Dr. Roger Baxter raised his umbrella to his shoulder and waited. He had debated meeting them at the airstrip, but the resort was sending a car. The rain drummed down, hitting the pavement hard enough to create a mist over the blacktop. The lake absorbed most of the sound of the raindrops and the air was cold, even in summer. The resort's limousine pulled up to the front steps, headlights golden in the darkness. Getting out first, the driver opened the far door and Roger recognized Gregory's purposeful stride. He thanked the driver, removing his blazer and holding it out for Olivia.

Roger snapped his fingers suddenly, remembering he had meant to warn them about the weather. California did tend to change one's expectations. Gregory tucked her into the jacket, and they came towards the steps slowly. Olivia was tired, Roger read immediately. Her feet were a little slow, her hand on Gregory's arm more dependent then loving.

He met them halfway, handing Gregory the umbrella and tilting up the collar of his long tweed coat. "Meant to warn you. Summer up here is a bad joke. A myth for the tourists."

Gregory laughed, thoughtfully holding the umbrella over Olivia's head. She was already soaked through her thin summer suit, her white shirt was transparent as they entered the lights of the resort entrance. Plastered to her neck, her dark hair was saturated with water. They ducked inside the entryway, finally out of the freezing drizzle.

If possible, Gregory was wetter then she was. His blue shirt was drenched clear through to his skin, but he ignored it as he brushed Olivia's wet snaking hair out of her face.

"Welcome to the beautiful shores of the great cold lake." Roger teased as he flagged down the bellman for some towels. "So good of both of you to join me."

Laying his wet jacket over the chair, Gregory ran his hands quickly up and down her shoulders, trying to warm her up. "You certainly know how to pick your vacation spots, don't you Baxter"

Roger bowed to them both elegantly. "It's one of my many talents." The bellman returned with his arms full of towels. Holding them out to Gregory, Roger winked at Olivia. "Sorry love, I certainly didn't intend to ruin your outfit."

Smiling weakly, she stood still as Gregory started with her hair. "I think it'll live. Any chance of getting some hot chocolate"

Roger handed Gregory an old fashioned skeleton key with a leather tag embossed with a fish. Looking it over, Gregory gave him a quizzical glance. Roger laughed as he headed for the kitchen. "I was told it's a lake trout. You have the trout room for the next few days." Halfway down the hall, he called back"I'll meet you with hot chocolate in awhile, get out of your wet clothes before you become patients of mine."

Tucking the key into a wet pocket, Gregory grabbed the towels in one arm and took his wife with the other. "I think that's a good idea."

Sniffling, she pulled the towel closer around her shoulders. "How can they call that summer"

They started up the stairway. Gregory's arm was warm against her back, but she was shivering when he stopped in front of the door that matched their key. It took him a few tries to open the lock with his fingers slightly numb. He sent her in first and as soon as he had the door shut behind them he started getting her out of her clothes.

With chattering teeth, she tried to help him but her fingers were more useless than his were. Pushing her hands aside, he sat her down to pull off her shoes. Dumping water out of them into the garbage can, Gregory spent a moment trying to convince the circulation back into her toes with his fingers. Then he started on her shirt. Putting her hands on his shoulders for balance, she looked around their room. The furnishings were all older wood, but lovingly maintained. A large picture window on the far wall was a black hole into the night.

He pulled her up to her feet, starting on the button of her pants. "Hot chocolate was a good idea Liv."

Practically naked and wrapped in a towel, she nodded slightly as she tried to keep her teeth still. "I hope Roger's quick with it."

Gregory yanked the quilt off the bed and draped it around her shoulders. "Your clothes are in the black suitcase aren't they"

Olivia pulled the quilt up to her chin, and sat on the bed watching him. "I think so."

He grabbed it from the doorway, opening it up on the floor. Digging around for awhile, he finally looked up at her with a bemused smile. "Did you pack pajamas"

"I thought I did." She crawled off the bed and knelt next to him, looking like a child who had just escaped the bath. "They aren't in there"

Gregory reached for the other suitcase and checked that one as well. Shaking his head, he reached for the black silk that was his pair of pajamas. "Here, put these on. I guess you were more distracted then you thought this morning."

She didn't even have to unbutton the shirt to put it on over her head. "And whose fault would that be"

He kissed her cheek when her head appeared through the neck of the shirt. "You've always distracted me Olivia. I don't know what your excuse is."

Dr. Baxter stirred the pot of milk on the stove, patiently waiting for Marian, the cook at the Blue Heron Resort, to let him add the cocoa powder. Though his hair had gone completely silver some years ago, the rest of his body seemed quite immune to the passage of time. He kept his body trim through long morning walks, and his clean-shaven face was that of a man ten years younger. Having never found himself quite professional looking when he had still had the reddish-gold curls of his youth, he relished the gray.

Marian nodded to him serenely when she was satisfied with his progress. She had a grandmotherly silhuette, and a long tight braid of white hair that hung heavy on her back. "I've some cookies for your friends." She explained, pulling them out of a plastic container and arranging them in a basket with a clean dishtowel. "It's too bad that they missed dinner."

Winking at her, Roger cemented the fond relationship he had created just that afternoon when he arrived. "I'll make sure they make it down for breakfast, one of the other guests was raving about your oven pancakes."

Strong fingers closed around his wrist and corrected his wisking technique. "They are really quite simple to make. I shall teach you before you leave." Her words had the oddly stressed syllables that indicated English was not her first tongue and they were a promise, not an offer.

The doctor smiled, his son Ethan would appreciate a new recipe. When he finally had the mixture smooth and fragrant with chocolate steam, she let him pour it into an definitely antique castiron teapot. Taking it by the wooden handle, he was surprised by how heavy it was. That garnered him a gentle smile from the old woman.

"Real craftsmanship is always heavy" Marian informed him as she tucked mugs into the pockets of his long overcoat hanging on the wall. "I'm trusting you to bring these back to me."

Slipping on his coat, he softened his green eyes into his most trustworthy expression. "I would never let a lady down, not on my honor as an Briton."

Marian patted his shoulder, her hand hardened with years of work. "You're a scamp, but I believe you. You know your place."

He bowed his head politely, grinning up at her like the rogue she knew him to be. "Thank you again for allowing me the use of your fine kitchen."

She shut the door and locked it firmly. "Be off with you now, I expect you in the kitchen ready to work at six." Marian headed down the hall in the opposite direction of Richards' room. Roger whistled to himself. Six in the morning was almost residency hours all over again. Gregory and Olivia would owe him one.

When he reached their room, he found himself without a free hand to knock. Tucking the basket under his arm, he let himself in. "All right you two, there's company now."

Olivia giggled, she looked much better now, clean and starting to dry. She sat in the couch by the fireplace. The quilt from the bed tucked up under her along with her feet.

Gregory appeared after a moment from the bathroom, dressed only in a plaid flannel bathrobe. "Don't suppose you brought an extra pair of pajamas Baxter? I've lost mine for the night."

Setting down the teapot and basket on the flagstones of the fireplace at Olivia's feet, Roger fished the mugs out of his pockets and started to pour. Olivia caught his eye as he handed her the first cup. She flashed him a sheepish smile and showed him the oversized cuffed sleeve on her arm.

Chuckling, Roger handed his old friend a cup of cocoa. "I might just have a pair. Let me run back to my room." He ducked out and returned in a few moments with a neatly folded pair of pajamas.

Gregory held the maroon silk up to his chest and smirked at the neat monogramm of an entwined "RB". "I'm surprised you didn't spring for extra letters for 'doctor'."

Roger shrugged and settled down next to the fireplace. "I'll remind Ethan. He picked those out for me."

"Still can't pick out your own clothes" Olivia teased as she continued working on her hair with a towel. "I remember Bette picking out your tuxedo for the wedding."

"Best suit I ever owned" he replied as he started a stack of wood in the fireplace.

Gregory emerged from the bathroom, slightly more comfortable in his borrowed pajamas then the plaid flannel. "Maybe you should let Bette do all your shopping." He paused over Olivia's shoulder, resting his hands on her while he watched Roger's progress with the fire.

"I'm sure my son would be happy to be replaced in that department." Reaching for a small box of matches, he lit the kindling. "Ethan's always wishing I was more independent."

Gregory's hands tightened for a moment on her shoulders anxiously. Roger's relationship with Ethan was enviable. After his marriage dissolved, Roger had spent every spare moment of time with his son, even bringing him along on house calls. By raising a young man with an easy-going love for his father, Roger had outdone his friend.

Empathesing with her husband's regret, Olivia looked up at him and took his hand. "We're really looking forward to meeting him." She assured Roger as he coaxed the flames up from the tinder. "It's nice to know someone who had more luck with their children then we have."

Gregory's fingers tightened suddenly around her left hand. The two men shared a long look and Olivia couldn't help feeling she had missed something. Roger brushed his hands off on his trousers and stood up from the crackling little fire. "I wouldn't count either of you out yet."

Taking a cookie from the basket, Roger flopped down into the armchair closest to the window. He left the space on the couch open for Gregory, but he remained standing, looking rigid and out of place in the cozy room. Still lost in thought, Gregory went to the window and stared into the woods outside. He seemed nervous, and his body was poised for the coming assault. Olivia couldn't help wondering what was watching him from the dark and how she could help him fight it.

As the fire grew, she crept out from the blanket, wrapping both of her hands around her warm cup of cocoa as Roger refilled it.

"You're been wonderfully patient with him." Roger whispered kindly. "This is one of the most confusing times in his life, and he needs you as his anchor."

She turned her head to watch her husband staring cooly out the window. "I've always wondered if he needs me, really needs me, the way I can't live without him."

Roger rested a finger on her nose, smiling at her as he shared his secret. "I've never understood how you can wonder that. When you look into his eyes- don't you see it"

Sighing, Olivia took a long sip of cocoa. "I see walls. When they're down I see regret and pain. I don't know how you can see anything else."

"I see you in Gregory's eyes. I always have." He replied honestly. Running his finger up the bridge of her nose, he tapped it once in the center of her forehead. "Maybe you should get this cleaned out more often."

That earned him a laugh, and Roger pulled her in for an impulsive hug. "I'd forgotten just how dammednably cute you are, love." As they broke apart, he showed her his watch, 11:30pm, and shook his head. "I'm off for tonight. the debt for your hot chocolate must be paid tommorow at the crack of dawn."

"Tell us the story over breakfast" Olivia begged as Roger headed for the door.

He waved a hand back as he let himself out"Of course, love, anything for you."

The door shut quietly, but not even that shook Gregory out of his reverie. He was somewhere out in the woods, and it didn't look like he was coming back any time before morning. Extracting herself from the quilt took a few moments, but Olivia padded over to him. Her bare feet were cold on the wood floor. She knelt on the floor at his feet, staring plantively up at him with her head on his knee. "I don't know what's out there, but I'm going to bed."

Gregory guided her up, balancing her on his lap. "Roger"

"Gone to bed." She replied softly. "We'll see him at breakfast."

The ends of her hair were still damp as his finger's fidgeted through it. "I've been thinking awhile."

Nodding quickly, she looked innocent perched on his knees. "You have, but you can let it rest now. Whatever it is."

Caressing her face, he agreed with a small smile. "You're Liv. I should have gotten you to bed hours ago. Come on." As he folded down the blankets, Olivia climbed into bed, watching sleepily as he went around the room. Gregory turned off the lights, set the damper on the fire and checked the lock on the door before adding the she left on the couch over the top of the bed. Satisfied, he crawled in next to her and let her get comfortable.

After a few moments of her fidgeting, he chuckled as he rolled her over his body and they switched sides of the bed. "Will this be better"

She curled into a ball against his side and yawned. "I think so."

"What was wrong with the other side" He asked softly, not expecting much of an answer. "Just wasn't right"

Yawning again, Olivia finally settled down with her head on his chest. "Just wasn't right" She repeated as she traced the monagramm on his pocket with sleepy fingers.

He tried to concentrate on the nearness of her. The soft damp smell of her hair mixing with the wood from the fire overpowered the nagging anxiety in the back of his mind. Worrying about tomorrow wouldn't let him rest. All he really wanted to do was stop thinking, to fall asleep as easily as Olivia did when she was safe in her arms.