Harry walked into the office a week later only to have a little Italian woman hurtle towards her and envelop her in a hug. Her eyes met Dempsey's over the woman's head, and her expression clearly said, 'how could you?'
'Harry, I've heard all about you from Jimmy and Simone showed me a photo. I feel like I know you already.' Her warm smile and obvious delight overwhelmed the blonde and she just smiled politely and said a very British how do you do.
Spikings looked on grimly and hoped nobody would say the word fiancée because if they did it'd be all over the Met like a contagious rash.
'Perhaps you'd like to take Mrs Dempsey to the canteen Harry and get her a nice cup of tea,' he watched as the blonde gathered herself together and invited Mom to the staff restaurant.
'Carry on, Lieutenant,' he said sarcastically as Dempsey followed his mother. From the look on Harry's face she obviously hadn't expected to meet Dempsey's mother at the office. In fact, that was what he called a fait accompli and what D.S. Makepeace would probably call a bloody cheek. She didn't swear much but when she did, bloody, was usually the word de jour.
Chas observed that Dempsey's Mum seemed to know a lot about his fellow officer and he almost smiled.
'Well, work colleagues, extreme situations, he's bound to have mentioned her once or twice.' Spikings squashed the gossip and told them all to get on with their work.
-oO0—
Meanwhile in the canteen Harry very politely got 'Mom,' a cup of coffee and a bakewell tart,' she sat down with her cup of tea and Dempsey pulled up a chair.
'It's very nice to meet you Mrs Dempsey, did you have a good flight,' she asked in what she hoped was a pleasant tone.
'Call me Mom, we're going to be related. I was so excited to meet you, Simone said she knew you were the one for my boy. I was overjoyed when I heard.'
'Really, well I'm sorry to tell you that…. Harry had gathered her resolve and was just about to deny being a prospective daughter in law when her partner intervened.
'We ain't arranged a date yet Mom,' Dempsey smoothly interjected cutting off Harry at the pass as it were. The colleagues here don't know, it's kind of sensitive cos we work together.'
Maria tapped her nose to say she understood. 'I want to be at the wedding, I'll need time to save up for another visit.'
'I'll pay for that Mom,' James smiled at his mother. 'You'll be the guest of honour,' he assured her.
'I've missed Jimmy so much,' his mother's eyes filled with tears. 'It was hard for him in New York and I'm so glad he found you, Harry.'
This was awful. Dempsey's mother was lovely and Harry hated the idea of hurting her. She could murder 'Jimmy,' though. 'We didn't like each other at first,' Harry recalled. 'He was very bossy and very chauvinistic and didn't believe in female, police officers. I found that offensive.'
'Yeah, but after three years I knew I couldn't live without you, honey.' His dark eyes were warm on hers but they held that old challenge.
'I think that's the first time you've ever said that, your mother must be a good influence on you James,' her blue eyes did that slightly unfocussed thing she did, it always got to him.
'Nah, I told you a while back,' he growled as he picked up his coffee. 'That time after Daish took a bath in the river,' he qualified.
'Oh, I thought that was about work,' her gaze fenced with his.
'Nope, that was about my heart,' he smiled at her. 'She says I'm not romantic,' he told his Mom. 'Play things close to my chest, I suppose.'
'You were always like that. You could charm the birds off the trees but you could never talk about your emotions. It was worse after the army and then other things,' his Mom looked sad.
'Harry's the same,' he sat back in his chair and regarded the blonde. 'She keeps things bottled up, don't show her feelings either.'
'I think I'm rather better at it than you,' Harry responded. 'I told you I couldn't bear it if I lost you,' she held his gaze.
'And I told you I needed you,' his voice had lowered with the impact of her reply.
Maria fanned herself with the napkin, 'get a room,' she joked at them but didn't look displeased. The sexual tension could have been cut with a knife.
'Yes, well what are your plans,' Harry decided to get Mom, the tourist into action. 'Have you made a list of the things you want to see?'
'I'd like to see the castle you were brought up in, Harry. Jimmy's described it and it sounds very grand.'
'Of course, you must see Winfield Hall,' Harry agreed thinking she'd be the most cloying and sickly fiancée James could possibly imagine.
'Yeah, you can meet Harry's Pop, he's a real Lord and Harry here is a Lady, genuine aristocracy. Armoured knights, peacocks around the lake and all that.'
'I'd like to see the Queen's palace and the changing of the guard, the Tower and Big Ben, oh everything.'
'Well Harry here makes an excellent tour guide, she did it for me once,' he winked at the blonde. 'Knows London like the back of her hand…
-oOo—
Dempsey was passing the ladies locker room later in the day after settling his mother into his apartment. All of a sudden, he was grasped by the hair and pulled into the female sanctuary. Harry didn't weigh much but she made up for her lack of size with effort and he had to struggle to subdue her until they were both breathing hard and he had her up against the wall.
'I know it was a dirty, underhanded thing to do but you can see what she's like, could you disappoint that face,' he panted.
'I'd like to disappoint your face,' she panted as she tried to knee him in the balls.
'Well if you do care about me like Spikings said, you don't want to be messing with that area,' he rested his jaw on her hair. 'You're a challenge when you're angry,' he gave a dry laugh. 'Don't try a head butt, it'll hurt you more than it hurts me.
'I'm willing to risk it,' she snapped back. 'Let me go,' she struggled against his hold on her.
'Not if you're gonna start the physical stuff, besides it's nice cuddling up like this don't you think?'
'Conceited, duplicitous oaf,' she tried to get him off her. 'How you could lie to that lovely woman, I don't know. You're a terrible son. I'm not lying to my father, I'm telling him the truth and he'll probably put his foot in it and it will serve you bloody well right.'
'I'll just say he's getting on and he's a bit forgetful,' he kissed her nose in a patronising fashion the snap of her teeth in response showed how little she appreciated that.
'I'm coming in,' a familiar voice and figure was seen through the frosted glass and Spikings opened the door.
The two officers broke apart and Spikings smirked as Dempsey had a definite black eye which was starting to appear. 'I see you've had a bit of bother Lieutenant, that looks nasty. I think you're going to have quite a shiner there, old son.'
Harry was biting her lip and looking rather guilty.
'Yeah, well it goes with the territory,' Dempsey answered in an even tone. 'Harry couldn't reach something so I'm helping her.'
'I'd say Harry's reach is just about perfect,' the Chief Superintendent gave a snort of laughter. 'No domestics on the premises if you don't mind,' he said as he went out of the door.
'You haven't heard the last of this,' Harry went over to the mirror and straightened her clothes, 'and if you think you're going to enjoy one moment of being my fiancé you've got another thing coming.'
'I don't know, fighting you is kind of sexy. When you do agree to be my significant other we can introduce that to the bedroom,' he winked at her and then his face contorted with pain. He looked in the mirror, 'Jesus, Harry I'm gonna look like a panda in Mom's snaps.'
'I'm sorry I must have caught you as you pushed me up against the wall, try TCP,' she offered in a snippy tone.
'Will it help,' he asked totally suckered in.
'Probably not, but it will sting like crazy,' she gave him a smirk of a smile and walked out.
-oOo-
'Are you wearing concealer Lieutenant,' Sergeant Makepeace scrutinised Dempsey's slightly orange, right eye as they proceeded to the car.
'Damn right,' he responded irritably. 'Mom gets upset if I get injured. She'd be majorly upset if she knew my fiancée had tried to deck me.'
'You deserved it,' Harry wasn't at all sorry that she'd socked him in the eye. In fact, she'd have been quite satisfied if his eyes matched. 'Perhaps you should jilt me. I mean you have just cause an abusive future wife is hardly ideal even if she would qualify as eye candy which of course I most definitely do.' The latter part of the comment played to his lack of tact and recalled the 'anyone' comment.
'Looks aren't everything,' he responded in a terse tone. 'You can drive since you've impaired by vision. If you did like me you'd think you'd be capitalising on this opportunity to fix my attention instead of acting up.'
'You are possibly the stupidest man I've ever met,' Harry responded in a dangerous tone. 'You used me rather than admit to your mother that you've made a home for yourself here. It was the easy way out. And you then have the absolute effrontery to think that I'm going to run after you with a big butterfly net in order to catch my man. You must be delusional.'
'Spikings is delusional that's what I think,' he growled his jaw squaring. 'And for your information I told a white lie to save my Mom's feelings, I don't think that makes me a terrible son.'
'You're a terrible son and a terrible friend,' Harry responded in an irritable tone. 'When exactly are you and your mother intending to grace Winfield Hall with a visit? We can't just turn up unannounced.'
'This weekend. I talked to Freddie about it and explained the whole thing and unlike you he was very sympathetic and said he'd write down James, Harry's fiancé on his hand in case he forgets. I think he was joking about that.'
Harry wasn't so sure her father had a short attention span. 'I see, well what if I can't make this weekend. You didn't consult me so you can't exactly expect me to jettison my arrangements to support this farcical story of yours.' Her chin tilted in a challenging way which should have told him exactly how annoyed she actually was.
'Harry, she's only here for this weekend so it has to be then. 'C'mon, give me a break. I apologise for getting you into this, it was a stupid idea.'
'And how dare you talk to my father without talking to me first…. She fumed, at his audacity. It was as if her views were of no importance as long as Mom bought into the story. 'Your mother will expect a wedding, I suppose you think we should do that too.'
'I'll buy some time on that,' he growled back at her. 'You're driving too fast we're gonna get pulled over,' she hit the brakes and slowed the car down which was something. 'Mom's worried about what to wear so if you could brief her on that I'd be obliged. And your Pop's got some house guests this weekend so it would be good if you can get the skinny on that.'
'Well, I hope it isn't any of the family,' Harry responded tersely. 'If, I was going to introduce you to my relatives as my fiancé I'd need to put in some ground work first. Some of them are quite elderly and I don't want to be responsible for their early demise.'
'Thanks,' he glanced at her, 'that bad huh?'
'It would be a surprise,' she answered wryly. 'Our backgrounds couldn't be more different and you're an American,' she added that as if it should explain everything.
'And proud of it,' he glowered at her denigration of his nationality, like it was a problem.
'I am a product of hundreds of years of blue blood, Dempsey and some upstart from the former colonies would be something of a shock. It's not even as if you have the finance to grease the wheels.' She stopped outside the rather gloomy block of flats. 'The day job,' she flashed a glance at him. 'I think you'd better top up your make-up the purple is coming through,' she got out of the car and headed off without him.
Dempsey got out and locked the vehicle with his set of keys. He'd annoyed Makepeace a number of times throughout the years and this kind of reminded him of the time he'd thought she'd lost the car keys at a particularly inopportune moment and they'd lost the villains they were chasing. He had a feeling this time he needed more than a lucky silver dollar.
-oOo—(3)
