Mary Beth and Jordan

"Daddy can I sleep with you and Mom tonight theirs a man outside my window?"

It took me a moment to register what she had said and then I grabbed Brenna and swung her over me to Mary Beth, who caught her in mid flight as she herself rolled out of the bed. Brenna now safely tucked into her body I grabbed a pair of pants and shoved them on running for the bedroom door and out the back way. The evening was cool and my skin started to tingle.

Slowly as I dared so as not to make any noise walking along the porch and keeping as close to the shadows and the wall of the house as I could I made it to the corner, looked around it to see two shapes, one on the floor, face down, the other standing over him tapping a night stick against his thigh.

"You have the right to remain silent."

Breathing a sigh of relief I walked away from the shadows and onto the front porch. The standing figure must have heard me because he turned to look towards the house.

"Oh hi Jordan I sure am sorry about this."

The Sheriff looked again at the figure on the floor.

"You see what you did son, you went and woke these nice folks with all your up to no good attitude."

It wasn't until I got closer that I realized the figure on the floor was out cold, and then I kicked something lying next to the figure on the floor and the smell of petrol was suddenly everywhere.

"Watch where you put your feet Jordan, I've already called the Fire Department out to hose down the front of Mary Beth's house and lawn just to be on the safe side."

"Sheriff I'm taking Mary Beth and Brenna back to the hotel with me tonight, we'll sort this out in the morning and maybe the urge to kill this piece of shit will have passed by then."

"Good idea Jordan, having to charge you with murder is a nightmare of paperwork, plus having to put you in jail instead of him just doesn't sit right with me."

Mary Beth was watching everything from the front door. She still had Brenna clutched tightly in her arms as I drew closer she stepped back into the house and we hugged, the tension that had built up over the last few minutes just poured from Mary Beth and she started to shake uncontrollably and finally cry.

"Looks like you're going to have to kiss it better this time Daddy."

All three of us laughed. Both the girls went into Brenna's room to pack while I got on the phone to the hotel to change my reservation to a family room. By now the fire Department had turned up, a deputy was again reading Tommy his rights as he was putting a now awake Tommy into the back of a car, the Sheriff talked to the fire chief who then set his guys on hosing the front of the house down.

The news of what had happened at the house had got to Jodie long before we got to the hotel, she met us at the door and walked with us to our new room telling me that I was to keep my things in my old room until tomorrow and she would see to it that everything was moved when I went to make my statement in the morning. Our priority was to try to be as normal about things as we could in front of Brenna and once she was over the excitement of being in a big room with Mom and Dad she was soon asleep in her own bed in the corner of the room.

While both anxiously watching her as she slept the sleep of an innocent, we sat on the end of our bed. Tonight had rammed home to me what I had missed these last five years and what I could have missed for the rest of my life. My stubbornness came close to being my own undoing. That could never be allowed to happen again.

Mary Beth and I talked for a while trying desperately hard to hold onto our own form of normalcy and hugging each other as much as possible knowing full well the consequences of what may have happened if the Sheriff hadn't been there, or Brenna hadn't seen Tommy outside her window.

I woke first and slipped out of our room and promptly walked into hotel security who was sitting outside. He smiled, waved and continued to sit in his chair across the hall. I have never been so relieved to see hotel security in my life as I did just then; my first trip was to my old room for a quick shower and change, and then down to reception. I had to shake my head when I saw Jodie stood at reception and wondered if that girl ever went home. She smiled and came across to the counter.

"Good morning Jordan, the Sheriff has been on the phone, he said to tell you not to rush. Once Mr. Beckett had found out what his son was up to last night he has cut all contact with him."

I smiled and thanked Jodie and the rest of the staff for sorting everything out so quickly last night and went back to my room, I could hear Brenna singing this side of the door, when I got inside Brenna was on our bed Mary Beth singing songs along with her, I sent both off to shower and then we headed for breakfast filling Mary Beth in on the Sheriff's phone call on the way.

We swung by the house and dropped Brenna off at Mrs. Charwell's then on to the Sheriff's office. Mary Beth noticed her father first. She simply nodded her head towards him and held onto my hand as though her life depended on it. The Sheriff came out and called all three of us into his office.

"I have no intention of repeating myself so you folks get used to this. Mr. Beckett, myself and two deputies watched your son try to burn down the house owned by Mary Beth Beckett knowing full well that there were three people inside."

Old man Beckett was visibly shaken at what the Sheriff had said and seemed to take an age to collect his thoughts before he looked at Mary Beth and said.

"I didn't believe you back then. I'm sorry, what I took for adolescent high jinx with Tommy was something deeper and I failed to take any action other than to pay people off rather than face the real issue, that's not going to happen now, it's time for him to learn."

He then looked at the Sheriff.

"Do what needs to be done Sheriff. He will receive no help from me."

With a sigh he wheeled himself to the door, I opened it and he left. No one saw him again until the trial. Old man Beckett was there every day, right at the front so his own son could see he had no intention of bailing him out this time, even his own lawyer was state appointed. Tommy Beckett burst into tears when sentence was handed down, his father sat stone faced when it took three bailiffs to take the now screaming Tommy out of the court. As the court cleared old man Beckett just sat staring at the door they had to carry his son through.

Mary Beth looked at me and I nodded, she smiled and quickly squeezed my hand and then leaned down and whispered into Brenna's ear, pointing towards the man in the wheel chair, we had both talked long and hard about this the night before. At first I damned near had a fight on my hands, until I reminded her that I lost six years of my Mom, her and Brenna through my own stubbornness, she couldn't afford to do the same. Brenna slid off her Mom's lap and both walked towards the man in the chair. Old man Beckett watched them approach, Mary Beth sat next to her Father and Brenna again sat on her lap.

I snuck out of the courthouse to phone the office. Peggy as always was on top of everything and even hinted that she couldn't see why I was even needed in the office. I of course threatened to sack her and could hear her laughing as we put the phone down on each other. I flew back for a few days while Mary Beth went into organization mode.

The wedding was held in my hometown a month later. It took some time and I'm sure much to the consternation of a few folks in town, but old man Beckett gave her away and of course Brenna almost stole the wedding when she walked down the isle with Mom and Dads rings on a small cushion and announced to all the guests that she had her Daddy back and it was about time and she would like a little sister next please.