither planned nor expected.
Okay, relationship might be a bit of a stretch at this point, she thought to herself, but it almost felt like one considering the amount of time the two were spending together and the natural routine they had fallen into over the last few weeks. Jane would stop by the café at some point almost every day, usually during a time he knew they were slow and she could join him for a break. They'd chat about their respective days so far and make tentative plans to see one another after work if they were both available (which they usually were, unless she was doing something with Grace or just needed an evening at home alone to unwind after a long day). Their evenings together were decidedly quiet and low-key, which in a sleepy town like Cannon River wasn't exactly unexpected. But Lisbon found that discovering the simple pleasures around them, whether it be hunting for agates on the beach or eating ice cream on the benches near the cove, brought out a romantic and sweet side to him that she embraced with an openness and ease that was surprising even to her.
The playful banter that had been the hallmark of their interactions since the day they met had remained the same, and she continued to be entertained by his witty comebacks to her sarcastic comments and the playful jibes they hurled at one another. But now this light, easy rapport was often tempered with more grounded, sometimes even serious conversations.
As they explored their small town together she would occasionally point out places she remembered visiting as a girl when her family had taken their summer vacations in Cannon River many years earlier. When he had gently asked more about her parents, she told him a little of her mother's death in a car accident when she was twelve and her father's several years after that. She didn't go into the painful details of the aftermath of those separate traumas (how her father became neglectful and abusive after her mother was gone and eventually took his own life during her senior year of high school; and the way Virgil had stepped up and given Teresa and her brothers the support they needed afterwards so they could have some semblance of a childhood after the loss of their parents). But for Lisbon, who never talked about her family with the men she dated, the fact she allowed herself to share as much as she did, that she wanted to share it with him, pretty much obliterated her initial intention of keeping things with Jane strictly casual.
Lisbon had never been much of a 'relationship person' before, and she figured it was probably similar for him, too. With his vagabond lifestyle and breezy charm she suspected he had undoubtedly had a series of dalliances with women over the years. But despite this (or perhaps because of it), there were times when he seemed genuinely shy and subdued, as if he was uncertain of how to relate to a woman he wasn't trying to hustle or con somehow. She thought back to the day before when he had come by to invite her to dinner at Sam and Pete's. He had his usual air of self-assuredness about him, but she also detected a glimmer of nervousness, too, like he was a little unsure of how she'd react to the invitation or whether or not she'd want meet his friends. It was in these moments, when his natural confidence mingled with an almost childlike vulnerability, that he was most intriguing and endearing to her.
Wylie arrived soon after Grace just as they were unlocking and opening the doors at seven o'clock.
"Good morning, Teresa! Hi, Grace!" he greeted them in his usual cheerful manner.
"'Morning, Wylie!" the two women responded at the same time, followed by a quick chuckle over the unintentional singsong unison of their voices.
The teenager tucked his bag away under the counter, carefully keeping hold of a stack of envelopes and key he balanced in his right hand. He turned to Teresa.
"I stopped by the post office this morning like you asked. Here's the mail," he said as he handed her the pile with the key on top.
"Oh, thanks, Wylie. I haven't gotten down there in a few days," she replied as she tucked the key into the register drawer and began sifting through the various envelopes, most of which were business-related bills and invoices. She stopped when she came to a colorful postcard featuring a photo of an idyllic-looking beach lined with palm trees and crystal clear aqua-blue water on the front. She smiled as she turned it over, instantly recognizing the slanted, somewhat messy writing on the other side.
"Another card from Virgil!"
"Where is he now?" Grace asked as she came out from the kitchen and stood next to Teresa, peering over her shoulder to see the card for herself.
"Sounds like he's sailing along the Baja peninsula of Mexico, then is planning to stop and spend some time with friends in California…" Lisbon continued scanning the card then she inhaled sharply when she saw what was written at the bottom. "And he says that as long as the weather holds, he expects to be back here by the end of July!"
"That's a lot sooner than we thought- that's barely a month from now!" Grace sounded just as surprised as Teresa, and they both looked back at the card again and silently read it to themselves.
"So," Wylie began tentatively after a pause, looking over at Teresa, "does that mean that when Mr. Minelli comes back… you'll be leaving?" He sounded more than a little bit sad about this, evidenced by his saucer blue eyes and frowning expression.
"No, you'll stay around here for a while, won't you?" Grace asked hopefully. "At least until the end of summer! You said your job in Portland isn't expecting you back until September, right?"
"That's true," Teresa responded quietly, nodding to herself. She felt a mixture of emotions as she looked back down at the postcard in front of her. On the one hand, she was excited to know she'd be seeing Virgil again after his long absence. She had missed him- aside from the postcards and occasional emails they hadn't actually spoken to each other in several months. On the other hand, of course, was the reality that she would soon be saying goodbye to the good friends she had made, like Grace, and would probably be leaving Cannon River much earlier than she had anticipated.
Teresa breathed in deeply and pulled her eyes away from the card in her hands, looking up at her two coworkers standing next to her. She couldn't help but smile when she saw their matching hangdog expressions. As upset as they both looked, she was touched by the fact they were clearly going to miss her and saddened at the prospect of her leaving.
"Oh, come on you guys- it's not like I'm going tomorrow!" she began, trying her best to sound upbeat. "Even after Virgil gets back, he'll probably want some time to ease back into things- it's not like I'll be peeling out of town as soon as I see his boat pulling into the harbor. So, cheer up, will ya?" She felt a high school football coach, trying to rally discouraged players with some lame attempt at an inspirational speech after losing the big game.
Wylie nodded and grinned, then went to the dining area to begin wiping down tables for the first customers of the day who were now entering the shop. Grace valiantly erased her frown, gave Teresa a quick sideways hug (which Lisbon, who was caught off-guard by the gesture, awkwardly returned) and disappeared into the kitchen. With a pensive smile and deep sigh, Teresa taped Virgil's card onto the front of the register alongside the others and turned to greet the customers who were now approaching the counter.
xxxxx
By the end of the workday, the postcard and all the bittersweet emotions it had stirred up were pushed far to the back of Teresa's mind. Now all she was focused on was the evening ahead of her- meeting and hopefully making a good impression on the friends that were like family to Jane.
After closing up the café, she rushed home to shower and change, grabbed the bottle of wine she had purchased earlier in the day, then headed back down the hill to pick up Jane from work so the two of them could drive out to the campground together. He was sitting on the bench in front of his shop reading a book, his legs crossed leisurely in front of him, but he sprang up like a like a jack-in-the-box when he saw her car approaching. He jumped into the passenger seat and before she could barely get out her hello, he reached over, cupped her cheek gently in his hand and kissed her soundly.
"Hey," he said softly but brightly after they parted, his face still just inches from hers. "I missed you."
"It's been, what, 24 hours since we last saw each other?" Lisbon cocked her head to the side and smirked over at him.
"Well, that doesn't mean that I haven't missed you, Lisbon, although it was a busy day at the shop, so that certainly helped the time pass quickly," he responded as he leaned back to buckle his seat belt. He then added quickly, "Looked like things were busy for you over at the coffeeshop as well."
"Yep," she smiled and nodded, noting his deft move at changing the subject and not talking about his work. In all the conversations they had had over the last few weeks, his business was one topic that rarely came up, almost as if by some sort of mutual, unspoken agreement. The whole fake psychic thing was something she still wasn't one hundred percent comfortable about and knowing this, he wasn't about to broach the subject.
They made their way out of town, Lisbon navigating the twists and turns of the highway while Jane glanced around the car and took in the sights around them. The late afternoon sun cast elongated shadows across the road, and the open windows brought in the fresh damp breeze that whipped Lisbon's hair around her face. After a few moments of companionable silence, he turned to her and spoke.
"Relax, Teresa. You don't have be nervous, you know."
"I'm not nervous," she shot back quickly, her eyes narrowing.
"Um, yeah you are," he began in a kind, but knowing tone. "First of all, that high voice you just used?- dead give away that you're lying. Secondly, you keep tapping your fingers on the steering wheel, which is an obvious sign of anxiety. Plus you've got a mid to high end bottle of chardonnay in your back seat which I'm guessing you're bringing along as a gift as a way of breaking the ice or impressing them."
"Is it too much?" Teresa interjected, suddenly feeling uncertain about having brought it. It wasn't super-pricy but was indeed one of the better bottles for sale at the market.
"No, not all. It's lovely and I'm sure they'll appreciate it." Jane smiled over at her sweetly and reached over to take her hand. "I'm just saying that it isn't necessary because you have nothing to worry about. They are going like you."
"I don't know," she began, a deep furrow forming in her brow. "I'm a police officer and they're ex-carnies, and from the way you've described it, it sounds like a pretty insular world. I imagine they're a bit wary about having a cop in their kitchen."
"Well, I'm vouching for you and that goes a long way with them," he replied teasingly as he squeezed her hand. "Besides, Sam and Pete have both mellowed a lot in the years since they've left the circuit. That whole 'us versus them' mentality- the idea that you're either with the show or you're a mark- really isn't the case for them anymore. They're good people."
"I'm sure they are," she answered, smiling over at Jane, truly appreciative of his reassurances.
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles lightly, then returned her hand to the top of the console where he lazily traced the contours of her fingers with tips of own.
"Besides," he began with an unmistakable cheeky tone in his voice as he laced their fingers together, "you're a very likeable person- when you want to be… You know, when you're not smacking people around or calling them names…"
He laughed heartily as she jerked her hand away and returned it the steering wheel, trying her best to not crack a smile. She could only keep a straight for a second or two before joining in his laughter.
A few minutes later they arrived at the cottage where they were greeted by Pete who was outside tending to their dinner on the grill. Introductions were made and he shook Teresa's hand and smiled warmly, then ushered the two of them into the house where Sam had just finished setting the table. The two women reintroduced themselves having met one another briefly in town the week before, and Teresa presented her with the bottle of wine. Sam's eyes lit up immediately when she saw it, and she placed it in the center of the dinner table.
"Oh thank you for bringing this! You know I told Pete to go pick up a bottle, but that husband of mine insists that beer is the perfect pairing with everything." She shot a wry look across the room at her errant husband.
"And I stand by that belief, my dear," Pete replied affably, his dark brown eyes twinkling back at her.
He grabbed a platter off the counter and nudged Jane with his elbow.
"Come on Paddy, let's go grab that fish off the grill before these two start ganging up on us."
As the two men left Sam shook her head in amusement. She took a pair of wine glasses from the cupboard and handed them to Teresa then fished a bottle opener out from a nearby drawer.
"Well, I say if those boys are content to drink that cheap swill of theirs, then you and I oughta open up this bottle right now and enjoy it for ourselves. What do you say?"
Teresa returned Sam's smile and felt an immediate sense of kinship and camaraderie with the woman whose dry, sarcastic sense of humor was not unlike her own.
"Yeah, let's do it."
xxx
The fading sunlight streamed through the open window as the four of them sat comfortably around the tiny table, surrounded by empty plates and glasses and the remnants of their food. Any trace of nervousness Teresa may have felt at the beginning of the evening was long gone, and by the middle of dinner their quiet little meal together had become quite a lively affair. Sam and Pete had taken center stage, sharing all kinds of Jane-centric anecdotes and stories, spurred on by Teresa's obvious enjoyment and Jane's growing embarrassment.
"Do you remember when you and I first met, Patrick?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows and casting a steely glance at him from just above the rim of her raised glass.
"Oh, now that's a nice little story," Pete piped in, taking a swig from his beer.
Jane groaned slightly, which Sam took as her cue to begin, and she looked back over to Teresa.
"Well, this was right after Pete and I got married, but this boy over here- couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old at the time- he hadn't met me yet.
"So, the carnival had just set up outside… Detroit I think it was? I was walking back to the trailer one afternoon and this little blonde, curly-haired moppet comes up to me, thinking I'm a townie, and tries to sell me tickets- goes through his whole little song and dance sales pitch, telling me about the great deal he can give me, backstage passes he has to offer- passes for what I don't even know - and the whole time he's going on and on, I'm standing there thinking, who is this little shit? Trying to pull one over on me like I'm some rube from the sticks?"
By this point Teresa was practically doubled over with laughter, the image of a pint-sized Jane in full-on salesman mode forming so clearly in her mind. She looked over at the adult version sitting next to her who just smiled begrudgingly, shaking his head at the great delight his friends were obviously taking in having so much fun at his expense.
"Anyway," Sam continued through her own laughter, "Pete comes along and starts laying into him. Pretty soon he's chasing after Patrick, yelling and screaming- all just for fun of course- but this little scamp ran off and I don't think we saw neither hide nor hair of him for the rest of the summer."
"Now to be fair, Sam," Jane began defensively, "I probably weighed all of 45 pounds soaking wet at the time, and Pete was a pretty imposing guy from where I stood."
Pete chuckled loudly and nodded in agreement. "We had a pretty good laugh over that one, didn't we honey?" He smiled over at his wife.
"Still do, apparently," Jane interjected in a dry tone, taking a sip of his beer morosely.
"Aww, poor guy," Teresa gave a little pout and leaned the side of her body into his in a show of faux-sympathy, which he gladly accepted. His arm, which had been casually draped over the back of her chair, came down around her shoulder. He pulled her closer before bending over and placing a tender kiss on her temple. His unexpected display of affection in front of his friends brought a blush to her cheeks, and her eyes went down to her lap shyly.
The room was suddenly quiet; out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sam and Pete exchange a knowing look. After a moment, Sam broke the silence.
"So, what about you Teresa? Patrick says you're here through the summer, until Virgil Minelli gets back from his trip. Then you're heading back to the city?"
"Actually," Teresa glanced over at Jane briefly before turning back to Sam, "I just got a letter from Virgil today. He's coming back a little sooner than he expected, so it looks like I might be leaving in about a month or so."
Lisbon took a fortifying drink from her glass, then looked back over at Jane to see him frowning slightly with a somewhat bewildered expression on his face, which he quickly masked with a thin smile when their eyes connected. His reaction- and her own for that matter- was unsettling. Why should either of them be acting so surprised or upset by the news that she might be leaving sooner than they thought? It was just a difference of a few weeks. It wasn't as if they both didn't know this was going to happen eventually.
"Well, that's a shame," Sam began gently, interrupting Lisbon's thoughts. "I guess we'll have to get you out here for dinner again sometime real soon… while we have the chance."
Teresa nodded. "I'd love that, thank you."
xxx
A little while later, after the plates had been cleared and the two men began the task of washing and drying dishes, Sam and Lisbon lingered at the table to finish their bottle of wine and chat a little longer.
Sam leaned over and spoke in a hushed, almost conspiring tone. "You know, Teresa. I have be honest and tell you that when Patrick first mentioned you, Pete and I were a little skeptical- you know, with you being the police and all."
Teresa laughed lightly in understanding. "Yeah, I get that," she said with the small wave of her hand. "It's fine; I understand."
"Well, we're both glad to have gotten the chance to meet you. You know, Patrick's never brought a girl around before," she said, taking a drink from her glass.
"Really?"
"Don't get me wrong, he's always been a real charmer- since the time he could talk I imagine- and he certainly chased enough girls when he was a kid on the circuit… But you're the first woman I've ever heard him talk about, and I can tell by watching the way he is around you- he likes you, a hell of a lot."
"Well, I like him, too," Teresa answered shyly, her fingers playing on the stem of her glass. "Although, I know it must seem strange, with the two of us being so different…"
"You're not so different- I mean aside from the whole 'cop dating a conman' thing," Sam countered with the smirk.
Teresa nearly choked on her wine at Sam's matter-of-factness, but quickly recovered. Sam just smiled and moved in closer.
"I guess what I'm saying, Teresa, is that it's easy to get stuck on the differences, but the things you and Patrick have in common? I'm betting they're there if you're brave enough to look for 'em."
xxx
It was almost dark by the time they bid Sam and Pete goodnight and left. Instead of heading straight for her car, Jane suggested a short walk to the bluff overlooking the water's edge and the two of them followed the narrow path along the pines until they reached a break in the trees. From this vantage point they could see and hear the dark gray water churning and smashing into the rocks below them. They sat down on a giant piece of driftwood, and Lisbon kicked off her sandals, digging her toes into the sand.
"So, what did I tell you, Lisbon? They liked you," he said with a grin. "Especially Sam. You two looked as thick as thieves at the table after dinner."
Lisbon shrugged a little and smiled at his last comment then glanced back at the glowing lights of the cottage she could just make out through the branches of the trees. "Yeah, you were right about them, they're great. I can see why they've been such good friends to you over the years."
"They're family," Jane stated plainly.
Lisbon's mind went back to the crack Grace had made earlier in the day about 'mom and dad', and she grinned wryly to herself. Then she thought about what Sam had said after dinner- that despite the vastly different lives she and Jane lived, there were plenty of similarities between them, too. Surviving difficult (if not outright traumatic) childhoods was one thing; this she already knew. But seeing Jane with Sam and Pete tonight, she realized that they had both moved beyond their dysfunctional upbringings and gone on to create surrogate families of their own as adults; and that as independent as they were (Jane with his life on the road; she with her all-consuming career), they each relied on these people for a sense of grounding and support.
Still, she was curious about something else.
"What about your own parents?" she asked.
Jane spoke softly at first. "Well, I never really knew my mother- she died before I was old enough to remember her." He took a deep breath before continuing, his volume rising slightly but his voice remaining even and controlled. "And my dear old dad took off right around the time I turned seventeen, when he realized he could no longer wield his control over me like he had when I was younger. He joined some other carnival circuit after that, but I have no idea where he is now or what he's doing…"
His voice trailed off and they sat in silence for a minute or two, letting the echoing of the waves fill their ears. She felt his hand reach over and take hers carefully; his fingers grazed her wrist and stroked it softly.
"So…" he began with uncharacteristic tentativeness, an almost pained expression on his face, "one month, huh?"
"Yeah, something like that," she replied uncomfortably, averting her eyes from his gaze. God, why was this so difficult?
Without saying a word he bridged the space between them, turned her chin upward towards his, and kissed her deeply. It was gentle at first but quickly intensified as their lips fused together with a longing and need she hadn't yet felt from him. He placed one hand on the log where they were sitting to maintain their balance, then used his other arm to pull her in closer as he kissed her hungrily, almost desperately. Her own hands traveled to the sides of his face, raking through the curls above his ears and she shuddered at the feel of his warm lips as they trailed down the side of her neck and found their way to her collarbone. The heady sensation overwhelmed her and she was grateful for the support of his arm wrapped tightly around her.
A moment later he stopped suddenly and brought his eyes back to hers, their foreheads touching, their breathing ragged.
But when he spoke a second later his voice was clear and unwavering.
"Don't go, Teresa," he whispered. "Stay here with me… tonight."
She smiled and nodded wordlessly, then the two of them stood up silently and together began retracing their steps back up the moonlit path.
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