3
Window Reflections
The Tale of the Dancing Weasel
Amanda entered the foyer humming a tune and skipped down the stairs into the family room. She had enjoyed the lovely ride with Lee out into the country to deliver Harry's portrait. The drive there and back had been a continuation of the new "no shop talk" part of the friendship with her partner, and it had been such a refreshing change from her everyday life. Hanging her purse on the railing, she unzipped it. Reaching inside, she searched for the envelope she had placed there the other day. She needed to get rid of the evidence. All she needed was one of the boys or her mother to go looking for keys or some spare change and find Harry's business card instead. How would she explain "Zulu Blue" to them? Locating the card, she took it to the counter and ripped it into little pieces and placed it at the bottom of the garbage can. Still humming she closed the cabinet door and washed some stray dishes that had been left in the sink. She was happy, a contented happy.
She had studied those codes in her training manuals, but she hadn't really ever expected to receive a "Zulu Blue", at least not at this stage in her training. She was completely surprised to have it come from Harry V. Thornton. Before this week she'd only had a vague understanding that he was some important person in the world of the Agency, like she knew the faces of historic figures. Meeting him face to face was intimidating at first, and she wasn't sure what to think of this most recent turn of events. She was definitely suspicious when he had attributed such compliments about her looks and skills to Lee, but being asked to actually spy on Lee had her ready to bolt out of the room. The only thing that had made her stay was Harry's disarming persona and the tale about Eisenhower; his fondness for his cat had helped too.
Even though Harry had been the brain behind the founding of the Agency, she had found him to be a nice older gentleman. He had reminded her of her father. As he had described how he felt about Lee, she was ready to create a space for him in her affections. Anyone who would love Lee like a son would be okay with her. After hearing Lee confirm that he was indeed the man who had hired him, she was willing to do whatever she could to help them both. It was almost like another piece of the puzzle of Lee Stetson had clicked into place. Much like it had when she had met Emily Farnsworth. Again, it amazed her how "normal" both of these important figures in Lee's life were. They were spies, but they were like family as well.
It was good to know that Harry was finally retired for real and that she and Lee had been able to make sure that he could relax and enjoy his well-earned rest with the knowledge that what he had started was alive and well. She took personal satisfaction in the knowledge that she had also been able to be there with Lee in what could have been a difficult case personally. She was especially glad that the job of spying on Lee had turned out to actually help him and that it was finally over. Spying on the spy was not something she wanted to do often. She had been hesitant to do it when Harry had first mentioned it. Not only was she concerned that Lee would be furious if he found out, she wasn't sure if her spying skills were any match for his. He was sure to discover what she was up to. But it had been a great challenge, and she thought that she had done it pretty successfully.
Actually, the past few days had been pretty good. She had gained a lot of confidence in learning to follow her instincts. Francine may have called them her "lightening intuitive leaps," but the fact that she had voiced them had helped to solve the mystery of the Eisenhower letter and had kept Harry and the whole Agency safe. Maybe the bit about the earring had been a longshot, but it had worked. Sometimes search grids served their purpose, but basic life and home ec experiences could help too. And she was pretty proud of the way she had been able to ignore Francine's barbs this time. She was determined to figure out some way to work with Francine eventually, just like she had with Lee.
After these past two years, she had finally been able to figure him out, or at least she thought she had. After that dinner with no shop talk that they'd had the other day, things seemed to be back to their comfortable normal. And it was a good thing too. The job of spying on Lee Stetson was no easy task; it could have been even more complicated if that tension from the past week had still been between them. She'd had to know exactly what to do and say to get him to take her along to the State Department and not be left filing in the new Q Bureau. Working together at State had actually been fun. She chuckled as she thought of Lee in those silly glasses and the way the two of them had been able to pull the wool over the guard's eyes and get the info they had needed. And afterwards, in the car, Lee had told her that she had been very good with her role playing. It felt nice to hear him genuinely compliment her. She had suspected that Harry's line about how much Lee trusted her had been just that, a line. But after hearing Lee say that her ideas about getting info at the State Department were very good, she had begun to wonder if Lee really had told Harry that he trusted her instincts.
Of course, it wasn't so easy to follow him after that. There was a brief moment when she had felt a bit nervous that his personal errand had something to do with Leslie, but she knew that she had to follow him regardless. She hoped instead that the "personal" errand that Lee was so determined to shake her from really had to do with Crawford and his concern for Harry. She was relieved when it became clear that Lee was indeed going to Harry's town house instead of some rendezvous with Leslie. The relief hadn't lasted long though. It was just a good thing that she had spent so many hours coaching little league teams. Too bad Lee wouldn't recognize that immediately.
She had been waiting in the vault uncomfortably for Lee to return to the Q. It would have been nice if he had just truly wanted to walk her to her car. She knew that he was aware that she had followed him; she knew that he was mad at her. She didn't want to have another tense moment because she had disobeyed his order, and she didn't want to lie to him. She hated lying, especially as she was just beginning to realize how much Lee really did trust her. She didn't want him to think she was betraying that trust. But she had to obey Harry's orders and keep Lee out of the investigation. She hoped that he would understand later that she had done what she had in order to protect Lee, Billy and the entire Agency until that letter was found. And Lee was right; she always answered a question with a question when she didn't want to lie to him. He sure had gotten to know her well. She was pretty sure that he was going to let her have it again. He always did when he was worried or upset, and he was worried about Harry and upset with her. She had braced herself for more of his anger… and then he had said the most remarkable thing. He was grateful? During a time when he was so worried about Harry and so mad that she had lied, he was able to say that he was grateful to her! His comment had surprised her, and it had touched her. And yet she still had to find out what Lee was up to, so she couldn't react the way she would have liked to.
Her thoughts moved to the moment at Atkins Chemical when they had finally figured out what was going on and had apprehended Gregory and Crawford and found the letter that would exonerate Harry once and for all. Harry had said that it had all come together because of her instincts, her "pure instincts at work." She knew now that his view of her had begun with things that Lee had told him. If Harry could say something like that in front of Lee and after such an important case, maybe it would confirm to Lee what he saw in her. He trusted Harry enough to tell him that about her, so much so that Harry trusted her to help Lee and keep him safe and find that letter. Being able to be a part of those friendships was special. They may all be spies, but they really had some true meaningful relationships. That was nice.
Still humming, she allowed her eyes to focus on her reflection in the window, and all of a sudden, she recognized the tune that had been floating through her head this whole time. It was Maria's song from West Side Story. "I feel pretty"? she sang to herself. If Harry hadn't made up the "blind through a blizzard at midnight" thing, then maybe Harry wasn't making it up when he said that Lee thought that she was pretty? Looking at her reflection in the window, she smiled. She had always known that she could be attractive when she wasn't too tired or harried with children, housekeeping and work. But tonight she thought that she kind of did feel pretty too. Hmm? He would follow her blind through a snow storm at midnight? Wow!