Chapter 25

Constance entered Maura's suite, cane in one hand and a roller bag in the other. Once in the living room she approached Maura and hugged her. It was a warm, tight embrace. "Oh, Maura. I'm so sorry. You have to know I had nothing to do with Phillips's decision." Constance's tone was anxious.

"I realized that when I saw the look on your face earlier. I know you didn't have a hand in this."

They continued to embrace for a few more seconds and then pulled apart. Maura, sensing Constance needed to sit, motioned her over to the couch. "Can I get you something? Wine maybe?"

"A glass of wine would be wonderful, thank you."

Maura left for the kitchen and poured a glass of wine for her mother. She went back into the living room and delivered the beverage. "Are you alright?" she asked with deep concern.

"This was not how I imagined my day was going to end, I'll have to admit."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize! This is your father's mess. Not yours. I could kill him for what he is trying to do to you."

"Not trying, did," Maura reached for the dissolution paperwork that was still sitting on the coffee table and handed it to Constance. "He made his choice and I made mine."

Constance looked at the paperwork with mounting anger. "Maura, sweetheart, you didn't have to sign this. "

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry Mother but I can't be a part of his life anymore. Signing that just makes it easier for me to walk away," Maura paused and then reached over and put her hands in her mother's. "I don't want to walk away from you though. I need you to know that I still need you in my life."

A tear started to fall down Constance's face. "I need you too Maura."

"What will happen between you two?"

"I don't know exactly. I have chosen not to make any final decisions tonight. There will be time to figure everything out in the days to come. I only know I couldn't stay in that apartment tonight."

"Well, you are more than welcome to the guest room. In fact, I'm heading back to Boston Sunday but you can stay here as long as you need."

"You're leaving so soon?"

"I only took off the week and we need to get back," Maura realized this was the first time she had mentioned Jane which then made her realize that she didn't know where Jane had disappeared. She looked around to see if she could catch a glimpse of her but Jane was nowhere to be found.

Constance caught Maura's eyes darting around for Jane. "Where is Jane, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. We were on the terrace when you knocked so maybe she's still out there."

"Maura, with Jane being here too I can go stay at a hotel. I don't want to take the guestroom from her."

Maura smiled to herself. Jane hadn't spent one night in the guestroom since her arrival in New York. "Jane can bunk with me. It's not an issue."

Constance pondered this for a moment. "It was nice of Jane to come here with you."

"Oh, she didn't come here with me. She showed up a few days ago." Maura noticed the confused look spread across Constance's face. "I didn't react very well to all of this and I took off from Boston without telling anyone. Jane figured out where I was and came looking for me," she explained.

"Oh Maura!" her heart broke for the hurt her daughter must have had to endure. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this alone. I should have answered your calls. I just assumed you were checking up on my rehab. I didn't realize something was wrong."

"Mom, stop. I'm ok now. I wasn't talking to anyone so I doubt you would have been able to do anything for me. I wasn't ready for anyone to help me. I hadn't even been ready for Jane's help when she showed up."

"How did she know where to find you if you didn't tell anyone you were leaving?"

"She figured it out. She is a detective after all."

"She dropped everything to come looking for you?" Constance thought back to her first few meetings with Jane. Jane had been very protective of Maura. Jane had even confronted her about how she had been treating Maura. It was apparent that Jane cared for Maura. Constance smiled, "she's a really good friend isn't she?"

"She's the best friend I've ever had," the tone was resonating with compassion.

"Well then, you are lucky to have her in your life."

"I most certainly am." They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Come on, let's get you settled into the guest room. You look exhausted."

Maura got up and grabbed her mother's suitcase. She led her mother to the guest room and had expected to find Jane's stuff in the room. She was going to grab everything and just move it all to her room but when she entered the room all Jane's things were already gone. Constance sat down on the bed and it was immediately clear that the day's events had caught up to her. Maura got her mother situated and wished her a good night.

She headed to the master bedroom expecting to find Jane but all she found was Jane's things thrown in a pile on the floor. She half smirked at the small mess Jane had created. She turned around and headed back out to the terrace. She found Jane leaning up against the railing lost in thought. She walked over and leaned up against the rail next to her.

"Is your mother ok?" Jane asked.

"She's tired. I'm sure she'll be asleep in no time. I'm not sure other than that. She didn't want to get in to too many details about tonight."

"I'm sorry Maura. For both of you. This hasn't been easy for either of you."

Maura sighed. "Thank you for moving your stuff from the guest room. That was sweet of you."

"I hadn't really slept there anyway. I figured you wouldn't mind sharing your room with me if it meant a safe place for your mom to sleep."

"I never mind sharing my room with you Jane." It was a simple sentence but something about saying it resonated with Maura. Without really thinking about it, she moved her hand and settled it onto Jane's arm. She looked down at this and fully expected Jane to pull away but Jane let her hand stay where it was placed. Thinking about it, Jane had let close physical contact happen for most of the night. From the hug in the elevator to her arm around Maura as they had walked across the park. This was a shift in what was normally a more reserved Jane.

Maura started to recall the conversation they had started before her mother had interrupted them. As her mind drifted, she barely noticed that Jane had slowly started to rotate her arm in such a way that she was about to interlace her hand with Maura's. In one fluid movement Jane was now holding Maura's hand. The realization of this move sent a chill through Maura as she knew she was one of the few people Jane would ever allow to hold her scarred hands. She focused in on Jane only to find Jane was focused on their intertwined hands.

Neither moved nor spoke for quite some time. Neither seemed to know what to make of the hands still locked together or the fact that neither seemed to have any desire to break the contact. Finally, Maura broke the silence. "My mother says I'm lucky to have you in my life."

Jane smiled. "Your mother is a very smart woman. But I think she has it backwards." Jane shifted herself sideways so she was able to look at Maura now without turning her head. "I'm the lucky one."

In that moment, their eyes locked in on each other. Without comment, without direction, without deep contemplation, both seemed to be on the same page with each other. They leaned into each other and let their lips meet for the first time.

A/N So At last...the start of a romance