by Jeannie Moon
For the first time since she’d walked out on her engagement, Jordan felt like she could feel love again. Nick was everything she’d ever wanted.
He was flirty and sweet, affectionate and attentive. But he also shut down when she started to get too close to what made him tick. Chase kept her at a distance too, which was why she couldn’t see him for the snake he was. Nick was a different animal, no doubt, but she wasn’t going to be shut out again.
They weren’t engaged, not really. Which was all the more reason for her to see Liam about a family heirloom her father had put in his care.
“You’re related, aren’t you? You and Liam?”
“Yes… distantly. Lucy Velsor, who married Caleb Jennings, was my great aunt, ten times removed, I think. I’ll ask Liam. He’ll know. He and Ed, his dad, are the keepers of all family history.”
“But it goes back hundreds of years. That’s amazing. We’re trying to get past a roadblock in the Rinaldi ancestry because a fire destroyed the church in Siena that held the records.”
“You’ll have to go visit with your grandfather. You can drive each other crazy for a couple of weeks.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Nick smiled, and Jordan’s heart did a little flip. He was all about his family. She did know that.
Jordan loved the bond Nick had with his grandparents. It was sweet, and she loved that a thirty-six-year-old, jaded war hero could be sweet with his grandma.
Back for the second time in two days, more snow had melted, so parking wasn’t bad on Main Street. Jordan found herself happy that there was a little bit of a walk involved to get to the shop. The fresh air and the movement were a special kind of medicine.
Jordan used to be fascinated with the history behind the family, and the legend of the compass. But after she’d been betrayed, she’d lost her belief in the magic, and that she’d ever find a soulmate.
Which was another reason to keep Nick at a distance; at least for now. She didn’t trust her own heart enough to make a decision that involved any man, but especially one that tied her in knots.
Entering the shop still brought a smile to her face. An antique bell tinkled overhead, and Liam Jennings, who was just finishing up with another customer, looked up and waved.
Jordan adored Liam. They were only related by the loosest connections, but he held tight to the fact that they were cousins, and he and his parents always treated Jordan and her father like they were close family.
It helped her feel more connected to the town, and that feeling of belonging was precious to her. After her mother died, when everything was at loose ends, she and her father found a small place in the town where he was teaching, just a little west of Compass Cove, and settled down there. It wasn’t far away, and they ended up moving back when Jordan was in high school. But two years ago, he sold the house and moved into a senior living community. Jordan moved into the Rinaldis’ cottage, thinking she’d wouldn’t be there very long. She’d already started to date Chase, and it was obvious he wanted the relationship to be more.
Chase never understood her connection to the town. If she was honest with herself, her ex didn’t get her at all. Jordan wasn’t a debutante. She wasn’t a socialite. And she certainly wasn’t going to defer to him just because he was the man. But that’s what he’d expected, and it was Jordan’s fault for not seeing him for who he was sooner.
He’d blinded her with his charm and good looks, and she wasn’t going to let that happen again. She deserved better.
Jennings Fine Compasses and Watches had been in the same spot on Main Street in Compass Cove for better than three hundred years. Granted, it wasn’t the same as the store founded by William Jennings, a compasssmith, when the family helped settle the town in the mid 1600s, but it provided the village with an anchor and a connection to its seafaring past.
The shop that was once filled with sextants, charts, spyglasses, and the finest compasses on the East Coast, now housed estate jewelry, fine watches, artisan glass, and crystal, along with the finest compasses on the East Coast. Only now, most of those compasses were bought when a new couple set up house to remember that their hearts had found each other.
Nick looked into the locked case that held the compass that was at the root of Lucy Velsor and Caleb Jennings’s romance.
“My grandmother used to love coming in to look at the compass. She said when she and my grandfather first got married, she’d be here every other day.” Nick had his hand flat on the glass. Jordan walked over and looked in. A plaque was attached to the velvet base on which the compass sat.
Lucy and Caleb ~ m. 1750
“It draws people in.” Liam walked over and gave her a big hug. “So good to see you, Cuz. How are you feeling?”
“You too. How did you know I was sick?”
“Lina stopped by.” He turned to Nick and shook his hand. “Been a long time, man. Glad you’re back.”
“Thanks. Good to be back.” Jordan noticed him glance in her direction, but he turned his attention back to the compass. “Nona still stops in?”
“Yep.” Liam, who was a good three inches taller than Nick, pushed his too-long blond hair off his forehead. “She comes by when she’s angry with your grandfather.”
“Really? Still?”
He nodded. “My grandpa told me that when they were first married, she was here all the time. She’d look at the compass and remind herself that she chose Angelo, and that they would find their way. They were adjusting.”
Nick laughed. It boomed from his chest in a way that filled the shop. It was the most wonderful sound. “I heard something about that. And now?”
“She comes in once in a while. Not too often, but she was pretty angry with him after the storm.”
That was true. They’d had a couple of good arguments when they were deciding what to fix and when. Jordan made a point to stay out of their way.
“So, Jordan wouldn’t tell me why we had to stop here.” Nick folded his arms. “You gonna fill me in, buddy?”
Liam raised an eyebrow in Jordan’s direction. “You didn’t tell him?”
“No.”
“But you’re engaged.” Like a cartoon, Liam looked back and forth between them. Back and forth.
“Yessss…” Nick said with hesitation.
“It’s a long story.” Jordan waved her cousin off. “Why don’t you get what I came in for, and then I’ll tell him.”
“Right.” Shaking his head, Liam disappeared into the back room.
“Okay. What’s going on?” Nick pulled her toward him, busting to find out. Settled against him, Jordan felt her insides go warm as his hand slipped around her waist, securing her body to his. “Jordan?”
Just as she was about to answer, Liam came from the back room and held out a black velvet box. Recognizing that this was a jewelry box, Nick’s eyes opened wide.
“This feels strange.” Jordan went toward Liam and took the box from his hand. “Like I’m taking something I shouldn’t.”
“Would you show me, already?” Poor Nick, he was so annoyed.
“Fine. Calm down.” Jordan opened the clamshell and showed him what was inside.
Set on a bed of black velvet was an antique diamond ring. It had three stones, a rose-cut diamond at the center, and two smaller stones, set one on each side. The ring, fashioned from yellow gold, formed into an intricate scroll pattern. It was lovely, but it wasn’t flashy.
“That’s a beautiful ring.” Nick reached out, taking the box in his hand. “It’s so different.”
Jordan smiled. “It’s Lucy’s ring.”
He didn’t say anything immediately; too stunned to speak, he just stared. “That’s… wow. That’s amazing.”
“It’s over two hundred and fifty years old, and it’s Jordan’s ring now.” Liam’s explanation seemed to drop Nick out of his trance.
“I still feel funny claiming it as mine.” Jordan never felt comfortable taking anything from the Jennings family, but they never thought twice about her rig
ht to claim her heritage.
“It’s yours, Jordan. You’re the only living female relative on Lucy’s side.”
Taking the ring from the box, Jordan held it up to the light to see the diamonds sparkle. Then she slipped it on the ring finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly. “Wow.”
A tingle ran up her arm. It felt… well, it felt strange. And incredibly right.
“So, this is going to be your engagement ring?” Nick wasn’t staring at the ring anymore, but at her. He wanted an explanation, a reason for taking something important away from him. Jordan didn’t think it would matter, but apparently, it did.
Liam must have sensed the tension, because he stepped away. The coward.
“Yes,” she said softly. “It’s a family heirloom. And that takes off the pressure to buy one.”
“I don’t mind getting you a ring.”
Seeing him tamp down his pride, Jordan took his hand in hers. “I know, but I need this, too. I’d wanted to wear it when I was engaged to Chase, but he bought me a big, flashy ring. I hated it. It wasn’t about me, it was about him. This ring represents endless love. It’s important to me, and it will make my dad happy.”
Hesitating, Nick lifted her hand and examined the ring. He gazed at it a long time, examining it from all sides.
“It’s an amazing piece. I can see why you’d want to wear it.”
He might have understood, but something in his bearing said otherwise. This was more than Nick’s wounded pride, and his reaction both touched and baffled her. Their engagement wasn’t the real thing, so why should he care?
“If that’s what you want, you should wear it. It’s a piece of your history.”
You. Your. Two words indicating that Nick was making the engagement, fake or not, all about her. Something her real fiancé never did.
“Thank you for understanding. It means a lot to me.”
“Okay.” Nick nodded, and Jordan’s heart twitched for the second time that day. He respected her decision. That meant the world to her, too.
Her hand was still clasped in his, and new feelings started to push their way through the bitterness and the pain. But Jordan knew better than to trust her heart. As much as she appreciated Nick, and felt real affection for him, she knew that was as far as it would go.
Jordan wandered over to the compass case and looked in. There was a small painting of Lucy and Caleb with their children at their home on the water. Ironically, the house wasn’t far from the Rinaldis’, just a few doors down.
The compass itself was typical for the time. Not too big, it would have fit neatly into a sailor’s pocket.
“Can I see the compass, Liam?”
“Really? That’s a first.”
It was the truth. Jordan had never held this piece of her history, even though she’d always been curious. Would it know she was searching for the kind of love her parents had? The kind of love that dreams were made of?
Nick’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “A first? You’ve never held it?”
“No. I love the story, don’t get me wrong, but the idea of it leading you to your true north? I don’t know.”
“So why now?” Nick asked, completely serious.
She thought about the question. It was a good one. Once upon a time, Jordan embraced the legend as her very own, but now—jaded and disillusioned—she didn’t have much faith in affairs of the heart. Why did she want to hold something she didn’t believe in? Jordan didn’t really have an answer. “I’m not sure.”
Maybe it was that she was feeling so lost, so at loose ends. Maybe she thought the compass could help her find some direction. Maybe she wanted to see if the little voice in her head knew something she didn’t. Liam picked up the instrument, almost holding his breath, and gently set it in Jordan’s hand.
It was heavier than she expected, warm, and it settled neatly in the cup of her palm. It was brightly polished and the tiny, hinged sundial was still securely attached. It was, indeed, a work of art.
But as she watched the needle, it did exactly what she expected.
Nothing.
No wobbling. No wild spinning. Just nothing.
Nick must have sensed her discomfort and he moved away, taking in a shelf filled with nautical collectibles.
“It’s pointing north,” Jordan said. “Other than a little wiggle, it hasn’t moved.”
“Hmm.” Liam looked at the compass. Then at her. And finally, at Nick. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“What? Yes, it is. Look.” She nodded toward her hand. How could he deny what was right there?
“Jordan,” he whispered. “North is that way.” And his finger shot to the left.
“Are you sure?” She raised an eyebrow at her cousin. “It’s not broken?”
Nodding his head in that annoying way he did when he knew he was right, Liam grinned. “I’m sure.”
They stood in silence, watching the compass for any change, and glancing up at Nick, who was now flipping through a photo book about the history of Compass Cove.
“Liam?” Jordan stated firmly. “You will say nothing.”
“I don’t know what you mean…”
Jordan focused in to his stormy-gray eyes. “Nothing.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Liam didn’t respond and stepped over to her pretend fiancé while Jordan took a breath. Once again, when she looked at the compass, nothing had changed. But one thing was clear: the needle was pointing at Nick.
Jordan heard the little voice in her head utter the words it had been saying for the better part of a week: true north.
True north, it said again.
Shut up, she thought.
*
“Nervous?”
Jordan was twisting her fingers into a knot, and Nick’s heart was pounding just watching her. It had been three full days since she agreed to go along with what he told her dad. But she still wasn’t convinced it was the right thing to do.
“I shouldn’t be nervous to see my own father. God, I hate lying.”
Reaching out, he took her hand. Touching her was risky considering the strong physical attraction, but he couldn’t shy away from it. Not now, when she needed a friend as much as anything. She looked at their joined hands and sighed.
“Every time I go, I wonder if this will be his last good day.” She uttered a quiet oath, cursing the disease that would eventually steal her dad from her. “I wonder if the cancer will finally win.”
“I wish I could give you an answer.” He’d never heard her swear, and it clued him in to how scared she was. She also hadn’t let go of his hand. In fact, she was holding it even tighter.
The time they’d spent together over the past week had given Nick a new appreciation for Jordan. He never knew a lot about her. She was his nona’s tenant. She’d been engaged. She was a teacher.
She was so beautiful it hurt.
But that was pretty much it. Now, he’d spent hours with her, first when she was sick, and then when they figured they had to get to know each other.
Their round of twenty questions had gone on for hours the other night; it was enlightening. Sure, he’d found out all the basics like her birthday, favorite food, and favorite color. But there was so much more to her than what was on the surface—Jordan had secrets.
He’d told her nothing about his experiences, still unable to lay himself bare, and he knew it had to annoy her. Only a few people knew how the deaths at the clinic haunted him, and that was out of necessity—his doctor, his shrink, a buddy from his unit. Intellectually, he knew he’d done everything he could to save lives, but it still didn’t matter. There were days he was consumed by guilt. He wondered how Jordan would react if she knew everything. If she knew about the people he’d failed.
God, what did this all mean?
Now examining the ring on her left hand, Nick thought about what he could say that might help.
“It’s all going to work out,” he reassured her. “Even if he finds us out, he’s going to understand.�
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“I know. And I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful. I am. You’ve done so much for me. This is really… I don’t know.”
“Crazy? Misguided? Stupid?”
She smiled, and that was worth every minute he spent with her. “Maybe a little crazy.”
“Can I ask you a question?” he began. “About your family?”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“You’ve said a couple of times when your father dies, you’d be alone. That you have no family. It seems to me the Jennings clan sees you as family.”
Jordan glanced out the window at the tree-lined streets leading to the harbor.
“My father always felt this reverence about our connection to the town, but I don’t know. I guess I’m more… realistic. I don’t want to be let down again.”
“Just because Chase and his family can’t be trusted, that doesn’t mean everyone is that way.”
“I suppose you’re right. And I do love Liam. He’s always treated me like a little sister. The whole family has.”
“Don’t think for a second you’ll have to handle life alone, Jordan. I couldn’t count how many people will be there to support you.”
What he’d learned about Jordan was that she tended to be cautious. She only did things after carefully considering every option. From planning lessons for her sub to deliver to her six-year-old students to making a purchase, she took her time, learned as much as possible, and then made a move. He had no idea how she’d ended up in such a shitty engagement, except that maybe Chase had fooled her the same way he’d fooled a lot of people. And now she was second-guessing everyone, herself most of all.
They pulled into the hospice parking lot and as they walked toward the door, Jordan reached out. The trust she placed in him with that simple gesture made his heart twitch. He was in such trouble with her.
Nick didn’t get involved. He’d seen too many marriages go south because of long hours and long deployments. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a wife and kids, he did, but the Navy was his first wife and she hadn’t let go easily. He’d found purpose as a military doctor. Something bigger and beyond what he would do as a civilian.
But now that the military wasn’t part of the picture, Nick could think beyond his next few months to the rest of his life… and who might be part of it.
