This is my J&C adaptation of Susan Sizemore’s novel, "His Last Best Hope"

The polite smattering of applause in the pleasantly warm chapel brought broad smiles to the faces of the radiant bride and groom. They shared a brief kiss in front of the minister, then turned to face their family and friends. As they neared the doorway leading to the late afternoon sunlight, a sharp command echoed above the greetings.

"TEN-HUT!!" Arms clamped firmly against legs, resulting in a muffled thump, followed by the clang of tempered steel meeting steel. An honor guard of two rows of men in crisp dress white uniforms formed an archway of silver sabers that shimmered elegantly in the sunset.

Lieutenant Commander Jerry Jacks and his new wife came through the canopy first. His dark hair and swarthy skin contrasted sharply with the brilliant white of his dress uniform. Bobbie Spencer Jacks had chosen an eggshell-colored formal suit with a knee-length skirt. The short sleeves of the jacket were accented with lace insets, and the same lace was appliqued at the peplum hemline.

Jerry and Bobbie headed for a small rose garden next to the chapel. "You still with me, little brother?" he called, glancing over his right shoulder.

"Aren’t I *always*, big brother?" Jax grinned at Jerry as he escorted his counterpart in the wedding party towards the informal reception set up in the garden. The dark tan he had acquired during months of cruising the Caribbean as El Pantera and the golden highlights in his hair, combined with his starched dress white Navy uniform, made him look altogether quite delectable. The matron of honor, Bobbie’s sister-in-law, Laura Spencer, found herself smiling without being prompted as she had the distinct honor of winding her arm around Jax’s elbow to proceed beneath the arched sabers.

The rest of the guests filed out of the chapel to join the small wedding party for champagne and cake. Just as Jax was about to take a flute of the golden nectar from a passing waiter, he heard a voice behind him. "Are you *sure* you should be drinking that stuff?" He turned to see Jerry, arching an eyebrow in rebuke. "With the medication you’re supposed to be taking?"

"Thanks a *lot* for the advice, MOM," Jax replied sarcastically, "but I’ll be just FINE." He lifted the flute and downed a hefty swallow as Jerry watched, then rolled his shoulders and winced. "I quit taking the pain killers about a week ago. They make me too groggy to get any work done."

Jerry glanced over towards his bride, who was busily sharing congratulatory hugs with her brother, Luke’s, family. "Seems to me I heard just the opposite, you know," he muttered, moving closer to Jax and speaking in a low tone. "Mum said you’ve been having trouble sleeping." Jax swore softly. "She says you stay up till all hours of the night pacing the floors."

"Mum worries about me too much." Jax took another swift drink of champagne. "I’ll be fine." When Jerry continued to stare at him wordlessly, Jax tipped his head in a "give me a break" stance. "It’s just some leftover stress from the mission, OK?"

When Jax lifted the glass to drink again, Jerry took it from him. "I thought you were seeing some Navy shrink for the aftermath – debriefing and all that rubbish."

"Yeah." Jax snorted sarcastically. "Bloody lot of good that does me." He stared wistfully at some distant point in the garden. "They all just tell me to forget that the past six months happened. That I should put it all behind me as though it never even existed." Then he turned to Jerry and pointed to his chest. "But I’ve got the *scars* to prove that it DID exist, Jer. On the outside, and on the IN."

Jerry lifted his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Then why don’t you just call her, Jax? After all, you’re not in Intelligence anymore, and she’s an independent citizen who can see whoever she d*mn well chooses to see on her own time."

Jax shook his head, stared at the ground, and then looked up at Jerry with the hint of tears at the corners of his eyes. "Then why didn’t she call me, Jer? I mean, I know Sean made her leave me in Miami without saying goodbye, but what’s stopping her now?" He shrugged his shoulders and took the champagne flute back from his older brother. "Maybe the shrink’s right after all. Maybe it all *was* just the atmosphere and the danger and the hot tropical backdrop that made me think we had something good between us……"

Jerry’s heart broke for his brother. On this day, when he was finally getting the wife and son he always wanted, he wished he could somehow give some of that happiness to Jax. He rubbed his younger brother’s shoulders and then smiled a little. "I know what your *real* problem is, Jax." He chuckled softly. "You’re just jealous because I still outrank you."

Jax cracked just the hint of a smile. "Not for long, big brother. Sean tells me that my promotion to Commander should be coming through any day now. Especially since Cassidine is behind bars and Hillard is singing like a bird about some of his other contacts on the wrong side of the tracks."

"Are you two talking business AGAIN?" Bobbie came up to the brothers with a broad smile despite her scolding tone as she wagged a finger at Jerry. "Didn’t I tell you that business talk was strictly *forbidden* on our wedding day?"

"Methinks we’ve BOTH been outranked here, big brother!" Jax joked. Jerry moved back to his new wife and slid an arm possessively around her waist as Jax lifted his glass in salute to his new sister-in-law. "So tell me, Jerry – does she make you salute when you come into a room?"

Jerry shot Jax a devilish smile. "Only certain *parts* of me come to attention, little brother!" When Bobbie blushed and hid her face in Jerry’s shoulder, he winked at Jax. "And usually I don’t hear any complaints from the new missus when I *rise* to the occasion, either!"

The groom stopped a passing waiter to get a glass of champagne for his new bride as she struggled to regain some composure. Jax seized the occasion to offer a tender toast to the newlyweds, which was met with a round of applause. He turned and was about to escape to a quieter corner of the garden when he felt someone grab his arm.

"Jax……" Bobbie smiled strangely at him when he turned back to her. "I invited a last minute guest to the reception ……. I thought you might want to meet her……."

He swallowed the choking feeling that seemed to come on him at the most inopportune times since returning from Miami. Jane Jacks had been behaving like a hyperactive mother hen, trying to mend her youngest chick’s broken heart. She had dragged him along to art exhibitions and open air concerts until Jax thought he would throw up. It didn’t surprise him in the least that Jane would have commandeered Bobbie into "fixing him up" with someone at the wedding reception so he could forget Chloe.

As if he ever could…….

"Jax?" Bobbie gently placed her hand on his arm, bringing him back to the present. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah – sure." Jax blinked rapidly and then slid his finger inside the stiff collar of his uniform jacket with an embarrassed smile. "I guess I’m just not used to wearing this monkey suit and I got a little light-headed……"

"Good." Bobbie was obviously relieved. "Because she’s right over here….."

"You know, Bobbie, I really should be getting back to Laura," Jax interrupted, handing her his champagne flute. "There might be some kind of best man duty I’m forgetting about……"

"Don’t let me keep you."

Jax’s heart stopped. His chest ached. A roar like a freight train echoed in his ears. When he felt like he could move his legs, he inched just to the right of Bobbie so he could see the source of that voice – see just what kind of cosmic practical joke God was playing on him for raising so much h*ll in the Caribbean.

He didn’t have to move far. Bobbie slid back with a satisfied smile so that Jax could see the speaker clearly. He swallowed hard and reached out a hand, muttering her name so softly that nobody but he heard it.

"Chloe……"

"I really don’t mean to cause problems – if you’ve got official best man duties to perform, you know." Chloe primly clasped her purse in front of her with both hands. "I…..uh…….." She stared down at the ground with a shy smile that reminded Jax of heaven. "I’ve been told in the past that I’m mouthy and disrespectful……"

"Chloe……." Her name was a prayer on his lips.

"……and even that it takes a hurricane to get me to shut the h*ll up……"

"God………Chloe……."

As Jax moved towards her, Chloe suddenly stepped back. She saw the shock on his face and quickly put out her hand. "I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced," she announced succinctly. "I’m Chloe Morgan..…..and you are……..?"

A smile slowly lifted the corners of Jax’s mouth in understanding. He took her hand and lifted it to his lips to place a tender kiss on her knuckles. "Lieutenant Jasper Jacks, United States Navy – at your service, ma’am."

Bobbie looked from Jax to Chloe back to Jax again as Jerry came up behind her. She snuggled into her husband’s arms with a satisfied smile. "God….." she sighed, smiling up at Jerry, "I love it when a plan comes together."

Jax never even noticed Jerry and Bobbie sneak away, leaving him and Chloe alone in the secluded corner of the garden. He stared at Chloe for the longest time until he finally swallowed hard and muttered, "You look so………beautiful……."

Chloe’s blonde hair was pulled into a tidy French twist at the back of her head. She wore a simple dark violet linen dress with lace appliques that hugged every curve of her body lovingly. It had a short-sleeve bolero jacket trimmed in the same lace motifs. White gloves and shoes died to match her dress completed the outfit.

She laughed softly and his heart nearly burst with happiness. "Yes, well I guess this is quite a change from the way you saw me before." Then suddenly her eyes widened. "Ooops……" She shook her head to scold herself. "Guess I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet."

"The hang of what?"

"Forgetting that *it* ever happened."

Jax’s eyebrows rose. "Ahhhhhh……..debriefing." Chloe nodded wisely. "They made you go through it, too?"

"Uh-huh." The smile faded from her face and when she looked into Jax’s eyes again, the heat sizzled a path to his heart. "But somehow I just couldn’t forget it. I missed El Pantera."

Jax’s breath caught in his chest. "Me?" he asked softly. "Or El Pantera?"

Chloe’s response was to lay her hand gently on his chest. She stroked it softly, tracing her slim fingers up and down its contours until Jax wanted to rip his formal jacket off and feel her skin against his. Just as he took a ragged breath, she abruptly looked down and seemed to switch gears.

"I’ve been really busy the past few weeks, you know," she stated matter-of-factly. "I had a memorial service for my aunt and uncle, and I had to clean out their house and settle the estate." Jax’s heart nearly stopped again when she started to stroll away from him. She only went a few steps when she stopped and turned back to him. "You’d be proud of me though," she admitted with a broad smile. "I’m expanding my uncle’s handbag company into an accessories business." She bit her lower lip and Jax ached to soothe it with his tongue. "I’ve been doing some of the designing – getting back into the hang of it – and I’ve had orders from boutiques in New York and as far away as Georgia."

He nodded, lips pursed in a smile. "I knew you could do it."

When she looked at him again, tears shone in her eyes. "I’ve finally been sticking up for ME, Jax, just like you told me to. And so when your sister-in-law invited me to the wedding today, I decided to come and do what *I* wanted – not the Navy or Ned or anyone else." She took a shaky breath. "I want YOU, Jax. I want US." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I love you."

"That’s the first time you’ve ever said it." His voice was husky with emotion.

She nodded quickly. "That’s the first time I wasn’t afraid I’d lose you if I did." Then she suddenly paled and her resolve seemed to crack. "At least…….I don’t think I’ll lose you…….if you still want me, that is…….."

He slowly walked towards her, a wolfish grin gracing his lips. His lean body swayed slightly from side to side, all masculine grace and heat even hidden by the starched white uniform. When he stood directly in front of her, he cupped her face in his hands. "Amada," he whispered, tracing her forehead with his lips. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I don’t know……" Chloe grinned coquetteishly and fluttered her eyelids. "You look like maybe you’d like to kill me……or……."

His blood ran as hot as that day in the alleyway. "Or what?"

"…….or kiss me?"

He sighed. "I thought you’d *never* ask." Jax tilted her chin and covered her mouth with his. Her lips opened willingly and he slid his tongue into the wet heat of her mouth. Without breaking the kiss, he urged her towards a small stone wall of the garden until her back was against it. His hands slid down to cover her breasts and a low groan rumbled through his chest. Even though the skirt of her dress was narrow, Jax somehow managed to wedge his thigh between her legs, rubbing it against her feminine center until it wept for his possession.

When he slid his mouth from hers, gasping for air, and then tickled her arched throat with tiny love bites, she moaned his name. "Jax…….we shouldn’t be doing this……..not here…….."

"I don’t give a d*mn, Chloe……." Jax lifted his head to stare into her eyes. "I love you, and I want you in my life………permanently."

She smiled slowly and lifted her left hand, fingering the blood-stained cigar band. "I was hoping that you’d remember that particular promise. Since you never break them, of course."

"Of course." Jax smiled knowingly but then a low commotion from another part of the garden caused them both to turn their heads. "Ahhhh……..looks like Jerry’s getting ready to throw Bobbie’s garter."

"That doesn’t concern you." Chloe surprised Jax when she took his face in her hands and turned it towards her. "The rest of the women can have all those unmarried men." She kissed him quick and hard on the lips. "This one is mine."

"The party for you will come when we reach Montserrat," Pantera growled to his drooling crew. "Women for everyone – my treat." His eyes locked with Chloe’s and despite her resolve not to let him see her fear, she whimpered softly. "This one is mine."

"Yours?" Jax raised an eyebrow at her playfully. "Maybe you can just go to h*ll, Miss Morgan!"

"I’ve already been there, Pantera," Chloe replied with a wink. "And I don’t think I care to go back."

Three months later, Commander and Mrs. Jasper Jacks made their way under an archway of crossed sabers to the cheers of family and friends. For their honeymoon, the newlyweds elected to take a long ski vacation in Switzerland. When asked to comment, Commander Jacks stated that he and his new bride merely wanted to live happily ever after, far away from hurricanes and tropical climates……and pirates.