Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.
AN: Response to the Valentine's Day challenge from the FB SMK fanfic group to begin a story with the phrase, "This/that is/was your/his/her idea of a Valentine's Day gift?" Set just after The Triumvirate since it aired right around Valentine's Day. I hope you enjoy it.
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"This is your idea of a Valentine's Day gift?" Lee almost choked with laughter when his partner entered the room as he poked through a Valentine's gift basket that sat on her kitchen counter.
Amanda rolled her eyes at him and when looking at the mess he'd made of her work, questioned, "What do you think you're doing?"
He looked at her in confusion. "You told me to get here early and that it was okay to pick you up at the house for our date tonight."
"Yes, but I didn't mean sneak in my back door. I meant, I don't know, come to the front door and ring the bell like a normal person. You know, like a real date and I certainly didn't mean go rifling through things that aren't yours. You do know this isn't for you, right?" She pulled the basket toward her.
"Oh, I figured that out pretty quickly," he retorted with a smirk. "But who exactly is this for?" He held up a plastic Pez witch.
"Francine," she replied simply.
"This?" He laughed again. "This is for Francine?"
"Well, yes. I bought it a few months ago along with a lot of other stuff when my supermarket had all their Halloween stuff marked down. I do that every year. I didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time, but since I got the idea to put this thing together for Francine, it seemed like the perfect fit because it's sort of a private joke between us," Amanda explained.
"No, the joke will be what kind of scheme she's going to devise to pay you back for that little prank," he replied, still shaking with laughter.
"It's not a prank," she insisted as she grabbed the witch back from him and began to reassemble the contents of the basket. "Like I said, it's a private joke between me and her. She'll know exactly what it means and the way she likes her sweets, I think she'll appreciate it."
"Okay, you've got to let me in on this private joke of yours," he cajoled, though he didn't think anything could be funnier than what he was witnessing right now.
She shook her head firmly. "Nope. Mm-mm. Not a chance."
"Well, I don't see why you're going to all this trouble for her in the first place when she's never been that nice to you," he commented.
"Oh, I don't think that's true so much anymore. She's had a bit of a change of heart since we were locked in a freezer together. Plus, she did send me to just the right place to find a dress for my reunion."
"That nearly got you killed, if I recall." His face turned more serious. That had only happened a couple of days ago and it still made him shudder to think about what a close call that had been.
"So what are you saying? That she intentionally sent me there to get me killed? Is she supposed to be some sort of psychic who just knew that the bad guy was going to follow me to the vintage store?"
He sighed in frustration. "A-man-da," he drawled her name. "That's not what I meant and you know it. I just meant-"
"Oh, I know what you meant," she cut him off. "You think that just because it ended badly that I shouldn't still be grateful to her for at least trying to help me out; like maybe I should hold a grudge or something since her sending me there nearly got me killed, however, the fact that she knew I was there is also what saved me because she was able to tell you where I was." She shot him a scolding look. "Besides, I don't see you holding a grudge over her nearly getting you killed when she was taking cooking lessons with Mrs. Welch."
"Okay, but she wasn't exactly herself then, not when she was being drugged by that hellish homemaker," he pointed out. "Besides, she and I have been friends for a long damn time so I've seen a lot worse behavior from her when it was intentional."
"And as her friend, you should appreciate that I want to do something nice for her, especially since she took a bullet for me."
"AHA!" he crowed triumphantly. He knew there was more to the story than she was letting on. "So that's what this is really all about. You just feel guilty because she got shot trying to protect you." He couldn't resist a gloating tone creeping into his voice, but then seeing her face fall, his own facial expression softened as he took her hands in his. "Listen, you don't have any reason to feel guilty. Francine was just doing her job and unfortunately, that kind of thing comes with the territory."
She pulled her hands from his and went back to her task. "No, Lee, it's not justguilt. I mean, yes, I feel bad that she had to cancel her date because she's spending Valentine's Day in the hospital and her date got mad over her cancelling at the last minute and now she's all alone, but this isn't about guilt. This is about gratitude. I was able to go home to my children last night while she had to be admitted to the hospital, so I need to show her how appreciative I am."
"Hmmm…does that mean you're cancelling our date? I mean, I did already make dinner reservations for us." He was horrified by that thought, not really because he'd gone to the trouble of making plans for what he hoped would be a romantic evening for the two of them, but more because he really just wanted to spend time with her and somehow show her just how special she was to him, even if he couldn't quite summon up the courage to say the words aloud.
Amanda paused what she was doing long enough to shoot him a 'are you kidding me' look with a gesture to her dressier-than-normal outfit, then resumed packing up Francine's basket and launched into full ramble mode. "Do you really think I'd have worn a dress like this if I were planning to cancel? And why do you think I asked Joe to pick up the boys early and bought Mother that all-day spa trip for today before her date tonight? I wanted us to have what feels like a normal date for a change without all the sneaking around and making up excuses. Don't you want that too?"
Lee attempted to answer her questions, but before he could, she started again, "AND after all that, I spent half the day trying to figure out what to wear and how to do my hair and my makeup so I'd look at least half way presentable for you-"
"You look beautiful," he crooned softly, cutting off her rant by making her flush slightly at the compliment.
"Thank you," she replied sincerely, if a bit flustered by the hungry way he was now gazing at her. She quickly averted her eyes and put the finishing touches on the basket. "Anyway, I also spent a good part of the day putting this together for Francine, so we could drop it by the hospital on the way to wherever we're going."
"Complete with a Pez witch," he chuckled as he plucked the offending item that had started the argument from the basket.
"Gimme that" She slapped at his hand until he loosened his grip on it, snatched it from his grasp and placed it neatly back in place. "In case you haven't noticed in all your poking around, there are a lot of other things in here too. I got her a box of her favorite chocolates, the latest issues of the fashion magazines she reads and one of those trashy romance novels to give her something to do until they release her from the hospital."
"Oh, I saw that too." Peals of laughter escaped him again as he picked up the book in question. "Knight's Honor. I'm sure that's right up Francine's alley," he quipped sarcastically.
"It's another..."
"Another private joke?" His lips quirked at that as he tried not to laugh again, not wanting to get Amanda even more annoyed with him before their date had even begun, but he couldn't help wondering just what had gone on between the two women in that freezer that had brought about this change. And since he had a past with Francine, he wasn't at all sure he liked the idea of the two of them having even having private jokes between them. Had they talked about him? Was the knight thing some sort of swipe toward him?
"Yes, just between Francine and me," she answered tersely as she recalled the conversation she'd had with Francine about white knights. "Now would you stop? I had this just the way I wanted it." She took the book from him and gently placed it back where it had been.
"The other stuff I get, the magazines, the chocolate, the novelty deck of cards for Valentine's Day, even the trashy historical romance novel to give her something to do, but the witch?" When Amanda again shook her head at his probing, he raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Really? You're really not going to tell me?"
"No, that's just between us girls." Finished straightening the mess he'd made, she hooked the basket over one arm before he could get his hands on it again and commanded, "Now, come on! We need to get going if we're going to stop by the hospital and still make our reservation."
He shook his head as he followed her to the front door, but still couldn't help laughing at himself and how easy it was for him to let Amanda manipulate him. He was actually beginning to enjoy all the different ways she found to get the best of him.
An hour later as they were exiting the hospital, Lee was once again shaking his head at his own folly for not trusting Amanda's instincts. "I'll be damned, you were right. I've never seen Francine laugh that hard at anything. That must be one hell of a private joke between you two."
"I told you," she gloated.
"Okay, I admit it. Whatever the significance of that silly witch is, it was a perfect gift because it cheered her right up."
"Spoken by the man who can't shop for gifts to save his life so just buys everyone a scarf for Christmas every year," she teased.
"Hey. I know how to shop for gifts just fine when it's for someone who's really important to me."
"Oh?" She grinned at him. "So, what'd you get me for Valentine's Day?"
"I-" He scratched his head in confusion. "Are we at the Valentine's Day gift-giving stage?" He frowned, hoping he hadn't screwed things up between them already when they were just beginning to get somewhere.
She gave him an open-mouthed, stunned look. "You mean we're not?" She sniffed. "Or are you saying that I'm not someone who's important to you?"
Looking guilty, he sputtered, "A-Amanda, I-I'm sorry. I thought we-" He let out a sigh, unsure of what to say to get back into her good graces. "I mean, yes, you are important to me, but I-I didn't think that meant-"
Unable to keep up the pretense of being hurt any longer, she burst out laughing. "Gotcha'!"
Damn, she did it to me again.
His chagrin soon faded when she leaned in as she had after the first time he'd given her roses, gave him a chaste kiss and then hurried to her side of the Corvette. Just as he had the last time she'd kissed him like that, he felt a goofy, giddy grin spreading across his face as he got into his side of the car. He reflected on how happy just that tiny little kiss made him, something he'd have never thought possible before, and of Francine's recent change of heart and couldn't help wondering if Amanda just had that effect on everyone.