FROM ME TO YOU: I want to give a giant THANK YOU to everyone who has shown support for this story and its neurotic author. It has been nominated for the Rizzles Fan Awards, which is an indescribable honor. I am very proud to be listed among many personally beloved writers and their incredible work. My cup runneth over! XOXO

Chapter Eight: Negotiation Tactics

Jane and Maura staggered arm in arm into the lobby at Fort Sutter just after the sun set. As exhausted as they were, they expected a little fanfare but all they were met with was a surly clerk. He watched ragged travelers lucky to be alive stumble from the mountains daily and was nonplussed by their exuberance. He informed them saucily he had no vacant rooms.

Jane looked at him bewildered and Maura tried to intervene.

"Sir, my father has arranged for us to stay the night if our carriage cannot collect us."

"And you're welcome to: Outside. Because as I've told you, we have no vacant rooms."

Jane's eyes opened wide with growing annoyance.

Maura tried again, "Sir, we're very tired. My friend just shot six wolves and she's covered in blood. Don't you at least have somewhere we can bathe?"

He looked at Jane dispassionately. "Absolutely," he dead panned. "Right outside in the creek."

Jane reached for her revolver before remembering it was empty.

Maura caught her hand before it clasped her gun. "All right. We've slept outside all these months, I don't think another night will hurt us. But I want you to know, Sir, that I plan on speaking to your employer about this."

He rolled his eyes, "Enjoy your stay at Fort Sutter," he added sarcastically and Jane leapt towards him. The clerk jumped and squealed. Maura snatched her jacket's collar and held her back.

They were too exhausted to make camp. Jane set up their canvas tent while Maura built a fire and warmed their bedrolls. They ate a quick meal and bundled down to sleep. Maura wanted to wash the blood off Jane's face but she could tell Jane was not in a mood to be fussed over.

Jane noticed Maura glancing at her anxiously as she fell asleep.

"We'll bathe at your house tomorrow night, Maura. It's okay, just get some sleep, darling."

Maura searched in Jane's bedroll until she found Jane's hand. She sighed and squeezed Jane's fingers. "Thank you for bringing me to California, Jane."

"The pleasure was mine, Maura. Goodnight."

"Sleep sweetly, my love."

The next morning they awoke to find their carriage waiting on them and the surly clerk being reprimanded by his boss.

"Good God, boy, Patrick Isles has more money than the Vatican and here you are making his daughter sleep in the snow? I should fire you this second."

"But sir, how could I have known? She looked like a regular wild woman wearing men's pants and boots. What kind of heiress travels with a burly dyke?"

The gentleman's eyes grew wide with indignation. "Son, I don't care if she sailed here straight from Lesbos, you damn well better treat an heiress like an heiress."

The clerk hung his head in resignation. "Yes, sir."

"And don't act like I haven't seen you eyeing the stable boys, Jackson. You of all people should know how it feels to be an outsider."

Jackson blushed furiously and hung his head.

When their belongings were packed into the carriage, the driver opened the door for them and when they were seated asked, "Miss Isles?"

Maura was ready to snuggle up beside Jane in comfort and rest her feet.

"Yes? What is your name, Sir?"

The young man cleared his throat. "Uh, my name is Johnny, ma'am."

"Hello, Johnny. Fine to meet you. I am Maura and this is Jane. Are you a servant at my farm?"

He glanced down nervously. "Yes ma'am. And I actually have some letters from your father for you," Maura's eyes lit up excitedly but his tone took on a heavy note as he continued, "and some ... news."

Jane noticed his tone and slipped an arm around Maura's shoulders supportively.

"What has happened, Johnnny? Are my parents well?" Maura asked quietly.

"Everyone is fine, Ma'am. Your parents are quite well and they write often. But last week Patrick sent word for the maid to get the house ready for your arrival. She allowed her older children to assist her and they accidentally lit a clogged fireplace."

Jane and Maura waited frozen.

"And the house burned. Thankfully no one was hurt, but your home will have to be rebuilt. Patrick has already sent preparations but he wanted to let you make the decisions since you're to live there."

"But where will I stay until the house is built?" Maura asked innocently.

He glanced down before answering, "The house maid has a cottage of her own for she and her children. She says she can make her big ones give up their bed to you. I'm afraid that is the best place on the farm for you."

Maura felt Jane's hand tighten around her shoulder.

"It's okay," Jane said to her softly.

"I can't make children give up their bed to me," Maura said sadly.

Jane gazed at her a moment before asking, "Johnny boy, is there a loft in the barn?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes, ma'am ... uh, or Sir ... there's a loft but it's full of hay."

Jane smiled at Maura, "Well, we won't be taking a bath as soon as we hoped, but I think we can turn that hay loft into a nice spot until enough of the house is built to move you in."

"But Jane, that will take months," Maura replied. She was starting to get very anxious about the idea of having to sleep alone in a barn or partially built house after Jane was gone.

"Then we'll have plenty of time to get excited about that bathing tub."

Maura looked into her eyes, "Does that mean ... you'll stay with me until the house is built? That could take years, Jane."

Jane hesitated, "Let's start with the loft for now."

Maura smiled and addressed Johnny, "Alright, Johnny, take us to the farm. We'll be staying in the barn for now."

"Jane, stop being a baby. Let me help."

"You stop being a ... Pushy Penny."

"I don't think that's a saying, Jane. Now, let me undress you."

"Maura, I undressed myself for twenty years without your help, I think I can manage."

Maura sighed heavily and released her grasp on Jane's leather jacket.

Jane's long fingers moved to the buttons on her shirt.

"Are you going to watch?"

"It kills me that you're suddenly Miss Modesty," Maura rumbled quietly.

Jane turned her back towards Maura to begin peeling off her many layers. It was no easy chore considering that her clothes were nearly plastered to her body. Her fingertips were torn from handling the logs she cut to close in the spacious loft for Maura to use as an apartment until her house was rebuilt. She realized with annoyance that although she had felled nine trees that day, cut, and assembled them into proper walls she could not manage to move the tiny buttons through their respective holes.

"Damn," she cussed to herself.

Maura rolled her eyes comically.

Jane pawed at her jacket helplessly, finally ridding herself of it but realizing with agony that she was wearing two overshirts and an undershirt below. She wondered to herself how she had been getting in and out of her layers of clothing for the last two weeks at the barn. Then she realized Maura had dressed and undressed her each day. She sighed.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Please help me."

Maura bit her smile back. "Gladly."

Maura began to nimbly unfasten the buttons down the front of Jane's two shirts. She stripped them back over Jane's wide shoulders.

"Sit," Maura commanded and Jane lowered her weight against the new wash basin Jane had built.

Maura kneeled and tugged her boots off. Jane obliged the removal of her numerous socks by lifting her feet obediently.

Maura leaned back to kneel on her ankles as she unfastened the buttons of Jane's pants.

"Well, that's all the buttons. I think I can manage from here," Jane said nervously.

Maura looked up at her and easily smiled. She continued to pull at Jane's pants until she had removed them. Jane was wearing only her filthy long underwear.

Jane reached down to stroke Maura's face but retracted her hand when she saw its blackness, many callouses and crags. She touched Maura's hair instead and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to bathe first?"

Maura rose to stand in front of her and started to unbutton the many buttons down Jane's chest. Every button she unleashed exposed the tan expanse of Jane's skin. Maura had forgotten how hungry for the sight she was. She hadn't seen Jane's body for over a month.

"Come on, Maura, I built all this for you. This is a brand new bathing tub from the company store. I can't believe you want an urchin like me sullying it up before you."

Maura's eyes met hers sharply. "I thought we talked about how it makes me feel when you insult yourself."

Jane waited out her scolding with averted eyes.

"Jane, you haven't bathed in over a month. You still have wolf blood caked behind your ears. You've worked for two weeks straight getting the loft ready for us, now please relax and enjoy it with me."

Jane sighed and looked into Maura's eyes. She smiled for her.

"You're right. This is supposed to be our rest night. I just don't know why you don't want to bathe first."

"What makes you think I'm bathing after you?" Maura asked her innocently while pushing her last remaining garment off her shoulders to reveal her naked chest and stomach.

Jane covered her breasts with her arms. "I"m naked and you're not?"

Maura pushed the dirty garment passed Jane's slender hips and let it fall around her feet.

"Get in the bath," Maura instructed her playfully.

Jane was beginning to blush as she stepped into the steaming hot water and relaxed into an awkward seated position.

Maura watched her briefly before beginning to unfasten the neck of her dress.

Jane was using Maura's new soap to wash her hands.

"Ah, that feels amazing. Wow, I didn't even realize how stiff my hands were."

Maura came and sat on the tub's rim with her back to Jane.

Jane looked up with confusion so Maura glanced over her shoulder and asked, "Will you untie my dress and corset?"

Jane stammered, "Uh, I ... uh ... I thought ... I ..."

Maura laughed lightly. "Come on, I don't want to wait for you to soak all night. There's plenty of room for us both in there."

"In here?" Jane asked nervously, "Let me just wash up quickly and you can have it to yourself."

Maura cleared her throat with annoyance.

Jane sighed and began to untie Maura's laces.

Maura stood and shimmied from her dress and slip. She had already discarded her boots and pants. She stood facing Jane when she pushed her bloomers down with a smile.

Jane coughed awkwardly. "Maura, I'm not sure ..."

"You never are," Maura murmured to her sweetly as she stepped into the hot water and lowered herself into Jane's lap.

The contact of Maura's body added to the extreme pleasure of the hot bath was almost too much ecstasy for Jane's brain to process. She barely suppressed her moan when she heard Maura sigh happily as she laid her head back on Jane's shoulder. She snuggled her bottom against Jane's thighs until they parted and Jane's long legs encircled her. She reached out to take Jane's hands and guide Jane's arms around her shoulders. Jane's rigidity slowly dissolved into the feeling of Maura resting her body peacefully against Jane's.

"Thank you for all the hard work you've done since we came here, Jane."

Jane wanted to kiss Maura's face, but she held back. They hadn't kissed since they came to Maura's farm. Jane had anxiously avoided all Romantic gestures and thrown herself into the task of remodeling the upstairs hayloft of Maura's barn. She didn't really know if she was building the apartment for Maura or herself. She knew that leaving Maura without a proper home meant leaving her in danger, and that thought was unbearable to Jane.

Maura turned her head and pressed her lips to Jane's neck. "Hey?" she asked.

"Mmm?" Jane responded.

Maura ran her fingertips up and down Jane's long thighs on either side of her body. "Let me get you cleaned up, okay?"

Jane wanted to respond in the negative but she had hardly formulated a negative syllable when Maura reached for the soap and sponge they had brought home from town earlier in the week.

"Can I make my own soap here on the farm?" She asked Jane mindlessly as she lathered the sponge in her delicate hands.

Jane's eyes lingered on Maura's adept fingers as she replied, "If you slaughter meat to eat you can. It's made from animal fat."

Her nose scrunched a bit. "Buying it from town will suffice."

Maura reversed her position to face Jane, kneeling primly between Jane's parted thighs. She began to rub the sponge in soft circles around Jane's collar bone. Jane closed her eyes and relaxed into the sensation.

Maura used the opportunity to inspect Jane's incredible body with her eyes.

Jane turned her neck to the side and involuntarily moaned when Maura washed her long throat.

Maura leaned up on her knees to reach around Jane's shoulders and gently scrub the back of her neck. Her breasts lightly brushed against Jane's chest and they both gasped quietly then smiled in unison.

Maura returned to her ankles and washed Jane's long arms slowly, taking care to remove all of the dirt from Jane's tan skin. She pulled Jane's hands into her own and began to carefully wash her fingers and clean around her fingernails.

"I'm going to put some lotion on your hands to help your skin heal. Can I make lotion here on the farm?"

Jane found it hard to open her eyes to look at Maura or even speak so she nodded her head in the affirmative.

Maura brought Jane's hands to her mouth and kissed them.

Jane finally opened her eyes but found it difficult not to become hypnotized by Maura's perfect breasts rising above the water with suds forming at her lovely nipples.

Dimly she realized Maura was waiting for a reply and she asked, "Um, what?"

Maura giggled and her breasts heaved. The motion seemed to snap Jane from her meditation.

"Let's switch so I can wash your back," she finally understood Maura to be saying.

Their wet bodies rubbed against each other as they passed in the large tub and traded places.

Jane tried to lean up and rest against her knees but Maura tugged her shoulders back until she was reclining against Maura's chest.

"I thought you were going to wash my back," Jane teased lightly.

Maura kissed the side of her face and teased. "I didn't tell you how to build this room, so don't tell me how to scrub my lady friend, all right?"

Jane laughed and shook her head, "Point taken."

Maura began to wash every inch of Jane's body she could access from their position. Jane obliged her willingly with occasional moans of approval.

Soon Maura dropped the sponge outside of the tub and wrapped her arms around Jane's shoulders. She gave Jane a lingering kiss on the cheek and hugged Jane's body against her own.

Jane absently began to stroke the little thighs wrapped around her waist. Maura encouraged her with a gentle thrust of her hip against Jane's back.

Maura's small hands began to rub Jane's bare skin in large circles, sinking lower and lower until they covered Jane's firm breasts. Jane's fingernails scraped along the skin of her calves and her chest began to slowly heave.

Jane turned her face into the kiss she knew was waiting for her. Maura's mouth opened for her and her teeth immediately kneaded Jane's bottom lip. Jane pressed her face against Maura's, deepening the kiss and probing Maura's delicious mouth with her tongue.

Maura's hands grasped Jane's shoulders and her thighs squeezed Jane's hips between them.

Jane broke the kiss and twisted her hips to loosen Maura's thighs. Maura pouted sadly, thinking Jane was pulling away from her.

But Jane simply rolled to face her and lay between her legs with their stomachs pressed together. She rose above Maura on her arms and smiled down at her.

Maura beamed up at her happily. "You are so beautiful," she murmured to Jane.

Jane responded with another deep kiss. Maura once again wrapped her legs around Jane's waist and her arms around Jane's shoulders. She felt as if she was dangling from Jane's longer body as a monkey dangles from a tree.

When the kiss was finished Jane relaxed on top of Maura's slight frame and Maura stroked and rubbed her neck and back dreamily.

"Jane?" Maura asked.

"Mmmm?" Jane asked without lifting her head from Maura's shoulder.

"I slept with another woman in Paris."

Jane turned her head subconsciously, as if her ears had deceived her. "What?"

"It wasn't really a huge deal there. At an all girls school in Europe, it's sort of expected."

"So you ... you kissed another girl?" Jane didn't raise her face to look at Maura, she felt oddly raw towards what Maura was telling her.

"Um," Maura began guiltily. "Yes, and we also slept together."

"What?" Jane stammered, "What do you mean?"

"I..." Maura hesitated, "I mean we pleasured one another's bodies."

Jane finally raised herself on her elbows to peer at Maura curiously. "Did she ... penetrate you?"

Maura felt her cheeks flush. Maura had never been ashamed of her sexual desires or of her experiences. There had never been a person before Jane whose opinion she so prized that she worried her past decisions could shame her.

Maura nodded at Jane's question with her eyes averted.

Jane couldn't begin to understand her own feelings. Should she be happy or sad? Should she be relieved or disappointed? Should she be surprised or was this always right in front of her face? She looked into Maura's eyes with complete confusion as if Maura was suddenly a stranger to her.

Maura's thighs tightened around Jane's waist. "Jane, I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't worry. About the virginity thing. I've never had sex with a man, but I can't say that I've ever wanted to. I had a girlfriend in Paris, we decided to get physical. It was all consensual and mature. I didn't tell you before because ... well, when is that kind of story appropriate?"

"I ..." Jane started to argue but she knew Maura was right. She hadn't made it easy for Maura to talk to her. Maura hadn't told her she was straight or that she was a virgin, she assumed those things. Maura had been open and honest with her the entire time, it was Jane who refused to see what was in front of her. "I guess you're right."

"Jane, do you ... do you feel differently about me?"

Jane collected herself carefully before looking into Maura's eyes, "Of course not."

Maura felt tears line her eyes. "I told you because I thought you would be happy."

Jane sighed. "Why?"

Maura leaned to press a kiss against her face. "Because you really don't have to worry about ruining me or seducing me or taking advantage of me. I'm an adult woman, Jane. I'm fully in charge of the decisions I'm making. I have my eyes wide open and I know exactly what I want."

Jane couldn't stop the fierce blush that crawled up her neck. She swallowed hard enough for Maura to hear. She felt incredibly attracted to this new layer of Maura she had discovered.

"And what do you want?"

Maura responded to her question with an insistent squeeze of her thighs and a kiss on Jane's shoulder. "I want you to make love to me. But don't treat me like a porcelain doll, Jane. Treat me like," she pressed a kiss to Jane's jaw seductively, "your woman."

Jane caught her breath before raising up her arms above Maura. She looked down at Maura in the warm bath and for the first time saw an incredibly sexy woman where she had once seen a timid girl.

She pressed her hips against Maura's and watched Maura's pupils begin to dilate.

"Okay," Jane finally agreed. "I did make you a promise."

"That's right," Maura smiled up at her, "You said you were going to kiss me all night."

"And I always keep my promises," Jane rumbled into her ear before sucking the tender lobe into her mouth.

"Baby, where is my damn hammer?"

"Language."

"Sorry. I've lost my hammer again."

"It's down in the stables, you were shoeing horses this morning."

"Oh!" Jane replied excitedly, "Right. Thanks, Maura."

"Hey, Jane?" Maura looked up from her letters. She was sitting at the desk Jane had built for her, finishing her paperwork for the office.

"Yeah?" Jane asked from the door of their little apartment in the hay loft.

"I need to talk to you."

"Well, actually, I'm in the middle of something. Can it wait until tonight?"

Maura nodded her head.

Jane grinned at her. "Great. I'll be back in about an hour."

When Jane came back that evening Maura was waiting with her hands clasped together.

"Jane, you're ... you're late," she said sadly.

"I know," Jane replied excitedly. "But come here, I want to show you something."

Jane walked over to Maura and led her by the hand from their loft. At the door of the barn she asked Maura to close her eyes as she led her around the corner.

"Okay, you can open them," Jane announced ceremoniously.

Maura opened her eyes to see that the frame of her new house now contained three large closed rooms. She gasped. "How did you...?"

"Skills," Jane abbreviated as she pulled Maura towards the structure.

Jane showed Maura that inside her new house was a bedroom, a kitchen and a washroom.

"This room will belong to your servants once the house is built. The Master bedrooms will be much grander. But for now, while the rest of the structure is being filled in, you will be safe in here."

"I love it, Jane." Maura said as she wrapped Jane in a hug and leaned up to kiss her fully.

Jane beamed back at her proudly. "At this pace the house will be finished in about a year, maybe less. Depends on if you buy things like trim and shutters or if you have them made here in town." Maura looked up at her uneasily. "I wouldn't begin to know how to order shutters or have them commissioned, Jane."

"I know," Jane replied quickly. "But the farm's manager can assist you."

"Do you mean the mean drunk who attacks my poor cattle with a whip? He's barely qualified to fill his boots, Jane."

Jane nodded sadly. "Yeah, he's not ... the most efficient farm manager. But you're a savvy business lady, you can hire anyone you want."

"I'll ... deal with that later. Jane?"

Jane was still lovingly scrutinizing the details of her own work around the house. "Yeah love?"

"... I need to talk to you, remember?"

"Ah! Of course, I'm sorry." She went over to the new bed but thought better of sitting down when she realized how dirty she was. Instead she sat in the chair she made for Maura's new roll top desk. Maura came to stand in front of her, but decided to sit down in her lap instead. She seated herself on one of Jane's parted thighs and looped her arm around Jane's neck.

"Thank you so much for staying with me these last two months, Jane. I have no idea what I would have done if you had left me. I can think quickly on my feet, but I have no knowledge of how to build or even order an entire household."

Jane looked into her eyes happily. "It has been fun, actually."

A cloud of sadness moved over Maura's expression.

"What is it?" Jane asked when she saw it.

Maura glanced away and began to wring her hands. "You have a letter from my father."

"Oh," Jane said. She wasn't aware of any reason to fear Patrick but she understood from Maura's tone the matter was grave. "What does it say?"

"I ... don't know, actually. Well, I know but I don't know." She cleared her throat and tried to continue, "Jane, do you remember in Salt Lake City I mailed some letters to my parents?"

Jane thought for a moment. "Uh ... yeah, I do. You went to the Pony Express by yourself to mail some letters."

"And do you remember when Johnny picked us up at Fort Sutter he had letters for me?"

Jane nodded and waited for her to continue.

"Well, I ... I had written my father to tell him I was falling in love with you and to ask him for permission to start a life with you."

Jane's eyes grew wide with surprise. "And he has already replied?"

Maura nodded but her expression didn't give away Patrick's answer.

Jane looked at the new hardwood floors and tried to think. So Patrick was aware she had slept with his daughter. Would he kill her? Would he allow her to continue sleeping with his only beloved daughter? Would he tell her he was disappointed or would he welcome her to their family? Would she be allowed to start a life with Maura? Is that what she even wanted? Was she happy or sad at the idea of leaving Maura? Was she happy or sad at he idea of starting a life with Maura?

"I don't know what to say, Maura."

"I know. That's why I've waited. But now I feel horrible for keeping this from you. My father sent three letters. One was for me, congratulating me on finding love and giving me his blessing. The other two are for you, one if I decide to try to build a life with you, and the other if I have changed my mind and want you to leave."

"Oh," the weight of Maura's words seem to physically crush Jane. Now everything was different. Only seconds previous she hadn't known if she wanted to stay with Maura, now she felt sick at the idea Maura didn't want to stay with her. Now she didn't know if she wanted to stay or go, or if she wanted Maura to want her to stay or go.

"So whenever you are ready, I have both letters for you."

"I thought ... he wanted you to decide which to give me?"

Maura looked into Jane's eyes sincerely, "It's your decision, Jane."

"It's also yours," Jane replied.

Maura hugged Jane against her. "I decided long ago, Jane. I thought you knew that."

Jane pet Maura's back lovingly. "Really?"

Maura smiled at her. "Of course. Jane you've kept me safe and taken care of me and helped and supported me in every way. You are everything I could ever hope for ... no, you're more. You're more than I would have ever dared to want from life." She kissed Jane. "But I can't ask you to stay with me."

Jane looked back at her with worry. "Why?" she asked meekly.

"Because you're a bird and this farm is a cage. I hope you know by now that I will never lock or even close the door to your cage, but Jane, I ... I really don't know if I can stand the heartache of you coming and going. You can stay here and manage the farm, or you can take the money father has sent for you and start any life you choose. I will never ask you to stay. It's something you must decide for yourself. My decision, to love you and to offer you this life, has been made."

Jane pulled her close and hugged her. "I love you, Maura."

"I love you, too, Jane." Maura replied into Jane's beautiful dark hair.

"Would you be hurt if I asked for some time? Just some time to think until I'm totally sure of my decision?"

"That seems perfectly fair, considering I kept this from you for two months. How much time would you like?"

"Well," Jane started as she looped her fingers through Maura's own. "You don't know how to order the shutters, so I should probably stick around for ... at least another year. I can probably have my decision made by then."

Maura wasn't sure at first how serious she was being until Jane continued, "Actually, you should really start some crops and that takes years."

Maura smiled, "I'll need someone who knows how to do all that."

"Well, a good farm manager is hard to come by but ... I could help you out. I could stay long enough to see it finished."

"I have a few other things that need tending to around the house, if you're able."

"Like what, Miss Isles?" Jane asked her with a smirk.

"Well, my dresses are very difficult to unlace myself. I can't reach my back to wash it. I'm utterly unable to kiss myself and I'm afraid I get quite lonely in bed."

"Oh no," Jane said, shaking her head, "Well, I can help with some of those things ... but there will be a fee."

Maura laughed, "Of course. Name your price, Rizzoli."

Jane kissed her lips. "I don't think you can afford it."

"Oh really? I'm sitting on a gold mine, Jane. A literal gold mine."

Jane laughed. "Well, I actually don't accept gold in payment. I only accept kisses and back rubs." Maura feigned annoyance, "You've got to play Hard Ball, huh?"

"It will cost you at least ten billion kisses, Isles. And don't get me started on the shutters. Your little hands will be so calloused from rubbing my back you'll probably beg for death."

"Well, I don't have that many kisses in liquid equity at the moment. I'd have to generate them and that could take time."

"I see," Jane countered, "And how long are we talking here?"

"Years," Maura replied with a kiss, "Decades. Millenia."

Jane sighed. "You drive a hard bargain, Heiress, but like I said ... I'm not ready to commit at the moment. Perhaps when you've delivered the first million kisses we can renegotiate your contract."

Maura ran her hands through Jane's hair. "I love you," she said honestly.

"I love you, too, Maura," Jane replied immediately, "So much."

"Did I see a new bathing tub in that wash room over there?"

Jane smirked. "You did."

"Well, let's dirty it up then."

Jane chuckled and lifted Maura easily into her arms.

"I was hoping you would say that, Miss Isles. I actually already filled it with hot water."

Maura beamed at her. "You're ... so perfect."

"Shhh!" Jane reprimanded her with a kiss, "Don't ruin my reputation.

Outside a light rain began to fall on their little house, washing away the soot from the fire into the garden where it fertilized the rich soil for the coming Spring and the plating of their many crops.

THE RENEGOTIATABLE END