"Okay. Girl talk." Linda closed the door and turned around. For a few minutes she just leant against the wood, watching her sister in law filling the dishwasher, cleaning the expensive wine-glasses by hand. A smile curled the blonde's lips. Erin knew how to wear her poker face at work, but she couldn't get it up when she was at home. And Linda was a cop wife for more than fifteen years now, and mother of two boys. She could wait.
As Erin held up the last glass to check it for stains, she shot a quick glance back. Linda smiled at her, patiently but with an edge of triumph. With a sigh the state attorney put down the glass. "Can't we just go back?", she asked. Linda's smile grew wider for a moment, then she got earnest. "No."
Erin nodded, her mixed feelings now clearly written on her face. "Okay, it's just… it's just that there is nothing, Linda. Really. It's just work and… nothing to worry about." She managed a smile, struggling to find the right words. "In any case, if…" "Erin Reagan-Boyle, if there is one thing you can't do and will never be able to do…", Linda interrupted gently, making her way to Erin and taking her hands, "it is lying. You hate it, you don't tolerate it, you don't do it. That's why people trust you." Erin shook her head in confusion. "I didn't try to lie to anybody!" "You just did. You wanted to lie to me." Linda smiled. "And it's okay for now, because I can tell you're lying from the very first syllable." She let go of Erin's hands and fetched them two glasses of scotch. Erin laughed. "If there's one thing you can't do, it is drinking me under the table." She took the glass nevertheless.
"There is something"; she admitted eventually. "But I don't think it would be a good idea to tell you. It's got nothing to do with you, Linda", she quickly added, "it's just… I don't know. Usually I talk such things out with Dad, but…" "Exactly", Linda said, "that's what got me worried. You were not only avoiding Jamie's eyes at dinner, you were also avoiding your Dad's. And you were quiet. There were at least two things Danny said you normally argue with. And you said nothing." She sipped at the drink, her eyes never leaving Erin's face as she gulped it down reluctantly. Erin smiled, both amused and admiring. "You got a good eye and ear for people, you know that, Linda?" Linda just shook her head. "Don't change topic again, Erin. What's wrong? There's something eating you up and you need to talk about it!" Linda looked at her very closely, the hint of a doubt glistering in her eyes. "You know you can trust me with anything, don't you?" "Yeah! Yes, of course I do, Linda!" Quickly, Erin hugged her sister in law, something she didn't do very often. Both women knew they had to be strong for the men around them. "I trust you"; Erin whispered as she let go of Linda. "As I said it's… got nothing to do with you or Danny or… actually, I guess it doesn't even have anything to do with me, it's just…" She sighed, then shot a quick glance to the door.
"It's just…I got a call today. At three o'clock in the morning." Linda frowned in surprise, and Erin suddenly found herself enjoying the moment of suspense. "By Sydney."
Linda's eyes grew wide. "That Sydney?", she whispered, suddenly understanding. Erin nodded. "Graduated at Harvard but no thought on time shift. For her it was eight in the morning." Disdain dropped from Erin's words, though Linda could see pity in her eyes. "How long did you talk?" "I don't know, I was…half asleep half the time, and angry for the other half." Erin took another draft of cognac. Both women shook their heads at the same time. "Stupid…girl!" Linda put her arm around Erin's shoulders. "No need to hold back", she said calmly, "I've been young too and I promise I won't tell Nicky. Or your Dad, for that part." Erin laughed. "It's just…"
She closed her eyes. "I liked Sydney", she declared. "I really liked her, I liked the way she and Jamie appeared together, I liked how she was there for him at Joe's funeral, I liked how she was not afraid to speak against Danny." She opened her eyes, but looked up to the ceiling as if still ashamed. "I liked it to not be the only lawyer in the family anymore. And I loved, I really loved it to see how happy Jamie was with her. How proud he was when he told us she'd said yes, you remember?" "Yeah, I do." Linda sighed. "And you hate her for what she's done to him, right?" Erin grumbled something incomprehensible. "Hey, it's okay, I hate her for it, too. I mean it's not like…" "I don't hate her!" Erin cried out, "I try to, because it's my duty as a sister to hate her. And yes, I hate her voice and I hate what she's done to my little brother, but I can't hate her at all, I mean, I can't… it's not that I wouldn't understand her." She looked at Linda, new admiring shining through her eyes. "She never was as strong as you, Linda. I think not many people are. Waiting for your husband every day, never knowing if he comes home… even I can't imagine how hard it is to be a cop's wife. You're so brave."
Yeah, and you need more alcohol!" Feeling her face reddening with abashment, Linda quickly shoved her half full glass into Erin's hands. It took her a second to get her smile under control, but her voice was modest as she said, "I'm not half as brave as you think I am, Erin. And you are a lot braver than I am. I was a nurse once; I know how many ways there are to die. It can happen so quickly, we never know if we'll see our loved ones again. But still, whenever there is a message of an officer down…" Now it was Linda who closed her eyes. "We talked about that once, Sydney and I"; she said, "right in Jamie's first months on the streets, when this female officer got killed, I don't remember her name, but… I remember Sydney asking me how to live with the day to day. I didn't really know what to say. I thought she'd get it somehow." "But she never did. She could never warm up to the thought of Jamie being a police officer." Erin swallowed down the last cognac. "I pity both of them, I guess. Both of them had plans they wanted to follow, and none of them was ready to make some compromises."
Again, silence hung in the room, heavier than it had been before. Linda knew it had been the right decision to make Erin speak, but that didn't mean it was easy. And it didn't mean there was a solution to be found.
"So…what do remember from the call?" Erin shrugged. "She wanted to know how Jamie is. I told her something like it wasn't her business anymore. I was furious when she woke me up, and pretended everything was okay. Because it is not okay. I'm an attorney, she's a third-class lawyer's assistant, and…" "Sorry?" Linda grabbed her sister in law by the shoulders and turned her around. "I thought you didn't hate her?" "I don't! I just… oh God!" Erin took a step forward, letting Linda hold her. Second hug in a day, second hug in the past fifteen months, but it felt good. "I always thought being a Reagan would be worth every fear or inconvenience", she confessed. "That's arrogant, isn't it?" Linda laughed softly. "It sounds arrogant", she said, "but knowing our family – no, it's not. We're good. We're a good family. And one day there'll be somebody who earns it to be the Reagan at Jamie's side." She rubbed Erin's back encouragingly, then let go of her again. Erin sighed, nodded, shook her head and nodded again. "Hopefully. It's just…" Then she laughed. "You know if we just made a drinking game out of every time I say "I just" today, everybody'd be drunk in half an hour." Linda clicked her tongue. "We're not done with this, Erin. Not at least. You may be tired from getting called at three o'clock, but I can stay all night long. And I will. We need to talk this through. Before Sydney comes back and tries to claim Jamie back."
"Sydney and Jamie?" Danny peeked in, chuckling as he saw the empty glasses. "I seem to interrupt a very earnest conversation!" "Earnest enough for you not to just pop in", Erin said disapprovingly, but Linda smiled as she went over to her husband and kissed him. Danny held her close, but directed his words to both of them. "Syd and Jamie's history, ladies. They're never getting back together, okay? And it's better for both of them." "Oh really, Danny?" Erin had regained her irony. "And you know that because you're such an expert in understanding women?" Well, I…" "She called me this night! She asked me something about the job, and then she started with Jamie! And she's coming back in two months! So sorry if I'm afraid she might break Jamie's heart again!" Danny met his sister's glance very calm. "Sure you're fearing for Jamie's heart?", he asked, but quickly shook his head as Erin's face turned from confused to angry again, "I'm just saying: Sydney knew when she left that she would be away for six months, okay? Both of them knew that they would be departed for six months. No more, no less. And still none of them even suggested a long-distance relationship – well, not as far as we know. That means something, Erin. It means they both knew it was over. No turning back, not even trying."
Linda and Erin looked at each other, both stunned this time. Danny had to laugh at the women's faces. "What? Hey, I'm a detective, it's my job to ask the right questions!"
Erin raised her eyebrows. "Sure."
Danny chuckled. "Yeah, sis. And Jamie's not the one I worry about right now." He let go of his wife and went over to his sister. His grin was wide and wicked. "We all agreed that the next one to find love again ld be you!"