He moved his left hand to her knee and she immediately returned it to the steering wheel. "Concentrate on your driving, Jed – and will you please switch on the wipers, it's starting to rain."

"Uh-oh," Jed said.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't have a clue how to switch them on. It's one of these – hang on, I'd better pull over for a moment."

As he drew the car to a standstill on the dark road, the agents' car pulled up behind them and both Charlie and Mike leapt out.

"Now I'm really in trouble," Jed said wryly.

He hit the window button as the two agents drew level with the car.

"Something wrong, sir?"

Jed looked up at them. "Yeah, you could say that. Er – do either of you guys know how to turn on the wipers in this car? And if either of you makes some wisecrack, I will personally dock your pay!" he added as Charlie and Mike exchanged glances.

Charlie leant inside the car, trying his best to keep a straight face. "Yes, sir, it's here on the right arm, one click forward for flip wipe, two for standard and three for fast wipe. And you pull the arm towards you for rear screen wipe."

"Thank you very much. Now we can all continue on our way in safety. Goodnight, guys."

As he pulled away again, he glanced round at Abbey. "They think I'm an idiot," he sighed.

"I guess they're just amused that the man who was the leader of the free world until last week didn't know how to switch on car wipers."

"Yeah, maybe. And I don't know how to work a coffee machine either, or how to do text messages on a cellphone – and I certainly don't have a clue about computers or the internet."

"Maybe you should do a computer course."

"Why? I don't need a computer."

"Well, no, you didn't when you were at the White House – all you had to do was click your fingers and someone else would check out any information you needed."

"Nah, I held all the information I needed up here," Jed answered, tapping his head.

"Not always," Abbey reminded him. "I seem to recall that once you didn't know the price of milk."

"Okay, so I mean most of the information I needed then. Anyway, if I need any information now, I can always call Gus and have him check it out for me."

"You're right there," Abbey agreed. "Kids are way ahead of us with all this new technology."

Jed glanced round at her. "We're getting old, aren't we, Abbey?"

"Older, not old, Jed, there's a difference."

"Yeah." After a couple of seconds, he started quoting: "Grow old with me, the best is yet to come – The last of life, for which the first was made – Our times are in His hand, Who saith 'A whole I planned, Youth shows but half – trust God – see all, nor be afraid!' Robert Browning." He drew the car to a standstill outside the cottage and looked round at her for a moment. "We'd never have understood that when we were young, would we?"

"I guess not – but it does make sense," Abbey said slowly. "'A whole I planned, youth shows but half' – that's a good sentiment in a world that thinks that getting older is some kind of failure."

"The best is yet to come, sweetheart." He leant over to kiss her and the gentle kiss started to get more intense until Abbey pushed him back with a sudden laugh.

"Jed, we just decided we're getting older – and we have a bed waiting for us in there, so we actually don't need to make out in the car like teenagers."

"Oh, I don't know – it could be fun! Remember that drive-in movie we went to once?"

"Yeah, what was that movie we – er – didn't see?"

Jed laughed. "No idea!"

"But at the drive-in movie we didn't have Secret Service agents sitting watching us – and they're now waiting for us to be safely inside the cottage!"

"Okay, point taken. You ready to make a run for it?"

The rain was coming down heavily and they had to make a dash from the car to the cottage. Once inside, Jed turned the key in the lock of the front door and looked at Abbey who was pulling off her wet jacket, and running her hand through her damp hair. "Now can we go to bed?" he asked, taking off his fleece.

"So whatever happened to romance?" she asked. "A couple of drinks – Sinatra maybe?"

"We had a deal," he reminded her, going up behind her and kissing the side of her neck.

"Can we have the romance too?"

"Okay – so I'll turn on the CD player – I can actually manage that bit of technology," he added with a grin, "and then I'll fix us some drinks and you can go slip into – er – one of your special garments? – and then we can go to bed."

"That sounds more like it."

"Go then," he said, patting her rear.

"There's some white wine in the fridge," she said as she headed for the bedroom.

"Is there any Scotch?"

Abbey paused at the bedroom door and looked back. "Shame on you, Jed – we're in Ireland, not Scotland. But I think you'll find some Irish whiskey – and that's spelt with an 'e' by the way – in the cupboard – and there's a bag of ice in the deep freeze."

Jed poured the drinks and took them through to the sitting room, then found the Sinatra CD and put it into the machine. He took off his tie, unfastened a couple of the buttons of his blue shirt and was sprawled on the couch sipping his whiskey when Abbey came back into the room.

"Mmm, nice," he said as his eyes took in the contours of her body in her short silky robe. "What colour do you call that then?"

"Oyster grey."

Jed nodded. "Well, they do say that oysters are an aphrodisiac – something to do with amino acids, I think."

"That's if you eat them, Jed, I don't think the colour has the same effect."

"Oooh yes," Jed said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her. "Yes it does – I can vouch for that."

Abbey laughed. "You are so predictable!" But she still loved it when his eyes flickered up and down her body with that appreciative glint. Loved the fact that he still found her attractive – and desirable. "You fixed my drink?"

Jed indicated the glass of wine on the small table in front of the couch. "Come and sit with me, Abbey."

Abbey sat down and picked up her glass and he put his arm round her and then went on, "You know what James Garfield said about getting old?"

"No, but you're gonna tell me."

"'If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old."

"I like that. But Garfield didn't grow old, did he? He was assassinated."

"Yeah, when he was only forty-nine, the second President to be assassinated and he'd served for just six months. Did you know that the railroad station where Guiteau shot him was where the National Gallery of Art is now? And that there was a suspicion that Chester Arthur had put Guiteau up to it? Vice Presidents sure have a lot to answer for!"

Abbey rolled her eyes. "Jed–"

"What?"

"I'd rather you didn't start on your pet topic of 'Why the hell did the Founding Fathers ever create the office of Vice President?'"

"Okay." Jed said amiably and put his arm round her, pulling her to him. "This is when I don't give a damn about getting old."

"Older," she corrected

"Older," he complied. "But when I'm with you, I still feel like I did when we first got together." He gave her a sideways look. "Once you'd split with Ron Ehrlich."

"And once you'd decided that the priesthood wasn't for you," Abbey countered.

"Yeah, well, I met you, didn't I? After that, there was no contest."

"Those were good days," Abbey said with a nostalgic smile, putting her glass down and resting her head against his shoulder.

Jed tightened his arm around her. "Yeah, they were – when there was just the two of us – before we got so busy with the girls and our careers, and everything else – not that I would have changed any of that, of course – but yeah, they were very good days."

"And now the wheel's turned full circle – 'cause we're back to just the two of us. The girls are all grown up and have their own lives – and, well, we don't have careers any more, do we?"

"We've still got each other, that's all that matters – and I still want you just as much as I did when I first met you." He turned to kiss her, a gentle kiss that became deeper as he pulled her towards him. His hand moved down to the silky hem of her robe and started to push it up and she began to unfasten the remaining buttons of his shirt.

They both jumped when there was a knock at the door of the cottage. "What the hell–?" Jed stood up and went across to the door, hastily refastening his shirt buttons and smoothing his hair back, while Abbey pulled a cushion over her knees.

Charlie stood there and Jed stepped back to let him into the room, out of the rain. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir – but we've just had a call from the agent at the farm. He says that Josh Lyman has been trying to contact you urgently."

TBC