Hey there. Life sometimes is a very crazy bitch. And I hate it. Sorry for the long wait. Please enjoy. Mary

Chapter 6

"Semper Fi." Jane answered nervously clutching the straps of her bag. Was this old man also a Marine? Or had he just figured out by Jane wearing the combat dress? She cleared her throat and took a step towards the counter. The older man smiled at her.

"What can I do for you..." he eyed her nametag over her right breast. "Lieutenant?" Jane blinked several times. Okay this guy definitely once had served too, or maybe one of his sons had.

"Are you Mr. Korsak?" she asked standing there and suddenly feeling very dumb. He smirked at her and supported himself on the counter. "Depends on who asks."

Jane looked at him as if she tried to figure something out. Then she couldn't help herself and saluted.

"Lieutenant Jane Rizzoli, U.S Marine Corps, Sir." He smiled at her and saluted himself. All of the tension suddenly gone Jane relaxed and smiled back at him.

"Sheriff Frost told me you are looking for someone to help you with your business, Sir." Korsak looked as if he didn't understand what the marine was trying to tell him. She sensed it and continued. "To be honest, Sir, I may need your help more than you need mine. Sheriff Frost said if I needed a job I should come by and so he dropped me off." Korsak stepped around the counter with a cane in his left hand. She started fidgeting again. She didn't know why this man was so intimidating but he reminded her of Major Cavanaugh from her last turn. A good man but strict, cold and a damn good Marines. When Korsak stood in front of her he extended his right and in offer for a shake. Jane's hands were filled so she donned her cap and shook the offered one.

"What brings you to our town? And why do you need a job, wanna settle here?" he asked with a dimpled grin. He stepped back to lean against the counter top. Jane looked him up and down to take him completely in. Other than a very obvious limp from a wound as a consequence thereof, he seemed in good shape. Jane guessed his age within the mid to late fiftieth. She nervously shifted her weight.

"Huh, Sir, I...It's embarrassing, really but, I'm travelling the country and I'm..." she chuckled and looked him straight in the eyes. "I'm out of cash." Hey sympathetically smiled at her and nodded.

"Do you have any experience in, well, handy jobs?" he asked and looked her up and down. "I mean no offense, sure you are strong, you are a Marine, but that..." she interrupted his speech.

"My father was a plumber. I know enough about handy work. Thanks, Sir." He smiled warmly at her nodded his approval and stepped away from the counter. Jane wasn't sure if this man even had the slightest interest in her skills. He stepped around and waved her through the backdoor. Jane wasn't sure if she should follow and where he would lead her but she complied.

"Do you have a place to stay?" he asked as they went into the back off the shop. He showed her a chair and motioned her to sit. Leaning on his cane he limped over to an at least twenty years old coffee machine and poured two cups of coffee. He placed one in front of Jane and walked over to get his own.

"Well, Sir..." she gulped. "To be honest, no I haven't got a place to stay." She looked down on the floor. It sort of felt humiliating to admit to be some sort of homeless. Well not sort of, she was. She was home and moneyless. Korsak noticed her uneasiness. He sat down opposite from her and placed the cane next to his stiff leg. She looked down on his outstretched leg and couldn't help but stare at it. Sometimes she asked herself if she would feel better if she had a hurting, stiff and mangled leg but a leg. Then she wouldn't have phantom limp pain, she wouldn't have to wear a prosthesis or use crutches. The doctors in Germany had told her it had been the only option for her to be saved, to cut off her leg. Her gaze wandered from Mr. Korsak's leg to her own where she rubbed unconsciously her own thigh. Korsak cleared his throat when he noticed Jane drifting of somewhere dark.

"Well... " he started and rubbed the back of his neck, "I have a guestroom were you could stay, at least until you have found something on your own. If that's what you want."

Jane's lips curled into a tiny smile and she nodded. " I don't want to impose, Mr..."

"Call me Vince." he smiled at her an took another sip of his coffee.

"As I said, I don't want to impose." she said and started fidgeting with her thumbs. It was a bad habit Jane hat developed from her time in high school. Not a very bright and memorable time. Vince looked up and placed his cup on the small table.

"Well you wouldn't impose. I'm offering a place to stay and a job to an Ex-Marine. Semper Fi. So, I would be hurt if you would decline this opportunity." he said, grabbed his cane and got up. Jane immediately got up herself and reached for her duffle bag.

"Come on Lieutenant. I'm gonna show you your new place to stay.

After Emma had left for school the daily routine took its place again and Louise and Maura went to work in the barns. The Isles' family had not only horses and cows, no, they had a typical animal farm with chickens, pigs, geese and even rabbits. After Maura got her vet, she decided to turn the house and the ground around into a full functional farm. They had their own meat and milk. And Louise had laid out a beautiful vegetable garden. So they were mostly independent. Something very important for Maura after years of beating and oppression in her marriage. She only left the farm for working purpose. She earned good money as a vet but not only because she was the only one in a perimeter of 30 Miles but she was a damn good one. They also used the farm as a shelter for pets when their families would leave for vacation or otherwise. That money was used for renovation. The money she earned as a vet was saved as well as she could for Emma's education. She wanted her daughter to go to the best college after high school and not make the same fault like she had made.

She sighed. It wasn't very hot today but in the barns it was always muggy. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and stretched her back. She didn't always like the work in the barns but it had to be done. She grabbed the water bottle and took a long gulp.

"You thinkin' 'bout her?" her grandma asked. Maura shrieked and lost grip of the hayfork. It fell down with a thud.

"Louise." Maura sighed and leaned against the door, trying to slow down her heartbeat. "I told you not to sneak up on me. You know I'm very jumpy."

Yes, she knew. And she also knew the reason why her only grandchild was so spooked. Louise sat down in the hay and patted the place next to her.

"I'm sorry dear. I thought I made enough noise to let you know I'm right behind you. But you were obviously in thoughts." Maura complied and sat down next to the older woman. She grabbed the water bottle and played with its label. Yes, she had been in thoughts, like she always was. But this time her thoughts weren't dark and scary, like the most time she left for the past. No this time her thoughts were confused and curious. She wanted to know more of the strange woman they had found in her barn and she wanted to know why she had left so abruptly. But most of all she wanted to know if she would see her again.

"Yes Nana. I was thinking about her. Didn't you too?" she asked and looked up to the woman next to her. Louise just grinned and nodded. "I do, but I might guess my thoughts are of a different kind. You are your curious self. And you can't stop thinking about her." Maura sighed and ran her hand through the honey blonde curls.

"You have seen it yourself. Her body was a mess." Louise chuckled and cleared her throat.

"I wouldn't call it a mess honey. I have seen those wounds too, well it was years ago, but I can imagine what she's been through. It's definitely from a bomb. I've seen it when George came back from Vietnam and I've visited him at the Veteran center. Some had lost both legs, others had burn scars on her whole body. others had lost arms or other body parts. It had been a horrible sight for me."

The older woman sighed and blinked several times to push away the memories. Maura didn't knew much about her grandmother. Her own mother had been very young when she had given birth to her and so she grew up with her father and servants. But he never had been there for her. So Maura had raised herself. Maybe a reason for why she fell for Jack so easily. At that time she had been very naive. But she had learned her lesson in a very painful and miserable way.

"The scar on her face wasn't from the bomb." Maura stated out of the blue. Louise turned her head towards her grandchild with a questioning look.

"What?" she asked puzzled not knowing what Maura was referring to. The blond looked her the older woman in the eyes.

"She has a scar on her face from her eye to the chin. That can't be from the bomb, it must be from a hunting knife." she said and got up. Louise gathered her water bottle and the gloves and got up herself. "What do you mean by a knife?"

Maura walked towards the house and turned halfway around to face her grandmother. She again run a hand through her messy curls. "I have seen it during my residency. When they brought in the dead ones. The way they had been cut open. This scar is from a very deep cut. It wasn't just an explosion that happened to her." Maura shook inwardly not knowing why this strange soldier hat such a hold on her. But it scared her and she knew she had to see this woman again. She turned around and walked towards the house.

Louise just stood there dumbfounded not knowing what her granddaughter was referring to but she noticed the change in Maura's demeanor. If she wouldn't know for sure she would say that the Lieutenant had captured Maura's heart in very intriguing way. She smiled to herself and walked after Maura towards the house.

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