"Touch!" Jane's finger tapped the screen of Maura's phone as the doctor held it up to try and answer the incoming text message.
"Jane! I'm trying to answer her. Stop it." Maura brushed away the intruding hand and leaned further away from the driver's side of the car as the detective leaned over further while keeping an eye on the red light. "I mean it!"
"But," the dark haired woman pouted, "you've been texting with her for two hours." She glanced back to the still red light. "Touch," she quipped as she again touched the phone's screen causing what Maura was typing out to scramble to some unintelligible mess of letters. "Who are talking to anyway? Is that your Googlemouth Girlfriend?"
Maura shot the driver an annoyed look. "Why do you insist on calling her that? You know her name is Valerie Gonzales."
"Yeah, Doctor Val Gonzales," Jane nodded and turned her eyes back to the road as the light changed. "As in the other Googlemouth. Listening to you two talk is better than a wikiwalk." She snorted at her own joke.
"You know she's not my girlfriend; you are," the honey brunette mumbled as she finished her text and hit the send button.
"Googlemouth Girlfriend," dark curls bounced as Jane nodded her head. "Got it."
"Some days I'm positive you test my patience on purpose," Maura said, voice light despite the chastisement. "You know Val is one of the few people I can talk with regarding my profession, most of my interests, and you without worrying about negative repercussions."
"Sweetie, Val's your best friend," Jane rolled her eyes when she caught Maura's negative reaction. "Outside of me, Val's your best friend," Maura begrudgingly nodded in the affirmative. "And you two have a lot in common. I think it's cool you found someone you can talk to about all that stuff that goes totally over my head. I just wish you'd do it a little less when you're in the car with me, and we're driving through a redneck state trusting that the GPS isn't steering us into a den of hillbillies waiting to assault the first Yankee to dare step on their hallowed Confederate ground. I trust your brain and a map more than I trust this thing." She pointed to the display screen on the dash of their rental car.
"There are so many things incorrect with what you just said that I'm not certain where to begin," the doctor set her phone in her lap and turned more toward the driver's side. "First of all, I know you understand more of what I say than you claim to. I don't understand why you don't acknowledge your intellect, Jane. Second of all, we both know the GPS works perfectly fine. We had no problems making it from the airport to our hotel last night. I also can't believe you'd call Oklahoma a 'redneck state' when you know as well as I do that this area was once referred to as Indian Territory. I'd hardly associate it with the stereotype of a 'redneck', and, speaking of stereotypes, rednecks and hillbillies aren't the same kind of stereotype though they are under the same umbrella. Though there are Confederate roots here in this state, I hardly think 'hallowed ground' is an apt description for it. In fact, I'm not even certain why..."
"I like to get a rise out of you. It's fun to get you started and watch you roll," the detective interrupted, a smirk on her face.
Maura rolled her eyes. "Really, Jane?"
"I'm not really that prejudice, Maura. I payed attention in history class. I just like to see what you'll say when I say something I know is totally wrong." The detective pulled the car into the parking lot of what appeared to be one of the nicer hotels in the area. "Besides, pestering you helps me calm down. I'm nervous as hell about meeting your mother face-to-face right now. Are you sure we had to fly all the way down here to tell her about us?"
"We told your family in person. I feel it is only fair we give mine the same courtesy, and Mother's schedule is very tight right now. It was easier for us to take time off and fly here than wait for her to find time to fly to Boston." Maura sighed heavily. "The Alzheimer's conference should be over by now. Today was only a half day. Mother said she would be here until tomorrow morning, so she should be in the room and expecting us."
"Does she know something's up?" Jane pulled in and parked near the front entrance to the hotel. "I mean, it's got to seem a little weird that her daughter and daughter's best friend suddenly decided theybothneeded to see her right now, right?" She hopped out and walked around to help the other woman out of the car.
"She was less than pleased that I wasn't very forthcoming with why we needed to see her on such short notice but intrigued enough to agree to the meeting." Stopping to brush the wrinkles from her skirt and check her clothing, Maura frowned deeply. "I'm glad we've taken the week off. If this doesn't go well, I have plans for us to take the rest of our vacation time in a different state to take our minds off the confrontation."
Jane stopped and turned to the smaller woman, eyebrow raised. "Yeah? Where's that?"
"Texas. I thought it'd be nice to visit Dallas while we're here. The first Macy's in existence is located in Downtown Dallas. I've never been, and I'd very much like to go while we're in the area."
"You're kidding? No... don't answer that. I know you're not kidding. I assume that we're going either way, right?" Jane started walking again, keeping pace with Maura's smaller strides.
Lowering her head, the doctor asked rather sheepishly, "You don't mind?"
"If I did, then I'm dating the wrong girl," Jane said as she opened the door for the smaller woman and ignored the shocked look of the young man walking past them on his way out. "You ready for this?"
"No," Maura answered truthfully, "but it must be done."
Seated in the small sitting area of the suite Constance Isles had booked for her time in Tulsa, Jane and Maura tried not to fidget as the elder Isles took her seat across from them in the arm chair that so perfectly matched the loveseat they occupied. As she settled gracefully into the wing-back chair, she regarded her daughter with a cautious eye. "Maura, darling, what has happened that you and Jane needed to fly all the way down here to see me?"
Maura sat tight lipped for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. Jane sat quietly and watched, face and body tense. Finally, the young doctor spoke, trying to maintain an air of confidence despite her feelings of trepidation. "Mother, something's changed recently that I feel you need to know, and it is important enough that I much rather tell you in person than over the phone."
"I see," Constance nodded for her daughter to continue.
The honey brunette shifted uncomfortably but managed to maintain eye contact with her mother. "This has to do with me and," she glanced to the woman next to her, "with Jane."
Tilting her head and raising an eyebrow, Constance asked with some concern, "Are you two in some sort of trouble?"
"No, at least," Maura gave her mother an apologetic look, "not in the sense I believe you mean. Mother, Jane and I are involved."
"Romantically?"
Maura could hear the audible gulp from Jane at Constance's very coolly asked question. "Yes, Mother, romantically."
"For how long?"
Another coolly asked question and another gulp from the detective as Maura answered as best she could. "Not long, just a few weeks, but an incident at the precinct regarding an HR leak a threat to Jane's job due to our new relationship statues has caused us to run our time line quickly forward regarding how open we are with our relationship."
The elder Isles leaned back in her chair as she looked over the young women in the loveseat. Clearly lost in thought, she made no move to say anything or indicate how she felt about this new piece of information for several very long moments.
As the couple waited to see what would happen next, the detective tried not to let her growing agitation get the best of her while the doctor became increasingly more frigid in posture and still in poise. Finally, Constance took in a deep breath, readying herself to tell them what conclusion she'd come to.
"You are not who I would have chosen for my daughter to date, Detective, but, then again, who I would have chosen turned out to be a murder," she tilted her head to the side, much as her daughter did when working through a puzzling thought. "I suppose that speaks volumes for my ability to choose a proper partner for Maura." Her mouth turned up ever so slightly at the corners. "However, from what I've observed, you're a good person who adores my daughter, and, in the end, that's really what matters so long as you make her happy." She turned to Maura, eyes gentle, "Are you happy?"
"Yes, very much so," Maura gave a small smile, a blush coloring her cheeks as she looked to Jane. "She's very good to me, Mother."
"Yes, I know. I could tell from the moment she confronted me at the in gallery opening to tell me she didn't like to see her friends hurt." Constance smiled, "You're very protective yet unpredictable and fearless, Jane. It's a good thing. I feel Maura needs someone like you in her life for balance."
Jane blinked as she processed. "Thanks?"
"You're welcome." Constance sighed. "Where are you two off to now, or will you be going back to Boston this evening?"
"We are going to Dallas," Maura smiled excitedly.
"To Macy's?" Her mother returned the smile.
"Yes! I'm very excited, Mother. I hear the department store is simply charming. We fly into DFW this evening."
Constance nodded her approval. "What hotel will you staying at while you're there?"
"The Adolfus. We've taken the rest of the week off, and I think it will be a great experience. We've never spent much time in the southwestern part of the States, as you know. I think it will be a great experience." Maura was practically giddy.
"That is very true, and believe you'll have an enjoyable time." Her mother checked her watch. "It's getting late, and I assume you two will need to leave soon?"
"Oh, yes, you're right," Maura stood, motioning for Jane to follow. "Thank you, Mother," she whispered as she gave the older woman a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Just promise me you'll give her proper instruction before the annual Ball." She turned to Jane, "If you're to date my daughter, I hope you realized that you have commitments and responsibilities. You're not simply dating Maura, Jane. You're also representing our family because you will be expected to attend functions."
"Yeah, I kind of figured," Jane winced. "I promise I'll try to not embarrass any of you."
Constance nodded. "That is, I suppose, all that I can ask. Now, off with the both of you before you miss your flight."
"Goodbye Mother; I'll text you as soon as we land," Maura's smiled beamed.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Isles, and thanks," Jane moved awkwardly, unsure of how to say goodbye.
Constance answered by giving the lanky woman a curt nod and gentle pat on the arm. "Of course."
Thank you for continuing to read this story. I appreciate your reviews.