"Gretchen says, "That's for sure! Liz why don't you give me about ten minutes to set Rick up in the system and give him a procedure manual, then meet ...e in the conference room."Gretchen and Rick leave as Mabel says, "Well, I need to take care of some things." And I quickly found myself alone in the room. I wander back to my room and cry about my fight with Bernie: Things were going so well with us, why did he have to be so stupid?I pull myself together, wash my face and head to the conference. I was thinking this was going to be a refusal as she dreaded being seen with me by her Indian friends. That was her in the past but she had a refreshing change. Without saying a word she picked up her handbag and walked out with me. It seemed very natural to hold her hand and her fingers responded. The soft breeze greeted our faces and we walked a few yards into the small park, shoulders brushing and her tender fingertip gliding softly at the back of my thumb. ‘I know it’s tough for you,’ I. “Shhh...” I tried to calm her. “Everything is OK. You can sleep now.”I gave her a kiss on her forehead and in an instant she was sound asleep her breathing slow and even. Listening to the sound of the rain with a warm body next to me was an extraordinary sensation and I too drifted off like a ship into the night on a calm sea.The alarm went off with an annoying beep, beep, beep sound. I hit the button and turned to see if Susie was awake. Her eyes were closed and I lingered studying the. But you can short it, and then it’s KABOOM. Hole in the ground.”“Lovely,” said the car, in EXACTLY the understated, sarcastic tone my Kate would use if someone ever strapped a bomb to her arse.“SHUT UP!” I barked, momentarily upset by the image of Kate tied to a bomb.“Suspend verbal interface,” said Miles. “Martin, why do you hate my car? It is custom built for you!”“Well, you should have thought harder about that. I’ll take the Trailblazer.”“Pathfinder.”“Whatever. This is complete overkill for.