Steele In the Know3
Part 1
Mildred Krebs looked up with a smile as Remington Steele entered the office with Daniel Chalmers at his side. "Where's Laura?" he asked, noting that the door to her office was closed.

"In there," Mildred told him, nodding toward the closed door.

"She was supposed to meet us downstairs to go to lunch," he said. "I'd best go and see what's keeping her."

"She's on the phone with her mother," Mildred warned him, and Daniel rolled his eyes in understanding. "I'd be careful if I were you. I think they're arguing again."

"Again?" Remington sighed, glancing at his friend. "I won't be a moment, Daniel," he promised, straightening his shoulders before tapping once on the door and opening it.

"I don't care what YOU think would be perfect, Mother," Laura was saying into the telephone. She smiled tightly at Remington, motioning for him to come into the office. He closed the door behind him. "It's MY wedding, and MY choice about the flowers and reception. Family and close friends ONLY. . . I don't care WHO they said they were, the guest list is set and there won't be ANY additions. . ." She winced. "Oh. Oh, well, I suppose I can make one exception, then. JUST one, Mother." With a sigh, she said, "Yes, I haven't forgotten. I'll be at the seamstress' shop at three. Goodbye, Mother." She hung up the telephone with a gentleness the belied her obvious frustration.

"Problems?" Remington asked cautiously.

Laura sat back in her chair. "All I want is a small, intimate wedding, just a few people. Is that too much to ask? It's in two days, and my mother is STILL trying to invite the entire state of California and turn it into the wedding of the year!" She shook her head tiredly as she looked at him. "We should have eloped. Why did I EVER agree to do this?"

With a disarming smile, Remington knelt beside her chair. "Because I'm so persuasive?" he suggested. "So lovable?" He thought he saw a dimple begin to appear. "So irresistible?"

The dimple deepened. "You left out `D'," she told him.

"D?"

"As in 'all of the above'," she said, meeting his lips halfway. The kiss deepened, and Laura was seriously wondering what it would be like to make love on her desk- when there was a brief tap on the door and Mildred entered.

"Oops. Sorry, you two," she apologized, but her smile never faltered. It seemed she'd been smiling almost as much as they had over the last two weeks, once she'd found out that her "kids" had finally found each other.

Remington sighed, as did Laura. "That's all right, Mildred," he said. "I should be used to it by now. Did you want something?" he asked, getting to his feet again.

"Um- there's someone out here who wants to see Miss Holt," she told them.

"To see ME, Mildred?" Laura asked, her eyes wide. "A client?"

"I don't think so," Mildred said.

Remington frowned as he followed her into the reception area- only to find Daniel standing off to one side, returning the suspicious glare of one Murphy Michaels. "Murphy!" Laura cried out, throwing her arms around her former associate before turning to the tall, dark haired woman who stood nearby, looking around the office with interest. "Bernice!"

Laura's greeting distracted Murphy from Daniel's presence, as he turned that same suspicious gaze in Remington's direction. "Steele," he said, and for a moment, Remington thought the blonde man might ignore the hand he was holding out.

"Murphy. Hello, Bernice."

"Hey yourself," the agency's former receptionist said in reply. She glanced around the office again. "I like what you've done with the old place, Laura. Brighter, friendlier."

Laura introduced them both to Mildred, and Bernice to Daniel, since she'd been on vacation the first time he'd been in town. "How are things in New Orleans, Bernice?" she asked at last.

"Not bad at all," she said, holding up her hand to show off the diamond ring she wore. "Sam would have come with me, but he couldn't get away."

"That's too bad," Laura said, "But at least you made it."

"Did you really think I would miss this wedding?" Bernice asked, "considering that I was here at the very beginning?" She grinned at Remington. "I always knew you two were meant to be together."

Murphy's "Humph," was soft, but easily heard, and when everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged. "Sorry. Had to clear my throat. Been having problems with allergies lately," he said, looking at Remington as he spoke. But he turned to Laura, who still had her arm around him. "I thought we could take you to lunch," he told her.

Laura looked at Remington. "Go on," he told her. "Catch up on old times. I'm sure Daniel and I can find something to keep us busy."

She caught her lower lip between her teeth. "I was supposed to have lunch with you two. I'm sorry. I got busy with paperwork, and then Mother called-."

Remington grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I understand. Go on. Enjoy yourself."

"Why don't you and Daniel join us?" Laura suggested.

"We'd just be in the way," Remington insisted. "Keep the three of you from talking, comparing notes on the good old days." He brought her hand to his lips, meeting Murphy's narrowed gaze, making sure that the ring he had given Laura was visible. Laura tugged at her hand, and her expression told him that she knew exactly what he was trying to do.

"Let me get my purse," Laura told Murphy and Bernice, then disappeared back into the office.

"Generous of you to let her go with us," Murphy said dryly.

"Oh, you know me, Murphy," Remington returned. "When it comes to Laura, I'm generous to a fault."

Laura returned, giving both men a look that clearly said, "Behave," before she and her friends left the office.

The last thing Remington heard was Bernice's voice. "That's some rock you have there, Laura."

Remington turned to Daniel. "Ready to go? They won't hold our reservation for very much longer."

"If you'd rather not go, Harry-," Daniel began.

"No, no. Have to eat, I suppose." He gave Mildred a falsely bright smile. "Hold the fort, Mildred."

"You got it, Boss."

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They had lunch at Marty's, and over coffee, Daniel looked long and hard at him. "You're worried about young Michaels, aren't you?" he asked.

"Murphy?" Remington said, lifting a brow in mock consternation. "Of course not. Laura's always seen him more as a brother than as a-than as anything else." Just because he'd once walked in and found Murphy kissing Laura. . .

"Ah, but how does he see her?" Daniel asked.

"Look, I admit that Murphy always seemed to care for Laura a bit more than made me comfortable, perhaps that was part of the reason he and I never got on very well- but I doubt he'd go to all the trouble to try and sabotage mine and Laura's wedding, Daniel."

"Then why are you destroying that napkin?" Daniel questioned, pointing to the napkin that Remington was slowly shredding.

"Because I promised Laura to try and stop biting my nails," he said, tossing the offending napkin onto the table. "I suppose it's just that- she and I haven't spent as much time together these last few weeks as I would want us to. Between her making plans for the wedding and getting things in order at the agency so we can close down for two weeks for a proper honeymoon, it's been rather hectic."

"Hmm. Then I suggest you MAKE time, Harry. A nice, romantic dinner, dancing, perhaps. A little gift-. "What ARE you grinning about?"

"Oh, you just reminded me of something that a client once said to me. Something very much along the same lines." He looked thoughtfully across the restaurant. "You're right, Daniel. I know we planned to have dinner this evening, but-."

Daniel shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm sure I can find someone to keep me company. I wonder if Abigail would be willing to have dinner this evening?" he mused thoughtfully, picking up his cup.

"Daniel," Remington said with a hint of warning.

"Just dinner, Harry. I found Laura's mother quite charming the last time we met. Or I suppose I could ask Mildred."

"Mildred?" Remington repeated, nearly choking on his coffee. "Mildred, Daniel? Not your usual type, I should think."

"Yes, well, the point is, Harry, my boy, that I shan't want for company while you and Laura attend to the uh- finer points of your relationship."

"I knew I could count on you, Daniel," Remington said with a smile.

"Always, my boy," Daniel said. "Always."

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"So," Bernice said as she primped before the ladies' room mirror, "What's the real scoop?"

"Real scoop?" Laura questioned.

"The marriage. When you wrote me not a month ago, you didn't mention anything about you and Mr. Steele finally crossing that line- and I'm certain marriage was the farthest thing from your mind at that point. You could have knocked me over with a feather when you called two weeks ago."

Laura shrugged. "We just realized that we'd been running toward the same goal all along," Laura told her. "That and- my father. . ."

"Oh. Well, you look happy. And so does he- even if you both look like you could use a few hours alone together instead of working or whatever."

"There's a lot more involved in planning a wedding than I thought there would be," Laura said. "The flowers, the church, the music- even the place settings at the reception have to be just right."

"Take it from me, Laura, eloping is a LOT easier."

"Try to convince Remington of that," she replied with a smile. "How are things with you and Sam?"

"Not bad. He's got a shot at a new recording contract."

"That's wonderful."

Bernice turned to look at her. "You know, Laura, if I were you, I think I'd find some little cubby hole, lure that hunk of a fiancee into it and lock the door for awhile. Just because you're engaged doesn't mean you can toss the romance out the door, you know."

"We haven't-."

"Hey, this is me, you're talking to, remember? I know you. Once you get started on something you tend to focus all your energy in that direction. All I'm saying is, don't forget to take care of yourself and Mr. Steele." She gave Laura a hug. "Come on. Murphy probably thinks we've gone out the back and deserted him."

Murphy was still sitting at their table, drumming his fingers. "There you two are. I was about to send out a search party. Never understood why - never mind," he said as Laura and Bernice both gave him warning glances.

"How are things in Denver, Murph?" Laura asked.

"Busy. Lots of people who need a private detective."

"Must be nice, being near your parents again."

"Yeah."

Bernice glanced at her watch. "Oops. I promised to call Sam ten minutes ago. See how his meeting with the record people went today. I'll be right back," she told them, grabbing her purse and heading toward the entrance where a bank of telephones were located.

"She and Sam certainly seem happy," Laura commented, watching her leave.

"Sounds like, it, anyway."

Laura was tired of his short responses. "What about you? Still seeing-."

"Nope. Broke up a few weeks ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Want to talk about it?"

"I could say that it's because I'm busy as hell. You know what it's like running an agency. The paperwork, everything else."

"You COULD say," Laura mused. "So what's the real reason?"

Murphy leaned forward to cover her hand. "She wasn't you."

Laura slid her hand from beneath his- or tried to, but he caught it, glaring at the diamond engagement ring. "Murphy. I thought we settled this before you left."

"All we settled was that I wasn't the right man for you."

Laura sighed. "Murphy," she said softly.

"I'm still not conviced that HE'S the right man either, Laura. He's a con man, and who the hell knows what else."

"He's Remington Steele, Murphy," Laura said in a quiet voice as she forced him to release her hand before they created a scene. "He's changed, Murph. He really has. He's not the same man who came into that office pretending to be Benjamin Pearson. He's almost the man I envisioned when I created Remington Steele." Laura could see that she wasn't getting through to him. "Maybe you and he need to have a little talk- then you'll be able to see that I'm telling you the truth."

"Oh, I fully intend to have a talk with him," Murphy told her. His brown eyes were serious. "I just don't want you to make a mistake, Laura. I was there after Wilson, remember? Picked up all the little pieces he left your heart in and helped stick them back together?"

Laura smiled, and this time she covered his hand in a friendly gesture. "I remember, Murphy. And I'm grateful that you WERE there for me. That I had a friend like you I could rely on. But my heart wasn't back together, not really. Not until the day HE walked in."

Murphy looked at the ring again. "Bernice is right. That's some rock. You're sure he didn't-."

"No. He bought it. With his OWN money. You'd be surprised how enterprising he can be, Murphy- well, I guess maybe you wouldn't be. But over the years he's managed to build a tidy little nest egg through various investments."

"Using agency funds, I bet," Murphy said with a frown.

"At first, yes. But he's paid back every dime - with interest. Mildred showed me the records when he told me about it. He doesn't NEED the agency, anymore, Murphy. But he's still here. And that's what's important."

"Okay. Okay. But I'm withholding my approval until after I talk to Mr. Steele."

"That's fair enough. As long as you give him a chance. That's all I ask."

"Hmm," Murphy nodded grimly, and Laura felt her heart sink as she saw Bernice returning. This wasn't going well at ALL.

To Be Continued. . .
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Original content © 1999 by Nancy Eddy