Mared was washing dishes.
"Can I help?" Tom entered the kitchen
"No," Mared replied with a little smile. "You're a guest."
He walked up behind her, and closer to her, looked back to be sure they were alone, swept her hair aside, and placed a quick and tender kiss upon the back of her neck. Mared jumped a little out of surprise- not expecting that.
"Tom," Mared whispered to scold him, but smiled at the same time as she said his name...hinting not here, but Tom knew he could steal a quick kiss, since they were alone for a moment.
"Give me that..." Tom insisted he wash taking a dish from her hand to soak and swapped places with Mared at the sink, so Mared would do the drying and putting away since it was her kitchen, and she knew where everything went.
"Thank you," Tom said to her softly.
"For what now?" She kept a pleasant look on her face.
"For this. For inviting me here to your home." Tom answered.
Mared nodded.
"You have a nice family." Tom continued.
"Elin's a good girl...and a straight talker," Mared said.
"Like her mother..." Tom remarked.
They kept their voices down.
"I think she knows... about us..." Mared continued.
"Well, then, maybe you should talk to her...tell her. Let her know. No sense in trying to keep us a secret from her, if it's obvious she already has it worked out."
They finished the kitchen cleanup.
Tom went back into the tv room to tell everyone goodbye and good night.
"I hope we see more of you here." Mared's mother grinned and looked at her daughter.
"Yes, I'd like that." Tom said.
Mared walked out with him to his car.
She embraced him so lovingly before he got in. Then, he sat in the car and shut the door. His window was rolled down. Mared leaned in through the window to kiss him.
It was clear no one was watching, especially because of the conversation Mared's mother approached her with as she re-entered the house.
"So, you saw him off. DCI Mathias seems a nice gent. You know, love, you could use a little romance in your life. You two should date. You look good together. Should've made a move out there-given him a kiss."
Mared walked away blushing as her mother was talking. If her mother only knew, she'd already done much more than that.
"I'm sure he'd like that...you taking the initiative. Men do sometimes..."Then mother looked at daughter. "My God, you're all red. You do fancy him."
"Mother, please...". Mared insinuated she couldn't handle more of her mother's rambling of love and romance. She wasn't a teenager to be embarrassed of it, but she also thought she was too old to want to listen to advice...Though, her parents did have a model relationship for lasting love...over 40 years of marriage.
An hour or two later, Mared went up to Elin's room just before going to bed herself. Elin was lying down scrolling through apps on her phone in bed.
"Elin, I want to talk to you."
Mared sat on her daughter's bed.
Elin didn't break her focus from her phone, as she spoke,
"You're having sex with DCI Mathias, aren't you?"
"Elin,"
"Look, Ma, there hasn't been a man in your life in years. I want you to be happy. Don't come here and ask for my approval. You have to trust your own instincts-you know him. You know if he's a good man or not. You can't live your life afraid...because, well, because of what happened with my father...It's time you stopped punishing yourself for that..."
"I'm in love with DCI Mathias, Elin. You need to know that."
"Good." Elin responded and turned on her side in her bed.
Mared scoffed and grinned, "Is that all you have to say?"
"I don't need to know any intimate details," Elin replied.
"I wasn't going to tell you things like that..." Mared started in a defensive tone, but then her voice turned softer, "I just...I wanted you to know that yes, we are together...We love each other, but no one knows about us at work. We're trying to keep it private for a while... just to sort it all out."
"I think if you love him, you've got it sorted...What else is there?" Elin remarked.
Mared said, "We just don't want to complicate things."
"Love is complicated." Her daughter commented.