Nicole Harrison was crying. She was packing her bags and was not doing a very good job because she couldn't see through tears. "Brilliant, Nicks, just brilliant," she told herself out loud, unconsciously using the nickname Wolf had given her. "You talk about the dangers of gossiping just at the same time you spill every secret you know. You can manage other people's lives SO well and make *mincemeat* out of your own." She gave up the packing and was preparing to sit down to have a good cry and get it out of her system with gobs of kleenex when she heard someone knock at the door.

She walked up to the door tentatively like it was going to bite her. *If it's Wolf,* she thought, *I'm climbing out the window.* She looked through the peephole but saw nothing but black. She frowned. *Someone's holding something to the peephole?* Convinced that Wolf would not do something as subtle as that, she opened the door a crack to see Mrs. Griffin standing there. Nicki's jaw dropped in surprise. "How did...did Mr. Gannett-?"

Savannah smiled as she politely but firmly invited herself in and closed the door. "My husband found out where you lived. He's very resourceful."

"I can imagine...but...what-?"

Savannah spied the open suitcase and sighed. "I was afraid of that. Well, at least I caught you in time."

Nicki swiped at her eyes briefly and she continued to pack. "Don't worry, Mrs. Griffin, it's not your fault. It's mine. If I don't know enough to keep my mouth shut about my client, I shouldn't be working there. I volunteered way too much information. If you had been from a rival film company, I could have destroyed Mr. Gannett with what I said. I don't want that to happen to him."

"But you'd destroy him if you left," Savannah said soothingly. "You made one mistake and luckily, it didn't do anything. I'm NOT from a rival film company and you know to be more careful. I know - I was the same way."

Nicki looked up curiously. "How so?"

Savannah smiled as she made Nicki stop her packing and sat down with her. "My husband is the REAL mercenary, remember? I was terrified that I would say something to endanger our life. I was stumped when a salesman asked me what toothpaste I used! I was afraid he'd give us a free sample and that it'd be poisoned!"

Nicki giggled reluctantly. "What happened?"

"Well, when *important* information got out, like what Wolf found out about us, I was terrified and thought that Kermit would never talk to me again. I was picturing divorce or maybe he'd just vanish off the face of the earth where I could never find him again. Instead, he just had an 'oh, well' attitude about the whole thing! He told me *I* was more important than any secret he might have and that he trusted me implicitly even after all that."

"Well," Nicki shrugged, "I'm happy things worked out for you but this is Wolf Gannett we're talking about. He's probably happy to get back to his old image anyway."

"When I left, he was on his fifth drink, looking like he'd lost his best friend," Savannah corrected. She looked at the other woman closely. "Has he?"

*****

"So, Wolf, DO you like her?" The other member of the Caine and Griffin Matchmaking Company surveyed his prey critically. He had prevented Wolf from downing that fifth drink, only to watch Wolf pace back and forth, making Peter feel like he was watching a tennis match.

"I don't know, man!" Wolf complained. "I never saw her in that way! She always said *I'M* the star; *I* hadda be out in front. She was always in the background, runnin' things. I never saw her much, period. She's really great at her job, ya know. Well, you saw! She arranged stuff before I even needed it! She said it was her job to make my job easier, and man, she did that."

"You know what's interesting, Wolf?" Peter pointed out. "I keep hearing a lot of 'she said this' and 'she said that'. You think maybe she was around you a lot more than you realized?"

That brought Wolf to a halt. "Never thought of that," he admitted.

"Didn't think you had." Peter sighed. This matchmaking business was harder than Savannah had made it look! "Okay, so we know how she feels about you. We still don't know how you feel about HER."

"I toldja I don't know!" Wolf snapped.

"Well, would you get this upset over losing your maid?"

"'Course not - Nicki'd just find another-" Wolf stopped and headed for the bar. Peter was conveniently in the way.

"Okay, what about someone a little less replaceable, like...ummmm...."

"You can't think of anyone else, either, huh?"

Peter grinned. "I think *that's* a pretty telling sign, too. Don't you think so?"

The door opened and Wolf jumped, turning around like he'd just been given an electrical shock. Nevertheless, he steeled himself and returned his expression to normal.

Savannah walked in with a reluctant Nicki in tow. "Well, good news, ya'll," she drawled cheerfully. "I found our wandering little assistant and she's just fine."

Wolf walked over to her but his carefully-planned speech went out the window when he saw her red, swollen eyes. "You been cryin', Nicks??" he asked incredulously.

She just shrugged and all of her words came out in a rush. "Mr. Gannett, I'm so, so sorry! I shouldn't have talked so much; it'll never happen again, promise, if you'd...if you'd be willing to give me another chance...."

"Well, lessee...." Wolf said, looking nonchalant toward the ceiling, "gotta think about it-" He interrupted himself by grabbing her and enveloping her in a huge bear hug. "Dammit, don't you EVER leave me again! You hear me! Ever! You scared th' crap outta me!" The hug turned into a kiss, tentative at first, but then with increasing passion and intensity.

Savannah stifled a smile as she and Peter tiptoed out.

Mission accomplished!

*****

"Gotta ask ya something, man."

Kermit watched the star's turn red and kicked at the floor a little with his toe like a little kid. "Stop that," he ordered firmly. "What is it?"

Wolf stammered and stuttered while Kermit looked at his watch, worried that he'd miss the flight. Finally, Wolf choked out a few words that was barely audible: "How d'ya know?"

Kermit frowned. "Know what?"

"YOU know...." Wolf began shuffling again, inclining his head briefly to where Nicki was saying good-bye to Savannah and the others.

Kermit tried to fight a smile. *Usually a good sign is when you start asking 'how do you know?',* he thought with amusement. But he decided that that would give Wolf a nervous breakdown and thought of other, more acceptable, answers. Kermit grabbed Wolf's arm to stop the shuffling and leaned close. "You know you're in love when you want to see her every minute of every day," he told him. Looking briefly at Savannah again for inspiration, he continued. "You know when you realize that, if she leaves you and you know it's forever, you feel like you want to die. You know when you realize that if she asked for the moon, you'd try everything to get it for her just to make her smile. You know when you realize that looking at other women just makes you long for HER even more." He let go of Wolf and stood back again. "That'll probably do for a start."

Wolf looked solemn and serious for once. "Thanks, man."

"You're welcome. Hope you'll do the right thing."

"I will."

To Kermit's surprise, Wolf's tone was now sure and strong. Shaking his head, he smiled and walked back to Savannah, taking her arm and looping it around his. "You'll never believe this," he said, "but he's learning!"

Savannah looked back over her shoulder to see Wolf walking away with his arm draped affectionately around Nicki. Turning back, she could see Mary Margaret and Caine standing by the window. Kat was resting in her godmother's arms and Mary Margaret was leaning, albeit discreetly, on Caine's arm. Romance was in bloom in the airport!

Basking in her success, Savannah threw her head back and announced, "Stick me with a fork, guys - I'm DONE!"

"Don't tempt me," Kermit whispered in her ear.

"Thank God!" Peter responded with an amused expression. "Now, maybe you'll leave us alone!"

"Oh, right! Like YOU," she said, jabbing Peter with her finger, "didn't always mysteriously disappear to let Mary Margaret and your father be alone. And, buddy-boy, you sure did spend a great deal of time talking to your twin about God-knows-what! You're just as bad as me!"

Turning to Kermit, she added, "And just what did YOU say to Wolf when you had your cute little heads together a moment ago?"

The ex-mercenary grinned and peered over his glasses. "I told him that he might as well marry that girl or you'd hound him forever!"

"Ha!" concurred Peter.

"I'd watch out, smart boy," Savannah laughed over her shoulder on her way through the gate. "Now, I have all the free time I need to work on the only two 'uncoupled' friends I have left."

Kermit slapped a very worried Peter Caine on the back. "Resistance is futile, my friend. Give up while you're behind."

Peter followed. Worried about yet another flight. Worried about what was to come. And rightfully so.

EPILOGUE:

Peter Caine walked into the Neon Light and looked around for his party. Kermit had invited him to join him and Savannah at the new restaurant and blues club. His nights had been free these days, to say the least. After Jordie, he hadn't made a great deal of effort to find someone else. Maybe he needed to give a little more thought before jumping into another relationship.

The detective noticed a familiar blonde head waiting at a table for four. "Jody?"

"Hi, Pete. Fancy meeting you here."

Peter dropped down in the seat beside her. *She looks hot,* crossed his mind. Immediately, he stopped traveling that road; he'd gone down it before and decided against it. But at least Jody was fun to be with. "Hi. You here for some hot date?"

"Oh, no. Just meeting Kermit and Savannah."

Trying not to be obvious, she noticed his new shirt. *He looks hot!* Putting on the brakes in her head, she tried to stop her train of thought, also. She'd been run over by it once already and wanted to avoid more tire tracks.

"Me, too," he replied.

From the look on Jody's face, this was news to her. The proverbial lightbulb appeared over both of their heads. "Uh oh...do you smell what I smell?"

"Hi, ya'll!" came the familiar greeting as Savannah took a seat at the table. "Great place, huh?"

From the look on Kermit's face, he had also picked up the familiar odor of Cupid...or, in this case, Venus. Evidently, he hadn't been included in the plans for this setup. "Looks like we like we have quite a *gathering* this evening," he announced, shooting a serious glare at his wife.

Savannah deftly ignored his disapproval and prattled on about how pretty Jody looked. How she wished Jody could have gone with them to California for Wolf's premiere. "Wouldn't that have been fun, Peter?"

Luckily, for Peter, the waiter arrived to take their order.

Despite the forced atmosphere, Peter and Jody began to relax. Talking about things that had nothing to do with work. Just after their drinks arrived, Savannah excused herself to make a call to their babysitter. Within a minute, she was rushing back to the table. "Kermit," she announced, "the baby has a temperature. We need to go home."

Kermit got quickly out of his chair to leave. "Guess you guys are solo. See you tomorrow." They hurriedly left the restaurant, leaving the other couple to their dinner and conversation.

Once inside the Corvair, Savannah dialed a number while Kermit pulled out of the parking lot. "Hi, it's Mrs. Griffin....No, everything's fine. We aren't going to be at the club like we planned. Call on the cell if you need anything, okay? Bye."

Kermit put on the brakes and stopped the car. "Spill it."

"What?"

"I take it Kat's perfectly healthy?"

Looking at him as if he were a moron, she answered, "Of course, you dummy. You didn't pick up on my signals? Pleeeeeze...."

"Lady...this could blow up your face! And MINE! I have to work with these people."

"Oh, now, Kermit. Relax," she giggled, playfully patting his arm. "They're two sweet, lonely people who just need a shove. One day, they'll thank me." Attempting to get back into his good graces, she added, "Now, why don't we get some dinner. And...room service?"

"Now she tries to ply me with sex! Well, Scarlett, I've been trained to withstand that type of persuasion, you know."

"Ooooo...a challenge! My favorite!"

Putting the Corvair in gear once more, Kermit grinned. "You'll never make me crack! Even if it takes all night...."

THE END

Next Story: Will The Real Mrs. Gannett Please Stand Up

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