29
Gill awoke to the muted sounds of kitchen activity and the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. It took her a second or two to remember where she was, but then a smile spread across her face and she stretched luxuriously.
Swinging her feet over the side of the bed she stood and reached for the Kimono-style dressing gown which she had draped over the back of the chair. Shrugging into the gown, she shuffled her feet into her slippers and tied the sash before gathering her hair back into a loose ponytail. Ten minutes later, having had a quick wash, she headed on down stairs to greet the day.
Pausing momentarily at the foot of the stairs to orient herself, she shrugged, grinned and told herself, 'Just smell the coffee,' and following her nose found the kitchen, where Harm had his back to the door as he whisked something in a bowl.
" Good morning, sailor," Gill said as she walked around the kitchen table towards him, and noting with a slight frown the vaguely worried expression on his face. "Something wrong?" she asked as she reached a hand to smooth his forehead, at the same time leaning in to give him a good morning kiss.
Harm returned her kiss, not only with pleasure, but also with a sense of immense relief, "No, I don't think there is anything wrong, not now."
"But there was?" she asked, pulling a chair out from the table, waited, standing with one hand on the chair-back.
Harm gave a sheepish half-grin, "I wasn't sure that you'd still be here, or even want to be here after the way I unloaded on you last night." He shrugged, "After all you got just about the full unexpurgated version of Harmon Rabb in one sitting, and it was a lot to dump on you all at once. I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd come down this morning with your bags packed, or even if you'd run screaming from the house last night"
Gill shook her head in negation smiled softly, "I don't see either of those scenarios working out the way you project them. No, when I think about it, the only way I would run out of the house, accompanied by screams or not, as the case might be, would be if you chased me away, and I don't think that's exactly what you have in mind… Or is it?"
With his mind put at ease, Harm was able to return her smile with an easy "No, that particular scenario doesn't exactly fit in with whatever plans I might have today, tomorrow, or in the far distant future. I just don't see it."
Gill's smile turned into a broad grin, "Good, now that we've settled that, what's for breakfast?"
Harm grinned back in pure pleasure, "I'm beginning to think it wasn't a Marine thing after all, I'm beginning to think it's a female thing. Which, just goes to show how slow I am on the uptake, after all I had Mattie making a clean sweep of the breakfast table every morning for ten months!"
"So, feed me!" Gill laughed.
"Patience, grasshopper and you shall be fed. Breakfast this morning is one of the specialities de la maison, either cinnamon or blueberry pancakes with genuine Canadian maple syrup. Oh, and freshly brewed coffee. "
"Ah yes, the coffee… That's what led me to you this morning."
Harm adopted a crestfallen expression, "Oh, I thought that my scintillating personality might have had something to do with it."
Gill looked conscience-stricken, "It did, it did," she protested, and then spoiled the effect by bursting into laughter, "but the coffee was far more important!"
Harm pretended to consider her words for a few moments, but then he heaved a sigh, "Do I take it then, that madam would enjoy a cup of coffee?"
"Absolutely," Gill gurgled.
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Johnny rolled over onto one elbow, gazing down on Julia she lay beside him in bed with a soft smile curving her mouth. He smoothed attend the air off her forehead and smiled in return as her smile deepened and said, "What would you like to do today?"
Julia opened her eyes looked and up sleepily at Johnny, "Given my druthers, I'd as soon stay here in bed all day."
"That idea is not without its merits," Johnny grinned, "but it won't fly. I guesstimate that we've got less than an hour before housekeeping comes to tidy the room. So…" He leaned in and dropped a soft kiss on her lips, "you need to get that sweetly rounded little butt of yours out of bed and into the shower, and then maybe we can start thinking about breakfast…"
"Are you trying to tell me that I'm all stinky and sweaty?" Julia pouted in mock indignation.
"You trying to tell me we're not?" Johnny countered.
"I guess not," Julia said, sitting up in bed and looking around for Johnny's shirt, "but by saying 'we' are you suggesting that we might conserve water by sharing the shower?"
"Was that an invitation?" Johnny leered suggestively, "because if it was, I don't think the shower is big enough for the two of us!"
"Oh well, into each life a little rain must fall," Julia grinned over her shoulder as she paused halfway to the bathroom.
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"I must admit I was a little dubious about the prospect of pancakes for breakfast," Gill smiled as she pushed her plate away from her, "but those were quite wonderful, and very filling. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to have to hit the gym with a vengeance come Monday!"
"So you don't want any more?" Harm teased her.
"To eat? No, not for a good while, but I will have another coffee if it's in the pot?"
Harm stood, gathering the plates as he did so, "There's always coffee in the pot," he smiled as he turned and reached for the jug of coffee. "Why don't you take it into the lounge, and I'll join you there as soon as I've tidied up this a little?"
"I've got a better idea, why don't we both clean up and then we can both take coffee into the lounge?" Gill countered.
"No, that's not necessary…" Harm started to protest.
"You might think that," Gill said standing up, "but I happen to think differently," she cast her eye around the kitchen, "No dishwasher? Alright, you wash, and I'll dry," and stepping up to the sink next to him she nudged him out of the way with her hip.
Harm knew when to surrender to force majeure, and with a smile of his own, he gave way, saying, "Never let it be said that I refused help in the kitchen… And they do say that one volunteer is better than ten pressed men!"
"Huh! Trust a sailor to bring the press-gang into it!" Gill huffed with a grin.
"Trust a Brit to recognise the reference!" Ham riposted and grinned in his turn.
Twenty minutes later with the kitchen squared away to Harm's satisfaction he and Gill, complete with mugs of fresh coffee adjourned to the lounge.
Gill sipped appreciatively at her coffee, like many British people she had become accustomed to freeze-dried instant coffee, and she liked her coffee tolerably strong – not the toxic waste that Bombardier Walker produced - but something rich but mellow at the same time. She had tried coffee in various pubs and restaurants over the years, but had come to the conclusion that nobody brewed coffee the way she liked it. It had been a pleasant surprise when almost simultaneously two competing chains of coffee houses had sprung into being, and she had eagerly tried both only to be disappointed yet again. She had mentioned her disappointment on one occasion to Colonel Mike, who had shaken his head sadly, and commiserated with her.
Gill's memory of Colonel Mike's almost blasphemous statement brought a smile to her face and coaxed a chuckle out of her.
Harm looked across the coffee table at her, an inquiring expression on his face, "Did I say, or do something dumb enough to make you laugh?" he asked.
A still smiling Gill shook her head, "No, it was nothing you said or did. I was thinking how good this coffee is, and that the reason I always order tea when I'm out is that I have never been to a pub, restaurant or café where the coffee is any good. And that applies to the two big names in the business as well." She took another sip of coffee.
"Okaay..." Harm drawled, "but I still don't see anything amusing in that memory?"
Gill put her cup down on the coaster before she answered, "No, but it was what I remember happened after that made me smile… Sue and I had been into Swindon, to the Designer Outlet – a sort of shopping mall, sells clothes by noted designers at a discount, a sort of Mecca for Sue, anyway after Sue spent hours dragging me around the various shops I finally persuaded her to take a coffee break, and we tried one of the new, chain-store coffee shops, and I was so disappointed with the quality of the coffee. When we got back to Tidworth we met up for dinner in the mess and Colonel Mike asked what had we been up to, so we told him about our day and in the course of telling the story, I remarked how disappointed I was that an American-owned company couldn't produce drinkable coffee…" Gill's eyes danced with amusement as she wound up for the punchline, "Colonel Mike, just shook his head mournfully and said, 'Based on my visits to the USA, it is an unfortunate fact, young Gillian, that while our transatlantic cousins have many sterling qualities, and have achieved many spectacular deeds, in addition to drinking their tea cold, they simply cannot brew decent coffee.'"
Harm looked vaguely offended, "I hope that wasn't aimed at me?" he asked somewhat plaintively.
Gill's mouth dropped open, "Oh… Oh no, you certainly don't fall within those parameters, it only came to mind because this coffee is exceptionally good. What's the secret?"
Harm put his own cup down and leaned back against the squabs of the couch, "It's really need to know…" He mused out loud, "but I suppose I could tell you… But then, if I did…" He paused for effect, only to have Gill steal his punchline.
"But if you did, then you'd have to kill me!"
Harm chuckled and shook his head ruefully, "I hate it when people do that. As for the coffee, most coffee available at home is Colombian, over here there's a wider choice. I have discovered a little coffee shop just off South Audley Street, where they have a huge variety of beans from all around the world. These beans are Mocha to which I've added just a very few shavings of dark chocolate, not enough to change the taste, but enough to intensify it."
While he was talking Gill had taken another deeply appreciative sip of her coffee, and closed her eyes, signifying her deep enjoyment of the drink. "So…" she said at last, thankful that Harm had given her the opening which she'd been searching, "not only are you a devastating chef, but you brewed just about the best coffee I've tasted in years. I think I'll keep you," she ended on a more serious note and she replaced her coffee cup on the coaster and sat back waiting for Harm's response.
Harriet Sims might at one time have accused Harm had been totally, sublimely, supremely oblivious, but he was not so oblivious as not to catch the change in Gill's tone of voice, nor her need for a sober response. "Are you sure about that? Even after last night, even after I explained, tried to explain, the sort of screw-up I was when it came to relationships?"
Gill chewed her bottom lip for a few seconds, but then just as Harm was becoming anxious, she spoke "When… No, let's start from the beginning, I didn't expect, not for even a second, that I was your first girlfriend. But it seems to me that none of them really meant anything to you until Diane. And I could tell last night as you were speaking, that she still holds a piece of your heart, and I'm quite happy about that. But Mac... despite what you said, I'm still not sure that you're sure that you weren't attracted to her because of her resemblance to Diane. The other women in between, they were just stop gaps, and I'm not worried about them either and I'm not worried about Mac either, while you were telling me about her, I couldn't help but remember a line from A few Good Men, when Tom Cruise's character called Demi Moore's character galactically stupid. Maybe that came to mind because that film was about US Navy lawyers, but it struck me as applying to Mac. Throughout all the lies, the hidden truths, the infidelities, slaps in the face, the rebuffs, the running away,the other men, you stuck by her, but in the end when you as good as sacrificed your career for her sake, she criticised you for it and walked straight into the arms of another man. If she couldn't see, after what, eight, nine, or more years who you are, then she didn't, doesn't and won't ever deserve you. Now, I haven't met your Mattie yet, but she strikes me as having a lot of common sense, she may be young and inexperienced but she was right about you needing to let people know that you love them, and maybe you didn't say those words to Mac during all those years is because somewhere deep inside you, you knew they weren't true... Oh, that's that's not a suggestion that you should say those words to me until you're ready and unless you mean them." Gill took another sip of her coffee, and then when she saw that Harm was about to speak she held up a hand to prevent him.
"There was a song a few years ago, a very silly song, quite unsophisticated, I'm not going to boost your ego by telling you what the title was, but there was a line in it about holding up a stagecoach in the rain. So I'll let you just think about that."
"I'll admit, I was a little concerned that when you came downstairs this morning that you might have had your bags in hand, I don't think I could ever put into words just how I felt when you kissed me good morning, and made it plain that you weren't leaving that very minute."
Gill breathed a silent sigh of relief, for a few moments the atmosphere had become tense, very tense, but Harm hadn't pushed and seemed quite content to leave the conversation where she had parked it.
Gill drained her coffee cup, with a feeling of regret that it was all gone, and putting the coffee cup down, she looked across at Harm, "So, what did you have in mind for us to do today?"
To her surprise Harm looked strangely embarrassed, "I don't want you to think that I'm taking advantage of you, but I need a huge favour."
Gill's eyes sparkled with interest, "Well, go ahead and ask, the worst I can do is say no…"
"Yeah, you could, you're the sort of person who would probably say yes, even if you didn't want to do what I ask."
Gill considered for a moment, "You might be right, but on the other hand I can be downright stubborn, awkward and… Uncooperative!"
Harm nodded, "I've no doubt you could be, but I doubt you would be."
Gill shook her head in mild exasperation, "You really are setting me up to say no, aren't you?"
"Well, although I'm giving you an out, I'm hoping you won't take it," Harm confessed.
Still with a trace of exasperation in her voice, Gill half laughed, "Oh for God's sake, just get on with it, please!"
Harm still looked slightly embarrassed, even a little uncomfortable, Gill thought, as he looked at her somewhat shamefacedly, "Would you consider, considering that you mentioned the place first, giving me a ride to Swindon?"
Gill looked at him in astonishment, "Swindon? I didn't have you down as the designer outlet type!"
"Only the one outlet today, Gill, that's the Subaru outlet," he paused for a moment and bent forwards to pick up a handful of brochures on the bottom shelf of the coffee table. "The first brochure," he thumbed through its slim pages and with a, "it's there, just north of the town in a village called Highworth…" showed her the spot on the map
Gill looked at the pamphlet in her hand, and in some surprise said, "You're buying a car? Oh, that was pretty stupid, you've just asked me for a lift to a car dealership, and handed me a brochure, of course you're buying a car!"
"It's something I've needed to do for weeks. Not only is it a waste of money to be continually renting cars, but when Mattie arrives… I have told you that she is still in a wheelchair, haven't I?"
"You have," Gill agreed, and flicking through the pamphlet she asked, "so which car?"
"The Legacy tourer, it's got a large enough cargo bed in back to take luggage and her wheelchair, and there's enough room in the doorway is for her to haul herself in and out, and it has a good enough performance to keep me happy, so I won't feel like I'm driving a Crown Victoria."
"And there's a rush to do it today because…?"
"Because the cheque has cleared, and the car is ready to be collected. The dealership is taking care of the road tax, and I've got the insurance sorted out…"
Gill blinked, "Wow, you have been busy." She looked at her watch, "it's about seventy, maybe eighty miles to Swindon, what time do they close on Saturdays?"
"Not until eighteen hundred hours," Harm replied.
Gill nodded and said airily, "Okay, we've got plenty of time then, we could take the back roads and make a leisurely drive, make it a day out of it. Or if you wanted, we could take the motorway, it's not the only way to get to Swindon, and find somewhere for lunch, maybe do a bit shopping first, after all there is that designer outlet…" It was no good, she couldn't tease him any more, but neither could she help bursting out into laughter.
"What?" Harm demanded indignantly.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Gill said still chuckling, "but the look on your face… It was just like a five-year-old who had just been told that Christmas had been cancelled!"
"It was not!" Harm protested.
"Yes, yes it was, and I am sorry, I should have known better. In fact I do know better, I know exactly what you boys are like when you want to get your hands on a new toy!"
Harm glared at her furiously for a few seconds but then his face creased into a reluctant grin, "You, young lady, have spent way too much time around way too many men!"
"That's what comes of being in the army," Gill grinned. "Come on then, let's rinse these cups out, and give me fifteen minutes to taker a shower and then I'll give you your lift to Swindon!"
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Johnny pushed his empty coffee cup away and leaned back in his chair, "Where would you like to go, or what do want to do today?" he asked.
Julia's elbows rested inelegantly on the table as she held her coffee cup just in front of her mouth the fingertips of both hands. A smile curved her lips she replied, "This is your neck of the woods, why don't you suggest something?"
Johnny gazed searchingly at her for a few seconds, "Is this some kind of test? No, on second thoughts don't answer that, I don't think I want to know!" He gazed contemplatively at Julia for a few more seconds before he spoke again, "You're from New Mexico, right?"
"Yeah," Julia said slowly and cautiously.
"Pretty rugged country isn't it, lots of scrub-land, lots of desert and all that sort of stuff?"
"Yeah,"
"But not so big on forests, huh?"
"No, not really," Julia answered, putting her now-empty cup back on its saucer and beginning to feel intrigued by this line of questioning, which seemed to her to have nothing to do with the entertainment that could be offered by a small, English town.
"H'mm… You got your ID and your driving licence with you?"
"Yeah, what are you up to Johnny Walker?" Julia asked in a mock-suspicious voice.
"And you can ride a bicycle, right?" Johnny persisted, totally ignoring for the moment Julia's question.
"Of course I can ride a bicycle, that's how… Oh, never mind! Just answer the damn question will you?"
But instead of answering Julia's question, Johnny countered with one more of his own, "You like history don't you? How would you like to see the spot where a King of England was murdered?"
"And where is that?" Julie replied, frantically trying to remember enough English history to identify the King in question, and so possibly get a clue to the murder's location.
"Ever hear of the New Forest?" Johnny asked.
Julia's forehead creased in the thought, "I… I think so…"
"It was set up as a royal hunting preserve by William the Conqueror, back in ten sixty-six, and his son, William II, William Rufus as he was called, was later shot by an arrow, at the time opinion was divided as to whether it was an accident, or murder, but the guy suspected of firing the arrow buggered off to France, or Austria, depending on which version of the story you hear."
"Okay, but what's that got to do with bicycles?"
"The new Forest still exists, it's a sprawl of heathland, pasture and woodlands, it's the home of a breed of feral ponies, wild deer and believe it or not, small herds of Highland cattle. They're the ones with huge horns and long shaggy coats! And what's more, right in the middle of the forest, there's a bicycle hire centre. Interested? It's only about an hour away."
"Interested? Hell yes, what are we waiting for?"
"You to decide whether or not we want to go there? Johnny said innocently.
"Just let me grab my camera!" Julia grinned.
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Acting on the advice of the letting agent, Jen's first purchase for the new flat had been a filter jug, plus filters for what the agent had described as 'hard' water, which in a very short time could and would, unless prevented, allow 'fur' or lime scale to coat any domestic appliance that heated water: washing machines, dishwashers, kettles, all were vulnerable, but the most vulnerable were coffee filter systems, with their small diameter pipes and nozzles. There were de-scaling solutions available in most of the local food and electrical stores, but as the agent had said, "An ounce of protection was better than a pound of cure."
"What about the shower head?" Jen had asked anxiously, getting her priorities straight.
"Exactly the same, those small diameter holes in the shower head can get furred up pretty quickly, but again there are de-scaling agents available in most supermarkets and kitchen and bathroom shops."
Jen had been sceptical over the value of water filters and de-scaling agents, but the change in the taste of her first glass of filtered water had converted her. Now, the coffee filter machine was churning through its cycle, and not a moment too soon she figured. It was almost zero nine thirty hours and she had a sneaking suspicion that Victor Galindez was not the kind of guy to be even one minute adrift. She was right.
Just as the minute hand on the kitchen clock dropped onto the six, the filter machine gave its last gurgle to announce it had finished its task, and then there came a sharp triple rap on the flat door.
Jen swiftly crossed the floor, and after checking through the Judas hole she unhooked the security chain and opened the door.
Victor's "'Morning Jen," almost, but not quite, drowned out Jen's greeting.
Both stood facing each other, confused grins on their faces as they realised that not only had they'd spoken practically simultaneously, but both had dressed identically, in jeans and blue plaid lumberjack style shirts over white T-shirts, until Jen broke out into a gurgle of laughter, "Oh, come on in Victor!"
With a somewhat, and surprisingly, shy grin, Victor stepped through the door and into the flat where he was waved to one of the two chairs.
"Coffee?" Jen offered with a grin, "fresh brewed, and although I won't promise it's Marine grade, I've done what I could."
"I'm sure it will be fine," Victor said, accepting the offer.
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Gill had chosen to take 'the long way around' via Oxford to Swindon, "Anything was better," she said emphatically, as they buckled themselves into their seats, "than tackling the M25 and M4 on a Saturday!"
"That bad?" Harm asked in some surprise.
"You have no idea!" Gill declared firmly and then lapsed into silence until she had negotiated the roundabout that merged with the slip-road onto the busy A40. Even then it was five or more minutes before either Ham or Gill spoke again.
"Harm, you've told me a lot about Mattie, and every time you mention her name, you light up, even just now, a few minutes ago, when we were talking about the need for a car she can get in and out of easily and that has enough boot space for her wheelchair. Please tell me if I'm crossing any boundaries, but exactly how badly off is she?"
Harm looked across at Gill and smiled softly, "You are right about one thing, every time I think of Mattie, let alone speak her name, I feel a little glow inside. I know that in the end she wanted to go back to her father try to make a family again with him, but I don't think I can ever, in light of what's happened, forgive myself for agreeing to it. As for how she is… well, as I said she is in a wheelchair, but the prognosis is good, and we're hoping that she will make a full recovery. She still has her heart set on going to the Navy Academy, but she's got a long road ahead of her but we're hoping she makes it. No, no we are not hoping, we are certain she's going to make it!
"When she was first injured, she was paralysed from the neck down, and then as the bruising and swelling around her spine decreased, she got back the use of her arms and hands. The physical therapy was brutal, and I'm told some days were better than others, which also means that some days were worse than others, but she stuck with it and made lots of progress. When I spoke to her on Wednesday evening, she said she thought she saw her toes moving when she tried to wiggle them. If that's so, that's a huge step forward for her.
"Obviously, this is way beyond my pay grade, but I've managed to get her a consult at Stoke Mandeville, that's a…"
"A nationally famous spinal injuries unit!" Gill finished for him, flashing a quick smile in return. "How did you manage that? It's normally only accessible through a referral from a consultant... uh... that's a Board Certified Attending Physician... I think..."
Harm nodded, "Yup, I believe it or not that's exactly what happened. When Mattie came back under my legal guardianship, I was able to get her examined by a friend of a friend at Bethesda, who just happens to be a board certified orthopaedic surgeon, who did his fellowship at Stoke Mandeville…"
"Proving once again, it's not what you know it's who you know!" Gill said somewhat severely.
"You disapprove?" Harm asked in some surprise.
"No, yes, oh, I don't know! It principle, yes I do disapprove, it's a form of cronyism, which I usually despise… But how can I disapprove of someone doing his utmost, using every string on his bow, to look after a child he loves?"
Harm turned his head to look at her, his gaze level and steady, "I think the same way, normally I wouldn't do anything like this, certainly not for myself, but this is for Mattie. It may not be an excuse, but it is a reason." He grinned slightly, "if it helps, just think of me being as ruthless as a momma bear looking after her only cub."
Gill broke out into laughter for a few seconds, "Oh, I'm sorry, but you just created the most absurd mental picture for me… I was trying not to see you all covered in shaggy hair roaring through the woods!"
"So my foray into… what was it you called it? Nepotism?" Harm began to ask.
"Cronyism!" Gill corrected him.
"So that hasn't put you off me at all? I did try to tell you last night that I had feet of clay." Harm finished.
Gill briefly shook her head, "You are going to have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me!"
"Is that a threat or a challenge?" Harm demanded, with a twinkle in his eye.
Gill shot him in another brief sideways glance out of the corner of her eye, "I think it was more in the nature of a promise."
"If that's the case, it's promise to which I firmly intend to hold you!" Harm said with as much conviction as he could muster.
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"Do you want to unpack this lot now, or have lunch at first?" Victor asked.
Jen eyed the new stack of boxes with marked disfavour, "I really don't feel like unpacking right now, but if we stop work now, then I'll probably feel even less like it after lunch… So…" She heaved a huge sigh, "let's get on with it, then we can relax for the rest of the day with a clear conscience."
Victor grinned and shook his head as he bent to the nearest box, "Are you sure there aren't any slave drivers in your ancestry?"
Jen laughed as she tore open a second box, "If I had any ancestors around during those days, they'd probably have been poor white trash!"
Victor stopped work for a moment, a half dozen books cradled in his arms, "I wish you wouldn't do that," he remarked.
"Do what?" Jen asked, a puzzled lines on forehead reinforcing the puzzled tone of her voice.
"I wish you'd stop putting yourself down, that's about the third or fourth time you've disparaged yourself or your family in the last two days. You're better than that."
Jen stared at him, there was no indication of humour in his eyes, face or voice. "I guess that's because I don't think very much of my family, and I'm not very proud of the way I used to be."
"I don't think I care very much about your family, and I certainly don't care about what you used to be. I care about the woman you are." Victor asserted in a no-nonsense tone.
Jen sighed, "I think I'd best brew another pot of coffee, we need to sit down, so I can tell you all about my happy childhood with daddy dearest…"
Victor nodded, but demurred, "Okay, you go ahead and put the coffee on, I'll carry on unpacking these boxes until it's brewed."
Five minutes later saw Jen and Victor each in one of the two armchairs, and each using a now empty box as an end table on which to put their coffee mugs.
Jen took a sip of her coffee and then with a hint of her usual sunny nature said, "it's usual to begin a story at the beginning, but I'm not going to. You said you care about the way I am now, well you can blame that on Captain Rabb…"
