CC was back to her room before Niles showed up. His face still looked stormy, and his eyes were snapping. He came in, went over to the bed, and crossed his arms.

Looking down, he said, "You live to torture me, don't you?"

"Well, it is fun," CC quipped.

He continued looking down on her, as if expecting an answer. CC crossed her own arms and raised an eyebrow. She had no idea why Melissa's call had riled him up, but she was both curious and amused.

"That was the whole point behind giving me your Power of Attorney and making me your next of kin, wasn't it? You knew I'd have to deal with all the certifiably mad people in your life." His voice was stern. She'd heard him speak to the children, especially Brighton, in that very same tone. "I got a call today from a woman who wanted me to go to your penthouse and search it for a wrap. A wrap! Like I had time to run right over at her order. If it's not crazy phone calls, it's dealing with your neurotic family. I can see why you didn't pick someone you like for this job...Not that you like anyone."

He dropped his arms and sighed. "Don't you have any normal friends, friends that will call and ask how you are doing?"

"You don't know my friends, do you, Niles?"

The anger and irritation had gone now from his face, and he turned away to pick up Teddy from the bedside table. Every day, her therapist moved it, and every day Niles moved it back.

Once it was safely on her pillow, Niles sat in the chair. CC had been about to sit there herself, so she jumped out of the way. She wasn't quite quick enough and his arm went through hers. She felt a jolt, unlike anything she'd felt when going through an inanimate object. It wasn't unpleasant. There was an instant of tingling warmth, then it was gone.

"Miss Babcock, you've got to stop this foolishness and wake up."

"Tell me how, Hazel, and I'll be glad to." She perched on the chair arm beside him.

"You do know there's a backer's party tomorrow night...and that he's taking Miss Fine. You're going to lose your hold on him."

"Oh, Niles...Dear, sweet, misguided Niles, if you only knew what I've seen over the past two weeks...Only one thing bothers me about this party. I'm afraid Nanny Fine and Maxwell will screw it up. Neither one knows how to deal with people. Without me, they'll never get the money for the new show."

Niles lapsed into silence and just sat there for a few more minutes. He looked much calmer than he had when he came in. When he stood, he briefly covered her hand with his before leaving without another word.

XXX

"I hate doing these bloody things by myself," Maxwell grumbled as he paced outside of the room he'd booked for the evening.

Nanny Fine watched him patiently. She looked quite classy in her yellow sheath of a dress with her hair piled on top of her head. CC hoped she had enough sense to keep her mouth shut.

"You'll do great," she encouraged. "Just remember not to go overboard like you did a few months ago when Miss Babcock quit."

He grimaced. "Sweetie Darling? What was I thinking...Did we invite Harvey Firestein?"

"He does have a lot of money."

"Oh, God! I can't do this."

"Sure you can." She grabbed his lapels. "I'll be right here with you." He looked doubtful, so she continued, "I'll do the Sweetie Darlings. You just smile."

It was going to be a disaster. CC felt as if there were a giant stone in the pit of her stomach. They'd never pull it off. If only Niles were there. He might have been just a butler, but he also had an air of grace and charm when he made the effort. He would have had a much better chance at securing money from some old tightwad than Maxwell ever could.

Still, there was nothing CC could do about it but observe and hope. She wasn't known for her patience or for leaving her life in the hands of someone else. This backer's party might just kill her.

Not being the one at Maxwell's side gutted her. She belonged there, charming backers and securing funds. She was damn good at it, and she always had been. Maxwell had promoted her from under appreciated secretary to executive after her performance at her first backer's party. Her latest promotion was also thanks to a backer's party, but in a different way. Despite her nerves, CC felt a small smile come to her face at the memory of how she and Nanny Fine—well, mostly Nanny Fine—had manipulated Maxwell into begging her to come back after she'd quit.

Finally, after it seemed he had been hesitating for hours, Maxwell took a deep breath and held out his arm to Nanny Fine. "Shall we?"

She smiled encouragement and took his arm. The two of them plastered on confident faces and strode into the party. CC followed, her stomach in knots and a feeling of impending doom darkening her mood.

The room was filled with people, mostly men but some women, all dressed in black tie. CC knew most of them, and there were a good number that she was always able to coerce into an investment. She still had her doubts about Maxwell.

Suddenly, a familiar voice caught her attention, and she glanced at the gathered servers. Niles was among them, talking with the caterer and helping to direct the wait staff. It wasn't a normal thing for him to help out when the party wasn't at home, but it wasn't unprecedented either. At the sight of him, CC relaxed slightly.

"Maxwell." CC's eyes snapped back to Maxwell and Nanny Fine to see a plump, middle-aged couple smiling benevolently at them.

"Henry, Martha, it's great to see you." Maxwell smiled.

"And you as well, Maxwell," Henry Hamilton said. "Who is this lovely lady?"

"This is my...uh..."

"Date," Nanny Fine supplied, offering her hand. "I'm Fran."

"Very nice to meet you. Why haven't we seen you before?"

Nanny Fine laughed and CC winced.

"Maxwell, have you been hiding this nice girl away?" Martha Hamilton asked.

"He wanted me all to himself." Nanny Fine winked.

"I don't blame him, dear." Henry patted her arm and CC let out the breath she was holding. The Hamiltons were an easy test, but she still hadn't been sure Nanny Fine would pass.

The nanny beamed at him, and CC saw some of Maxwell's own nervousness fade out of his eyes.

"We were sad to hear about CC." Martha put her hand on Maxwell's arm. "The poor thing. How is she doing?"

"Well..." He glanced hopelessly at Nanny Fine.

"She's in a coma," the nanny answered for him. "She's a bit more stable now, but she's still not breathing on her own."

"What a shame. She's such a smart, pretty girl."

CC's eyebrows rose at this. Martha was a kind woman, but she generally spent most of her time talking to Maxwell. Usually, she didn't even seem to notice CC was there.

"She's so much better at these parties than I am," Maxwell admitted.

"Don't be honest with these people, Maxwell," CC snapped. "You're supposed to try to fleece the room not have it take advantage of you."

"You're doing fine, dear." Martha squeezed his arm. "And don't you worry, Mister and I will be investing."

Maxwell smiled at her. "Thank you."

As the party wore on, CC felt safer to mingle among the guests and eavesdrop on their conversations. She wanted to know who was planning on investing. What she discovered was that most of the people weren't talking about the play at all. She was their favorite topic of conversation—though Nanny Fine was a close second. The comments varied from concerned to vindictive, and everyone was trying to decide whether or not Sheffield-Babcock Productions was better or worse without her.

The labels of 'bitch' and 'ballbuster' she had been expecting. She hadn't been expecting the compliments. Some of the people in the room thought the vary same thing she had thought for years—that she was the brains behind the business.

In a move that CC admired as something she herself would try to pull off, Nanny Fine convinced Maxwell to milk every ounce of sympathy over the accident. Softened hearts were way more willing to invest. CC had to admit Nanny Fine was sometimes shrewder than people gave her credit for. At first, Maxwell protested but the nanny won him over by pointing out that CC would have wanted him to do it. Every time CC passed them talking to a backer, she became more and more pleased.

On the whole, the party went well. They raised lots of money, their guests were happy, Nanny Fine was charming so Maxwell didn't have to try to be, and everything came together smoothly.

After it all, CC felt mentally exhausted. She actually envied those who would be going home to sleep. As the people started trickling out, she saw Niles helping with coats and wraps. Throughout the evening, he had been everywhere, subtly moving through the crowd, offering gentle nudges to help people decide to invest. She wondered if he did this at every backer's party he attended, and she just hadn't noticed.

Nanny Fine and Maxwell left when the crowd got thin, but CC stayed until only the staff remained.

Afterward, she wasn't sure where to go. On a normal night like this, she'd go home with Maxwell and they'd have a couple of drinks while tallying the money. Nanny Fine and Niles would insist on popping in and out, and CC would find herself both irritated and amused. The thought of hours spent in Maxwell's office with the three of them made her wistful. Who would have thought something that drove her crazy would be something she missed so much?

Pushing thoughts of the past from her mind, she decided not to go to Maxwell's for the night. She didn't want to go to her lonely hospital room either. CC needed somewhere restful, somewhere peaceful. For most people, this would conjure up thoughts of home, but CC Babcock was not most people.

XXX

The cemetery was dark and quiet. The only sound was the wind gently blowing through the trees. The moon was large, and the shadows of branches wiggled restlessly across the ground.

CC walked slowly but confidently through the headstones. The way was burned into her mind, though it had been years since she had been there.

It was so late that there was a chill to the air, and CC shivered as the coolness of it brushed against her face.

She hesitated as she approached the marker she had been searching for. It was just a simple piece of chiseled granite, more modest than one would expect from a Babcock, with several roses carved among the words. CC had come for peace and comfort, but she suddenly doubted she'd be able to find it.

Pain thumped with the beating of her heart. It didn't matter if those beats were real or not; the pain they pumped with them was as sharp as a knife cut. Over and over. The pain was why she had stopped coming. When she began walling herself away, this is where she had started. Everything that lone stone stood for had to be denied—love, belonging, pain, sadness, hope, home. It was a lot to ask from a stone and, once decided, surprisingly easy to give up.

Setting her jaw, CC stubbornly moved forward. She placed her fingers on the stone and traced one of the roses. She couldn't feel the carving but she could feel the chill that seeped from it.

"Hello, Grandmama," she whispered.

Her words were lost in the wind, but it also blew away the last of CC's resistance. She choked back a sob, not even sure if it was from sadness or relief.

Swallowing, she let herself drop to the ground beside the stone, her shoulder against it. She closed her eyes on the darkness and breathed deeply; she could almost believe that the scent of flowers and newly turned earth mixed with vanilla lingered in the air.

Releasing the breath, she admitted, "I miss you so much."

The wind played with her hair, and she pretended it was her grandmother's fingers brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She could almost hear the gentle words, "I love you, Chastity-Claire. You're always wanted here."

For a child who felt she didn't belong anywhere, those words had soaked into her heart—into her very soul. And she had purposefully buried them until she had forgotten them.

"I'm sorry, Grandmama. I'm so sorry."

Memories came back to her, both happy and sad. Warmth filled them, warmth from both the sun and from a pair of arms that held her as if she mattered.

With a sigh, CC settled more comfortably. Resting her cheek against the stone, she wished she could feel its hard strength. It was like her grandmother that way.

CC smiled softly. Grandmama had refused to do what her family demanded of her. She kept only two servants who were like members of her family; she worked the earth like a gardener; she had a successful career she enjoyed; she flouted propriety and freely showed love when she felt it. All those years ago, she had been everything CC wanted to be. What would her grandmother have thought of the path CC had chosen? Would her love have faded when CC had chosen to—mostly-become a true Babcock?

The thought was a harsh one, but CC pushed it away. Her grandmother's love had been unconditional, and she had always been kind, even saying her son was merely lost instead of a closed off workaholic. No doubt, her love could have punctured and seen through CC's carefully built wall as well.

CC's breathing evened and deepened and, though she couldn't sleep, she felt the tension of the day melt away. The night seemed to grow warmer and CC could almost feel insubstantial arms around her. With a sigh, she let herself relax.

All through the night, she sat like that. She didn't move, didn't open her eyes, until the first rays of dawn cut through the trees to fall upon her face.

Blinking, she stretched, feeling refreshed. And loved. The feeling lingered around her, and when she went back to the hospital to check on her body, she took it with her.

XXX

"Are you done, Miss Grace?" Niles asked politely, coming into the room.

The pleasant, soft voice stopped and CC was slightly irritated. For the past hour, she'd been sitting on the end of her bed raptly listening to the Little One read. Grace had an engaging, lilting voice and, for a ten year old, read remarkably well. CC hadn't even realized the child noticed the book Noel had placed on the table until she came in with Niles and picked it up.

Grace had gravely informed CC that she liked horses, too, and then waited for Niles to leave. As soon as he did, she began to read.

CC had never been read to by a child before—especially not one as intelligent and well spoken as Grace—and she found the experience fascinating.

"Has it been an hour already?" Grace asked.

"A little over."

"Really?" She frowned. "I must have gotten lost in the book."

He smiled at her tolerantly. "You can come back soon and read some more."

"I think I will." She gently closed the book, taking more care with it than either of her siblings would have. Getting up, she asked, "Niles?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Miss Babcock liked me coming in to read to her?"

"With her, it's hard to tell."

"Do you miss her?"

He looked startled. "What?"

"Miss Babcock. Do you miss her?"

"Why would I miss her?" He frowned.

"You've been so quiet since she's been gone."

"Don't be so foolish, child...and put on your coat. You don't want to catch cold."

"It's all right if you do," Grace continued, but she obeyed and grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. "I miss her, too."

"Oh, yes. All the nice things she did for you."

"I know you're being sarcastic, Niles. I'm not five anymore."

He smirked. "No, I suppose you're not."

"I know she was mean sometimes, but since she's been gone, nobody smiles much. Daddy's always busy and Fran's always worried and..." She trailed off before repeating, "It's all right to miss her."

"I have no reason to miss Miss Babcock, I assure you."

Grace just lightly touched his hand. "You can fight with me, if you want."

"Miss Fine will be back from the hairdresser's soon. We should be going."

"Okay. I'm almost ready." She went over to place the book carefully back on the table.

When Grace's back was turned, CC saw a look of tenderness briefly fill Niles's face. She doubted Grace had any idea how much he loved her. Studying him so vulnerable made CC's tummy feel funny. Usually, this kind of weakness—especially in Niles—made CC want to attack. Now, it just made her feel...rather nice.