by Cara Scott
“It’s not that simple.”
She looks down at her hands clenched on her lap and then out the window. Her body is tight with indecision. A few minutes pass until her shoulders slowly ease. She gathers in her breath and turns to me. “That’s a tall order for me. I need time to think.”
I let out a long breath. I’m doing my best to reassure and support her. I need her to see that this is what’s best. But I can’t push her. She needs space to make the decision on her own.
“Okay. I’ll take you home and you can get some rest. You’re wiped. We’ll have dinner at my place tonight and we can talk it through.”
She nods, “You’re right, I am wiped. A rest sounds like a good idea.” She nods. “Okay. Let’s go then.”
I shake my head. “Finish eating first.”
“I’ve lost my appetite.”
“That’s too bad, you were enjoying it. You still need to eat, Maura. I know it’s hard, but you can’t let your emotions get in the way. This case has brought you down too much already. Try and finish up, honey.”
She takes a deep breath and picks up her fork. “Yeah, you’ve got a point. I was enjoying the meatloaf. I’ll try and force myself to finish.”
Once she starts eating again, it goes down easier than she thought. When she finishes, I reach across with both hands and tuck her hair behind each ear. I make it a caress, lingering to feel the silky softness, to run my fingers along the side of her cheeks. I use my thumbs to rotate soothingly at either side of her jaw.
“Good girl.”
She looks at me from her big moss green eyes. “I don’t get it. That should seem patronizing, but it doesn’t. It sounds great and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, like I’m finally doing something right.”
Tears start to threaten at her eyelids and she drops her head to hide them. I’m having none of it. I bend my head to hers and tilt her chin upwards. I’m oozing tenderness and she melts. When I see the tears hovering and spilling over her long, dark, lashes, I give a soft curse and murmur. “Hey, honey. It’s gonna be okay. You’ll see. Things are gonna straighten out.”
My thumbs massage along the side of her neck and I make soothing sounds that are meant to reassure. I’m getting pretty good at this comforting thing. “You’re just wobbly right now. You bawled your eyes out earlier and now you’re weepy. I’m gonna take you home so you can rest. Things will look better tonight. That’s a promise.”
I pull her up, take her hand in mine and lead her through the diner. Ginny, Kelly, old Mr. Newlands from the hardware store, and Cassie our EMT from Garnet Junction, stare slack jawed at our clasped hands. There's a low buzz of conversation as others turn to look. Maura tries to ease her hand away. I pull her against me, curving her under my arm and curling her into my chest.
When we reach the cash desk, Kelly looks at us blankly as she slides the tab across to me. Shifting to hold Maura in front of me, I mold her close against my body. My arm slides across her belly, my fingers reach and idly stroke her opposite hip while I sign the check. I tell myself it's just another comforting gesture.
So why do I feel as if I marking my territory in front of the local townsfolk?
Probably, because I am.
Maura
Later that evening
Sitting up sharply, I wonder what's wakened me. I hear the sound again. There's a loud banging as if doors are being slammed. Cupboard doors, maybe in the kitchen. Then a noise like a small appliance - a microwave or a blender.
It takes a few minutes for me to come to and remember why I’m in bed during the day. After Mason took me home, he convinced me to rest before we get together at his tonight.
That still doesn’t explain the noises in my kitchen. What the hell’s going on? I reach for my cell and then, WTF. Am I hallucinating? I hear Ava’s voice. It's raised in song and coming from my kitchen.
“Ava?” I holler even louder. “Ava is that you?”
“Maura? Thank fuck! About time.”
I laugh in relief and delight as I hear her voice and feet travelling down the hallway towards me. “Jeez. You’ve been sleeping like the dead. I was running out of ways to make noise.” She enters the bedroom on the last few words. “I promised your hunky Detective Johnson not to come in and wake you. So I had to improvise.”
I laugh at Ava’s familiar banter. I'm almost giddy with the joy of seeing her. I so wanted to talk to her about this afternoon. The most I hoped for was a heart to heart on WhatsApp, but here she is in the flesh.
“What’re you doing here?”
“What do you think I'm doing here? When you didn’t get back to me and I couldn’t get you on your cell, I figured maybe I should get my ass up here and make sure you were okay. The last time we spoke, I could hear police sirens.”
I look at her like she’s crazy. “That's a three hour drive, Ava.”
She shrugs and sits on the bed. “Well worth it to walk in here and see you safe and sound rather than have to bail you out. Not to mention that amazing glow you’re sporting, girlfriend.” She settles herself further on the bed. “So?” She looks at me meaningfully.
“What?” I feign ignorance
“Maura! I drove three hours, don’t you dare act obtuse.”
I laugh and give her my news, my face aglow. “He kissed me.”
She hoots. “Alright! Must have been quite a kiss to bring on that glow.” She sits on the bed beside me. “And if the heated look in Detective Johnson’s eyes when he says your name is any indication, you’ve been doing some real good kissing, right back.”
I blush and glow even more at the memory of those kisses. “Yeah. Guilty on both counts.”
“I want details, girl!”
I laugh, pull my knees up and hug them to me. “It's a long story. I hardly know where to start.”
“It's only five thirty, Mason said he’ll pick you up at seven. We have time. Why not start from the police sirens.”
Some time later, Ava is in possession of the majority of the details of my afternoon. She's sat through my confidences listening and making comments throughout.
“So he is just as much in love with you as you are with him. I knew it! Cord hinted as much. As much as he could without breaking the guy code, that is.”
“Whoa, there! It was a kiss. Not a declaration of love. Don’t get ahead of things, Ava.”
Ava gives me one of her superior looks. “Come on, we all know where this is headed. Things are goin’ down tonight. A declaration is on its way.”
I look right back at her. “Yeah a declaration about me and the Gemcor case. He’s may be acting all romantic, but he’s not got any less alpha about laying down the law.”
“Just like he should! He wants to protect you from the stress of that stupid case! Maura, he's right about that. I'm with him on this. I have been from the start. You know that. Just get out of it!”
“Ava, it’s not that simple!”
“Don’t Ava me. Seriously, Maura. I should've said this to you months ago. He's right about the rest of it as well. Get back into private practice. You’re happy and you do good there. If you do it now you can get involved with this case he's working on. Wouldn’t you rather do that?”
“I don’t know.” I muse
Ava raises her eyebrows and stares me out. I crack like a cheap nut. “Yeah, yeah. Alright, I admit it. I'll get off the corporate case, but I’m not convinced about leaving the county prosecutor’s office, just yet. But, I’m willing to talk about it.” I add in a hurry at her pointed stare.
“Good.” She nods in satisfaction. “Ultimately you can only do what feels right for you. Just don’t make a huge mistake out of misplaced stubbornness. Mason's given you plenty of reasons to trust him. Think about that and listen to his advice.”
A contented glow fills me. It feels good that I can confide in Mason again. I sit up and fix Ava with a pointed stare of my own. “So how about you and Cord?
She shrugs, but I can see a flush creep up her neck. “I like him.
We’ve seen each other a couple of times back in Casper.”
I bounce up in bed and clap my hands. “A couple of times? In less than a week! Now that is going somewhere.” I throw back the covers and stretch. “We clearly need to talk.”
Ava grins “It's a good thing I made margaritas then, isn’t it?”
We set an alarm to tell me when to get dressed for my ‘date’ with Mason and spend the next while sipping our margaritas and exchanging girly talk. When the alarm goes off, Ava jumps up. “Right, time to tart you up!”
We go through my closet, looking for an outfit. Ava holds up a dress. “Oh. My. God. Maura! How come you never wear this?”
I blush, looking at the dress she’s holding. Suddenly I’m nineteen again - wearing that dress for a purpose I didn’t even admit to myself. The sole purpose of making a youthful Mason Johnson want me.
Mason’s house on the creek is the original Johnson homestead. It sat abandoned for around twenty years or more. Mason took it over during his last year of college and restored it as lovingly as he did his Harley. It took him two years to complete the work, coming back on weekends from his rookie year in the Casper PD. He did most of it himself with a bit of help from a few of his buddies.
I’d watch him from the dock on our side of the property trying to ignore the cravings his half-naked, tattooed, ripped body provoked. The day Mason was installing a number of his large floor to ceiling windows, he had a number of his buddies over to help out.
It was a hot, early summer’s day and I was on a working vacation. I’d spend my mornings helping out at my grandfather’s law office and the afternoons with my grandmother at the creek. My grandmother decided those ‘hard working young men’ all needed some of her iced tea and apple pie. She insisted I take it over to them. I was horrified. I was still too embarrassed around guys. Now I think on it, my grandmother probably knew that and was pushing me to get over it.
I changed into that dress with high heels that were ridiculous footwear for by the creek. I needed to feel tall and sexy as a defense against all that testosterone. I blush now thinking of how obvious it must have been when I sashayed over with the refreshments. I spent the walk over rehearsing all kinds of cool comments in my head. Only I didn’t say any of them.
He was even sexier close up than from my vantage point on the dock. The proximity to his naked, sweat-streaked, sun-oiled, sculpted chest and tight-denimed ass was too much for me. I plunked down the tray, flashed him my best glower and stomped off.
Nice one Maura.
Ava interrupts the embarrassing memory. “Maura, you have got to wear this! I just have to see what the sight of you in this outfit will do to Detective-Sex-on-Legs!”
She rummages in the back of my closet and pulls out the pair of outrageously high-heeled sandals. “Oh, these will be awesome. Come on! Get that dress on.”
“It doesn’t fit me anymore. I was nineteen when I bought it. I’ve gained some weight since then.”
“Even better.” Ava grins evilly. “You’ll fill it out even more. Besides, you’ve lost some weight these past months.”
I nod. “Yeah, stress does that to you.”
Ava takes over and soon has me dressed in her own brand of outfit that’s even sexier than my original look. When she finishes, I’m stunned at my reflection. All kinds of sexy scenarios flash through my mind at what Mason might do to me in this dress.
“Maura Michaels, I can see exactly what you’re thinking!” Ava teases.
I blush and walk away from the mirror. “Well it’s about time I get to have lustful daydreams about Mason Johnson that might finally come true!”
“Yeah. It is. I’m glad for you, Maura.
I don’t get much time to consider this before I hear Mason’s car pull into my back driveway. Doors slam and we hear male voices. Ava and I both stand up.
“Oh, Cord is with him.” Ava cries, a note of excited pleasure in her voice.
Mason and Cord come in my back door stamping their feet and shaking their heads. There's a slight drizzle outside and they're shaking off the drops of rain. Caught up in conversation, the affection and camaraderie they share is evident. The sight of it does silly things to my heart. It's just another part of Mason’s nature I love.
Love? Yes, I do love him. That's clear to me now.
“Hey, Cord. What’re you doing here?” Ava asks crossing over to him, slipping easily into a casual embrace.
He welcomes her with a smile and a quick kiss. “Some human remains have been uncovered up at the deserted dock around the North side of the creek. They suspect homicide and think there might be a city connection. So I'll be here for a bit assisting in the investigation.” He slaps Mason on the back. “The Johnson County police department just can’t manage it without me. Right, buddy?”
Mason flips him the bird without looking at him. He looks across at me. I draw in my breath as Ava, Cord and all my surroundings blur out. All I can see is him and the molten look he fires at me. It's the same for him and we both only barely register Cord’s drawl.
“Come on, gorgeous. How about I take you out for dinner so we can leave these two lovebirds alone.”
Ava and Cord make their goodbyes and Mason crosses the space between us. Lifting me off my feet to draw me full against him, he takes my lips in a long, hard kiss. When he sets me on my feet, I'm breathless, both from the strength of his action and the emotion it arouses. He steps away from me and tilts his head, making a show of appraising the way I'm dressed.
Mason
Holy fuck. All I can see is my Maura in that dress.
That dress that got my twenty-one year old self thinking about all the wicked things I wanted to do to my neighbor’s sinfully, sexy granddaughter.
Whenever I indulge in forbidden, lusty dreams of Maura, she’s in that dress. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had her in it. Shifting in my painfully strained jeans, I shake my head and look at her, trying to get a grip.
“Holy hell, Maura. You look gorgeous. How am I supposed to behave myself around you when you’re dressed like that?” I grab her and kiss her again. I take a good long time about it. After I’m done, I run my fingers across her swollen lips and ask her huskily. “You ready to go?”
She blushes and nods. On the way to the car, I shield her under my jacket from the slight drizzle. Back at my house, I walk into my open plan kitchen. Taking various things from the fridge and freezer, I turn to her with a questioning look. “Lasagna and salad okay with you?”
She nods. “Your mom’s Lasagna?”
I grin. “Yeah, I used her recipe, but I made it. I am able to cook.” I wink at her.
Putting the lasagna into the eye level oven, I set the timer. I hold up a bottle of red wine. “This okay?” Its one of my best vintages. Tonight is too special not to celebrate with the best.
When she nods, I place it on the breakfast bar between us, shrug out of my faithful leather jacket, and drape it over the back of one of the stools. I open the wine and pours us both a glass. She joins me to sit side by side. We each take a sip of wine. Its velvety smooth and I look forward to how it will increase in taste as it breathes. I'm distracted from my enjoyment of it when Maura takes a deep breath and cuts straight to the chase.
“I’ve thought it over and you’re right. I do need to get out of that corporate bullshit. Not sure how I will yet, but I will. I’m ready to concede that.” She takes another deep breath and gives me a straight-eyed stare. “But I’m still not quite ready to leave the county, just yet.”
I have to bite my tongue. I just want to scoop her up at get her away from all the crap in the county system. Maura’s stubborn but she can be reasoned with. I sit back and look over the rim of my glass at her moss green eyes. Their aglow and ready to do battle.
“Glad to hear you’re ready to quit Gemcor.” I take a sip of my wine and lock on to that green fire stare. “I guess you have your reasons for not quitting the county, yet.” I smile across at her. “Real glad to her
that ‘yet’ by the way.” I put my glass down. “So let’s hear it. What’s keeping you there?”
She relaxes her shoulders and drops her eyes to take a sip of her wine. “I need more experience with the way things work in the system.” She shifts and looks at me. “I guess I should have told you this at the time. I took the job because I want the inside scoop so I can learn to help my clients when I’m back in my practice.”
“Hell, honey. You didn’t need to work with that rat ass Stevens to do that. I’ve plenty of experience in the system, I can help you. Besides you were doing just fine on your own. Look how you helped that foster kid, Alice”
She shakes her head. “No, I wasn’t doing fine. I was struggling. Working on that case only showed me how little I know. I never would have been any use without you pointing the way.”
“And I’d never have been able to save her from Stevens without you. I needed your law expertise.” I put my arm around her. “We make a good team, Maura love.” I sit back and swivel the stool to face her. “I get that you feel you can learn stuff from your role at county, but you won’t. Stevens is too much of a louse to use you for anything but grunt work.”
Her face falls and her shoulders droop. “You’re probably right but I feel like I have to try.”
She looks so crestfallen, I want to pull her onto my lap and cuddle her. I try another strategy. “I took a witness statement today from Alice. It's taken over a year, but she's finally willing to come forward.”
She sits up, a look of excitement on her face. “Mason, that’s amazing! You’ve managed that? I’m impressed. Wow! She must really trust you.”
Her stricken look is gone. I'm just congratulating myself on my strategy when her face falls again. “You’ve been working on this since we worked her case together. Something important. Worthwhile. While I’ve spent my days and far too many of my nights chasing my tail after a bunch of suits, all corporate bastards, like you said.”
I don’t try to minimize her distress over this. It's exactly how I want her to feel. If she can get a sense of how she can do better – worthwhile - work away from the prosecutor’s office then it will be that much easier to get her to quit. I nod seriously, agreeing with her. “Yeah.”