"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Singing at the top of her lungs, Leah sped out her bedroom door, nearly dropping her purple clutch in the process of securing the door knob behind her.

"Ah!" Fumbling to grab for the purse, she retrieved it before turning to hurry down the winding stairs. Ugh! She was late. Later than late! Stupid Samantha. Thanks to all her fretting last night, she hadn't even heard her alarm clock.

No sooner having reached the bottom, she glanced up to see Wren come bounding down his own hallway, hair sticking every which way, one shoe lace undone, and his suit coat dangling from his teeth as he used both hands to work on tying his tie. Slowing to a stop, she stared, then doubled over laughing.

"You look absolutely ridiculous," she gasped, a tear escaped one eye.

Looking just a bit startled at her being there, Wren slid to halt himself as he starred at his ward in front of him. "What's so funny?" He said through his clenched teeth that were starting to hurt from holding his black jacket's heavy material.

Still laughing, she stepped forward, putting her clutch under her arm before reaching out to take his suit coat. "Here," she giggled," Let me help you."

"Ugh, thanks," he muttered looking down as he worked at looping his tie correctly. "I totally slept through my alarm. I was up late last night."

"You weren't the only one."

He looked at her again with a slight smile. "You too, huh?"

She nodded, watching as he stooped down to fix his shoe lace, then realized he was no longer looking at her . "Yeah. I think I fell asleep at like two something."

Huffing from all his exertion, he stood to his feet and ran both hands through his shaggy brown hair several times, not realizing how attractive he looked doing it.

"Try four," he rolled his green eyes as he took his coat from her and threaded his arms through the long sleeves, adjusting his collar as a last touch up. "Better?"

Not sure she had ever seen anyone transform from a ridiculous mess to absolute hot in a matter of minutes, Leah just simply raised her eye brows and nodded. "Much."

"Great! You ready then?"

"More than ready!"

"Awesome. Let's do it ." He started to walk past her until he was stopped again as his phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Did you enjoy having Miss Kingsley help you get dressed?"

Eyes widening as he stared down at the text message, he let his gaze travel to the security camera mounted in the corner. He did his best to hide his laugh as he sent a glare to the camera. Edward obviously had too much time on his hands.

"Something wrong?" Leah didn't miss his glare at the security cam, but felt a bit baffled at his attitude. Not that she herself didn't at times just stand there and try to melt the cameras with a death glare too.

"Huh. Oh no. Sorry. Just Edward being a dork." He smiled down at her as he opened the large mansion door and they stepped out into the early morning air. Already the day was turning hot as was typical of June in Missouri.

"What a beautiful day to bring Fiona home!" Smiling as she half jogged beside Wren's fast pace, Leah couldn't help but feel pleased at how well the gardener was keeping the landscape. Hilda had made sure the mansion had been scrubbed and cleaned and Fiona's room had been covered in vases of wildflowers and balloons. Happy everything seemed in place for her friend's arrival and that Wren at her side again, she couldn't hide the joyous leap in her steps.

They neared the guard shack and large metal gates when Wren's phone vibrated again with another message from Edward.

"I took the liberty to sign you and Miss Kingsley out. Tell that little maid hi for me." Wren read the words aloud, before grinning at Leah. " Guess we are set to go then."

"You and Edward are becoming pretty good friends, aren't you?" Leah noticed the bond the butler and guard were forming and for some reason she felt happy and jealous at the same time.

He opened the gate and lead them through it, making sure he heard the loud clank as it latched behind him. "He's a pretty cool guy."

Slowing her steps so that she dropped behind Wren a little, she pondered this quietly. "That's good then," She finally said as she slipped into the back seat. "It's good that you have a friend here."

"I have a lot of friends here." He shut the door gently, being sure to not hit his ward's foot, before rounding the van and climbing into the drivers seat. He finished what he was saying as if there hadn't been a pause at all . "I have Edward, Fiona and you."

"And you.." Playing the sweet words in her mind, Leah smiled as her heart warmed. He considered her a friend at least. When their gazes met through the review mirror, her smile widened. No, he saw her as much more than a friend, she thought as she glimpsed the tenderness in his gaze.

Breaking contact, she cleared her throat. "We had better hurry or Fiona will be waiting on us..."

"Yes, we should!"

Soon they were driving upwards on the winding curvy road, and once again Leah climbed easily over the middle console to settle in the front passenger seat. When Wren just grinned at her, she smiled back contentedly.

"So what were you doing up so late for?" She was pretty sure she already knew the answer to her question, but she wanted to hear him talk. It still seemed unreal he was her butler again!

His features turning serious, Wren maneuvered his tires around a turtle that had meandered dangerously on the side of the road. "Probably the same reason you were. I was just concerned with the so called change in Samantha."

"Yeah, It certainly seems fishy."

"Fishy?" He chuckled, his tone teasing.

"What? You have never heard the word fishy?"

"I probably have...it just sounded..." He paused as if searching for the word. "Cute."

A blush crept up her neck as his choice of word. " I was a little worried, yes."

"A little?"

At her butler's skeptical tone, she shrugged in surrender. "Well, okay. Maybe a lot." She hesitated. "I prayed last night."

More than a bit startled, the vehicle jerked as Wren turned to look at her quickly. "Really?!"

"Careful!" She gripped the door handle tightly, suddenly fearful, as she remembered the last time the sedan had jerked.

"Sorry."

Taking a deep breath to relax, she relaxed her grip before answering. "Yes, I did. I asked him for wisdom. I am pretty sure He gave me some too. I wasn't really sure your God existed but after last night....I do believe He exists now, though I don't really know what else to believe about Him."

"That's great Princess. Learning about God and who He is takes time. And there is nothing wrong with that. God's not in a hurry. I'm glad you are discovering His reality though."

"Does your church have Wednesday night services too? I was kind of thinking I would like to go?"

Word's couldn't explain the joy that Wren was feeling at Leah's words. His princess was opening her heart to the Lord little by little he could see. "Yes, they do but I don't usually go since I am working...."

"Well, I am ordering you to take me on Wednesday's from now on!" Sitting upright, she smiled although her voice held authority. "If my Father finds out and asks, then that will be what you tell him."

"Are you trying to protect me? Because it's kind of my job to protect you."

"I'm not protecting!" she huffed a little but then turned serious. "Well, maybe I am, but Wren...my Father dislikes Christianity. If he thought for a second that you were pressuring me to go to church or encouraging me to take part in it....He would fire you in a heartbeat. I'm not losing you. Please, promise you will do as I say if we are ever caught."

Frowning, Wren hesitated at the urgency in her voice. What was he supposed to do in these situations? She wanted to go to church but her Father didn't want her to. At the same time, she was technically his boss, so he couldn't demand she not go anywhere. Not that he wanted to demand she not go to church; he wanted her to more than anything!

"Wren." Her voice pressed him, almost demanding an answer.

He sighed. "Okay. I promise."

"Good." Satisfied, she leaned back to look out her window. It crossed her mind to tell him about Edward's plan to tap Samantha's room but just as quickly, she decided not to. If anything negative were to come from her and Edward's plan, she wanted Wren safe from it's after effects.

"Funny," she thought, "How much I want him to be protected. I guess that's a symptom of love." Because she knew. She was definitely in love with Wren Adams.

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Leaning against the side of his car, a tall lanky man in his forties starred hard at the hospital door, his eyes dark and unfriendly. A woman holding her child's hand as she threaded her way through parked cars, spotted him and tensed. She didn't say anything as he let his eyes fall on her. She just pulled her child closer to her as they hurried past him. He grinned a little. This was a typical reaction he received from every day people on a day to day basis and he liked it. Reaching into his pocket, he felt the butt of the large knife that lay secured to his leg. He could hardly wait to wield it and put it to use as he finished the job for The Boss.

Suddenly, a tinkling laugh reached his ears. It was a beautiful sound and he searched and found the source. A young woman stepped from a black sedan, gazing up with what looked like adoration at a tall brown haired man in a suit who held the door for her. Since the young man's back was to him, he couldn't make out his face but he didn't much care. He looked back to the girl, his grin widening. She was a young pretty thing... just like he liked them. Noticing her authentic diamond earrings dangling from her ears, he mentally added rich to her category. Once he finished his job, he might just have to look this girl up.

He continued to watch the two, when suddenly the young driver or whatever he was, turned to face him. As he took in the handsome features, he his breathing stopped as shock riveted through him. He looked harder. It couldn't be! But it was. Slowly, the shock wore off and the man gave a sinister chuckle. "Well, well," he muttered. "Wren Adams. The Boss is sure going to be happy about this."