Lindsey stood and stared out the window of the comic book store. She was bored and wondered, again, why she had agreed to accompany Jeremy. Now, to make her day worse, she was hungry and, judging from the way Jeremy had reacted to the things on display, he would not be willing to leave anytime soon, even for a quick snack.

She returned to her survey of the street, absent-mindedly watching the pedestrians. Her eyes followed a pair of vaguely familiar shoulders into a café across the street. It was not until the shoulders turned to reveal the face atop them that Lindsey realized she recognized the man.

A smile formed on her lips while a plan entered her mind. After weighing the pros and the cons during a brief moment, she decided to gamble: she reached for her cell phone and hit a number on speed dial.

"Mom! Sorry, did I wake you? No, nothing's wrong; I'm just waiting for Jeremy. Can I ask you a question without telling you why I want to know? Mom! Trust me? Okay, okay, I promise. Do you remember where the club was, the one where the picture of you and Gil was taken?" She listened as Catherine fumbled to open the hope box for the pamphlet. Her smile widened. "Thank you! And I'll tell you everything when I get home. Promise! Bye!"

She looked to where Jeremy leafed through a comic book and mouthed a silent "thank you" to her oblivious cousin. Someday, she would tell him how grateful she was that he had asked her to come with him but, for now, she merely complained about boredom and told him to find her at the café across the street when he was ready to go home.

*****

She noted immediately that Grissom turned his head towards the door's opening chime when she entered. She also did not miss how he narrowed his eyes in direct counterpoint to her instinctive smile.

"Does Cath know you're here?" he asked without preamble.

Her smile turned into a grin as she was undaunted by his tone. She was not afraid of Gil, not like she had been on occasion with her father. This man, who frowned so convincingly upon her, had never broken his end of any bargain and she had, with a few regretful misses, done the same. It was why she felt confident that there was more pleasure than alarm for him in her sudden appearance.

She slid into the chair on his left and, per their long-term agreement, answered, "Well, to be completely honest, the answer would be yes and no."

For the moment, she succeeded in stopping him in his search for his cell phone.

"If you mean here," Lindsey continued with his full attention and motioned at the window to include the general area, "then, yes, Mom knows I'm here. Jeremy heard of this new comic book store so he's looking for some issues that he's missing." Now she placed a finger on the tabletop. "If you mean here-here, then, no. But I did promise to tell her all about it later."

She raised her eyebrows to invite Grissom to say something.

To his credit, he simply pursed his lips and considered the way her posture must have declared an intention not to leave until she had answers to the questions that had driven her to seek him.

Confident in her gamble, she smiled and filled the silence he did not by asking shrewdly, "Is this when you ask what I'm doing here, Gil?"

Grissom sighed and she watched his eyes, seeing a thousand thoughts race through his mind. There were only so many ways he could interpret her question; she did not think it unfair that he had to consider her mother's influence in everything she did and did not do. Lindsey opted to save him from forming any conclusions by taking the atmosphere from challenging to coaxing.

"C'mon, Gil, I know that you know that you're curious: Just what could possibly be going on that I could give you a yes-and-no answer?"

She gave him her best smile, which brought a wary look to his face. His verbal reply, when it came, was both tentative and vague. Lindsey merely laughed, comfortable with the practiced beleaguered expression he wore.

"Gil, relaxed," she said, "I swear I'm just going to ask a few questions, maybe tell you a story." She turned her open gaze into a sharp, penetrating assessment. "You do like my stories, don't you?"

That perhaps was unfair with there being only one answer, but he used it.

Cheerful again, Lindsey announced, "In that case, I'm hungry. You can buy me a sandwich since you didn't come to my birthday party."

The guilt she used was harmlessly applied but effective and rendered him almost helpless to do anything else.

*****

Back home, she fought to maintain the appropriate sober expression that was required. It was difficult when she faced the barrage of emotions playing upon her mother's face.

"You did what?" Apparently, disbelief won.

Lindsey carefully led Catherine into a seat. Good, now they were eye level; she wanted to read her mother's eyes.

"It's funny," she began, musingly, keeping her tone light and wondering, "Gil had the same look as you have now. He pulls it off better, no offense, Mom."

Animation changed the expression and Lindsey could swear that her mother blushed. She continued, acutely aware--via Gil's earlier confession--just how much his and her mother's relationship resembled that of first crushes. There was an illicit excitement which permeated everything.

"I told him that we found the picture of you and him at the Halloween party. Actually, I asked him if he remembered having it taken." She studied Catherine. "Did you know the café is just next door to where the club was?"

Catherine shook her head. "No, it's the same premises. About five years ago, they split the original property into subunits so they could take in more profit in rent."

This brought a sly smile across Lindsey's lips. "So, you do know!"

It was fascinating for Lindsey to see, like Gil's reaction, how fast wariness replaced the safe comfort of factual information.

"I looked into it after you called," her mother said, clearly trying to deflect the conversation. More avoidance followed with "And what did he say about the picture?"

"Picture?" Lindsey echoed, her mind still comparing their reactions to being caught with information about that long ago club.

"Yes, picture, and the club, et cetera."

"Oh." Lindsey could not stop the slump to her shoulders. "I don't know. That's when Jeremy came in and we came home."

Catherine sighed. Then, she asked, "Well, what do you want me to do?"

The question was completely unexpected.

Lindsey must have gasped for Catherine said, "You started this, Lindsey. You must have had something in mind. If you didn't, I hope this teaches you that interfering in other people's business brings consequences. This is yours."

Lindsey acknowledged the challenge. She also accepted the subtle knowledge that stated, from now on, she and her mother would interact as adults. To show she understood, she reached out to anchor her mother's hands and, then, in unambiguous words, she revealed what she dreamed about at night and what she hoped for in her heart.