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Through a haze of half-conscious dreams and slumber, Charlie managed to part her eyelids long enough to see that their sliding glass door was still dark with night. "It isn't morning yet," she protested, pulling up the sheets beneath her chin and rolling onto her side.

Adam laughed softly, and Charlie suddenly felt herself being lifted from the bed-- sheets and all!

Wondering if she were still asleep and dreaming, Charlie held onto her blankets, as Adam carried her through the sliding glass door and outside into their enclosed garden.

"It's cold," she whimpered sleepily, as a chilly breeze kissed her face and numbed her nose.

"I'll keep you warm," Adam whispered, his voice only a hush against the silence of the surrounding darkness. "Charlie, I'm going to set you on your feet now. Give me your hand."

Too dazed to understand what was going on, Charlie obediently did as she was told. She shuddered uncertainly as Adam guided her to something cold and metallic. Then a beam of brilliant light cut through the night as Adam turned on a flashlight. Only then did Charlie understand she was looking at a ladder. For some unexplainable reason, it was propped against the wall of the main house.

"Climb up," directed Adam, shining the light onto the bottommost rung. "Give me your blanket, first; I don't want you tripping on it."

"Where are we going?" she asked numbly, handing over the warm bed sheets to her strangely behaving husband.

"Up," came his one word response. It was an obvious answer, but it did very little to explain why they were outside in the middle of the night, climbing a mysteriously placed ladder. "Watch your step, Charlie."

With a little effort, she reached Villa Rosa's rooftop. Charlie shivered as the desert wind engulfed her with a bracing gust of cold air. As Adam climbed up the ladder, Charlie recognized Beppe's handiwork in the red tiles that trimmed the edges of the flat, asphalt paved roof. She had been up here before, but never at night.

Adam soon joined Charlie, and led her to a spot where no one could see them from the ground. He then handed Charlie back her sheets, and she promptly wrapped them around her body, trying to give herself more protection from the chilly breeze than her lacy nightgown was affording.

"Just hold on," requested Adam, knowing full well that she was cold. He knelt on the asphalt and quickly unfurled a sleeping bag. Expectantly, Adam held it open so she could climb inside and get warm.

"You want me to sleep on the roof?" she asked, completely befuddled by his actions.

"Get in," he urged, climbing in himself and then waiting for her to join him. "It's big enough for the both of us."

Another gust of cold aided Charlie's decision, and she hurried inside. "What are we doing on the roof?" She was wide awake now, and needed some answers. "Did you bring me up here to make love?"

"Not exactly," laughed Adam, "but I won't say it didn't cross my mind."

"You still haven't answered my question."

Adam smiled at Charlie. "Why don't you try to relax, and enjoy the scenery? Everything doesn't need to be carefully planned, to have a good time!"

"So," she deduced, "you don't know why we're up here, either."

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