Karen Hughes has a unique relationship with her boss. She knows how he likes his coffee. He knows to say she is "tall," not "big." "We have already had that conversation," she says with a mock "don't go there" tone.

President Bush and his flex-time communications adviser have one of the closest relationships in White House history. It's as complex as Lyndon Johnson and his press secretary, Bill Moyers, who was something of a surrogate son and an alter ego. You didn't find quite the same personal chemistry-as-destiny between Richard Nixon and Ron Ziegler, Gerald Ford and Ron Nessen or even George H.W. Bush and Marlin Fitzwater.

Like Georgians Jody Powell and Jimmy Carter, Ms. Hughes and Mr. Bush speak the same language. She has a unique status because she has been at Mr. Bush's ear with the right words to say since his gubernatorial campaign in 1994, "when his motorcade was one car – and sometimes he was driving."

The world will get some samples of what she has whispered in the president's ear – and what he had to say about it – when her book, 10 Minutes From Normal , is released at the end of this month. The title comes from an announcement about a train stop during the presidential campaign that became symbolic of her efforts to balance her political and personal lives. She was trying to put her family first when she stayed in the capital to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her husband – and, as a result, wasn't with the president on Sept. 11, "the most historic day of his presidency."

Her voice was tinged with regret as she described that conflict to an audience at a National Center for Policy Analysis luncheon in Dallas the other day. But she revealed she now gets a chuckle at being identified as "That Woman Who Moved Home to Texas ." She did just that in 2002 to spend more time with her husband, Jerry, and their 16-year-old son, Robert.

Ms. Hughes still advises the president, but from her home in Austin , thanks to a retainer arrangement with the Republican National Committee. She is regularly on the phone if not in the room with Mr. Bush. She jokes that the calendar in her kitchen had two important dates circled in January – "my son's orthodonist appointment and the president's State of the Union address."

Through her White House anecdotes, she paints an affectionate portrait of a president who is demanding, decisive, dedicated, self-effacing and fun. It wasn't unusual for him to call her in on a Sunday afternoon to work on a major speech and expect it by 7 o'clock the next morning. He insists that people be on time or be left behind, she said, because, as he tersely puts it, "late is rude."

He wasn't bothered when pundits suggested Dick Cheney had stronger credentials to be president than he did. "The stronger the vice president is, the better it is for me, because it makes it more likely we'll get things done," she says he told her.

Contrary to former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's claim that the president was disengaged, Ms. Hughes said Mr. Bush invites honest disagreement. She recalled one exchange when he told his chief speechwriter what he wanted to say, then added, "You don't have to agree just because I'm president." The speechwriter replied, "In that case, I don't agree." The president listened.

She said the president always has insisted, "Tell me when I screw up." So she does. She told him that he shouldn't have called the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks "folks" – he should have called them "terrorists." She pointed out to him that he misspoke when he said no one should "misunderestimate" him.

He later teased her, "I'm going to misunderestimate folks."

Her detractors used to complain Ms. Hughes overcontrolled the president's message, but even they concede he communicates best with her at hand. Ms. Hughes, 47, often is given credit for crafting the president's "compassionate conservative" theme in the 2000 campaign – and indicated at the Dallas luncheon that the new themes for 2004 may include an "ownership society" where citizens have more say in their Social Security accounts and medical coverage.

Indeed, it sounded as if she was testing sound bites when she fired off a few political shots about the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry. "It took Howard Dean to make John Kerry look electable," she said. She blasted the Massachusetts senator for criticizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Patriot Act, the Iraq war and the No Child Left Behind Act – because "he voted for all of them." The next day, the president used some of the same lines in a speech.

Ms. Hughes said she promised the president that she would return for the 2004 campaign, and she is. But she also promised her husband and son that she would spend as much of the summer as she could with them. So she won't rejoin the campaign team full-time until mid-August.

In the meantime, she isn't exactly slacking off – there is a book to promote, Bible study classes that are dear to her heart and a possible return trip to Afghanistan , where she has been involved in improving conditions for women. Somehow, the flex time has turned into full time, she admitted. Recently, when she was heading out the door to speak at a fund-raiser billed as "An Evening With Karen Hughes," she said her husband observed, "I'd like an evening with Karen Hughes."

But maybe they both now realize you can stop in Normal , but it's hard to stay long.