Jane waved her concerns away before reaching for more syrup. She paused with the bottle halfway over her stack and stared at it. “Where did this come from?” she asked suddenly, dropping her fork and searching to see if the sticky sauce was even in date. “I haven’t bought syrup in…” she paused, “well, I don’t even know how long.”

Maura smiled, it was good to see her friend so upbeat and cheerful, so Jane-like again. She knew that today was going to be hard for her and seeing her start the day with such childish glee filled and warmed her heart.

“I know how much you enjoy it.” She admitted, dropping her eyes to her own breakfast to avoid the loving gaze that was soon settled on her. “So I picked some up when I was at the store.” She pushed her fruit around the plate, focusing on anything but the love that poured across the island towards her. Today was going to be hard on Jane, she knew that and the unabashed and unguarded adoration that was aimed at her was filling her with guilt.

Jane felt the tension radiating from her friend; her pancakes suddenly seemed to catch in her throat. “Maur?”

Plastering her best smile on her face, Maura looked up, meeting deep brown, hope laden eyes.

“Are you ok?” Jane asked softly, afraid that her breakfast was going to attempt an encore performance. “Is there something wrong with the syrup?” she laughed weakly.

“Well, it’s full of sugars, sodium benzoate, sorbic acids and hexametaphosphates.” Maura began, feeling herself relax as the list of ingredients fell from her lips. “None of it is good for you; you really should have some fruit, these strawberries for example have phenols, particularly anthocyanin which has anti-oxidant properties as well as vitamin c, manganese, potassium and vitamin k.”

Jane raised one carefully sculpted eyebrow as she pushed her plate away. “Ok, what’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” Maura asked as she forked a strawberry into her mouth, chewing slowly. “Why would something be wrong?”

Rolling her eyes, Jane sighed. “You always do the talking Google thing when you’re worried about something, so spill.”

Maura sighed and pushed her own plate to the side, her own appetite departing under the detective’s curious gaze. “It’s going to be hard on you Jane, this therapy.” She admitted, her voice shaking with each word. “I’m not sure I’m the best person to help you.”