Intentions - SF9 (40 page)

"You awake, Love?" she asked, not able to see Ryan's face.

"Umm-hmm. Have been for a while. You just keep lulling me back to sleep," Ryan yawned.

"Wanna have a nice big breakfast with me? I don't have to be at the course until ten."

"Yep. Sounds great," Ryan agreed. "Are you ready for another round today? Three days in a row would be a lot for me."

Rolling over to lie on her back, Jamie looked at her partner carefully and asked, "Do you get any pleasure out of playing golf?"

"Yeah, I do," Ryan said, sounding unconvincing. "I mean, I would never play alone, but I like to play with you or with my brothers. It's kinda like bowling for me. It's not something I love, and it certainly doesn't seem like exercise. Although I guess it's superior to bowling since it's a decent way to spend time outside."

"So, you don't think you'll ever get the golf bug, huh?" Jamie asked, a little wistfully.

"No. Don't think so, Babe. It's a little slow-paced for me, and I kinda suck at it, which always hinders my enjoyment." She was chuckling gently, but Jamie knew that she was serious.

"I've been a little surprised that you haven't gotten better at it," she admitted. "I think your height is actually part of the problem."

"Yeah...that makes sense. I think I'd be okay if I'd started young, but I've got a lot of body flying around during that swing. Lot's of things can go wrong. I actually remind myself of Michael Jordan when I play. He's obviously a talented athlete, but he'll never be great at golf. Too tall."

"Things do tend to go pretty wrong for you," Jamie laughed, a small part of her quite happy that she could so thoroughly kick Ryan's butt at something.

"You know, I don't generally handle being humiliated very well," Ryan mused. "I think you should prop up my self-esteem a little before we leave." The blue eyes were twinkling, and Jamie had a very good idea where this train of thought was heading.

She rolled onto her side again and snuggled up tight to Ryan's long body. "How can I help improve your poor self-esteem?" she whispered.

"Mmm, let me think," Ryan murmured, grasping Jamie's hand and slowly trailing it down her body. "Maybe you should remind me that being tall and having long arms can come in handy sometimes. Like this," she said, wrapping her arms around Jamie from behind and slipping a hand into a warm, humid place. "I couldn't do that if I wasn't blessed with a large wing span."

As her right leg lifted to allow for better access, Jamie sighed softly, extremely pleased that her lover's reach equaled her grasp. "You have beautiful wings," she whispered thrusting her hips against the soft curves that she nestled against.

Turning to face Jamie fully, Ryan enveloped her in a warm embrace and promised, "Wait until my beak starts sipping your nectar. That's when my talents really shine."

The entire immediate O'Flaherty family, along with a smattering of cousins, showed up to watch the team championship on Sunday. Catherine and Maeve walked along at the back of the large group, chatting quietly, more about the plans for the wedding than the golf, but their main purpose-to show support for Jamie-was accomplished perfectly.

Cal did not prevail on this dry, warm day, but Jamie wasn't terribly disappointed. She didn't have the same drive to win that Ryan did, usually being happy as long as she put forth her best efforts. She had played well, shooting a 71 on the difficult course, and she was happy with the play of her teammates against a team that was superior in every way.

Even though Catherine offered to host another dinner, the family decided to head home after the match, not wanting to get stuck in the usual Sunday night crawl along 101.

Jamie and Ryan decided to head home also, and after stopping in Hillsborough to pack up their things, they returned to 101 and started for home. As they drew near the airport, Ryan turned and asked, "What time was your dad's flight out tonight?"

"Mmm...I think around five," Jamie mused. "He didn't want to get back to Washington too late. Why?"

"Wanna take a chance and see if we can find him? I bet you'd feel better if you could see him in person before he leaves." She paused a second and added, "I know he'd feel better." Jamie tilted her head and stared at her partner for a long while, with Ryan finally turning to give her a questioning look. "What?" the dark haired woman asked.

"This is one of those 'I'm falling in love with you again' moments," she sighed. "I can't think of another soul that would put up with his shit like you do, Honey, and I love you for it."

Ryan gave her a warm smile and said, "I feel bad about Friday night, Love. Playing around like that outside was really rude. We should both know better. He was really making an effort to be nice to me, and I paid him back by going into my caveman routine." She shook her head and said, "I should have been more considerate."

Jamie patted her leg and said, "No, it's my fault, Ryan. I was pushing you. I know better."

"You gave me a perfectly acceptable cooling off period," Ryan disagreed. "There's an insolent part of me that got off on being sexual outside, knowing that we could have been discovered. I know that I'm a bit of an exhibitionist, but this was more than that."

Jamie sighed and said, "Let's try to find him. Mom will know how to get in touch with his secretary."

Several phone calls later, they were waiting at the gate for the flight, having nearly an hour before the scheduled departure. They didn't have long to wait before Jim showed up-with Jamie gasping aloud when she saw the massive bandage that covered him from forearm to fingertip, making his hand look more like a club.

She waited until he had checked in, then got up and approached him, Ryan staying in her seat to allow Jamie to have some time alone with him.

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" she asked, when he did a double take upon seeing her.

"Do...do you want to?" he asked tentatively.

"I don't normally hang out in the airport on Sunday afternoons looking for men to pick up, so I'd say that I do," she smiled, slipping her hand under his elbow to guide him to a coffee bar.

He looked over his shoulder at Ryan, but she just gave him a nod and a wave, and opened one of her textbooks to get a little studying in. "Is Ryan...?"

"She's fine," Jamie assured him. "I want to talk to you alone." As they walked along the concourse she asked, "Your hand is pretty bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he admitted, casting a quick glance at it. "I think I might have some nerve damage. I'm going to see a hand specialist as soon as I can get an appointment."

"You broke the glass when you saw us, didn't you?" she asked softly, deciding there was no other logical explanation, given the chain of events.

He nodded, looking very embarrassed. "I got so angry," he whispered, his face full of pain. "Thank God I don't keep a gun in the house, Jamie. I might have killed her."

She shivered at the mere thought, but managed to say, "I don't blame you for being angry, Dad, but wanting to kill her is just too extreme of a reaction. I think you need to figure out some way to control your anger...It's going to get you into trouble some day that you can't get out of."

They approached the coffee bar, and he led her to a seat, grabbing a chair for himself which he pulled up close. "Do you mean that, Honey?" he asked, looking more than a little pale.

"Yes, Dad. It's dangerous to let yourself get that out of control."

He shook his head briskly and said, "No, no, Honey, I know that's true." He blinked at her slowly and asked, "Do you mean that you're not angry with me for what I did?"

"No, I'm not angry, Dad," she assured him, while placing her hand upon his uninjured one. "Are you angry with me?"

He blushed deeply as he said, "I know that you and Ryan are um...that you enjoy each other's company, Jamie. I'm doing my best to get comfortable with it..."

He looked helpless as she gave his hand a squeeze and said, "I know that, Dad. That's not what I meant. I'm wondering if you're angry with me for being inappropriate with her in your house. That was irresponsible of us, and I'm really sorry that you had to see it."

His body collapsed back against his chair, and he gave her a thoroughly dumbstruck look. "You're apologizing to me?"

"Yes, of course," she said earnestly. "I know this is hard for you, and I know you're doing your best to control yourself. Playing around like we did is really improper where there's even a chance that someone could see us. It's disrespectful-and I'm really sorry."

Running his good hand through his hair, he stared at her for a few long minutes. Finally, he smiled and said, "I think we should have gone to a bar-bar rather than a coffee bar. I could use a drink!"

She shrugged and indicated, "There's one right over there."

"No, I shouldn't drink with this pain medication. I've had enough publicity for one day-causing a scene on the plane isn't a good idea." He was smiling as he said this, and it looked like some of the tension was leaving his body.

"Let me get you something," Jamie said. "Coffee? Latté?"

"Do you know what I'd really like?" he asked, looking like his answer surprised himself. "I'd like a cup of hot cocoa."

"Cocoa it is," she said. As she rose from her seat, she leaned over and kissed the top of his head. "It's okay, Dad," she said softly. "We'll get through this."

He sat quietly and watched his daughter as she strode to the counter.
I don't deserve her
, he thought to himself.
I never have.

When Jamie returned, they sat in silence for a few minutes until Jim said, "What do we do now, Honey?"

"We don't have to do anything, Dad," she said. "This isn't going to go quickly, and if that's your goal, you're going to be very disappointed."

He looked a little sheepish as he said, "I'm not a very patient man, Honey. This is going to take some getting used to."

"We've got time, Dad. As long as we each try hard, we'll get there."

"I do better with tasks that I can beat into submission," he chuckled. "That's not going to work this time, is it?"

"No. Neither Ryan nor I do well with a heavy-handed approach. You're going to have to finesse this one." She smiled at him and joked, "This will be good practice for your day job. I imagine that a little consensus building is a good thing for a senator, isn't it?"

"So they tell me," he chuckled. "So they tell me." Patting Jamie on the shoulder he said, "No time like the present, Honey. Let's go try to mend some fences."

When they arrived back at the gate, Ryan was nowhere to be seen. Jim looked around, assuming she had gone to the rest room or was in one of the shops, but Jamie said, "Look for a quiet corner."

True to form, the tall woman was curled up on the floor in the corner of the gate opposite Jim's. Her knees were drawn up nearly to her chin, her heels just inches from her butt. Long arms were wrapped around her knees, and her head was resting atop them. Jim and Jamie were just a few feet away, but Ryan didn't twitch. "She's asleep," Jim said softly.

"No, she's not," Jamie insisted. "She's thinking." Looking up at her father, she wrinkled up her nose in a grin that reminded him of her youth and said, "She thinks a lot." Leaning over, Jamie gently touched Ryan's head, which turned and swiveled to allow her clear blue eyes to lock upon her partner's.

"Ready?" she asked, a placid expression on her face.

"In a few," Jamie said. "Daddy won't be able to board for fifteen minutes or so." She extended a hand and Ryan grasped it, allowing Jamie to help her up.

"So, what were you studying, Ryan?" Jim asked, a little puzzled by her study posture.

"Oh, I wasn't really studying," she said. "I was just thinking about something."

"What subject are you working on?" he asked, trying to make a little small talk.

"Oh...well...they all kinda merge at a certain level." She looked over at Jim and asked, "Do you know what I mean?"

"Ahh...no," he said, "I don't have a clue."

She searched for a way to explain herself, finally saying, "I'm working on a math problem, technically, but the way I'm thinking about it today seems a little more like quantum physics." She shrugged her shoulders and said, "If you open your mind, things tend to surprise you."

His mouth started to curl into a grin, growing wider and wider as the impact of her words hit him. "You know, Ryan, you are absolutely right. As a matter of fact, that's going to be my personal motto from now on." He stretched his arms out, the young women bracketing his body. Wrapping both of them in a hug he looked from one to the other, each returning his bright smile as he tried Ryan's statement out for himself: "When you open your mind, things tend to surprise you."