Tess loved this kind of stuff. And if Helen Mirren had been there, Tess would have dived right in. Or Julia. Or that Alba chick.But after a brief pill...ow fight, we both subsided and fell asleep, hoping that Kim -- or somebody -- would wake us for dinner.We said our goodbyes, and our repeated thank-yous, to the Spencer clan and flew back to Raleigh-Durham on the 22nd. Tess' father met the plane and drove the women back to Chapel Hill. I caught a cab to my own family's house -- bearing gifts.My. The cost of the mail-order brides had risen to almost double what they were when she had been contracted but that was symbolic of the flourishing economic times the entire country was experiencing.Graham was riding shotgun looking as mean as possible to ward off any gents considering a stick-up to get their valuables and maybe even a quick poke of a pretty female. None of the criminal elements in the vicinity of the gold fields were gentlemanly when it came to handling female robbery victims. "So you ready to go yet?" "Not quite, I have to clear out all these tickets" he said pointing to a line of tabs on the central monitor. "Each one has a different task, most are super quick but one or two might be more involved, and I'm the only person still here." "No problem, crack away and maybe I will learn something" Charlie said as he rubbed Danny's shoulder, feeling the tension in his muscles "wow you really are tense, you need a massage or something while you work? Jesus I don't know how. ’ I said, feeling a little odd. He reassured ‘Don’t worry about that, it’s no problem. Besides, I wouldn’t be much of a gent if I didn’t come to the aid of this damsel in distress!’ I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I slow began to relax, a familiar confidence glimmering inside. ‘Talk about corny! Very sweet of you all the same though.’ I rewarded his generosity with a genuine smile as I accepted his lovely warm jacket. There was a long pause at that point. My infant bravado did a runner as we.