Chapter 37

"Riiiight… what was all that about?" Victor demanded, his forehead resting gently against Jen's.

"That… was just… a statement of intent!" Jen puffed, and then as she regained her breath added with a mischievous grin, "And just to let you know that I wasn't fooling!"

Victor smiled and Jen caught the flash of his teeth in the darkness, "Jen… Jen… this is ridiculous… despite what you said, you know I'm too old for you!"

"I think that's my decision… or is it that you think I'm too young for you?" Jen challenged him.

"No… you are at just the right age, for someone who is ten years younger than I am!" Victor protested, and then as Jen's hands crept up around the back of his neck he groaned, "Jen, this isn't fair… I'm trying to do the right thing and you… m'mph…!"

Once again the need to breathe drove them apart and Jen looked up again into Victor's eyes, "Convinced yet?"

Victor's eyes were troubled, "Jen… you're going to have to stop doing that; I need to think, and I can't think when you kiss me… especially like that!"

"Oh Victor!" Jen answered him with just a hint of impatience on her voice, "You just don't get it, do you? I don't want you to think, I just want you to react!"

"And do you always get what you want?" Victor demanded.

Jen shook her head, "Not always, but this time around, I'm hoping, I'm really hoping, Victor."

"Jen, you're making this so hard for me!"

"Good! Because I have no intention of letting you off easy, Victor Galindez!"

"That may be, but I… but I wasn't prepared for this… Jen… you're a lovely, beautiful, intelligent young woman, whom any man would give his right arm to have you and keep you in his life and after these last few minutes, there's nothing I'd like better than to go upstairs with you and stay the night." Victor took a deep breath, almost visibly drawing on his reserves of will-power, "But I'm not going to; instead, I'm going to say goodnight, here and now, and then I'm going home. You think, really think about what we've both said, and if you still want me as something more than a friend, then you call me. Do you hear, there?"

"I hear you, and, yes, I want you to come up with me, but I'm not going to apply any more pressure tonight. But you can bet your Marine-Green six that you will be getting that call from me!"

Victor nodded. "If I get the call after you've thought this through, then…"

"Oh, Victor, what makes you think I haven't already thought this through? But if you're determined on this, then…" Once again Jen's hands captured his face, and raising slightly on her toes she planted a soft gentle kiss on his lips that lasted no more than a couple of seconds before she let him go and, with a smile, whispered, "Goodnight, Victor!"

Victor stood wordlessly as Jen turned and taking out her key unlocked the front door and disappeared into the building. Only then did he reply, "Goodnight, Jen."

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"Enter!" Harm called out in response to the knocking on his office door jamb.

"The CDs and the hard copy back-ups you wanted for your safe, sir," Jen said as she walked towards the desk.

"Thank you, Legalman One." Harm stood and walked towards the portrait of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher that hung on the wainscoting and pulling on the frame allowed it to swing back to reveal his office safe. Dialling in the combination, he opened the safe and held out his hand for the bulky envelope that Jen was holding.

The envelope safely secured, he turned back to Jen, "When you get back out there," he nodded to the office door, "Ask Yeoman Two Martinez to come in, and to bring her notepad with her, and when you've done that…" he crossed to the desk and handed her a sheet of paper on which was printed a list of names. "I want you to look up Navy, Army and Air Force courts-martial records for the past ten years, and see if any of these people were court-martialled for the offences and dates shown against their names!"

Jen took the list and blinked on surprise, she had not expected that, "Aye, aye, sir!" she nevertheless responded crisply.

Harm retook his seat behind the big desk and mentally ran over the points he wanted to cover, and perhaps more importantly the points he needed to cover. His musings were very shortly interrupted by the knocking which announced the arrival of his Yeoman.

"Take a set, Martinez, and prepare to take dictation!" Harm instructed her. "A routine letter to General Cresswell, usual address and salutation…" he waited until Julia's pen had stopped flying overt the paper and then he took a deep breath, "Subject line, 'Abuse of SOFA by US Forces in the United Kingdom.' Paragraph One, 'During a recent investigation into a physical altercation between enlisted members of the United States Navy and British Royal Marine Commandos the Royal Navy JAG acting on behalf of the British authorities complained that in the past there had been several abuses of the SOFA governing US Forces in the United Kingdom, and expressed the hope that on this instance the handling of the case would be equitable and even handed'. Paragraph two, "The Royal Navy's complaints prompted me to launch an investigation into them to ascertain whether there was any substance to these complaints or whether it was merely appearances that made the US military authorities seem to connive at ensuring that erring members of those forces escaped trial and punishment for their misdemeanours and felonies." Paragraph three, 'Attached at Annex A to this letter is a digest listing the cases that this office has identified as causing concern to the British authorities, both military and civilian and to the victims and the families of victims of crimes committed by members of the US Forces in the United Kingdom'."

"Paragraph four. 'It is my judgement that the list of offence hereby submitted is incomplete due to the suspicion which this office's request for information was met by some UK Police jurisdictions. A suspicion which I believe to be generated by mistrust not only of the reasons for the request but also indicative of a deep mistrust of US Forces past handling of cases and the SOFA…'"

Harm took another breath and continued dictating, until at last he said, "Paragraph eight, 'I have retained copies of this report for onward transmission to the JAGs of USAFE and USAREUR, but will not do so until instructed by your office,' my usual signature block please, Martinez. Thank you!"

Julia looked across the desk with a troubled frown between her eyes, "Is that all, Sir?"

Harm smiled, although he felt a knot of tension somewhere in his midriff, "Legalman One Coates is preparing the digest that will be Annex A, bring it to me for my signature once it's all typed up, printed and collated. Other than that, that is all, thank you, Martinez. Dismissed!"

Julia rose to her feet, "Aye, aye, sir!" She paused for the regulation two seconds before facing about and leaving the office.

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Julia felt more than vaguely troubled as she returned to her desk with her notebook. She sat down and looked across at Jen, who was frowning as she peered at her computer's VDU and made notes. For a moment Julia was tempted to air her concerns, but then remembered one of Jen's dictums when she had first arrived in the office. "We don't discuss the Captain's business with anyone, not even between ourselves!"

Julia acknowledged that generally it was a good rule to live by, but she wished just for once they could break it. From the expression on the older woman's face she guessed that Legalman One Coates was no happier with the situation than Yeoman Two Martinez!

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Harm watched the door close behind Martinez and as it did he felt the knot of tension in his stomach dissolve. Now that he had made the decision and was set on his path, it was he reflected a bit like tossing a coin into the air and waiting to see which way up it landed. Only in this case while heads meant the unequivocal backing of his CO, tails could well mean the end of his career – permanently this time. He was under no illusion that he had any more strings left to his bow, and of this affair blew up on his face he would, at the very least, be relieved of command, and be required to resign. He wondered dryly if that might not be the best end all round, he could head back to the states, be with Mattie and maybe even get a job working with A J. At the last thought his lips curved in a rueful grin as he imagined the retired Admiral's reaction to a request from Harm for employment. The grin soon faded as he realised that if the worst did come to the worst all would be as good as over between he and Gill, before it even got really started.

With a shake of his head, he did his best to banish gloomy thoughts and reached out to take the next folder from the stack in his in-tray.

Burying himself in his work in an effort to keep busy and prevent his mind from straying, Harm lost track of the time, and it took a cautious knock on his door and the appearance of Yeoman Two Martinez to bring him back to the present.

"Is there something I can do for you, Yeoman Two?" he asked

"Oh, no, sir. Just to let you know that unless you need me for anything else, I'm going to secure my desk now and bring the car around."

"Oh, no… no, go ahead. I'll just finish up this… and secure and I'll be with you shortly!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

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Jen had been in a fever of impatience all day, and never had Captain Rabb seemed to dawdle in the office for so long after secure. But at last he left his office in his civilian jacket and pants and with a slightly surprised, "Still here, Legalman One? Don't stay too late!" he was gone.

Jen took a deep breath, and with a hand that she suddenly noticed to her surprise was trembling slightly, she dialled the Marine Security Company Office.

"Marine Company Office, Corporal Szaszkiewicz, sir."

"Corporal, this is Legalman One, at the JAG building; may I speak with First Sergeant Galindez, please?"

"One moment, please, Petty Officer!"

Jen heard the muffled voice of the Corporal, as he covered the phone with his hand, "First Sergeant, a call for you!"

"First Sergeant Galindez, sir," Jen felt a warm flush as she heard Victor's voice.

"Victor, this is Jen, and this the call I promised, the one where I say that I have thought about what we said last night, and where I say want you in my life as more than just a friend…"

There was a long silence and for a moment Jen feared that this would be the last time that she and Victor spoke except for maybe on a point of duty, then she heard him draw a deep breath.

"Thank God… Jen… I wasn't sure whether you'd call or not, I was half dreading, half hoping that you would, and…"

"Just hush up Victor, and get your six up to Stanmore tonight, and bring your tooth-brush!" Jen half-sobbed with relief.

Her relief was short-lived as silence once more poured down the wires.

"Victor? Victor? Say something, please?"

"If you're perfectly sure, Jen, then I'm not going to argue with you anymore, and I'm not going to argue with myself either. I'll see you at about twenty-thirty hours, if that's okay?"

"It's more than okay, Victor!" Jen assured him, smiling through her tears.

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Harm bid Martinez a goodnight and wished her a good weekend as she dropped him off at the kerbside in front of his quarters. Fifteen minutes later after a quick change into a pair of disreputable jeans and a faded Howler's sweatshirt, he was in the front yard releasing the clamps from Mattie's ramp and drilling the joints prior to adding screws for extra strength.

Above the noise of the power drill he failed to notice Tim Davenport's arrival on the scene until he announced his presence with a genial "'Evening Harm, can I lend a hand with anything this evening?"

Harm started, looked up, and switching off the drill clambered to his feet and offered his hand, "Hi, Tim… if you've got another drill in your tool box… in about five minutes I'm going to start screwing and gluing the surface into place…" he indicated the sheets of marine ply wood leaning against the wall beside the front door.

"Not a problem!" Tim grinned, "I had a feeling that's about where'd you be, so I put the machine on charge last night!"

The two men set to work and Harm very soon realised that although he could have managed without Tim's help, manoeuvring the sheets of plywood into position was much easier with the two of them working together and definitely much quicker and easier for one of them to hold each sheet in place while the other applied the glue, drilled the screw holes and tightened the first couple of screws to secure the sheet in place.

Even so, they were still working on the last sheet of plywood when Gill's Ford Focus pulled up at the kerb. Gill had a smile on her face when she saw the two men on their hands and knees, and as she climbed out of the car said with heavy innuendo, "Oh I do love a man who's good with his… hands."

Harm scrambled hurriedly to his feet, "Gill! I wasn't expecting you just yet!"

Puzzled, Gill looked at her watch, "Yes you were… or at least I thought you were. You did say six-thirty didn't you?"

"Oh lord, is that the time?" Harm asked in dismay.

"Yes… but that can wait until after you've done your hosting duty!" Gill smiled, but with a meaningful nod in Tom's direction.

Harm fought down a blush, "Tim! I'm so sorry, but Gill has a tendency to make me forget everything, including my manners. Tim Davenport, this is my very good friend, Gillian Shephard, Captain, Royal Artillery."

Tim smiled a welcome, "Very pleased to meet you! Tim Davenport, Group Captain, RAF."

Gill instinctively stiffened to a brace, "Sir!" she acknowledged his introduction.

Tim smiled easily, "And do you call Harm, here, sir?"

"Of course she doesn't!" Harm interjected.

"Well then, we can't have you calling him Harm and 'sirring' me all over the place, can, we, so we'd better make it first names all round – that is if you don't mind me calling you Gill?"

"Oh… no… Uh… That is, I'm more than happy to do that… Tim…" a flaming-faced Gill stuttered in reply.

"Good… if that's settled, then I'll get your bag and you can get settled in. Tim and I shouldn't be much longer, but it will give you time to unpack and then we can make a start on dinner," Harm suggested.

"Oh… that's okay, I can get my own bag, thanks… is the door open?"

"What? Oh, yeah, go on ahead!" Harm grinned as Gill hastily retreated to the Ford where she grabbed her overnight bag from the back seat and then with a smile and a nod headed for the front door, and although Harm might have suspected the truth, only she knew that she was running away from the scene of her embarrassment.

"I am going to kill him for setting me up like that!" she ground out as she sagged back against the door. However by the time she'd unpacked the few items that she'd brought with her for the weekend, her usual good humour had been restored and she was able to see the funny side of the situation, and moreover had come to suspect that maybe Harm hadn't deliberately set her up, but he had in his sometimes clumsy fashion blundered blindly and unsuspecting into the situation.

Her suspicions were satisfied a little under an hour later when a freshly showered Harm, now changed into a pair of tan chinos and dark blue shirt entered the kitchen where Gill was passing the time by setting the table, swept her up into his arms and kissed her thoroughly, and so unselfconsciously that Gill, when he finally released her, kept her fingers interlaced at the nape of his neck, leaned back against the support of his hands on the swell of her hips, smiled and asked, "You have no idea, do you?"

"No idea about what?" Harm asked her, honestly puzzled.

"Exactly!" Gill gurgled with half-suppressed laughter, "You have no idea how much you embarrassed me earlier!"

"I did? When?"

"When you introduced me to Tim Davenport, you could have mentioned his rank instead of leaving it to him, so I wasn't caught flat-footed!"

"I didn't know his rank… we only met yesterday, and it never came up! What's a Group Captain, anyway?"

"A Group Captain is an RAF senior officer he's the equivalent of… "Gill paused while she made the mental conversion between services, "a Captain Royal Navy or a Colonel in the Army or Marines… so he's the same rank as you!" Gill explained

"Oh…"

Harm's crestfallen expression had the effect of renewing Gill's smile, "It's not too bad, at least he was quite human about… Not all senior officers are, you know," she added with a sly grin and a sideways glance at Harm from under her lashes.

Harm looked at her suspiciously for a moment or two. He'd already fallen too many times for that combination of the all-too-innocent voice and expression, and he was beginning to get a handle on Gill's dry sense of humour. He feigned a gloomy expression and nodded his head glumly, "Oh… I know… I know… I've met some really inhuman ones from time to time. Why, when I was a nugget pilot, we had this CAG and he was a real beast, 'Animal' was his callsign, and he tried his best to live up to it. One time…"

It was too much for Gill, "Oh, shut up your nonsense!" she laughed, "You know exactly who I meant!"

Harm propped his hip against the corner of the table, "Yeah, I did," he admitted with a slow grin, "But just for once, I wasn't going to fall into one of your traps!"

"What traps?" Gill demanded with a guilty grin.

"All let me think….How about your Barbarians at the gate? And that was on our first date!"

"Ah, that, if I remember rightly, you brought on yourself by praising the civilised merits of Buttercup risotto!"

"Butternut squash risotto," Harm amended smugly, and then as he caught the wicked gleam in Gill's eye he groaned.

"Yep, gotcha again!" Gill said even more smugly.

Harm gave her a sour glance, "You did want to eat tonight?" he asked pointedly.

Gill threw up her hands in surrender, "I do! I do! I'm starving! I'll be good, so please Sir, can I have some dinner?"

Harm dissolved into laughter and reaching the overhead he brought down a large saucepan which he three parts filled with water, added a dash of olive oil and ground some sea salt into it.

"Shrimp linguini in a white sauce, French stick, and a side salad. I'll hit the stores tomorrow and restock the pantry. But we are okay for this evening, there's even a couple of bottles of white chilling in the fridge!"

Gill sighed happily, "What else could a girl ask for?" She asked, but then added with another of her grins, "For dinner, that is!"

Harm gave her another long look as he set the water to boil, "H'mm…" was all he said.

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By the time Julia had parked the pool car, walked home, showered and changed, she was in almost as much a fever of impatience as Jen had been in the office. She parked herself in the still untidy living room, perched on the arm of one of the armchairs where she could keep an obtrusive watch on the road outside.

Fortunately for her state of mind she didn't have long to wait before Johnny's Vauxhall pulled up at the kerb. Grabbing her sea bag in one hand and her camera case in the other, she rushed out into the hallway opened the front door just as Johnny had raised his fist to knock.

A huge grin split his face, and without allowing Julia to let go of her bags placed his hands on her hips and pulled her in, lowering his face to hers as he did so. Julia enthusiastically returned his case when he broke it she looked up at him and said, with a smile on her face, "Johnnie Walker! Just what do you think your mother would say if she'd seen us just then?"

"Umm... Probably something along the lines of, 'Put that man down, young lady. You don't know where he's been!'" Johnny grinned.

"Well, in that case I would have said something like, 'He'd better not have been anywhere where I wouldn't approve!'" Julia answered.

"Good answer!" Johnny approved, taking Julia's sea bag "Although it would probably brand you as a scarlet woman in her eyes."

Less than a minute later Julia's sea bag next to Johnny's grip in the boot of the car the couple were buckled into their seats and the Vauxhall pulled away from the kerbside.

"So… Where are we off to this weekend? You been very mysterious about it," Julia said as Johnny turned west on the A40.

"Change of plans, I'm afraid. I was planning a weekend in that little hotel near the beach we went to last time but we will have to put that on hold, I need to go home this evening, and we may not be able to get away again before Sunday," Johnny said sombrely.

Julia looked at him anxiously, "something happened at home? Something wrong with your mom?"

Johnny shook his head, he hated to ask Julia, but he really didn't want to have go through the female reaction to his news twice in one evening.

"No, nothing like that, thank God, and I really don't want to go into it while I'm driving. So if you can hold in your impatience until we get home, it would be a huge help."

Julia couldn't help the pout, but answered, "Okay, I'll wait, but I don't like it!"

By this time the A40 had morphed into the M40, and with many a check of his wing mirror Johnny moved into the centre lane to pass the slower moving vehicles that had held them up so far, and pressed his foot down on the accelerator

Although Julia had total confidence in Johnny's driving she couldn't help clutching her seat belt in a white-knuckled grip, and neither could she help a sigh of relief as Johnny slowed down once he steered the Vauxhall down the slip road on to the Aylesbury Road.

Even so, Johnny saw with satisfaction that he'd shaved seven minutes off the estimated time for the journey as he braked to a gentle halt on the grass verge just past the garden gate. He blew out his breath and exaggerated manner and gave an apologetic smile to Julia, "Sorry about that, but I was in a kind of hurry."

"Oh, I'm okay, don't worry about me, I only crapped myself five or six times!"

Johnny winced, "I really am sorry, Julia. But when I've got something unpleasant ahead of me, I'd just as soon get it over with quickly!"

"Something unpleasant? You're not dragging me into a family fight, are you Johnny Walker?"

"No, nothing like that, I promise you, although there may be some harsh words, they won't be aimed at anyone in particular. So… If you're ready, let's go so I can face the music."

Johnny got out of the car walked around to Julia's store to help her out onto the verge. Julia raised an eyebrow in surprise, "What about the bags?" she asked.

"Leave them where they are," Johnny decided after a moment's thought. "If both my sisters are at home, then there won't be a bed for you, so we'll get a room at the Owl."

Julia nodded, and drew a deep breath, "Onward and upward, then," she said in as light-hearted tone as she could manage. Which truth to tell, wasn't very light-hearted at all.

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Jen smiled, once she had provided Victor with a beer and had bullied him into sitting down, as she said half apologetically "I wasn't sure whether you liked pasta or not, but before I even realised that, I'd already made the sauce. So I compromised, and put a couple of potatoes to bake, so dinner is going to be a little later than I planned!"

"No, no, that's fine, but for future reference, I do like pasta!"

"Whew, that's a relief!" Jen said she pretended to wipe nervous perspiration off her forehead.

Victor took a pull of his beer as he saw Jen drop into the other armchair and pick up her own bottle. "So," he asked after he'd swallowed his beer, "did you have anything specific in mind for this weekend, or is there anything in particular that you want to do?"

Jen turned fire engine red as she completely misinterpreted Victor's words, but then, and happily before her sometimes too ready tongue betrayed her, she caught the real meaning of what he'd said. "I don't have anything specific in mind, but if it wouldn't be too boring for you, now that the weather is turning, I'd like to see some British heritage. Some of the stately homes, perhaps, or, Julia was saying that Salisbury Cathedral is worth looking at. Maybe we could go down to Salisbury tomorrow, get there about lunchtime, have a look at the cathedral, maybe dinner and then we could get a room, or come back here…"

Victor looked a bit doubtful, trudging round ancient churches wasn't very high on his list of things to do in the UK, but then again, he had been so absorbed in the thought of running his own company of Marines that he hadn't given much thought at all as to how to spend his off-duty hours.

"Well, we could do that if you really want to…"

"Oh, if you don't want to, then forget it," Jen replied.

Victor took another swallow of beer while he marshalled his thoughts "Here's the thing, I haven't really given much thought to what I was going do when I wasn't working. You see, all my working life I've either been a Marine or a cop, and neither job leaves you much time or inclination for culture… But I suppose a dose or two of that wouldn't hurt." He nodded at Jen's laptop set up on the makeshift workstation in the corner of the room, "Are you on the net on that thing?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Jen demanded.

"No reason in particular," Victor said, but then grinned, "And maybe a dose of culture wouldn't hurt you either. It sounds to me like you been spending far too long around lawyers, you're even beginning to talk like them… Answering questions with questions!"

Jen shook her head, completely baffled by Victor's seemingly swift change of subject, "What's that got to do with the 'net," she asked.

"I just thought we could ask it what's there to do on a grey weekend in England," Victor teased her.

"You know, that's not a bad idea!" Jen laughed.

Twenty minutes later Jen was still perched on one of the dining chairs in front of her laptop, while Victor with one hand on the back of the chair was looking at the screen over her shoulder.

"What about this place?" he asked indicating a line if text on the screen.

"Blenheim Palace?" Jen queried.

"Yeah… it's a stately home, just like you wanted, and it was built by the Duke of Marlborough, and even us Leathernecks have heard of him! The greatest soldier of his day, so they reckoned. Beat the French in every stand up fight they had!"

Jen looked up in surprise. She wasn't surprised by the interest that Victor took in the military aspect of the Palace, but she was a little stunned by the admiration she heard in his voice.

"You rate him, then?" he asked.

"Damn straight! The man was good, good enough to be a Marine!" Victor said, unequivocally bestowing the highest praise he could think of on another military man.

Jen looked at him carefully, and then gave a slight wondering shake of her head. Then she twisted in her seat, hooked a hand around the back of Victor's neck, stretched up and kissed him lightly on the lips, "And you wonder why I think I'm falling in love with you!"

Victor smiled, and taking advantage of their closeness returned Jen's kiss, "And you wonder why I think that you're too good for me!"

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"More wine?" Harm asked Gill with a nod at the empty wine glasses on the coffee table.

Gill shook her head, "No, not for me thank you, but I wouldn't say no to a hot drink if there's one going?"

Harm gave a mock groan, "You're a harsh mistress," he complained softly.

"Oh, but I am so worth it!" Gill said with mock modesty.

Harm heaved a sigh, "What will it be, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cocoa?"

"Haven't you got any Ovaltine or Horlicks?" Gill pouted.

"No, I'm sorry," Harm began before he caught the teasing smile on Gill's face. "H'mph! Coffee, tea, hot chocolate or cocoa?" he repeated sternly.

"Cocoa, please," Gill replied, now in her best behaved little girl voice.

Harm groaned and levered himself off the couch, "Cocoa it is then!"

He gathered up the empty wine glasses and took them through to the kitchen where he placed them on the draining board and then poured a pint of milk into a pan for the cocoa.

Just over five minutes later he carried the two mugs back into the living room and stopped looking in surprise at the vacated couch. "Gill?" he called out.

"Upstairs, could you bring the cocoa up please?"

Harm shook his head, but nevertheless carefully climbed the stairs the upper floor landing, where the only light he could see spilled from his own open bedroom door. Advancing to the doorway he asked tentatively, "Gill?"

"Yes, come on in, it is your bedroom after all."

Harm entered the room and his jaw dropped open, almost it seemed to his knees. Gill was not only in his bedroom, but she was in his bed, with the duvet pulled up to just below her chin.

Gill had no difficulty whatsoever in interpreting Harm's expression. "Don't look so surprised, I have danced this dance before, and it's now September, we've dated as you colonial types say, since July. You're a lovely man Harmon Rabb, and a very good friend, but in the long-term that is not going to be enough for me. In a few weeks Mattie is going to be here, and that could make any sort of intimacy between us problematical. So…?"

Harm gulped, "So…" he agreed, depositing the two mugs of cocoa on his bedside table, "But you need to know, it's been a long time for me…"

"And for me too," Gill replied as she turned back the duvet for him, "So we both need to take things slowly and make it special for each other, don't we?"

"Yes, I do, because, Gillian Shephard, you are a very special lady!"