Rodeo opened the front door for Alan who handed him the keys to the Bentley. "Thank you. Could you please ask Dave to put the car in the garage? And do you know where Denny is?"

The Major Domo held out his arm and gestured for Alan's coat. As Alan draped it over Rodeo's arm he said, "The elder Mr. Crane is in the kitchen."

When Alan walked in there, he expected to see Denny micromanaging Olympia, the cook. He was pleasantly surprised to see Denny sitting at the island in the center of the kitchen with a cup of tea reading the Boston Globe while Olympia was cooking undisturbed by her boss. They both looked up when they heard him walk into the room. "Hello, people," he greeted as he sat down next to Denny.

"Hello, Alan," Olympia responded, "Would you like a cup of tea or something to eat?"

"No, thanks. I just ate lunch."

Denny looked up from his newspaper. "So? How did it go?"

He shrugged, put his elbows on the countertop and his head in his hands. "The short answer is: I didn't take the case. She wasn't happy about it, but I couldn't, Denny. She's not taking her medication and she needs to take it. I agree with her father on that count."

"Yeah, you can only deal with one nut at a time," Denny joked as he rattled his paper and turned the page.

"What a terrible thing to say! You're talking about my husband and I don't think that remark is funny at all." He started to shake his head and thought better of it as he was beginning to feel the onset of a headache. "What are you up to the rest of the afternoon?"

"I figured I would sit here and finish reading my paper and then head over to the study to do the crossword puzzle. After that, I really do have some things I need to discuss with my lawyer. What about you?'

"I have some law journals to read. I'll probably just hang out in our bedroom unless you want me to sit in on your conversation with Victor Travers."*

"Not necessary; there's some heir property issues I have to attend to, no big deal."

"Okay, you know where I'll be if you change your mind."

Denny flipped another page. "Great, I'll see you later, then." He watched Alan leave the kitchen and thought, I'm surprised he didn't insist on sitting in on my meeting with Victor. "Oh! My favorite show has a new episode tonight!"

BLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBL

It was seven – forty and Denny decided he would head up to the bedroom, get undressed and watch TV in bed. He hadn't seen Alan since they had spoken in the kitchen hours earlier. He had sent Rodeo to tell him dinner was ready, but he had returned to say that Alan wasn't hungry and to go ahead and eat without him.

He walked into the bedroom to find that Alan was already in his nightshirt and under the covers with his hands behind his head watching TV. Alan watched with mild interest as Denny put on his pajamas. "There was a time," Alan opined, "when I thought the very idea of being in bed before eleven o'clock was absolutely ridiculous. Now, I'm so glad I'm an adult so I can get in bed whenever I want."

Denny fixed himself a drink. "Would you like one?"

Alan shook his head slowly. "No, thank you. I'm glad you came upstairs; I guess seeing Sheila today took more out of me mentally than I thought. I'm exhausted. I just want to curl up next to you and pretend to watch television."

Denny laughed as he got into bed. "You are such a girl!" He propped himself up with pillows and said, "Come here. When I'm ready to sleep, I'll slide us down."

Alan slid to Denny's side and Denny put his arm around him. After a few seconds, he moved his hand to Alan's forehead. "You're hot! You have a fever, Alan."

Alan closed his eyes for a moment. "That explains why I feel so dragged out. I must be coming down with a cold."

The older man reached for the intercom on his nightstand and called Rodeo. "Please bring me a thermometer and a cup of tea with honey and lemon. Alan isn't feeling well." He hung up and hugged Alan again before wondering aloud, "Do you think iron deficiencies are contagious?"

Alan moved back to his side of the bed. "No, but you do raise a good point. What if what I have is contagious? Maybe I'm coming down with the flu. I should go sleep in the guest room." He started to get up, but was stopped by Denny grabbing his shoulder.

"So you can be alone and miserable? Not on my watch! Besides, I got my flu shot so I should be fine."

Just when Alan was about to remind Denny that he had gotten a flu shot the same day, there was a knock on the door followed by Rodeo entering carrying a tray on which there was a teapot, two mugs, honey, lemon wedges and spoons. He placed the tray on the table and fixed the tea the way he knew Alan liked it. As he handed it to him he asked Denny, "Would you like a cup also?"

"I'm good, thanks." He took the proffered thermometer Rodeo withdrew from his pocket and said, "Before you drink that, stick this under your tongue."

"Denny, I really don't think this is neces…umph!" Alan sputtered as his spouse jammed the thing under his tongue.

A minute later, he removed it and pulled out a magnifying glass from his nightstand drawer so he could read the result. "Ninety – nine point eight."

Alan snorted, "That's hardly a fever. Tomorrow's Sunday. I'll relax and let Olympia and Rodeo take care of me. Monday we're going to see Dr. Forrester to get your blood test results. If I still feel under the weather, I'll ask him to look me over. Will that satisfy you?"

"Maybe. Drink your tea."

Alan looked at the mug on his nightstand and grimaced. "I'm going to pass. I had some water earlier. I'm just going to go to sleep."

Denny grunted his disapproval. "Rodeo, please take the tray and his mug. Leave the thermometer. Good night."

"Goodnight, Denny. Alan."

After Rodeo had been gone for a few moments, Alan rolled over to look at Denny. I have to tell him what's going on. "I have a confession. I haven't eaten since breakfast. I started feeling unwell when I was with Sheila. I thought the fact that I had no appetite for lunch was because of my stress level at listening to her story, but I haven't had an appetite since. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow. I wasn't going to mention it, but since my temperature is elevated a bit, I wanted to tell you, especially since I made you promise to always tell me when you don't feel well."**

Denny held out his right arm until Alan moved back into his normal sleeping position. "I'm glad you told me. We're the Cranes! We don't keep secrets from each other."

"Right."

Moments later, Alan's breathing evened out and Denny knew he was asleep. He turned off his lamp and grabbed the remote to lower the volume. Gently, he rubbed the younger man's back as he prayed silently, God, please. Don't let him be really sick.

*Denny's longtime lawyer, first introduced in "Married for Real"

**ref. "Happily We Move Along"