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table. Jameson looked up. “This isn’t a
passing fancy; is it?” Jameson’s reflective smile was the only answer her
mother needed. “Are you in love with her?”
    “I
don’t know her well enough to say that,” Jameson said honestly.
    “No?”
    “No.
I like her.”
    Maureen
shook her head. “So, you would like to…what? Take her to the movies?” she asked
with a giggle.
    “Mom!”
    “Oh,
please, J.D.! I wish you could see the look on your face. You look like a lost little puppy,” she said.
    “I
do not.”
    “Yes,
you do. It’s actually quite adorable.”
    “Mom,
come on. This is not funny. She’s a
client and I….”
    “And,
you what? Jameson Reid,” her mother said seriously .
“I gave birth to you. I’ve seen you survive every crush and every crushed
heart. I have not once seen that look in your eyes.”
    “What
look?” Jameson asked.
    Maureen
took her daughter’s hands. “You think love has a timetable ?”
    “I
think love takes time.”
    “Relationships
take time, J.D.,” her mother answered. “Love happens in an instant.” Jameson hung
her head and swallowed hard. “What are you so afraid of?”
    “I
don’t know,” Jameson answered truthfully. “I never worried about someone…I mean about what might….”
    “You’ve
never been in love before,” her mother said plainly. “Give it some time.”
    “You
just said there is no timetable ,” Jameson
reminded her mother.
    “And,
you just admitted you’re at the very least, falling in love her without even knowing it,” Maureen said. Jameson shook
her head. “I also said that relationships take time. So, give her some. Give
yourself some.”
    “What
if she doesn’t…”
    “Then
you will cry the tears you need to cry and pick yourself up,” Maureen told
Jameson. “But, I’m not convinced that is what has you the most worried.”
    “What
do you mean?” Jameson asked.
    “I
think you know,” her mother said. “You’ve waited a long time to even consider wanting a relationship with
someone. Maybe you had just resigned yourself to the idea that you never
would.”
    “I’ve
had relationships.”
    “You
know what I mean. Two months of weekend wantonness and a few romps in the
backseat of your old Mustang in high school are not what I was referring to,”
her mother said.
    Jameson
laughed and then grew serious. “She’s out of my league.”
    “Hardly.”
Jameson looked up to a pair of motherly eyes that shone with pride. “She’d be
lucky to have you; any woman would.”
    “You’re
bias.”
    “No,
I’m not.   But, if she’s the one who has
finally captured your heart …. Well, I’d
imagine she must be an extraordinary woman,” Maureen observed.
    “She
is,” Jameson said.
    Maureen
put her hand on her daughter’s cheek and smiled. “Take your time, J.D.” She
pulled out her chair and reached her feet, stopping to place a kiss on
Jameson’s head. “And, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to tell your father.”
    Jameson
was confused. Her father had never had an issue with her sexuality or any of
the girlfriends she had brought home. She combed her thoughts for the reason
behind her mother’s statement. “Why?” she asked. “You think he will have an
issue with the age difference?”
    Maureen
laughed. “Nope, I think he’ll have an issue with the Democrat,” she winked.
    Jameson
laughed. “He married you,” she pointed out.
    “Ah,
yes; he did,” Maureen agreed. “And, I have never let him live it down,” she
winked. Jameson nodded. “Imagine another Democrat at the dinner table. One that
has opinions; I mean.”
    Jameson
laughed. “I don’t think you need to worry,” she said.
    “Don’t
be so sure,” Maureen told her daughter. “Stranger things have happened.”
    “You
mean like Dad falling in love with you?”
    “Nah,
who wouldn’t love me?” Maureen gloated. “But, I fell in love with him. I’d lay
odds you can catch Senator Fletcher.”
    “I
guess time will tell,” Jameson