"Tony? What the hell are *you*
doing here?" Laura asked, glaring at him. She looked into
the hallway behind him.
"Don't worry. I'm alone. Can I come in?"
She took a deep breath and stepped back. "Might as well,
since you're here."
Tony entered the apartment, looking around. "Kinda impersonal,
isn't it?" he noted, then saw the small desk in the corner.
It looked to be the only piece of furniture in the room that she
was using. "Working out of here as well?"
"Can't afford an office yet," she told him. "How
did you find me?"
"I'm a detective, remember? Word's already out on the street
that you've split from the Agency and gone solo. Thought you might
need some help." Laura stared at him and started to laugh.
"I'm not joking, Laura."
"Thanks, but- no thanks." Her laugher faded as her face
grew serious. "I've got to do this on my own. The way I should
have done it to begin with. No Remington Steele, no one but Laura
Holt to fall back on."
"Steele told me that you stole Cameron out from under his
nose. How'd you do it? How'd you con him into letting *you* handle
his case instead of Steele?"
Laura shrugged. "I just pointed out how much better it might
be to deal with a small, one person firm to protect his gems instead
of a big, impersonal agency with a lot of clients all clamoring
for its attention. Sold him on the 'personal touch'."
"Didn't he ask why you weren't with your husband's agency
anymore?"
"I said that I needed to go it alone- showed him some old
press clipping from the days before Remington dropped into my
life."
"And took it over, lock, stock and barrel," Tony commented.
"I can't believe that you really left him. After all these
years-"
Laura, who had gone to the desk and was looking over a paper there,
turned to look at him instead. "Tony- I don't think that
you and I should discuss this."
"Why not?"
"Jessica. Remember her? The woman you've been practically
living with for the last five years?"
"You can go back, but no one else can, is that it?"
Tony asked. "Laura, did he do something? Hurt you? If he
did-."
"No. At least, not intentionally," she said, then saw
Tony bristle again. "Tony, I don't need you protecting me.
There's nothing to protect me *from*, okay? So you can dump the
testosterone."
"What did he do?"
She shook her head. "I shouldn't have mentioned this. And
*you* shouldn't be here. If he finds out-"
"Right now, I don't give a damn whether he finds out or not,
Laura," Tony insisted.
"Go back to the office, Tony," Laura said. "Back
to Jessica. Take her to lunch, buy her some roses and apologize."
"You think it's that easy?" He grabbed her arm. "Laura,
I lo-"
Laura placed a hand on his lips to stop him. "Don't say it,
Tony. Because we both know that it's not the truth. No matter
what happens, I'll always love Remington."
"Then why'd you leave him?" He indicated the room. "Why
are you *here* instead of at the office?"
"That's hard to explain. Right now, Remington needs a friend.
Without Robert around, he doesn't really have anyone he can- relate
to."
"And what about you?"
"I don't need anybody," Laura insisted. "Not right
now. I know, I'm not making a lot of sense. Not sleeping does
that to me."
"You didn't sleep either, huh?" When she looked at him,
Tony shook his head. "Neither did he."
"Oh."
"Got any other cases besides Cameron?" he asked.
Laura shook her head. "One case at a time," she told
him. "It's how I started years ago. Figured it would work
again."
"Yeah, well, back then you had that old friend from Havenhurst
to fall back on- Michael something?"
"Michaels," Laura corrected. "Murphy Michaels.
When I opened Laura Holt Investigations, Murphy was still working
at Havenhurst. I didn't bring him in until I opened Remington
Steele Investigations." She sat down. "You know, Tony,
there are times when I almost regret inventing Remington Steele."
Tony frowned. "You do?"
"If I hadn't, if I'd stuck it out, maybe I could have made
it on my own without having a big, strong man behind me- even
an imaginary one. Maybe I gave up too easily."
"That's what you're trying to find out, isn't it? That's
why you're here. Why you left him and the kids."
"I didn't want to leave them, but- Remington's so much better
with them than I am. More stable. And right now they *need* that
stability." She laughed. "Whoever would've thought I'd
consider HIM more stable than me?" she asked. "Family's
important to Remington. He needs those kids in a way I've never-"
"Hey, you're a great mom," Tony insisted.
"Sure I am. I can tell you exactly how many parent teacher
conferences I've been able to attend at their schools. I think
Remington's made every one. And the last Little League game I
attended was so long ago I can barely remember who won."
"Megan threw a no hitter," Tony reminded her. "And
Daniel hit a grand slam."
"See? Even *you* remember better than I do! I tried, Tony,
I really did. For awhile there, I went to *every* recital, *every*
meeting, *every* game. But I'm not cut out to be like my sister
or my mother."
"Of course not. You're you."
"And just who *is* me?!" Laura asked. "That's what
I need to find out, Tony. And this is the only way I know how
to do that." She looked down at the folder in her hands.
"Did Remington mention how the kids were doing?"
"He said they were confused."
"I guess I'll call them later, maybe I can explain it to
them. I don't know." She looked at her watch. "I have
to go, Tony. I'm supposed to meet Mr. Cameron again-"
"Can we have dinner?" he asked. Seeing her refusal in
her eyes, Tony lifted his hands. "As friends. Just friends,"
he assured her. "Look, Steele's got so much emotional support,
he won't miss mine. And it's a sure bet that your mom or sister
aren't going to be much help. Course, your Dad might-"
"I'm meeting him for lunch," Laura explained. "I
don't want to come between you and Jessica, Tony. I won't let
you hurt her that way."
"Let me handle Jess, okay?" he said, putting his hands
on her shoulders. "Dinner? Something simple. Pizza, maybe?
How long has it been since you had pizza?"
"I've got three kids, remember? And *all* of them love pizza."
"Ah, but that was probably delivered to the house. Not the
same thing as a pizza place. Checkered tablecloths, candles in
old wine bottles . . ."
"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"
"Nope."
"Okay. Meet me here at seven. I think I should be finished
at the museum by then."
"Seven," Tony agreed as she opened the door for the
two of them. "I'll be here."
***
Remington entered the house, starting for the stairs as he heard
a woman call from the living room. "Danny? Is that you, dear?"
He turned to greet his aunt as she came from the other room, leaning
heavily on her ebony can. "Katherine. I thought you were
still out of town."
"Agatha called earlier and told me- What happened?"
"I wish I knew for sure, Kitty," he said, "I don't
know." He led her back into the living room, sitting on the
sofa with her. She didn't need to be on her feet. Her doctor had
tried to talk her into having a hip replacement last year, but
she'd refused to consider it. "Agatha shouldn't have called.
There's nothing you can do."
"Nonsense. I can be here for you."
"Thank you."
"What else are aunts for?"
"Where are the children?"
"In the study, doing their homework, I believe."
"I need to go in and see them," he told his aunt. "I'll
explain things later- as best I can, anyway. Would you make sure
that Mrs. Hobbs got the message about guests for dinner?"
"Guests?"
"Jessica, Antony, Mildred and Edward." He gave her a
kiss on the cheek. "I'll be right back."
Remington stopped as he approached the study, listening for the
usual chatter that went on between the three children. The silence
today was ominous. Taking a deep breath, he entered the room.
"Hello, there. How was school?"
"Daddy!" Megan said, running to throw her arms around
him, almost knocking him over. Daniel and Patrick followed suit,
forcing Remington to sit down in the nearest chair. "Hey.
What's all this? You act like you didn't think I'd be here."
"We were afraid that you would leave us too," Patrick
said, then buried his face in his father's shoulder.
"Oh, no. Never."
"Promise?" Patrick asked, sniffing back tears.
Remington looked at each of the children in turn, seeing the same
fear in all of those eyes. "I promise. No matter what happens,
I'll always be here for you."
"Cross your heart?" the six year old insisted.
Remington made a cross over his chest. "Cross my heart. Now.
How is the homework coming along?" he asked, determined to
get the children back into as normal a routine as possible. He
knew that asking them about the school work was something Laura
did, but since she wasn't here- he had to do it for her.
"Patrick was having trouble with his math," Daniel said.
"Really? What sort of problem?"
"We helped him," Megan said.
"We?" Daniel asked.
"Okay, *Daniel* helped him," she said, sticking her
tongue out at her twin.
"Always give credit where credit is due," Daniel reminded
her. "Isn't that what you always say, Dad?"
"Uh- yes. By all means. Word to live by," he agreed.
"How much more work have you got to do?"
"We're almost finished," Megan said. "Daniel and
I just have to drill each other on spelling words."
"Good. Because you need to wash up for dinner. Aunt Jessica
and Grandfather Edward are going to be here."
"May I go?" Patrick asked. "I finished my homework."
"Go on," Remington said, ruffling the dark brown hair
into disarray.
Patrick threw his arms around Remington's neck. "I love you,
Daddy."
"I love you, too, Patrick." He thought he heard a suspicious
sniffle from Megan's direction. Once Patrick was out of the room,
he turned to look at his two elder children. "How are you
two doing?"
"I miss Mom," Daniel admitted.
"So do I, son."
"I think she called today, but we weren't home yet."
"Then how do you know-?"
"I overheard Mrs. Hobbs telling Agatha about it," Megan
told him.
He decided not to remind her that her tendency to eavesdrop needed
curbing. "I'll talk to Mrs. Hobbs then. I'm sure she'll fill
me in." Remington rose to his feet. "I'm going to take
a shower before dinner. Get to work on those spelling words."
"They're easy," Daniel said.
"For you, maybe," Megan said. "But then, you're
teacher's pet."
"Am not."
"Yes, you are, Daniel Steele," she insisted.
"You're just jealous because the teacher didn't want the
apple that you took from -"
"Shh, Daniel," Megan hissed, trying to shut him up as
Remington turned to look at her.
"You took an apple? From where?"
"Uh-I-"
He took her hands in his, preventing her from moving away. "Megan,
the truth, sweetheart."
"You know that fruit stand just across the street from the
school?"
"Yes. Maudie sells to the school children before and after
school."
"Well, I, sort of- lifted an apple. Jenny McCormack dared
me to- and I just couldn't refuse-"
"Why not?"
"Because she wants to be part of Jenny's group," Daniel
answered.
Remington sent Daniel a silencing glance. "Well, Megan?"
"Jenny's the most popular girl in school, and she's always
making fun of me because Daniel's so smart, and I'm not- "
"Of course you are. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
You're the smartest, wisest girl I've ever met. Including your
mother. Tomorrow morning, I want you to go that stand, and give
Maudie twice the price of one apple. And you're grounded for the
next week."
"But- we've got a game tomorrow night," she said. "I'm
supposed to pitch- I need to practice. And- And- Daniel needs
to practice his batting-" she said, looking toward her brother
for help.
"Yeah. I need to practice," Daniel said, albeit without
much conviction.
"Please, Daddy?"
If Laura had been here, Remington knew that she would ban Megan
from even playing in the game, much less practicing. But with
everything so unsettled, he couldn't harden his heart enough to
follow through on Laura's brand of discipline. "Okay. But
no phone calls- and no TV. That includes movies on videotape.
Got it?"
"Got it." She smiled sweetly. "I'm really sorry
that I did it, Daddy. I won't ever do it again."
"Promise?" he asked.
He smile widened. "Promise."
"Good. Now, I'm going to take that shower. Carry on with
the spelling words."
Daniel called out a word. "Determined."
"D-e-t-e . . . "
Mrs. Hobbs was just coming from the dining room as he left the
study. "Oh. Mr. Steele," she said, sounding a bit flustered.
"I thought you were upstairs."
"I was just spending a few minutes with the children. Uh,
Mrs. Hobbs, did my wife call here today?"
The housekeeper looked uncertain. "How did you know? She
asked me not to tell you-I'm sorry, sir."
"That's all right. When did she call?"
"Around four. Just before the children got home. She said
she would call again tomorrow. She sounded disappointed that they
weren't here- if that's any consolation. Of course, I can't imagine
anyone leaving those children to begin with. They need both their
parents-"
"Thank you, Mrs. Hobbs. I'm going up to get ready for dinner.
You *did* get the message about our guests-?"
"I did. Table's set and ready."
"You're a treasure, Mrs. Hobbs," Remington said, "A
real treasure." He turned toward the stairs and a hot shower.
With a little luck, he might just make it through this day from
hell after all.
***
Tony entered his apartment, tossing his car keys on the desk.
"Where have you been all day, Tony?" Jessica asked.
Tony turned around to find her sitting on the sofa, watching him.
"Jess. I wasn't expecting you to be here-"
"I left several messages with Terri- you didn't return any
of them. Are you avoiding me for some reason?"
"No," Tony said, going into the kitchen to grab a beer
from the fridge. "No. Why would I do that? I just- well,
with Laura gone, there's a lot more work to do. I was pretty busy
all day."
"Well, we're having dinner at Remington's tonight. I thought
a show of family support might be a good idea for the children-"
"Uh, I- Uh, I- can't make it."
"Why not?"
"An- An old friend. Needs my help. You go on."
Jessica watched as he paced around the small room. "You're
going to see her, aren't you?" she asked.
"See who?"
"Laura. You found her, didn't you? And now you're going to-"
She shook her head. "Dear God. This is what you've been waiting
for isn't it?"
"Of course not. She's a friend, Jess," Tony insisted.
"And she needs someone-"
"She's *got* someone," Jessica reminded him. "She's
got a husband and children who miss her and want her to come home,
where she belongs."
"She can't do that right now. Jess, I thought you of all
people would understand-"
"The only thing that I understand at the moment is the pain
that she's putting my brother through. He doesn't deserve it.
And those children don't deserve to be without their mother."
She rose from the sofa, picking up her purse. "I'll give
Remington and the children your regrets," she said.
"Jess-" Tony said, but the door was already closed behind
her. "She's a friend!" he yelled into the empty apartment.
To Be Continued . . .