***The next morning***
Jonathan woke up when his alarm went off, and got in the shower. When he got out, Jennifer was downstairs making coffee and starting breakfast.
He came in and found her at the stove, with her back to him.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her to him.
"Morning, darling".
"Morning". She turned and kissed him.
"You're up early".
"Well, I wanted to be at the boutique early today so we can deal with this".
He nodded.
They had a quiet breakfast and then she quickly did the dishes.
They were headed to the door at the same time.
Before they could go out the front door, he leaned up against the door and turned to face her.
"I'm sorry for not trusting you, Jennifer. You have good instincts and you're feelings are usually spot on. I should have trusted you, and I do trust you".
"Thank you".
He leaned down and kissed her and then they headed to the boutique.
He followed her, and parked right next to her.
Jonathan had hired the security company to be there 24/7, so he spoke with the security guard while she unlocked and went inside and got all the lights on.
Jennifer was balancing the books, and covering Whitney's shifts when Jonathan came in to the office around 8:45.
"Darling, I am going to walk down to the bookstore for the meeting with the other store owners. I will be back in about an hour".
"Ok".
He kissed her goodbye and headed out.
She watched the camera footage from the night before, and saw that the guy had actually sat in the parking lot until after the store closed. She got a very uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She couldn't shake the fact that she knew he was going to strike again, and more than likely with another one of her employees. She devised a plan.
She grabbed the phone, and called Susan Kendall.
"Susan, hi. It's Jennifer. I need a favor".
About 10 minutes later, her plan was in motion.
Jonathan returned from his meeting, and filled her in.
"Darling, I am going to work till 7 tonight, so I will see you when I get home".
"Ok, love you".
She kissed him goodbye and got to work.
She and Natalie worked all day on resetting the store, and restocking everything. Occasionally, she would go to the window and see if the man was sitting in the parking lot. Every time, he was sitting there.
Around 5, she noticed he had left. All of her employees were accounted for.
She decided to take a chance.
***Wagner's pharmacy***
Jennifer drove to Wagner's pharmacy, and drove around the block looking at it, and figuring out what she wanted to do.
Her heart was beating a mile a minute, but she knew she had to do this.
She parked, and went inside, and headed to the pharmacy counter.
"Hi, I need to pick up a prescription for Jennifer Edwards, please".
The man walked over to the container that held the filled prescriptions, and looked for her name.
"Here it is. Do you have any questions?"
"Actually, yes I do. It's for a type of birth control that I have never taken before. Can I have an occasional glass of wine or an occasional cocktail while I am on this medicine?"
She could see his face change once she mentioned birth control.
"I don't think it will be a problem at all, Ms. Edwards".
She nodded.
"Have you used our pharmacy before?"
"No, this is my first time".
"Can you fill out this information sheet so I can get you in the system?"
She quickly filled it out and handed it to him.
"Oh, I see you live in Mulholland Canyon, here in Bel Air. That's a gorgeous area".
"Yes, it is. We like it a lot".
She paid him, and headed out of the store.
There was an alley behind the store that led to some woods.
She started to slowly walk down the alley. Just as she predicted, he followed her.
He stayed several paces behind her at first, and she kept walking.
As soon as she got to the woods, she took off running, and so did he. He caught up to her and knocked her to the ground, and was on top of her, when the members of her security company that she had begged to help her, were in camouflage in the woods, and jumped out and tackled him. They had struggled, but not for very long. She had a couple scrapes and bruises, but that was it.
He had a ligature in his hands, and a knife in his pocket.
"She's not pure, she's been defiled". He was yelling it as they held him down.
One of the security guards called the police, and they came and picked him up.
The police officer took Jennifer's statement, and then released her.
"His name is Andrew Weston, and the DA will call you when his court date is and let you know if you need to testify".
"Thank you, officer".
She drove back to the boutique, and told the girls that it was over, and that he had been caught.
Everyone was so relieved and so thankful. She told them goodnight, and headed home.
***Willow Pond***
Jonathan was waiting on her with dinner. He had made her a wedge salad, and had grilled them some shrimp skewers.
"Hi, have a good day?"
"Yes, actually, I did".
She had decided she wanted to get him nice and relaxed before she told him about her involvement in catching Andrew.
She went to him and kissed him.
"Dinner is almost ready".
"Great, I am starved".
She went upstairs and changed clothes, and then came back down to join him for dinner.
She did the dishes after they were done eating, and then went and took a long bubble bath.
After about 20 minutes, she was just about to get out of the tub when Jonathan came in.
He scrubbed her back for her, and loved on her some, and then helped her out of the tub.
She put on her nightgown and fluffed up her hair a little, and went to join him in bed.
He grabbed her and put a blindfold on her.
"Jonathan, what are you doing?"
"Just trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"
"Implicitly, you know that".
"Ok, so trust me again."
He took her nightgown off her, and helped her put on some yoga pants and a t-shirt, and a pair of flip flops.
He scooped her up and carried her downstairs, and out to the side porch.
He stood her up, and then embraced her.
She hugged him back.
"Darling, I wanted to show you how proud I am of you, and I had this all planned out. But then, someone called me and informed me that I could do it sooner than I had planned. So, I thought about it, and decided that yes, I wanted to do this as soon as possible. And, then right after that, I received another phone call, and I had to sit down and figure out how I felt about it. I decided to go ahead with the surprise, because I am so proud of you, and I trust your instincts 100%".
"Jonathan, if this is about our convo last night, we got past that, I swear it".
"It's not. I promise".
He opened the door, and led her outside.
"OK, are you ready?"
"Yes".
He took the blindfold off and pointed her towards the surprise.
Over in the carport, was a brand new, BMW convertible, in Mediterranean Blue Metallic. It had a bright red bow on it, and he was holding the keys. The license plate said "MYHART".
She squealed and ran to it, and got in.
"Darling, take a ride with me?"
"Absolutely".
They took a short ride through the canyon, and then came back to the house.
She parked in the front, and they went inside.
She embraced him and kissed him several times.
"I love my surprise, darling. Thank you".
"You're welcome".
They went and sat on the couch.
"Darling, who were the phone calls you were talking about from?"
"Well the first one was from the dealer. I had ordered your BMW about a month ago, and didn't expect it till 2 months or so from now".
"And the second one?"
"Lt. Gray."
"Oh? What did he have to say?"
She was panicky, but tried to hide it.
"It's ok. I am proud of you for catching him". He kissed the tip of her nose.
"You are? I thought you were going to be mad at me".
"I was at first, but I realize why you did it-to protect the girls at the boutique. If you didn't have them to worry about it, then it would have been reckless. And besides, Lt. Gray told me that you took security along with you, so I know that you weren't ever really in danger and he wasn't ever really going to hurt you. You did good, Red".
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Well, thank you".
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"I have a few bumps and bruises, but otherwise, I am just fine".
He kissed her a few times and held her close.
"Darling, the license plate on the BMW doesn't fall in line".
"Doesn't fall in line, what do you mean?"
"Well, all of our vehicles, the license plates say '1Hart', or '2Harts', and so on. This one doesn't".
"Darling, what does it say? Read it again".
"It says 'MYHART'"
"Yes, because that's exactly what you are- you are my heart, and you always will be, Mrs. H.".
She teared up and kissed him.
"And you are mine, Mr. H."
He picked her up and carried her upstairs.
***A few weeks later***
Jonathan and Jennifer arrived at the tarmac a little after 7. They had just had a wonderful meal at La Scala, and were ready to start their vacation.
They were flying to the Maldives, and it was going to be a long trip. Their pilot Jack, had figured out they could break it up by flying to Singapore, spending a day or two, and then flying the rest of the way.
Jonathan had decided that he was going to arrange for surprises for Jennifer the whole time, since she was the one surprising him with this trip.
They climbed on board their plane, and he took their bags to their room at the back of the plane. Jennifer poured them both a glass of champagne, and then buckled up, and he came and buckled up next to her.
He wrapped his arm around her, and she leaned in close to him.
They picked up their glasses and clinked them.
"Cheers to a wonderful vacation".
He leaned forward and kissed her before they both took a sip.
They relaxed and chatted some, and then about an hour later, they decided to head to bed.
Jonathan went up to the cockpit and told Brad they were heading to bed and to call them if he needed them.
He came back and joined Jennifer, and then they headed to the bedroom.
He let her go first. She opened the door, and found that he had lit a few candles and spread some rose petals on the bed, in a heart shape.
"When did you do this?"
"Earlier, when you went to the bathroom".
"Very nice, Mr. H".
"All for you, Mrs. H."
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately as they headed to the bed. They broke their kiss only long enough to undress.
She went over to their luggage and got something out of her bag. She kissed him, and whispered, 'be right back', before disappearing into the bathroom.
When she emerged, he was in the bed, under the covers.
She had on a white lace teddy, and pulled her hair up in a clip.
She came and joined him in bed, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her.
"You are so beautiful".
He kissed her nice and slow, and covered her body in kisses before taking the teddy off her. She ran her fingers through his hair and then drew a ragged breath, as he entered her.
She squeezed her legs around him, which he loved, and he told her so, as he thrust in and out of her.
"Come on, honey".
She kissed him as they went over the edge together, and then they lay there, completely exhausted. He was holding her close and kissing her lightly and just enjoying being close to her.
"I love you, Red".
"I love you too, Jonathan Charles".
A few minutes later, he heard her begin to breathe deeply, so he knew that she was in a deep sleep. He covered them with the sheets and blankets and then fell asleep with her.
***Three days later***
They finally arrived in the Maldives. Their time in Singapore had been fun, but all they did was sleep off the jetlag so that they could fly to the Maldives from there.
Jennifer was excited for him to see the resort where they were staying. She had been looking at the brochures and mentioned that she wanted them to go scuba diving, and on a jungle drive, and have a spa day.
He made careful note of all that she said, so that he could arrange it.
They checked in, and were taken to their room.
Jonathan was like a kid at Christmas, and got more and more excited about everything that he was seeing.
They took the elevator down to their floor, and walked to the end of the hall. Their room was all the way at the end, last one on the right.
Jennifer unlocked the door, and Jonathan pushed their luggage cart inside. His jaw dropped open, when he realized they were staying in an underwater suite.
They had a king sized bed, that faced a large curved window, where you could watch the creatures of the ocean swim by.
"You like it?"
He turned around and swooped her up into his arms.
"I love it. I absolutely love it!".
He sat her on the bed and then sat next to her.
She sat behind him and scratched his back while he watched the ocean.
They watched for about an hour.
"Darling, do you want to go eat dinner and then come back?"
"Not just yet".
She got up and went to the bathroom, and came back to start unpacking.
He pulled her onto his lap as she walked by.
"Jonathan!"
She smiled at him and kissed him.
"Darling, do you think they are watching us just like we are watching them?"
"I don't know. If they are, they are about to be amazed".
She laughed.
"Oh really?"
"Yes. Let's show them how it's done".
He tossed her on the bed and climbed on top of her and covered her in kisses.
"I love you, Jennifer".
"I love you too, darling".
