Thanks so much for all the encouranging reviews. I haven't had an opportunity to respond personally to all of them ... yet. But they're received, read and appreciated! - Dix.

Wish Fulfillment

Chapter 3

"You're what?" Colleen said.

Alex shrugged and set down her coffee cup. "I have to work over the holidays."

"No, No." Colleen said. "The other bit."

Alex sighed. "I have to work over the holidays because I'm going to Giorgio's for New Years."

"You're joking? How do you afford that?"

"Not joking and not affording it either."

"So who's the rich guy you've been keeping under wraps?"

Alex smiled into her coffee cup. For once, her only sister was jealous of her.

"Well?"

"Not a rich guy." Alex shrugged. "Just a guy."

"Just a guy." Colleen shook her head and persisted. "So how long have you been seeing him?"

Alex sighed. "We're not seeing one another." She bit her lip. Letting Colleen drag it out of her had seemed easier than telling it straight out, but now she wasn't sure.

"So you're going to Giorgio's on New Years with 'just a guy' you're not romantically involved with." Colleen was hands down the best interrogator in the family. She knew inconsistencies when she heard them and pursued illogical reasoning like a hound on the trail of a butcher shop burglar.

Alex nodded. "And I really want to borrow your shoes."

Colleen rolled your eyes. "You want the shoes," She picked up her nearly full mug and waved it as she spoke. "I want a picture, his name, his family history. What you know. I want to know."

"Well," said Alex carefully. "You already know most everything." Colleen's brows rose. "Bobby" Alex said. "It's Bobby Goren."

Colleen set the mug down hard on the table and coffee slopped over the rim, making a brown puddle on the kitchen table. Silently Colleen rose and got a cloth from the sink. She wiped up the spill without a word. After she'd rung out the cloth and draped it on the faucet, she sat down again.

"Why would he invite you?" She asked slowly.

"I don't know." Alex said.

"It's a mistake Alex. You can't get involved with him."

"I'm not getting involved. We're going out ~ together ~ one time. For New Years. One time." Alex picked up her coffee and drained it. "So how about the shoes?"

Colleen shook her head. "You'll regret this," She said.

"Yeah" Alex said, "But I can't afford new shoes and a dress too."

- - -

There was a knock on Alex's back door not thirty minutes after she'd come home from Colleen's. She glanced through the kitchen window and wasn't really surprised to see her mother on the doorstep. Alex and Joe had moved into the same neighbourhood after they married. She'd never seen the need to move out; except on days like today.

"Hi Mom." She said pushing open the screen door.

"I was out for my walk." Her mother said, stepping onto the rug in the entryway. "I hope you don't mind me stopping in. Colleen told me you were home this morning."

"Of course not mom. Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh I won't stay, I'm sure you have a hundred things to do on your day off."

Alex nodded. "So how are you, mom?"

"I'm concerned about you dear. Colleen told me you have plans for New Year's Eve."

Alex nodded.

"Plans with Detective Goren, is that right?"

"Yes mom."

"Well darling that concerns me and your father."

"It's just one evening."

"Yes dear I understand that you think so, but are you sure that's what Robert thinks as well?"

"Mom!"

"Your father of course is very concerned about your career. He knows as well as anybody that gossip can damage an officer's career. You have to consider these things."

Alex closed her eyes and sighed. "Mom you have to stop now."

"I'm just saying Alexandra. I've seen how Robert looks at you."

"You haven't seen him in more than a year! What do you mean how he looks at me?"

"You brought him to Aunt Enid's birthday."

"Mom I did not bring him. He dropped me off for the dinner. We were in the middle of a case."

"Yes dear but I think he has feelings for you and you need to be very careful not to lead him on." Her mother reached out and gave her arm a squeeze. "Now I've said my piece and I'll leave it at that. You're a good girl, but you don't have much experience with men so I want you to be sure to think this through. And your father wanted me to remind you of all the damage you could do if this gets around."

"Thanks, mom." Alex said nodding. Her mother's experience with men consisted entirely of her forty-eight year marriage to Johnny Eames. Alex considered the source and tried to focus on her mother's good intentions and unconditional love.

"I love you, Alexandra." She confirmed with a smile. With that, she turned and went down the back steps. Alex watched her mother disappear down the lane and wondered not for the first time what it would be like to live in New Jersey or Wisconsin.

Thanks for reading. More to come. - Dix.