A/N: More fluff, inspired by two of your reviews ;-) Enjoy...

.

.

She stood on the veranda overlooking the garden and the party that was going on there. She had been here once before. Two years have gone by after the 25th wedding anniversary of Lord and Lady Asherton and a lot had happened during this time. Her old boss had had some problems with paying taxes, or rather because of not paying taxes, and like her colleagues she suddenly had stood there and was out of her job. But she had taken it all as a chance and for one year now she was the one who was called boss by three regular and numerous temporary employees. The people in and around Nanrunnel seemed to party a lot and gladly drew on professional help when it came to food. One or the other bigger event like this birthday party here had pushed the companies luck and awareness.

For today it had been a lot of work but they all had done a very good job. They had built up a tent and decorated the tables and the bar and now her employees were serving drinks and nibbles. It almost was like every other afternoon garden party. Only this time there will be dinner afterwards and she even had had to arrange some fireworks in the night. The handsome young Lord had ordered the full monty. She had not even needed to persuade him.

When this event would be over they all would be exhausted like hell although until now no major catastrophe had occured and Jenny quickly knocked on the wooden pergola next to her. Knowing a well-trained staff behind her she was rather sure that the party was going to be a success for all of them.

As if on cue her eyes fell on the sixteen year old daughter of a friend who was doing her second or third job as a waitress for Jenny. She was good but not yet perfect but Jenny was sure she would learn it all in time. At the moment the girl carried a tray with champagne flutes and visibly needed a break. Jenny knew she had worked non stop for four hours so she decided to talk to the girl before an incident occured.

What happened then appeared to happen in slow motion.

The poor tired girl had walked between the guests standing around when suddenly a male voice growled "Oh, shut up, father!" and a wheelchair was pushed backwards, right into her way. She bumped into the old Lord's vehicle, stumbled turning and fell to the ground, thus letting her tray fly through the air as if it was a frisbee. Champagne was splashed over the suits and the dresses of the guests nearby and the empty flutes went into billions of pieces on the ground.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, woman!" the same male voice grunted.

Jenny narrowed her eyes and set her feet in motion.

"Not this time." she hissed unhearable for others. Storming down the stairs of the veranda she called for Michael, her longest employee. "Michael, bring us the dustbuster. There's a glass accident on the grass."

The poor waitress still sat on the floor and tried to avoid crying. The old and the young Lord were insulting her loudly so that some guests already had turned their heads. When she finally got up and apologised it even got worse. "Sorry, Sir.", "Yes, Sir." and "No, Sir!" or "Of course, Sir!" was all she could stammer. It seemed very familiar to Jenny. Approaching her employee and the two male guests she even recognised who one of them was. He obviously had not learned anything.

"Lord O'Clanis! It's so nice to see you." Jenny said with a sharply ironic voice. "I see you still don't know how to avoid these accidents, do you."

"And who are you?" Young O'Clanis quickly turned to where the voice had come from. "Oh, brilliant. The other clumsy waitress."

"Well, thank you, Sir." Jenny gave him a syrupy smile that was cut at its edges. "But as far as I have observed this incident Miss Lizzy here was not clumsy at all."

"She's been-"

Jenny's voice was louder than the young Lord's when she cut him short. "...doing her job! when someone thoughtlessly pushed a wheelie into her way. If I may say so, it's not a very nice gesture towards... ah, I see. Your father, I presume." Looking from one Lord to the other Jenny nodded. The resemblance was striking.

"My son's and mine disagreements are none of your business, Miss, and-"

Unimpressed Jenny even cut the old Lord short. "And! I agree. I don't even care what you were arguing about but I can't stand injustice so my business has started exactly where your fight got into the way of my waitress. You will understand that I have to step in when you dress her down like this. You have no bloody right to do that. All the more when it was not her fault. Still she offered you her apologies which you chose to ignore."

Both men inhaled to give a reply but in that moment the host of the party appeared next to Jenny. "Can I help you, Miss Jenny?" Thomas Lynley junior asked and placed a soothing hand onto her shoulder for a brief moment. Frowning he turned to his guest. "Are you making trouble again, O'Clanis?"

Remembering himself in the fountain two years ago the young Lord shut his mouth with a plop. Only his father brawled on although he was not able to finish his accusations. Thomas junior smiled politely and shook his head. He raised a hand to stop the old man's tirade. "I'm glad you both had enjoyed this party, mylords, but of course I understand that you want to leave, now that you're soaked with champagne. Your driver will be informed immediately."

A nod towards the butler was all he had to give and the O'Clanis men understood they were kicked off the party. Meanwhile their audience had grown bigger. Almost all other guests were watching the rather loud conversation. Tommy turned around and grinned. "Alright! The show is over, my friends. Let's continue with the more enjoyable parts of the party!"

Chuckles and light laughter was heard. Lord O'Clanis and his son both were well known for their sometimes insolent behaviour.

"I'm sorry, Miss Jenny. Miss Lizzy, please have a break. You can relax in the hall, you'll be alone in there, we're all in the garden today. James will bring you a refreshment."

Miss Lizzy even curtsied after she got the silent okay from her boss. Quickly she vanished in the big house.

In a corner of the not overly trimmed garden a grey-haired couple had watched them. He was wearing a dark jacket with a white shirt but no tie and had his hand pushed into the pocket of his jeans. In his other hand he had a glass of water. The woman closely next to him, in jeans and a fine blouse but with comfortable sneakers on, was drinking champagne though. She was playing with the little green emerald on a chain around her neck while she watched the young Lord grinning at his guests.

"She has some fine language." Barbara chuckled.

Tommy put his arm around her shoulders and softly kissed the top of her hair. "Reminds me of your sharp tongue..."

It earned him a nudge of her elbow into his ribcage. "Well, thank you. But I never would have been so bold towards your lot."

"You're my countess, dear. Don't forget that it's your lot too." He winked. "And I've experienced firsthand that you are equally capable to disguise your curses with such a fine irony."

"Oh, bollocks, Tommy." Grinning she shook her head.

"And she's defending her employee. It's exactly what you've done with your subordinates, Inspector." Pride resonated in his voice.

"That's been something different."

"Well, she can't stand injustice, like you and me."

"And like your son, obviously."

They had watched how Tommy junior praised the unpleasant Lords O'Clanis away from his 25th birthday party.

"Somehow I remember something rather similar." Tommy murmured.

Barbara nodded. "Things have come full circle, hm?"

"Well, yes, so it seems."

"Have you seen Toms watching her all day?"

Her husband gave a laugh. "Maybe he was confused because she's walked around as if she was one of the hosts?"

"Tommy!" Barbara scolded him. "That's not true, and you know that. She's just doing her job and she's made sure that her employees do everything so this would be the perfect garden party."

A dreamy smile appeared in his face. "Like it had been on our wedding anniversary."

When Barbara looked up to him she was smiling too. There were a lot of sweet memories they shared. Her beloved Lord Asherton bent down and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too." she replied caressing his cheek. "It's been a wonderful party."

"I guess your son remembers Miss Jenny from that occasion."

"He must have recognised her when he had planned all this." Barbara grinned. Her son still was talking with the owner of the catering service. "And I guess he's cast an eye at her."

"What?" Tommy sounded scandalised. "At the waitress?!"

Unseen by him Barbara rolled her eyes. "She owns the catering company, remember?"

"Yes, well, but she's just-"

"Thomas Lynley!" Barbara turned to him with arms akimbo looking rather angry at him. "She's not just..." One of her hands made a vague gesture through the air. "...like I wasn't just your sergeant. Haven't you learned anything?"

"I'm sorry. You're right." A very juicy grin appeared in her husband's face. "And you've teached me a lot, my darling.

Barbara gave him a playful slap onto his chest. "Stop that!" she grumbled although she already had to grin.

For a while they were watching their son still talking to Jenny. The young people now both were sipping at champagne and walked slowly across the green grass on the other side of the garden a bit away from all other people.

"He's more into down to earth things in general." Barbara stated into the silence.

"Meaning?" Tommy ripped his eyes from Tommy junior.

"Well, all the time he spends in the countryside nowadays or in the stables when he's got some time to visit us here." She chewed on her cheeks before she went on. "To be honest, I don't think he'll finish his studies of the law. You should talk to him."

"Me? Why? And why wouldn't he finish?"

"Because he's just signed in at laws in Oxford because he thinks you'd want him to."

"He's never said that."

"Don't be so daft! Of course not. He wouldn't want to disappoint his father, Detective Chief Inspector. But I guess he better should put his energy into something more useful. He could replace Wilson."

"Do you mean Wilson Carrick the garden designer in Truro or Brad Wilson our manager?"

"Tommy!" Barbara rolled her eyes again. "I mean Brad Wilson. Toms could start studying business and- oh, gosh, look at our little Lord!"

Chuffed she grabbed Tommy's arm. Tommy junior on the other side of the garden had kissed the back of Jenny's hand before he went to talk again with other guests. It had left Jenny paralysed from some sort of delighted shock. Smiling lightly she looked at his back for quite a while. When Tommy junior suddenly looked back to her and gave her a lovely smile in return she blushed and downed the last drops of her champagne to hide her face. Then she abruptly turned and made herself busy with re-arranging the decoration on the buffet and giving some gruffly orders to another waiter.

Barbara chuckled. "Maybe one day the Asherton Company will be topped up with a catering service?" she suggested.

"You're still a romantic soul, Barbara." Tommy laughed while they started walking alongside the beds with perennial plants.

"I can't help it." She happily beamed. "I have the most romantic life a girl could dream of. Fancy a walk towards Bartholomew's Creek?" Barbara provocatively suggested taking his hand in hers.

"Now?!" His face slightly had blushed by the sheer mentioning of the place in the Asherton's private woods at the end of the path behind the manor where they had spent countless hours there in younger days when they knew nobody would disturb them. Actually it was no wonder that the third name of Tommy junior was such an old fashioned one.

"I think everybody is enjoying the party. Nothing against a short... umm... stroll... hm?" She knew exactly what he was thinking about when he cleared his throat. She was thinking the same.

"Well, I'll try my very best. You know, my old invalid knees..."

Barbara broke into loud boisterous laughter. Some guests turned their heads and grinning broadly she openly cheered to them with her glass of champagne when she met their eyes. Then she leaned into Tommy's side.

"I'm not exactly thinking of your knees, old man." she whispered and in an unobserved moment she stole a still closed bottle of champagne from one of the buckets at the end of a long table. "Come on, let's elope."

Chuckling Tommy followed his wife. "But we need something soft for your delicious bottom, baby." He had grabbed a blanket from one of the deck chairs standing unused in the sun and now gave her a gentle smack on her behind. The countess of Asherton almost was unable to suppress a very indecent squeal. His Lordship only smirked.

It was a warm summer afternoon. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the water softly gurgled over rocks and pebbles. Since it was not theirs but their son's party the couple had all the time in the world. Nobody would really miss them.

Only for the fireworks they finally returned. Wrapped in the blanket they stood in one far away corner of the garden and quietly renewed their wedding vows.

.

.