Chapter 3

Catherine waved to Ecklie as his car pulled away from her house, then she opened the door and quickly stepped inside, ready to deactivate the house alarm.

She frowned when she noticed the absence of the beeping of the countdown, but her momentary panic was relieved when she saw a note, written in familiar handwriting, stuck to the front of the panel.

'Mom, don't worry. It's just me.'

Catherine removed the paper and moved through to the lounge, as her daughter's voice called 'Hey' to her from that direction.

"Hey, yourself," she replied, dropping down beside her on the sofa, and embracing her in a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching TV," Lindsey replied with a grin.

"Oh… That's funny," Catherine said, sarcastically, tickling Lindsey's sides a little before pulling back. "You're on the wrong side of the country, Linds."

Lindsey shrugged. "I had some study time. Thought I'd come visit my old Mom."

"Hey! Less of the old…. So there's nothing wrong?"

Lindsey smiled reassuringly. "Nothing's wrong. I just fancied a visit…. So, why weren't you here when I arrived, eh? You're very dressed up."

"Well, I didn't know you were coming… And I was at dinner with Ecklie – "

Lindsey's eyebrows raised. "Again?"

Catherine offered her a pointed look and added: "This was lab stuff!" emphatically, before she let her head fall back heavily against the seat cushion.

Lindsey smiled sympathetically, placing her head beside Catherine's. "Tired?"

Catherine nodded. "It's been a …" She paused as her mind ran over the day she had had – mainly just the parts that included Grissom. "… strange day."

"Wanna talk about it?" Lindsey asked, concerned.

Catherine shook her head. "Not tonight… Tonight… I just want to sleep. I'm sorry, honey."

"Hey, don't be… You didn't know I was coming. I can't expect you to drop everything and… forgo sleep," Lindsey smiled.

"Thanks sweetie…" Catherine hugged Lindsey once more and then stood up. "I've got quite a busy day tomorrow, but we can do dinner -" She stopped mid-sentence, her cringe showing that she had briefly forgotten her plans.

"Plans with Ecklie again?" Lindsey smirked.

Catherine glared at her, playfully, then sighed, tiredly. "No… With Grissom."

Lindsey's eyes widened, and all trace of humour disappeared from her features. "Gil Grissom?" she asked, her tone now serious, matching her expression.

Catherine had expected that reaction and tried to disperse the solemn air that was descending on the room. "Yeah… He's helping us with a case. He's just here for a few days," she explained, her overly-light tone showing Lindsey that things really weren't that simple.

"Mom – "

"I'd reschedule but … we do need to talk about the case – "

"Mom – "

"And he's only here for a few – "

"Mom!" Lindsey raised her voice this time, finally managing to interrupt Catherine's justifications. "I don't expect you to change your plans… There are places I can go, people I can see… Go to dinner… But – if you decide you need an excuse to pull out – feel free to use me," she smiled.

Catherine nodded. "I won't - … I should - …"

"Do whatever feels right, Mom…" Lindsey stood up and wrapped her arms around Catherine. "I think I'll go to bed too," she continued, as she stepped away. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm just over-tired. It's been a long day." She drew out 'long', making it onomatopoeic.

Lindsey nodded understandingly. "Get some sleep… I'll make you breakfast in the morning."

Catherine laughed. "You'd better be careful, doing things like that. I might not let you leave."

The two women hugged again, then Catherine told Lindsey to go ahead to bed while she locked up.

Standing alone in the middle of her lounge, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, Lindsey's words flashing through her mind.

"Do whatever feels right."

Dinner with Grissom. Gil. Dinner with Gil. They hadn't seen each other for seven years; it was an opportunity to catch up; they did need to discuss the case. Dinner with Gil did feel right.

So why was she so nervous?

TBC…