San Angelo With A Twist

Chapter 4

Amanda and Lee met with Joe and Dotty at Spencer's the following day at noon for lunch and sat in the back room as Lee had reserved the night before.

After introductions were made, the foursome ordered coffee to start and Lee told the waiter they would need some time before ordering their lunch.

The waiter left and Joe began by stating,"Well, Amanda. You called us here. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Amanda shook her head and replied,"Wow! I find it truly amazing, Joe King, that you can come back here after almost three years and suddenly decide to play daddy like you never left!"

Joe responded,"Look, I told you what I wanted to do. Besides, I had business at the American Embassy-"

Amanda nodded and sighed."So, you've been in town since-"

Joe replied,"The weekend. I was going to call but as usual, you were out. I only heard from Dotty yesterday morning after the mail came. She was really upset. I had to do something-"

Amanda in a hurt tone remarked,"I see. So your "solution" was to take my boys out of the only home they've ever known, plop them in a hotel room and tell them they were going to live in Africa or wherever you plan to be at the moment? C'mon Joe, that's low! Even for you!"

Joe angrily retorted,"Well, what about you? Marrying a man on a cruise? A man your mom and my kids have never even met? What's wrong with you? I thought you'd have better sense than that, Amanda-"

Dotty couldn't take any more. She put up both hands quickly and stated,"Stop it, both of you! This isn't getting us anywhere!"

Looking at Joe she asked,"Joe, we promised to at least hear her out, didn't we?"

Joe was about to respond but then backed down and nodded sullenly.

Dotty then looked at her daughter and stated crisply,"And you, Missy! What am I to think seeing that picture of you with this strange man? A man you brought to our lunch? How could you? I never raised you to be this deceitful-"

Amanda had enough and began a ramble that Lee couldn't stop if he tried. She shook her head and replied,"I've had it! Now look you two, I work with Lee at IFF and IFF works for the government and the government has secrets, okay? The picture that was sent to the house was from a documentary that Lee and I did on engaged couples. I never married him. We're not even dating. We only work together. Satisfied?"

Taking a breath finally to calm herself she slowly stated,"Sometimes we have to fill in for actors when necessary and act a certain way to complete the job."

Looking at Joe she queried,"Joe, other than this totally misunderstood incident, can you honestly give me any other reason to take my children away from me? We both decided on this custody arrangement together. You'd still see them whenever you'd like but their primary residence was to be in Arlington, correct?"

Joe sighed as he looked at the man seated across from his ex-wife. There was something different about Amanda and he was sure it had to do with Lee Stetson. She had changed and he didn't like it one bit.

Trying to get his attention Amanda tapped his shoulder stating,"Earth to Joe!"

Joe came out of his unhappy reverie and suddenly straightened in his seat as he shook his head."Oh, sorry. You're right, Amanda. I guess I overreacted a little-"

Lee snorted derisively at the comment and all eyes were on him then making him uncomfortable.

Clearing his throat he remarked,"Uh excuse me, but Amanda is telling the truth here. Our supervisor's boss tells us what our jobs are and we have to follow policies set by the company. We fill in on documentaries when we're short staffed on location shoots such as the cruise."

Looking at Dotty he stated,"Mrs. West, I want to apologize to you if Amanda's gone so often but the government doesn't exactly run a nine to five schedule, you know?"

Dotty then nodded in understanding as she looked at the man seated next to her. He seemed very nice but she wondered why Amanda wasn't interested in dating him. She'd have to find out why and soon.

Dotty then looked at everyone and changing the subject stated,"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm famished. Shall we eat?"

They all agreed and were soon enjoying their lunch and actually having pleasant conversations.

Later as they were getting ready to leave and Lee was settling the bill, Joe got Amanda alone and stated,"I'll get everyone settled back in the house. Don't worry. The boys were really missing you and anyway, it turns out that I have to go to Ethiopia for the next couple of months. I'm sorry about everything here, Amanda."

Amanda swallowed hard nodding and replied softly,"Me too, Joe. And listen, let's not argue like this if we're ever around the boys together all right? It'll only upset them."

Joe nodded in agreement."Yeah, you're right."

They all went out to the parking lot and Joe shook Lee's hand stating, "I'm sorry if things got a little heated in there Lee, but my family's real important to me."

Lee couldn't believe what he was hearing and had to swallow his anger as he responded,"Yeah, sure. Nice to have met you, Joe."

Then taking Dotty's hand he stated,"It was nice meeting you as well. I'm sorry it wasn't under more pleasant circumstances."

Dotty smiled at him and looking at Amanda remarked,"Well, maybe next time. Goodbye, Lee."

As Dotty and Joe left, Lee looked at Amanda and inquired,"What did she mean by that?"

Amanda rolled her eyes and shook her head replying,"I think she was sizing you up for me. Don't worry about it, though. I'll find a way to get her off the subject. Shall we head back to work?"

On their way to the Agency, Amanda noticed how quiet Lee had become and stated, "Is everything all right? What's wrong?"

When they at last pulled in and parked, Lee helped Amanda out of the car and remarked,"I'm fine. Let's get some filing done."

Now Amanda was worried because she knew Lee hated filing! She decided to confront him after work whether he wanted to talk or not.

TBC