Till Dark

Leading the way through the now crowded restaurant he went to the front desk and told the young woman that he would like to talk with Renada. The young brunette behind the counter smiled brightly. "Of course Mr. Nichols." She then picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Mr. Nichols would like to see you. Yes ma'am I'll tell him." "Mrs. Waters will be here in a few minutes." Thank-you Gemmarae." The young woman eyed Jordan openly. Andy led Jordan over to some chairs away from the crowd forming in the lobby. "Are you all right?" He helped her sit down before joining her. "Yes why?" Jordan asked. "Because you seem as though something is bothering you." Looking away from his penetrating gaze she replied. "I'm fine, just tired." "Jordan why won't you let me in?" Shocked she turned to him anger flashing in her blue eyes. "What right do you have to ask me that? You have someone that you care about and I have a life with my son back home." "Now it's my turn to ask what you are talking about." Jordan looked at him in confusion. "I'm not seeing anyone." Her mouth dropped. "Then who is this Renada person?" Andy smiled. "She's my kid sister." He stated softly. "But I… but you said…" His mouth set in a grim line. "Nothing of the sort. You implied that she was something more." Now Jordan's temper was rising. "How could you have let me think that?" She fumed. "How was I supposed to stop it when you haven't let me say anything to you?" "Of course I have. It's just that all you want to talk about is you and I. Well, there is no us." She stated loudly. Several customers turned in their direction after this proclamation. Andy simply smiled back at her. "Not yet there isn't but I predict that there will be." "You are a…" but Jordan never got the chance to finish her sentence because his sister walked up at that very moment."Still scoring it big with the ladies I see."

Rising from the chair he embraced his sister affectionately. "So how have things been this week?" "Good. Things are going very well. I have a place full of customers most of the time." He smiled down at her. "That's great." Getting serious she looked from Jordan to Andy. "So what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Andy placed Jordan's hand in the crook of his arm. "We wanted a nice place that was relaxing. We've had a very stressful week and decided that a night out would do us both some good." Renada turned her attention to Jordan now. She frowned as she took in her appearance."You are very beautiful, but a little too thin. My cooking and Mrs. Sparks cooking will soon have you looking healthy again." She stated proudly. Jordan liked her; she was a lot like Andy now that she watched them together. Although she knew she had seen the nasty cut on her forehead she had not so much as mentioned it, only let her eyes rest on it for a second. Both she and Andy had a zest for life and honestly that sent her running for cover and intrigued her at the same time. She had always thought of herself as a blunt person but compared to Renada and Andy she was a child in training. Renada brought her back to reality before her thoughts could convince her that she truly liked Andy. "So dearie, how long are you going to stay?" "I will be leaving next week." She clucked her tongue and spoke to Andy in the foreign language. "So soon? I was hoping for a chance to get to know you. Andy's girlfriends never stay around long enough for anyone to get to know them." Jordan's eyes bugged out of her skull. "Girlfriend? What? Oh. I think you have the wrong idea I'm not his girlfriend I just met him on the beach a few days ago when he saved my life." Jordan looked at Andy for a moment before returning her attention back to Renada. Andy took up the slack after her brief glance. "Renada, Jordan and I are just friends for now." She looked saddened by this proclamation. "Oh dear I'm sorry I didn't mean anything by that please forgive me. I sometimes put my foot in my mouth." Jordan smiled. "Of course, I suppose we all assume things before we really find out all the facts." She stated with a sideways glace at Andy. She changed the subject quickly before Renada could ask what she meant. "This is a wonderful place you have here." Jordan proclaimed looking around her." It was a success because Renada eyes lit up at the mention of the restaurant. "This was my dream. As you can tell I very much like to eat." She indicated to her full figure. It just seemed natural that I should become a chef and own a restaurant. I absolutely love this place. I wanted to create a place like none other, one that people would be talking about to all their friends." "Well you did a great job because I've never been anywhere like this, and the food was excellent. So how long have you owned this place?" "A few years now. Andy helped me find it and make all the necessary repairs that it needed. I think he went to all his friends and told them that if they didn't come eat here then he would beat them up because opening night was packed from about four-thirty till one o'clock which was also an idea of Andy's. The night we opened Andy said it would be better if we stayed open later sort of like a grand opening party. It worked because we stay busy all week." "So how is it that you have come here to stay?" Jordan cleared her throat. "Well actually this is a vacation but, there have been several mishaps which is how I met Andy." Jordan said the last part softly as she turned to look at Andy. He smiled down at her and affectionately squeezed her arm before Renada interrupted them by another question. "I'm sorry what did you say?" Jordan asked a little embarrassed at being caught. "I asked how long are you planning to be in town." She smiled back at this affectionate woman "I will be leaving next Friday." "So soon? Too bad you can't stay longer. You look as though you could use a bit of pampering and a few of my meals to fatten you up a bit." Jordan laughed at her blunt statements. That was twice she had been called skinny and wasn't sure she liked it. The way Renada said it she felt like her thinness was a bad thing. "So do I. Especially if you are half as good a cook as the food we had tonight." Andy and his sister both laughed. Jordan looked from one to the other. "What is it she finally asked?" Well you see the food we had was her cooking. Renada cooks for family and friends and another chef takes care of the rest." Jordan began laughing "Well if that's the case then I may just have to visit every day so I have a decent meal." "Why don't you just move here this place seems to suit you and Andy really seems to be taken with you?" Jordan grinned back at the other woman for a moment before answering her. "I have a life back home, and I am very happy there. All my family and friends are there as well." "So where did you say you are from again? Renada asked. "Webster, Georgia; I grew up in a small town outside the city. "You decided to come here on vacation instead of going to a regular beach?" I like lighthouses and I don't know very much about the ones here. I was also looking for a place that did not have a lot of tourist so that I could relax." You certainly chose a great place for that because we generally get a lot of families here as opposed to those head banging teenagers that they get other places." "I have always liked lighthouses and with my son staying with my friend I was not real keen on leaving the country." "You have a child that's nice how old is he?" "Cody is five and he is always the life of the party. I never have a dull moment with him. Some of the stunts he pulls I tell you. I'm almost convinced that he should have been named Dennis the menace instead of Cody." They both laughed at Jordan's confession. "It sounds like you love children why do you only have one?" "Well I guess that's because my husband was killed in a car accident before we could have any more." Renada's face darkened with sadness. "Oh. I'm sorry dear. How long were you married?' "It would have been five years in March." Renada flashed her brother a knowing look. "Had it been long since they married?" Jordan seemed to be answering almost robotically. "This vacation I'm taking is to get away and relax since I've had to go back to work and handle all the finances on my own. My best friend insisted that I get away for the weekend at least. But in answer to your question, No not long it was a year ago in December." A hand flew to her throat and she gave Andy a murderous look. "Oh how terrible that must have been for you to have a small child and to explain about where his father was." Jordan looked at the ground as the flood of memories came crashing in. "Yes, I had a very hard time because he was always a daddy's boy." Tears began to form in the corner of Jordan's eyes but she quickly wiped them out of sight. "I believe that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do" Pity showed openly on Renada's kind face. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to bring up old hurts." "Oh no it's quite all right. I've been answering questions since he passed away." "So would you like to come out to the house tomorrow and have some dinner and meet the rest of Andy's family?" Jordan glanced at Andy for some clue as to what to say and he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Thank-you that would be very nice." Renada hugged Andy and then Jordan. "Come over whenever you get ready." They said their good-byes and headed for the door.