Steve felt a moment of disorientation when he woke up the next morning – he wasn’t alone in bed, and it felt very strange. It only took him a moment to realize that he was in his own bed, and the nearly white hair spread on his chest and arm identified his companion. It seemed unbelievable until he remembered the night before – and then it seemed even more unbelievable. But that white hair, the warm, mostly gauze-covered body pressed up against his told him that it had to be real . . .

The moonlight that had been streaming in the window earlier the night before had been replaced with sunlight and from the angle of the light it wasn’t early in the morning, either. Well, no wonder. It had to have been hours between the time they went to bed and when they went to sleep, some of it spent talking and cuddling, and some of it spent in a warm bout of making love.

He moved his hand a little, to discover that it wasn’t pressing up against her skin through the gauzy layer of her nightgown, but directly against her bare skin. Obviously the hem had ridden up through the night.

It had been, without a doubt, a night of nights. Considered objectively, Ann’s technique had been mediocre, but that was understandable and could be improved with even a little practice. Intensity, though – off-scale high, and that more than made up for it. He would never have dreamed she had been capable of it. But she had been . . . this was going to change things, that much was sure. How they would change remained to be seen.

“Please, sir,” he heard her whisper. “Could you close the drapes? The light is blinding me.”

“Of course, Ann,” he replied. “I never thought of it until now. You could have gotten up and done it.”

“I didn’t want to wake you, sir. Besides, I like lying here next to you far too much.”

“All right, cover your eyes,” he told her. “It’ll just take a moment.”

As he got up he noticed that she still had her face buried in the pillow they’d shared. Truly, he hadn’t thought of it, but then he hadn’t expected what had happened the night before, either. Not a bit of it. In a moment he had the drapes pulled, and the room returned to relative darkness – brighter perhaps than it had been when she’d come to him the night before, but probably not by much. “Thank you, sir,” she said as soon as the darkness returned. “That’s much better.”

“So how are you this morning?”

“Much better in that respect too, sir,” she said, rolling onto her side. With the covers off of her, he could see that the thin nightgown only partially covered her; for some reason he was a little surprised to discover that even her pubic hair was white. “It was much better than I dreamed it could be. Thank you for helping me deal with my fear. It was worth it.”

“In case you’re wondering, I think so, too,” he replied.

“Sir, I realize that it’s a bit forward of me, but can we do that again sometime? Perhaps tonight?”

He went over and sat down on the bed next to Ann. “All you have to do is say the word, Ann. It’s fine with me.”

“Sir, there’s a part of me that wants to do it right now, but I think I’d better get up and see about Mr. Taylor. It must be well after when he should have been in bed.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. His schedule has been a little screwed up the last few days, too.”

“Yes, but it’s been too long, sir,” she said. “I didn’t expect to be here most of the night and half of the morning, although I can’t deny that it was worth it. Sir, I mean also what we talked about, not just what we did.”

“I got the feeling there were things you needed to work out of your system.”

“Sir, you can’t believe how relieved I am to have told you some of those things and know you understand them. There were things there I . . . well, that I didn’t want to admit to myself. Thank you for pulling them out of me.”

He took her by the hand. “Ann, ever since I’ve known you I’ve thought you were a mystery. I think most of the mystery got cleared up last night. Oh, there are a few loose questions remaining here and there, but they’re relatively minor.”

“What might some of those be, sir?”

“That’s one, to start with. You’re back to calling me sir, Ms. Rutledge. Last night you were calling me by my name.”

“We were being intimate, sir. I felt it appropriate.”

“And we’re not being intimate now?”

“Not to the same degree, sir. We’re only discussing being intimate. One of the things I learned from Mrs. Cooper was to give proper respect.”

“You know,” he smiled. “Mrs. Cooper did an awesome job with you, but there are a few things here and there where I think she overdid it a little.”

“You could be right, sir, but the fact remains I’m more comfortable addressing you with the respect I feel you deserve. I can manage to call you ‘Steve’ in the intimacy of a shared bed, but I would find it difficult to do so otherwise.”

“You’re telling me I’m stuck with it.”

“Probably, sir. I’ll try to call you by your name in private, but it would be difficult to do in public, or in front of Mr. Taylor, for instance.”

“Work on it,” he smiled. “Otherwise I’ll have to punish you.”

“Punish me, sir?” she said, shrinking back a little. “You . . . uh . . .”

“Not like that,” he smiled. “I’ll just have to call you ‘Ms. Rutledge’ and make you like it, Ms. Rutledge.”

“All right, sir, uh, Steve,” she shook her head. “It’s going to be hard to break the habit. I think I even called you ‘sir’ several times when we were making love.”

“Only when it got really intense,” he grinned. “The heck of it is that it didn’t sound all that bad then. Go figure, I guess.”

“You’re just teasing me now, sir, although I’ll admit to enjoying it. But I think perhaps I’d better rise to greet the day or we’re going to spend most of it in bed, not that I’d mind it in the slightest. But I really need to see to Mr. Taylor, sir. It is very late for his dinner. Besides, I think we need to eat something ourselves to recover from last night.”

“You might have a point on that, Ann. I guess we’re going to have to admit to reality and get under way.”

“I think so, sir. I’ll go down, use the bathroom, change into proper clothes, see if Mr. Taylor needs anything, and then get started on something for all of us to eat.” She added on a broad smile and continued as she got up, “but I’ll look forward to later, too.”

As she rose, the hem of the gauzy nightgown fell to the floor; it really didn’t conceal much of anything. “You know,” he said. “That nightgown looks really terrific on you. When I saw you last night, for an instant I thought I was really looking at Molly Carrillo’s ghost.”

“I think I prefer being Molly Carrillo’s ghost to being Ann the Vampire, sir,” she smiled. “At least it worked out much more enjoyably. I’ll see you in a few minutes, sir.”

Steve’s head was still spinning as he watched her walk out the door. He could hardly believe it was the same Ann he’d known up until now. She was casual, joking, teasing, even sensual. Had those things been there all along, just hidden behind that cold, distant exterior where only a trace of humanity occasionally broke through? Or had last night brought them out? What did it mean? Did it have to mean anything? All he could say was that he liked this Ann much more than the Ann he’d known this time yesterday.

His mind was exploring the implications as he went into the bathroom and did his morning business. He went back to his room and got dressed, rather casually as he expected to be around the house today.

Steve found Uncle Homer downstairs, sitting in his familiar easy chair with a Windows Solitaire game on the computer screen – but he had a broad grin on his face. “Good morning, Steve,” he said. “I suppose you had something to do with that vision of loveliness wandering through here a few moments ago wearing nothing but about one ounce of pure vapor?”

“I was a little involved,” Steve grinned back as he took a seat on the couch across from Uncle Homer. “Let’s just say that when you find yourself riding a tiger, there’s not much you can do but grab the ears and hang on.”

“I figured it was something like that. Oh, to be fifty years younger again. Hell, I’d settle for thirty. It’s going to be interesting to see where this all comes out.”

“I think I can agree with you on that, Uncle Homer.”

There was no telling where that conversation could have led, but Ann appeared from the bedroom, now dressed more or less normally – but somehow more attractive in Steve’s eyes. The attitude she displayed had much to do with it; she wasn’t exactly gushy or sensual, but somehow a little more laid-back and open, something that Steve couldn’t put his finger on, but knew instantly that he liked. “I’m sorry to be so late, Mr. Taylor,” she said in something approaching her normal businesslike manner. “I was, uh, otherwise engaged.”

“I’ll bet you were, Ann,” he laughed. “I know you well enough to see it written all over you, and Steve, too.”

“Yes, well, uh . . .”

“Steve, take note of this,” Uncle Homer laughed again. “Sometimes Ann is pretty quiet but when she speaks I’ve hardly ever seen her at a loss for what to say.”

“Yes, but sir . . .” she replied as her face got redder – it was the most color Steve had ever seen in her skin.

“Ann, it’s no problem for me, and in fact I’m glad to see it. There’s no reason for you to be shy or ashamed about it,”

“But sir, I shouldn’t have kept you waiting.”

“No skin off my butt, Ann. I took a long nap in this chair while you were busy, and I feel fine. I could stand to eat something when you get around to it, but there are things we need to talk about, too.”

“Sir, I have a meat loaf in the refrigerator all set to pop into the oven, along with some baked potatoes. I could get it going in a couple of minutes, just as soon as I can get the oven warming up.”

“That would be fine, Ann. Get some coffee going while you’re at it. I guess I’ll have to live with that decaffeinated stuff, but I think you and Steve could stand the real thing. At least you look like you need all the caffeine you can get this morning, both of you.”

“Yes, sir,” she giggled. “We, uh, didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, sir.”

“That’s the best reason there ever was for yawning all day, Ann. Now, get the oven and the coffee going, then come back and sit with us.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied and headed for the kitchen, apparently glad to be free of Uncle Homer’s good-natured teasing.

As soon as she left, Uncle Homer said in a low voice, “Does she seem a little more human to you this morning, Steve?”

“Yes, she does,” he replied in a voice that was equally low.

“Did you enjoy yourself too?”

“Yes, I did, once we got through the preliminaries. We got into some areas that were, uh, pretty horrendous.”

“Consider yourself lucky that you only heard about them and didn’t see them,” the old man whispered with a serious look on his face. “That’s something you and I need to talk about, and maybe when Ann isn’t around.”

“After last night, I understand what you mean.”

Uncle Homer raised his voice to normal and asked, “I see the Cubs got their butts kicked again last night. Do you think they’re ever going to find a couple of pitchers capable of pitching above the Single-A level?”

“No sign of it,” Steve replied, not knowing much about baseball in general or the Cubs in particular, but getting Uncle Homer’s message: let Ann think they were talking about something that didn’t mean much of anything.

They talked about baseball desultorily for a few minutes, until Ann rejoined them, carrying mugs of coffee. “We should be ready to eat in about an hour, sir,” she reported.

“That will be fine, Ann. I expect we’ll be ready for a break by then, anyway. Please sit down. We all have to talk.”

Usually when the three of them talked in this room they sat in separate chairs, but this time was different: Ann sat down on the couch next to Steve – and close to him, too. That told him a great deal right there. “What did you wish to talk about, sir?”

“Ann, for a moment I want you to put aside any feeling of embarrassment about your adventure last night, and I don’t need any details. But you know as well as I do what we’ve been working toward, and what I need to know is whether you think it has a good chance of working.”

“Yes, sir, I think it does. But I also think we’ve reached the point where Steve, uh, the young Mr. Taylor, needs to be aware of our intentions.”

“I think so, too, Ann, and I doubt there will be a better time to get into that.” He turned his head to face Steve and said, “What I’m about to say, or what Ann and I are about to say, is something we’ve talked about for a long time, clear back to the days when Agnes Cooper was with us. I think the time for covering up our intentions has passed.”

“I’ve had the feeling since the beginning that there are things going on that I didn’t see,” Steve replied.

“You’re not stupid, Steve, even though we tried to be a little discreet about what we wanted to accomplish. Simply put, Steve, you’ve seen that Ann has a tremendous loyalty to me.”

“That’s an understatement if there ever was such a thing. I see it all the time. She just about lives her life for you.”

“Yes she does, and to be honest, she overdoes it a little from time to time. I’m not quite as old and decrepit as she seems to think. Old and decrepit, yes, but not that bad. But at the same time, I watched Ann’s loyalty in caring for Agnes, who really did need that kind of treatment, especially in her last days, and realistically, Ann has transferred a lot of that experience to me.”

“I hadn’t looked at it that way, but I think you’re probably right.”

“To be candid, it would be difficult for me to get along without her, but I suppose I could have done it up to this point if I had to. But responsibility works both ways. Steve, it’s not as obvious, but Ann needs care, too, and a very special kind of care. Do you remember a while back when I told you that Ann is very good at doing what she’s told to do, but she’s not as good at setting goals for herself and working toward them?”

“I remember you saying it but I haven’t seen much sign of it.”

“Ann, am I right?”

“I think you are, sir,” she replied. “Although I can see how it could appear to be transparent to the young Mr. Taylor.” She turned to him and explained. “What you probably haven’t seen is that Mr. Taylor, and to an extent you, set limits for me to make my decisions in. I will start something only if it’s to advance the goals that have been set for me. I see it as normal, Steve. I know I’m different in many ways from what most people would consider normal, and much of it is carry-over from before Mr. Taylor brought me here.”

“Steve,” Uncle Homer went on, “that wouldn’t be really bad, because most people are like that to some degree. But the other side of that coin is that Ann will almost instinctively do what someone she trusts tells her to do, whether she thinks it’s a good idea or not. Is that how you see it, Ann?”

“I think it’s a very good description, sir. Once again, it’s much the way I am, clear back to before I came here.” She took a deep breath and went on, “In fact, it probably stems from those days.”

“Probably so,” Uncle Homer sighed. “Realistically, Steve, it wouldn’t matter that much if Ann were Mrs. Holly Housewife. In fact, I don’t even think it’s all that abnormal. But Ann is not Mrs. Holly Housewife. Although she acts like a devoted servant, and prefers to act like that, I’m sure you’ve figured out that Ann is a rather wealthy woman.”

“It became obvious early on, in the wake of the Hardin deal, that she had money,” Steve agreed. “But how wealthy, there was no telling.”

“Let’s just leave it at rather wealthy for now,” Uncle Homer went on. “What’s more, she has the possibility of being considerably wealthy. Now, here’s the problem. What do you think would happen if she were to place her trust in someone who isn’t worthy of that trust?”

He can’t actually be meaning what I think he’s saying, Steve thought as he replied, “The term you use is ‘plucked like a chicken.’”

“It might not happen,” Uncle Homer shrugged, “but the potential is there, and there’s no way it can be denied. Doing my best to prevent that is one of three things I want to accomplish before I die.”

By god, he does mean it! “You’re saying that you see me as the answer to that problem?”

“I think you may be, and what’s more, Ann seems to think you may be. In fact, we talked about it and came to that conclusion before your little adventure last night.”

“Mr. Taylor is correct,” Ann spoke up. “Sir, I told you that Mr. Taylor didn’t tell me to come up and see you, but it seemed to us, especially after the last few days, that you could be trusted. It was my decision to put it to the test, just as you have been tested since before you came here.”

“Since before . . . you weren’t involved with the RELI takedown, were you?”

“No, we had nothing to do with that, although we were already monitoring you in regards to our own goals when it happened,” Ann told him. “I was referring to your decision to accompany me to see Mr. Taylor. Had you turned me down, that would have been the end of it. However, your decision to notify Mr. Markham by e-mail was wise, sir.”

“How did you know . . . Chipperdude, right?”

“You could have better password security, sir.”

“Let’s not get into that now,” Uncle Homer smiled. “Let’s just say that yes, Steve, you have been tested since before you got here. We wanted to find out a good deal about you. Among those things have been how honest and trustworthy you are, but we were also looking for a killer instinct that could be used when needed. Frankly, it’s been a struggle to come up with things to test you with. My business interests have been heavily dialed back for years, but there are always some loose ends that I might just have handed to a lawyer or another representative, such as the Hardin deal. We were really scratching for something else to test you with when the Shawtex business came to our attention. We wouldn’t have gotten involved with it except as a test for you, but it worked out for the best in several ways.”

“I thought your getting involved in it didn’t make a lot of sense when I stopped to think about it, but now that you put it that way, I guess it does. So it was all a test, huh?”

“It was, and you passed. Of course we can’t tell what the future is going to bring, but Ann and I have decided that you’re worthy of her trust. Steve, I have to be honest and say that I don’t care what kind of deal the two of you work out between yourselves. You can decide she’s to be your maid, your servant, your girlfriend, your lover, your partner, your wife, or whatever, so long as you’re watching over her, protecting and guiding her. It’s up to the two of you, not to me.”

Steve turned to Ann. “Is that how you see it?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” she smiled. She reached out and took his hand. “Given a choice I would be all of those at the same time, but we have plenty of time to decide on the details.”

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