I have to say straight away how amazing it has been for me to write this story and contribute to TM fandom on this site. With every chapter, I am continuously amazed and heartened by the support I've received from readers and other writers alike. It has been incredible.
I intended to wrap things up in this installment but couldn't quite do it. I do hope you enjoy this little chapter!
Chapter 17
Three days.
It had been three days since Jane had left the café, and she hadn't seen a trace of him nor heard from him since. At least a few times a day she'd glance across the street at the thought (or hope?) of seeing some sign of life coming from his shop. But, the place remained dark and tightly shuttered, the curtains drawn and blinds closed.
Not that she was ready to talk to him or see him again quite yet. She was still angry, though perhaps more at herself than she was at him. So much for having her radar up, she fumed silently to herself; so much for being clearheaded and objective. Teresa Lisbon considered herself to be a pretty decent judge of character, of being able to see through the b.s. that routinely got thrown her way as a cop. But, here she had ignored her initial instincts about Jane and allowed herself to be completely blindsided by the man; her pride was hurt just as much as her heart.
She knew that if she saw him now, her temper would get the better of her, and she'd end up saying something that would make the situation worse than it already was. But, what was the situation, exactly? She was leaving Cannon River in a matter of days, and yet everything with him was hanging in midair. Was he still hoping to come with her? Did she want him to? Could she accept the recent revelations about what he had done and move forward with him somehow? Or, would she simply do what she always did whenever a relationship went south- simply pick herself up, dust herself off, and push forward until the whole debacle was nothing but a distant memory. The latter would certainly be a more familiar course of action, she mused, though Lisbon had the distinct feeling that in this case forgetting Jane would be much easier said than done.
Grace had been eyeing her cautiously throughout the day. Jane, who over the past several weeks had become an almost daily fixture at the café, had been noticeably absent as of late. She knew something was up but wisely said nothing. Teresa realized that her tenuous emotional state must really be obvious if her normally chatty friend was giving her space and keeping so silent on the subject.
At the end of the workday after closing up the shop, she decided to head down to the cove and sit for a while before trudging up the hill home. She wove her way along the dirt path that shot off the main road, through the wild hydrangea and tall grass until she came to one of the weather-worn benches facing the water. She flopped down, exhaled loudy and closed her eyes, hoping the rhythmic pounding of the waves would drown out every anxious thought in her head.
She had been sitting there for only a few minutes when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Teresa?"
Lisbon turned around to see Samantha Barsocky standing several feet away.
"Hi, Sam."
The older woman smiled warmly, took a few steps forward and motioned towards the bench. "Mind if I join you for a minute?"
"Sure," Lisbon nodded and moved her bag over to make room on the seat beside her. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, and Teresa shifted her feet awkwardly, wondering which one of them would be the first to broach the topic that was clearly on both of their minds. She was relieved, then, when Sam broke the ice with a completely different subject instead.
"You know, Pete and I had our honeymoon here."
"You did?" Teresa smiled back.
"Yep. More than twenty years ago, stayed in that old rinky dink motel over there," she answered with a small laugh as she pointed across the water to other side of the bay. "It was the shabbiest little place you've ever seen, but we didn't mind… We knew this little town was special, even back then; decided that if we ever left the circuit and settled down somewhere for good, this'd be the place."
Teresa brushed a wayward strand of hair that was blowing across her face behind one ear then crossed her arms in front of her almost sullenly. "Yeah, I'm going to miss this place, more than I thought I would."
"When do you leave?"
"Um, end of the week, not sure exactly."
The two women sat quietly for another minute before Sam spoke again. There was no avoiding the uncomfortable topic any longer.
"You know, Teresa…" Sam began carefully, "I don't know exactly what happened between you and Patrick- he's been holed up in that Airstream of his the past few days and hasn't said a word to me. But, Pete told me about some scam he had been cooking up, working over some woman here in town."
"Yeah," Lisbon answered back in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I imagine that must have been a bit of a shock to you, finding out about that," Sam responded sympathetically with a slow shake of her head. "You didn't realize the lengths he goes to sometimes."
"No, I didn't." Teresa choked out a bitter laugh. "I sure have had blinders on when it's come to him, haven't I?"
She stopped herself before continuing and looked over at the woman sitting next to her.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I know he's your friend, but I just don't understand how he could do something like that, capitalizing on another person's suffering the way he did… I guess I had no idea what he was really capable of."
"Well, from what Pete has said, it sounds like Patrick actually wasn't capable of it, that he backed out of the deal and didn't go through with it."
Lisbon nodded in concession. "He told me he changed his mind and didn't take any money from the woman; I know that's true. But, he spent weeks plotting and planning to do it… and the idea that he could be so callous and methodical, that he would even consider following though on something like that- it just makes me sick every time I think about it."
She shifted her body forward, resting her elbows on her knees and casting her eyes down to the ground in front of her feet. "It's like all this time I never saw the person Jane really is."
Sam let out a heavy sign. "Well, I don't think that's the case. There's a side of him he kept from you, that's for sure, and I won't defend him on that count. But the fact that he backed out of the deal? That he couldn't go through with it? I don't think the Patrick Jane who rolled into town a few months ago would have made the same decision. And you and I both know the reason why that might be."
Sam eyed Teresa meaningfully and waited patiently for her response.
Lisbon looked back at her with an incredulous expression. "Are you saying that I changed him?"
"No," she countered quickly. "I don't think a person can ever change someone else. But, I do believe you've given him the courage to finally step up; to be the man he was always meant to be, the person who's been inside him all this time."
Sam held Teresa's gaze intently before breaking into a wry smile.
"Don't get me wrong: I have no illusions about the man," she began drolly. "He can be difficult and exhausting a lot of the time. He always has to be the smartest person in the room- and make sure everyone around him knows it. I swear that man's got an ego that could fill an entire ocean…"
Lisbon snorted a wry laugh at Sam's all-too-accurate description.
"But, beneath all that," Sam's tone was solemn once again, "underneath the swagger and bravado, is one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever known in my life. And he's determined, too. Once he's set his mind to something, there is nothing stopping him.
"You should have seen him a few weeks ago, when he came home and told us he was going to Portland with you." Sam grinned at the recollection. "The boy was positively giddy, like he suddenly had the whole world at his feet. He was rattling off ideas about the things he wanted to do, the professions he might want to try his hand at. I knew right then- he was finally ready to let go of his past, which is especially hard to do considering the world he came from… and the old man he grew up with."
Teresa nodded soberly. Based on the bitterness in Sam's voice as she spoke her last words and the little Jane had told her about his father, Lisbon had no doubt this was true. Knowing how hard it had been to move on from the damage inflicted upon her by her own father, she couldn't help but feel some compassion for him in this regard, despite her present confusion and anger towards him.
After a beat, Sam spoke again softly.
"Patrick loves you."
Teresa glanced over at her with a wide, gaping stare.
"I don't know if he's told you that yet, but it's pretty obvious to Pete and me from the way he looks at you whenever the two of you are together; or just from the sound of his voice when he talks about you.
"And, I don't know where your feelings are at," she leaned in reassuringly with a smirk, "and I'm not going make you tell me..."
Sam's smile softened and she paused again.
"But, if you do love him- or even if you just think you might- I hope you can find a way to look past what he's done… and see him for the man he is and is trying to be now."
Lisbon looked back at her with glassy eyes and nodded silently as Sam stood to leave.
"Whatever you decide- you make sure to come and see me and say goodbye before you go, alright?"
"Of course I will, Sam," she replied with a slight stammer, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Thank you."
Sam cast one last warm smile down at her, then walked away slowly, leaving Lisbon alone on the bluff once more.
xxxxxx
Pete gave the Airstream door a few quick raps and sighed in frustration as he waited for Jane to answer.
"Come on Patrick, I know you're in there."
Inside, Jane yanked the blanket off his face and squinted at the blinding light coming through the thin curtains of the windows. He groaned audibly, knowing that Pete wouldn't just give up and just leave him alone, then flung himself out of bed and padded barefoot across the room. He swung the creaky door open to greet his friend.
"'Morning, Pete," he yawned, rubbing his bleary eyes gingerly.
"Afternoon's more like it," he replied gruffly as he stepped inside the trailer, not bothering to wait for an invitation. He seated himself down on the chair closest to the door and regarded the younger man's disheveled appearance- especially the rumpled t-shirt and dress pants that had obviously been slept in for several days- with another heavy sigh.
"What are you doin' in here, Paddy?" he asked, his voice filled with equal parts sympathy and frustration.
"Well, I'm making some tea," Jane replied in a tired but breezy tone as he made his way over to the small stove. He grasped the kettle and held it up pointedly before turning on the faucet to fill it. "Would you like some?"
"No, and you know that's not what I was asking," he countered swiftly. "So, how about you stop with the evasive maneuvers and sit down for a minute. Let's talk."
Jane couldn't help but smirk at his old friend's insistence. If it had been anyone else, Jane probably would have laughed in their face, or made some pithy little comment to avoid the conversation altogether. But, he knew that his reclusive behavior the last several days had probably been genuinely concerning to both Pete and Sam, and he felt he owed it to his friend to at least hear him out. He set the kettle down and perched himself on the edge of the mattress opposite from where Pete was sitting, then leaned forward and raked his fingers through his unruly blonde curls. He turned towards Pete expectantly.
"You've been hiding out here for the last five days, Patrick. Enough is enough." Pete's voice was firm but gentle. "You need to get yourself cleaned up, haul your ass into town, and go talk to that girl of yours. Straighten this whole thing out."
"Just like that, huh?" Jane was dubious, and he shook his head miserably. He breathed in deeply before continuing, his voice pained and deliberate.
"You weren't there, Pete. You didn't see the look on her face when she confronted me about May. It was like… I was some kind of monster to her. She is not ready to see me yet."
"Well, I'm not saying it'll be easy," Pete conceded with the shrug of his broad shoulders. "She's angry and she's hurt, and that can't be fixed with just a wink and a smile from your pretty face... But this pity party of yours has gone on far too long, my friend- and the clock is ticking."
"What are you talking about?"
"Sam ran into her a few days ago. Teresa mentioned she was leaving town soon, at the end of this week she said."
"No, no that can't be right," Jane began hesitantly, furrowing his brow in confusion. "When we talked about leaving, it wasn't going to be until next week, at the earliest."
"Yeah, well, her plans have changed then," Pete replied, shaking his head, "because she is getting ready to go now."
Jane stood up abruptly and began pacing in agitation, his head spinning madly. After a few frenetic turns around the room, he turned to face Pete suddenly again.
"What day it today?" After spending the last several days nearly catatonic and now in his present state of distress, he genuinely couldn't remember.
"Thursday."
"Thursday?" he repeated frantically, then quickly strode to the closet and began grabbing a fresh set of clothes and towel off the shelves and hangers. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Pete chuckle lightly, clearly amused by the sudden shift in his mood and behavior.
"Can I borrow your truck?" he questioned hurriedly before ducking in the bathroom to shower and change.
"By all means. I'll get out of you way here and go fetch the keys." Pete replied with an affable smile as he got up to exit the tiny trailer.
xxxx
Ten minutes later Jane was behind the wheel of the old pickup speeding his way towards Cannon River. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he cruised down the highway, trying to quell the nervous energy coursing through his veins. As he got closer to his destination, he realized that for someone so adept at reading people and anticipating their reactions, he had no idea as to how Teresa would react when she saw him. He didn't even know what he was going say when he saw her.
But, at the moment, it didn't really matter to him. The only thing that was important was seeing her and talking to her after so many days of agonizing silence; saying and doing whatever he needed to convince her to give him another chance.
When he reached town a few minutes later, he parked the truck at the first available spot he found, jumped out, and hurried across the road. He slowed his pace as he neared the café, getting his nervous, raged breathing under control and smoothing down the front of his hastily buttoned vest. The excitement of seeing her again brought a tentative, hopeful smile to his lips. Even if she yelled at him or threw him out of the place, at least he was doing something.
His face fell and his heart sank into his chest, however, as he approached the café's giant front window and peered inside.
Standing behind the counter, smiling and laughing with Grace and a group of customers gathered nearby, was a tan, older gentlemen whose face Jane immediately recognized from the handful of photographs he had seen of him.
Virgil Minelli was back.
And Teresa was gone.
Conclusion and epilogue up next!
