12
A J Chegwidden sighed, and began to push his chair away from the table.
"What are you doing?" Mattie asked anxiously.
"To try to talk some sense into him and get him back here so we can finish off preparing for the appeal!" A J retorted.
Mattie considered the former Admiral through half-closed eyes. "Nuh-huh, best let me handle this!" she declared. "He's gonna need a friend, not an Admiral to get through to him."
A J allowed himself a tight grin, "Mattie, I hope I am his friend, and you keep forgetting, I'm no longer an Admiral!"
"Hell, I don't need telling that!" Mattie replied, "But how long were you his boss? Ten years? Do you really think he doesn't still see you with stars on your shoulder? No matter how many times you tell him to call you A J? Even today, think back, how many times has he actually called you that. And how many times has he called you, or nearly called you 'sir' or Admiral'?"
AJ sat and thought for a few moments. Mattie was right, Harm did still slip up and address him by rank or as 'sir'. Maybe the younger man did, despite A J's protests, still see him in uniform. He shook his head.
"Yeah, you may be right, Mattie," he said reluctantly, and then in lighter one added, "You know, you're pretty damn' smart!"
"Yeah, I know! But it took you long enough to figure it out!" Mattie grinned as she spun her chair towards the door.
A J chuckled despite himself, "G'wan, git!" he told her. He sat back and watched as she negotiated the door and the tricky turn into the hallway before he sat back and chuckled again, "She'll do!" he told the empty room.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Harm stopped on the porch, just to the left of the centre set of steps leading down to the drive. He grasped the rail, leaning on it, as he shook his head, wondering what the hell had got into him that he would let that much emotion show in front of Mattie, and even worse in front of the Admiral.
He didn't realise it, but the Admiral's accusation all those months ago that he was 'completely ruled'; by his emotions had cut deep and as a consequence he retreated behind walls even thicker and higher than before, more determined than ever not to show weakness.
That stoicism had served him well while he was flying for the CIA, the only person he had allowed himself to become anywhere near friendly with was Beth O'Neill, and that friendship was the sort of casual friendship between workmates who had a shared background, in their case Naval aviation.
It had taken Mattie to breach those walls. She had not only offered him unconditional love, but she had shown him how important it was that not only did he love, but to show those about whom he cared that he did care, that he did love.
Then as his walls crumbled under Mattie's loving assault had come the double hammer blows of her accident and Mac's repudiation of his, their, love. The temporary isolation he was forced into in London, and the necessary distance he had to keep between himself as Commanding Officer and his staff had only caused him to retreat behind his walls and to begin to rebuild them, higher, thicker and stronger than ever before. It was strange he thought, that since he had left Falls Church the only sense of companionship he had felt with anyone was with the British Captain, Gill Shephard, but it was only after a beginning marred by mutual misunderstanding and antagonism that he had warmed to her and she had managed to knock a small chip out of his defences.
And now a simple mention of Mac had brought a portion of those walls crashing down, revealing, or so he felt, the hurt he nursed to all and sundry.
The sound of the door behind him opening caused him to turn his head, to see Mattie manoeuvring her chair through the opening. He forced a smile on to his face, "Want a hand with that, Squirt?"
Mattie didn't answer for a second as she concentrated on getting the chair through the door, which was only just wide enough, but her task accomplished she stopped and grinned up at him, "Nah... I've got it covered!"
"Yeah, you do, don't you?" he asked, his smile fading.
Mattie made a leap of understanding, and wheeled herself forward until she was alongside him. Her own grin faded to a mere shadow as she looked up into his eyes, "Hey, I might not have needed you to help me get through that door, Harm. But I sure as hell am going to need you to help me get through rehab and back on my feet. But, here's the thing.,.. I don't want to use up your help on the little things, just in case it runs out when I really, really, do need it for the big things!"
Harm dropped to one knee and taking both of Mattie's hands in one of his own he looked at her earnestly, "That is never going to happen, Squirt. If you ever need my help, today, tomorrow, ten years down the pike, I swear it'll be there!"
"Yeah, I know," she agreed softly, "And Harm... I will need your help, and your support and... and your... and your love..." she finished shyly.
"Ah, that..." Harm cleared his throat, "You've already got that Mats, for ever and a day!"
"Yeah... I know..." Mattie said still shyly and looking straight back at him said more firmly, "And you've got all my love too!"
"Yeah, I know that!" Harm said forcefully, and then in a lighter tone, "Well, at least until you find a man to share your life and love with."
"Not going to happen, sailor! If I ever find a man to love, then I'll have to drum up some more love from somewhere for him!"
For some reason he couldn't fathom Harm was deeply touched by the implication that Mattie could find enough love in her heart for him and for her eventual husband, and kids too he supposed. But he could take a lesson from her, maybe he could still find it in himself to love another woman than Mac.
He nodded, "OK, Mats... "
"Good!" Mattie exclaimed and spun her chair away from him. "Now we've gotten rid of your fit of the sulks, shall we go indoors and join the grown-ups?" she grinned over her shoulder.
"Ouch!" Harm replied with a rueful grin of his own, "lead on, ma'am!"
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Julia woke up in the huge bed and stretched luxuriously, a smile of utter contentment spreading across her face as she recalled where she was and how she had spent the previous evening and night.
Dinner had been, if not superb, well cooked, well presented and the service had been good, even if she had found the lazy Wiltshire accent of their waitress a bit difficult to understand. Johnny had offered to order wine with the dinner, but on being asked, he'd preferred to stick to beer, and Julia had decided to go with him. She should have expected something of the sort when Johnny ordered their beers in a voice too quiet for her to hear and she's been taken aback when the waitress returned to their table with two brimming pints of bitter in what Johnny called 'knuckle pots' – a heavy, handled, glass with square segments on the outside that reminded Julia of an old type of hand grenade.
She had been about to protest that she couldn't drink out of a glass like that, but at the last second saw the gleam of challenge in Johnny's eye, and with a determined set to her chin, she'd lifted her glass and returned the challenge, "Cheers!"
The beer wasn't too bad – in fact it was pretty good – and to her relief Johnny didn't chase her to drink it any faster than she was comfortable with, and he didn't press her when her drink finished, she declined his offer of a refill.
After dinner, they had relaxed in the residents' lounge, side by side on one of the couches while they pretended to watch an old comedy on the TV, until Johnny had suggested that maybe they'd had enough for the night and ought to turn in.
Although he had booked separate rooms for them, Julia couldn't resist a slight feeling of nervousness as Johnny walked her to her room. He waited until she'd unlocked the door, and then leaned in for a kiss.
True to her word, Julia didn't present him with a moving target, and for a few seconds she felt the pressure of his lips on hers. Then he'd broken the kiss, smiled, and said, "Goodnight Julia, see you at breakfast."
"Yeah..." she had breathed.
Closing the door behind her, she leaned back against for a few seconds as she gently touched her lips, and then with a fond smile, she'd slipped out of her dress and gone into the bathroom.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The legal briefing finished, A J gathered his notes and documents together and, refusing Harriet's invitation to stay for lunch, made his farewells to Harm, Mattie and the Roberts family. "Remember what I said," he said as he knelt on one knee to say goodbye to Jimmy, "About the picnic?"
"Yes..." but Jimmy's little face creased in thought for a long moment before he blossomed into a huge smile "Picnic is the day after 'morrow!" he declared, and then looked around totally bewildered as the grown-ups all burst into laughter.
Little A J was inclined to sulk as 'Uncle Admiral' left the party and it took Mattie's not wholly spurious interest in his huge and growing collection of toy airplanes to lure him out of the sullens.
Harm paused in the act of carrying a tray of plates and cutlery out to the table on the sun deck as Harriet remarked, approvingly, "She's good at that!"
"Keeping AJ entertained?" Harm queried, "Well you did hire her as a baby-sitter before... before she went back to Tom... maybe he remembers her from then..."
"Maybe," Harriet said dubiously, "But I was thinking how good she was with coaxing him out of the sulks."
Harm gave a bark of sardonic laughter, "Hell... she's had plenty of practice!" and seeing Harriet's puzzled look, explained more gently, "Coaxing me out of the sulks I mean!"
Harriet smiled in realisation that Harm had cracked a joke, but she gazed after him with a troubled look in her eye.
Lunch was as chaotic, if not more so than breakfast, and A J Roberts had decided that Mattie was now his bestest friend and would be happy nowhere else except sat next to her. Mattie had assured Harriet that it was no bother, the extra width of her chair she said gave her an adequate buffer zone, and kept her out of the range of inexpertly controlled young elbows.
Lunch was also a long, leisurely drawn-out affair. At least for the adults. The two young Roberts having finished their meal asked for permission to step down from the table to go play, long before the grown-ups were ready to end their meal.
The only slight upset came at that point, being A J's reaction when he begged Mattie to come play too, Bud saying severely, "No! Mattie hasn't finished eating yet. If she wants to, she'll come and play some more – after she's finished!"
For a moment it looked like A J's sulk were going to turn into a tantrum until Harriet leaned down towards him and warned him, "AJ, if you start acting out, then you'll go straight to your bedroom, and there you'll stay for a very, very long time out! Do you understand me?"
A J straightened and gulped, "Yes, ma'am!"
"Good. Now... Mattie will come and play with you again later, but only if she's not too tired!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Good! Dismissed!"
A J shot away just about as fast as his legs would carry him. Mommy didn't often use that voice on him, but when she did, he knew better than to argue.
Harm barely contained his smile as the little domestic scene played out, and Harriet catching the amusement in his eyes smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Harm... and you Mattie..." her face clouded over, "It's our fault..." she indicated Bud and herself, "When baby Sarah..." she gulped, recovered and went on, "Anyway, after that, Bud and me, well we spoiled him I guess, and we didn't realise how badly we were doing as parents until that time he ran off... And I guess we're still having to try and rein him in from time to time."
Harriet took a sip of her lemonade before she continued, this time addressing her comments to Mattie, "And you mustn't indulge him too much either, Yes, I know you're very good with him, and I do appreciate you taking time to play with the boys, but they mustn't get into the habit of expecting you to be at their beck and call. And anyway, I doubt you'll need to this afternoon," she cast an eye at the remains of the meal on A J's and Jimmy's plates, "My guess is they'll play quietly enough for half an hour or so, and then they'll be quite happy to take a nap. Which is just as well!" she turned her blue eyes on Bud and Harm in turn, "Because after I've seen to the twins, we are all going to be busy in the kitchen preparing dinner for Monday's picnic!"
The two men looked at each, grinned, turned back towards Harriet, "Yes, ma'am!" they chorused.
"Ohh, men!" the tormented blonde exclaimed and then exchanged a look with Mattie, that left all four chuckling.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Harriet's prediction was almost uncannily accurate; before they had even finished cleaning up after lunch, Jimmy had curled up on the family room couch and A J, although he had an open story book on his lap, was alternately knuckling his eyes and nodding drowsily over the brightly coloured illustrations.
Bud smiled indulgently and with an apparent total lack of effort, bent and picked up Jimmy in his arms and carried him upstairs with barely the sign of a limp, while Harriet gently took the book from A J's hands and holding out her hand to him said quietly, "Come on, sailor, time to go aloft."
The boys safely bedded down, and the twins' diapers changed and then settled for their nap, a flush-faced and damply glowing Harriet blew a stray strand of hair out of her face and her hands planted on her hips turned to the rest of them, "OK, all hands to the kitchen,"she directed them, "and bustle about a bit, we have got a lot to do!"
Harm soon realised that she wasn't joking, as she deposited a large sack of black beans in front of him with instructions to "Pick 'em over, and separate out any bad ones!" while Bud was seated across the kitchen table with a sack of potatoes, a bucket of water and a sharp knife with instructions to "Get peeling, Bud!" The two men looked at each other helplessly, shrugged and got on with their appointed tasks, while Harriet and Mattie busied themselves at one of the kitchen's worktops with peeled fruit, flour and sugar.
They worked for a while in companionable quiet, exchanging desultory remarks while the contents of the sacks of beans and potatoes diminished, and that of the buckets grew fuller. At length Harm called out to Harriet, "Are you somehow combining the beans and potatoes?"
"No... the potatoes are for a potato salad, and the beans are going to make black beans and rice – only without the ham bone!"
"That's a new one to me," Harm admitted, "Is it anything like red beans and rice? I have had that."
"Well... similar..." Harriet admitted grudgingly, "but that's a Louisiana Creole dish, this is a Florida delicacy and of course is much tastier!"
"How's that? Aren't the two styles pretty much the same?" Harm asked.
"Of course not! Creole and Cajun cooking is OK, but they use much stronger, more fiery spices. Florida cooking uses hot spices too, but then we tend to blend them in with milder tasting herbs and spices too. We also concentrate on using fresh, local produce." Harriet sighed and dusted off her flour covered hands before she turned to look at Harm, "Of course, I can't get exactly what I want as fresh as I'd like it up here in DC, but what I can get is plenty good enough for preparation in advance for picnics and such. Now, how are you doing with those beans?"
"Pretty good, I reckon," Harm said, "Although, wouldn't it have been easier to use canned beans?"
"Harmon Rabb! What have I just said about using fresh ingredients?" a horrified Harriet gasped.
"Yes, ma'am, sorry ma'am!" a suitably abashed Harm said before lowering his gaze to concentrate once more on the task in hand so that only Bud saw the grin that twitched his former mentor's lips.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The smell of fresh baking was the first thing that struck Jennifer Coates when at just gone five that afternoon she let herself in at the Roberts' side gate.
"Jennifer! I was beginning to think that you were going to miss dinner! Hurry and wash up, I'm about to start serving!"
"We don't usually eat this early," she explained to Harm as she loaded his plate with her adaptation of his recipe for vegetable moussaka, "I want the boys to get used to family meals around a table, not stuck in front of the TV with plates on their knees. So we usually wait until Bud gets home, but sometimes he's so late that I have to give the boys a sandwich, and then by the time he gets home and we've had dinner there's nothing left of the evening, so at weekends we eat early and then both Bud and I get to have some quality time with them!"
"How are things at Falls Church, Bud?" Harm asked, as Harriet added what looked like Sloppy Joe sauce to everybody's except his plate and then Jen's as she shook her head and smiled 'no thanks'.
"They're...uh... different..." Bud said diplomatically, and then took a sip of water, before he cautiously fed a spoonful of pureed vegetables to Nikki in her high chair next to him.
Harm waited patiently, this was one of Bud's long time tactics, displacement activity instead of coming straight put with an answer; the move gave him time to choose his reply.
"Well... you've not been gone all that long, but there's been a lot of changes. Not so much among the support staff, although the General has brought in his own Admin Assistant, a Marine Sergeant." He looked across the table at Jen, "I've got to tell you, that I think that even if you had asked to stay at Falls Church, he would have moved you out into the bull pen and brought in Sergeant Brewer in any case; I don't think he had anything against you, I just get the feeling that he's more comfortable dealing with Marines. So don't feel like you've left him in the lurch!"
"So, Bud... if there hasn't been that much change in the support staff, I take it there's been a few changes to the attorneys' roster?"
"Yeah, with you, Commander Turner and the Colonel gone, he brought in two more Marine JAGs, and Commander Manetti has come back from the SecNav's office..."
"Sturgis has gone?" Harm asked in surprise.
"Umm... yeah... It seem like he didn't like it much when you got promoted.. and then the General warned him for a PCS to Naples as SJA to CINCNAVMED... which would have put him under your command. Well, take that and the separation from Miss Chesnut... so.. he … uh... resigned to become her manager and look after her legal affairs..."
Harm was surprised and saddened by the news, he couldn't put his finger on the when and why Sturgis had changed so much, he'd only realised it too late when his one-time friend had hurried that investigation and then recommended that Harm face charges of negligent homicide... but for Sturgis Turner, the preacher's son, to give up his career. Harm shook his head... still at least he'd got his twenty in. so he would get a pension...
"Anything else I should know, Bud, before I put my foot in my mouth on Monday?"
"Uh... just that one of the Marine JAGs is Lieutenant Colonel McBurney..." Bud mumbled.
"What!?" Jen interrupted her cheeks flushing red.
"Are you all right Jennifer?" Harriet asked anxiously, while A J and Jimmy stared wide-eyed at the usually even tempered young woman. Even Harm was taken by surprise by her outburst, it had been so long that he had seen or heard Jen lose her temper that he'd almost forgotten how fiery she could be.
"Uh... yeah, yeah, I'm fine..." Jennifer choked out. She drew a deep breath, "The General actually brought that... that...slimy son of a..."
"Jen!" Bud, Harriet and Harm all chorused while Mattie desperately tried to stifle a giggle, the fulminating glance that Harm shot at her not helping at all.
Jen flushed red again, this time with embarrassment, "Sorry," she mumbled, her eyes fixed on her plate, and then raised them to meet Harriet's eyes, "It's just that I get so mad when anyone talks about him, like he was some sort of hero! I shall never forgive him for tricking me when I was on the stand, and making me betray you like that!" she ended as she switched her gaze to Harm."
"You didn't betray me, Jen," Harm said gently, "You just told the truth. I know you didn't want to, and I was so proud of you when you did. And for the record, if it had been me prosecuting, I would probably have asked the same question."
Jen looked squarely at Harm, "No, sir. No, you wouldn't!" she declared firmly.
Harm cast a glance around the table and saw the concerned expressions on Bud, Harriet and Mattie's faces and the open-eyed curiosity on the faces of the two boys, and decided to let the conversation drop until another time. "Well, maybe not," he conceded.
There was a few minutes awkward silence but gradually the conversation picked up again as Harriet, ably seconded by Harm gently led the talk into less contentious issues.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Gill's eyes flew open as an explosive "Crap!" burst from Sue's lips.
Gill propped herself up in bed to see Sue frantically puling on her skirt, and barefoot and still wearing Gill's T-shirt, she hurried across the room.
"Where's the fire?" Gill asked in bemused tone
"It's nearly eight!" Sue flung back over her shoulder, "Got to feed the metre!"
"Sue!" Gill shouted as her friend hurried to the stairs, and then she slumped back onto her pillows, "It's Sunday... free parking on Sundays..." she said quietly to herself.
Levering herself back up onto her elbows, she looked around her usually neat and tidy room. Thank God she didn't share quarters with Sue. The room looked like a bomb had hit it. In one corner was the pile of carrier bags that held most of the fruits of Sue's shopping expedition. Her blouse and suit from last night were hung carelessly on the open wardrobe door, and the air-bed on which she'd spent the night was now a tangle of sheets and blankets, and the cushion she'd purloined to use as a pillow had, during her rush to get dressed, been kicked half-way across the floor.
Still, it had been a good night, it was good to get out of the Mess for an evening. Sue had been right when she'd told Gill at some stage of the evening that she did need to 'get a life'. Gill had feared this was just the precursor to a campaign from Sue to persuade her go 'up West' for the evening - and into the morning. But to her relief the lively blonde hadn't pressed the matter and the two officers had returned to Gill's room just after eleven.
Sue now returned, a slightly grumpy expression on her face.
"Sue?" Gill inquired.
"Oh... nothing!" Sue plumped down on the edge of the bed, "It's just that I ran all the way down to the damned car – in bare feet!" she said indignantly, "and then when I got there, I noticed the sign said 'free parking' on Sundays! - You could have told me!" she added accusingly.
"I tried!" Gill giggled, "but you ran put of the room before I could get the words out!"
"Oh well... Didn't really matter anyway," Sue sighed with one of her mercurial shifts of mood. "I got to the car and then I realised I'd left my purse on your dressing table... I hadn't got a penny on me!"
Gill stared at Sue in disbelief for a few seconds and then burst into laughter.
"Hey!, It's not that funny!" Sue protested.
"Yes! Yes it is!" Gill howled.
Sue looked at her friend in disgust, and then a grin spread across her face, "Yes, I suppose it is!" she agreed and she too started to laugh.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
"So, Jen... are you all packed?" Harm had to raise his voice over the hubbub of another Roberts' Family Breakfast, as he asked a still subdued Petty Officer.
"Yes, sir. Just got the clothes I'm wearing, another change and my uniform, all the rest is on its way to England." Jen raised her eyes from her plate, but found it difficult to meet Harm's gaze.
"And what about the car? The Admiral – you just missed him yesterday – called it a wreck and said it was smoking like he...uh... heck!" he finished with a conscience-stricken look at Harriet.
Jen sighed, "That d... uh... darn thing's nothing but a money pit these days! I've spent a fortune keeping it on the road, but you know what it's like around here,sir. I couldn't be without it! But I am getting rid of it. Marcy Hill's brother – Yeoman Two Hill, that is – well, her brother drives in demolition derbies and he's giving me two hundred for it. I just hope I don't need one in England, at least that way I'll be able to save some money!"
"Would it get us to Rock Creek Park and back. Do you think?"
"Rock Creek Park? I guess, but..."
"I was thinking, Harriet," Harm said, holding up a hand to signal Jen for silence for a moment, "You're likely to be pretty busy today, and that Jen, Mattie and I could maybe take the boys to the Zulu Oscar Oscar; get them out from under your feet for a while..."
"Not for me, Harm!" Mattie said firmly and then blushed slightly as all eyes turned towards her. "I mean, it's a great idea for the rest of you, but..."
"But what, Mattie?" Jen said, "I think it's a great idea!"
"Six months ago, I would have jumped at the chance," Mattie replied,"but you're all forgetting how steep and hilly the... uh... that place is! I couldn't manage it, and you couldn't manage me, the chair and the boys. No matter how much you wanted to!"
A J had done his best to follow the conversation, most of it had gone over his head, but he had grasped that a treat was being proposed, and that Mattie, his bestest friend, couldn't go, and that was enough for him. "If she can't go, I don't want to!" he announced and then sat back in his chair his arms folded defiantly across his chest.
"That's silly!" Mattie told him severely, "I thought you were smarter than that AJ Roberts!"
"Am smart too! But if you can't go, I don't wanna!" AJ pouted with a determined look in his eyes.
Harm chuckled, "Give it up, Squirt! I've seen that look on Bud's face a time or two, and when he gets like that, it'd take an act of Congress to get him to change his mind!"
"For the Lord's sake, Harm don't encourage him! Either of them!" Harriet cried giving her husband and son an equal share of a look of exasperation.
"Hey, when did it suddenly become pick on me day?" Bud demanded with an injured expression.
Harm took a look at Harriet's face, winked at her and said, "Oh... I reckon that would be from the day after you got married!"
Bud joined in the general laugh at his expense, "You could be right, Harm!"
"Ohh! No such thing Bud Roberts!" Harriet exclaimed in mock indignation, although she was trying not laugh out loud.
Even the two boys were laughing, not that they understood what was being said, but because they were happy that everyone else was laughing.
Harm sat back in his chair, still chuckling and giving himself a mental pat on the back as life came back to Jen's face as she joined in the general amusement. But he also gave a mental shake of the head, he would have find the time and the opportunity to gently dissuade his Legalman from jumping to his defence on the slightest excuse, it would do her career no good if she persisted in that sort of behaviour.
He was forced to push that thought onto his mental back-burner as various plans were put forward for the day's entertainment, until at length, it was decided that he, Jen, Mattie and the two boys would spend the day at Six Flags, and that for ease of transport they'd take the Roberts mini-van, in which Bud had installed two lengths of stout board for a makeshift ramp for Mattie's chair.
So by ten thirty, suitably loaded down with packed lunches, swimming gear and sun screen, the party loaded themselves into the van, with Jen driving, and headed for the amusement park.
Bud and Harriet watched them until they lost sight of the van as it turned the corner at the bottom of the road.
Bud slipped his arm around Harriet's waist, "You do realise that we've got the house to ourselves, for the rest of the day?" he asked suggestively.
"Umm... note quite... we've still got the twins," Harriet objected.
"Well... if they're out for the count, it's still as good as having the place, and the time to ourselves..." he winked broadly.
Harriet gave him a mournful look,"Oh, Bud... I've got too much work to do..."
"Like what?" he challenged her as he turned them back towards the house.
"Well... there's the beans and rice to get ready for tomorrow..."
"And how long will that take?"
"The rice not much at all... but the beans... well once I've sautéed the onions, celery and spices... the beans will take about two hours after they've come to the boil..."
"How long did you just say will they take to boil?"
"About two hours..."
"I see, and what do you intend to do while they're boiling?"
"I was going to do some tidying up..."
"So... we could tidy up the bedroom," Bud suggested with an innocent smile.
"The bedroom's not untidy, Bud!" Harriet protested.
"Not yet, it's not!" Bud grinned.
"Bud Roberts!" A pretending to be scandalised Harriet exclaimed, and then spoiled the effect by giggling, "You are so bad!"
"Let's see if we can't change your mind about that!" Bud smiled, as he guided her across the lobby to the stairs.
"Always the lawyer, Bud. You just have to have the last word, don't you?" Harriet pouted
"Yes, dear."