that." She pulled the laptop out of her tote and opened it. She fiddled with it for a few minutes. She looked puzzled and then asked Luke what the password was for his wireless connection. He said he didn't know, while he dialed Diane's number on the cordless phone. He said, "Marianne wants to know the password for the wireless router." He switched the phone to speaker and they could hear her mutter, "I am so freaking fired."
Luke repeated, "What is the password?"
"Um. The password is: GD_Assh#le."
Marianne immediately became hysterical. Luke tried to keep a straight face when he said, "Is there any significance to that password, Di?"
Diane said with a perfectly serious and professional tone, "No, sir. Absolutely none."
Luke dead-panned, "I thought as much." He winked at Marianne, which caused her to collapse into another fit of giggles.
When she had recovered, Marianne logged onto the Internet and sent an email to Christa indicating that she had arrived safely and would phone the next day. When she logged off, Luke was laughing, "That witch put you up to that didn't she?"
"Who? What?"
"Diane. She's been wearing me out about learning how to use a computer. Now I have to learn in order to save face."
Marianne smiled and said noncommittally, "It's really kind of fun once you get the hang of it."
Luke made a face, looked at the clock and said, "You must be exhausted. I reserved a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel if you want. Or, if you prefer, you can stay in the pool house or the guest room here."
Marianne stretched out and said, "I'm far too old to worry about my reputation, and I don't want to waste any of our precious time going back and forth to a hotel -- unless you want your privacy, that is. I'm happy to stay here. I am tired and very uncomfortable after being in these traveling clothes all day. I'd like to shower and change into my jammies."
"Pool house or guest room?"
"You know I don't like water. I'll take the room inside where I won't be afraid of sleepwalking to a watery death."
Luke took her suitcase to the guest room which was across the hall from his bedroom. He made sure she had plenty of towels, pillows and blankets, and then he started to go to his room. He stopped at the doorway and turned around, taking her into his arms he simply held her for a long time without saying anything. Then he turned suddenly and walked out of her room, closing the door behind him.
Marianne took a scalding shower and then put on her pajamas, which were man-styled satin pajamas Christa had given her for Christmas a few years before. They were well-worn and very soft. She came out of the bathroom and started to climb into bed. She stopped and then she began to pace the room, from the door to the bed and back. Eventually, she opened the door and marched across the hall. She rapped on Luke's door and opened it immediately when she heard him say, "Yes?"
He was sitting up in bed, reading a book. His hair had gone gray and his whiskers were a bit grizzled, but he was still in good shape - at least for a man his age. Marianne locked eyes with him and moved across the room toward him, sliding into bed without blinking or looking away. She scooted over next to him and put her arms around him, "Let's make a couple of things clear at the outset."
He slid his glasses up on his forehead, set the book on the nightstand and looked amused, "Such as?"
"Such as, first off, this bed is a lot higher and I'm a lot older than the last time. I nursed a bruised hip for weeks after that little back-flip I did once upon a time. It must have been a man who invented those damnable satin sheets. Anyway, first of all, none of that whatever the hell it was that caused me to fall out of bed the last time."
He said, "I always thought it was a simple matter of you were too close to the edge and not paying attention."
"I was paying attention all right, but not to where the edge of the bed was."
"Okay. So we've got the 'no acrobatic sex' rule. At my age, I think that won't be a problem. What else?"
She put her hand against his cheek and looked deeply into his eyes. "I still get up at impossibly early hours. My biological clock is set on Eastern Time. My guess is I'll wake really, really early. I will get up so as not to disturb you, but I will be here, in the house. If you wake up and I'm not in bed, follow the smell of coffee. I'll be waiting for you. I promise you I won't leave you again unless it is by mutual agreement."
He took her in his arms and kissed her. He held her for a long time, both of them trembling with emotion and unable to speak. Eventually he whispered, "Are you as exhausted as I am?"
"I'm the old lady who traveled a couple of thousand miles today and then had an incredibly emotional reunion."
He snuggled against her and said, "With any other woman, I'd feel obligated, but I'm really kind of an emotional wreck. And, somehow, with you I have never felt the need to pretend about anything."
She kissed his chin and said, "I'm tired, too. How about let's don't and say we did?"
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. Just as she started to doze off, he started laughing. She wriggled around to face him and asked, "What the hell is so funny?"
"I just remembered something funny from my childhood."
"What?" She was suddenly awake and curious to hear his story.
He pushed her hair back and propped up on one elbow. He said, "Shortly after we moved to LA, when I was maybe 11 or so, my parents befriended an old couple from across the hall in our apartment building. At the time, my parents were in their early to mid thirties. The people across the hall were in their late sixties. They had both been widowed and had met after they moved into the complex. They had recently married and they were so damned horny all the time, it was disgusting. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. I, of course, didn't understand what was going on, but my parents were outraged. They could not imagine that old people would want to have sex. My mother, in particular thought it was totally gross."
Marianne laughed and traced his eyebrow, "How old were your parents when they died?"
"Papa was forty two and Maman was thirty-nine."
"Good thing they died before they lost interest, huh?"
He laughed, "Based on the stuff I heard from their bedroom, I'm guessing they'd have changed their tune if they'd lived to be old."
"Are we old?"
"Yes."
"Do you feel old?"
"No. Do you?"
He answered, somewhat wistfully, "I do right now" Switching to French, he added, "Good night, Cherie. Sweet dreams." They fell asleep instantly, snuggled together like a couple of puppies.
The next morning Marianne woke before sunrise and padded barefoot down to the kitchen. She made coffee and spread the newspaper out on the kitchen island. About 6:30 a. m. the housekeeper came in to begin her day. Chantal poured herself the last cup of coffee and put on a new pot. Then she bustled around the kitchen making preliminary preparations for breakfast.
Marianne said, "Do you want me to get out of your way? I feel like such an intruder."
Chantal laughed, "I'm the cook. You're the... I'm guessing you're the next lady of the house. I might as well get used to taking orders from you."
Marianne said, "I've never had household help before."
Chantal looked incredulous, "You're kidding?"
"No. I've always done all my own housekeeping and cooking. I know I committed a terrible faux pas yesterday, and I apologize. I hope you will help me out when I run the risk of making such gross mistakes in the future."
Chantal sipped her coffee and said, "Madame, I have worked for Monsieur Luc for a very long time, nearly forty years to be exact. In fact, I came to him with the house in Gordes where you met. I was the housekeeper there for the previous owner. I have seen women come and go in his life. With the exception of Madame Lisa, mostly they have gone. You have stayed with him all these years. I can imagine almost nothing that would cause you to fall from his favor. He is my employer, so, of course, I do not volunteer my opinion. That does not mean I do not have one."
r /> Marianne asked, "What is your opinion?"
Chantal said, "It is my opinion that for some reason that makes no sense, given the life Monsieur has led, our Dear Lord has taken mercy on him and has given him his dearest wish."
Marianne pressed further, "And what do you think of that?"
Chantal looked her squarely in the eye and said, "That will depend entirely on the decisions you make over the next few days."
Marianne smiled and said, meeting Chantal's gaze without blinking, "Thank you so much for your honesty. I want you to know that I am very sorry for hurting him, and I won't do it again."
Chantal smiled, but it was clear she was going to reserve judgment until she had seen some proof that Marianne would follow through on that promise.
By the time Luke came downstairs a few hours later, Marianne had read the paper and was most of the way through a script he had left on the table. Luke laughed and commented, "The last time you picked up a script I left lying around you encouraged me to do the movie, and it worked out pretty well for me... as in I won damned near every acting award there is for that picture. What do you think of that one?"
She made a face, "I think it could be a sort of moderate hit, but it's not all that great. You'll probably do it, and it'll be okay, but it's not fabulous."
"I'm 76. I don't do 'fabulous' any more."
She stood up and put her arms around him, "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"
"'Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me?'"
"Don't play coy with me, Luke Payne. It's