Chapter 21 - A Busy Sunday

By morning, Amanda had forgotten that Lee had promised to call and she went about making breakfast for her family. Her mother mentioned that the local girl scouts were putting on a Christmas play that afternoon at the school and that it might be fun to go. Amanda agreed and though the boys groaned, Phillip had a crush on Suzy so he soon had convinced Jamie that they could have fun counting their mistakes. Amanda smiled as she realized that Phillip would likely be concentrating on things other than Suzy's mistakes. As she finished drying the dishes and putting them away, the phone rang. She was used to his voice by now and though she couldn't believe that his phone manners were so awful, it no longer upset her like it used to. In fact, she just enjoyed teasing him about his phone etiquette. She soon realized that this call was business and that it could entail a dangerous assignment for her. She agreed to meet Lee downtown at a coffee shop. She was just hanging up the phone when her Mother came downstairs. "Another of those strange phone calls dear?" Dotty asked. Amanda smiled and said "No, that was Mr. Swenson. His parakeet got out of its cage and he can't get it to come down off the curtain rod. It is pooping on his expensive curtains so he asked if I could come catch it for him."

"Oh dear. Does that mean that you won't be able to go to the play?" Dotty asked.

"No, it shouldn't take too long. I should be back in about an hour." Amanda said as she hurried out the door.

As she drove to DC, she wondered what kind of case would be this dangerous. After all, Lee had said it was more dangerous than she had been on before and she had already been on some pretty dangerous cases. She pulled up to the coffee shop just as Lee turned the corner. She couldn't help but smile as he helped her out of the car and into the building. He definitely had incredible manners. She wondered how he got them. They sat down at a table away from everyone else and after placing their coffee orders, Lee told her that he needed her to become Victoria Greenwich again. He explained the case and then told her that it would be unsafe for her to remain at home during it. Her heart sank a little at the thought of leaving her boys for that length of time but she knew that if Lee was suggesting that she stay away; it was for the best. He suggested using a house sitting job for a reason. He told her to go enjoy her family as she would have to become Victoria on the next day. Amanda was a little nervous since Lee seemed worried about her safety but she knew he would keep her safe. She agreed to meet him at the Greenwich house in the morning, thanked him for the coffee and then headed for home.

As she pulled into the driveway, she noticed that Dean's car was parked out front. Amanda let out a big sigh because she had forgotten about Dean. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. She got out of the car and went inside and discovered that her Mother had asked him to come to the play with them.

"I'm glad you are feeling better Dean" Amanda said.

"So am I. I think I just got a touch of the flu because it seemed to only last for 24 hours. I was happy when your Mother called me and invited me to the play and to dinner because I just found out that I have to go out of town again on Monday."

Amanda looked at her Mother and noticed that she was avoiding looking back at her. "Gee, that's too bad Dean. Another conference?" Amanda asked.

"No, actually I just heard that my Cousin Ralph who lives in Topeka. He was in a bad accident and there is no one to take care of him while he recovers. My Mother volunteered me to help out. Amanda, I was wondering if you would come with me. After all, we did meet when you were being a Bedside Bluebell so I know you are very good at taking care of grumpy sick people. When he's sleeping, we could have some time alone." Dean suggested.

"I would love to Dean but I just agreed to take on a house sitting job."

"Amanda? When did you do that? No one has called the house and you were gone to Mr. Swenson's the past hour or so." Dotty inquired.

"Oh Mother, I didn't get to tell you yet. While I was at Mr. Swenson's house, a good friend of his called and told him that his work just decided to pursue a contract in Africa and that they needed him on a plane tomorrow to begin the negotiations. Well he was telling Mr. Swenson how he hated to board little Fluffy. Little Fluffy is his Persian cat and apparently she hates it when he is away and will sulk the entire time when she is boarded. Well anyway, Mr. Putney was so worried about Little Fluffy because apparently he could be away for at least a week and he was wondering if Mr. Swenson would let her stay there. Well of course he couldn't because Mr. Swenson has Rudy. Rudy is Mr. Swenson's Pet Parakeet in case you didn't know. Well anyway, Little Fluffy could eat Rudy so well we couldn't have that so Mr. Swenson suggested that I could look after Little Fluffy. He put me on the phone with him and before I knew it, Mr. Putney began telling me all about all his houseplants and his outside critters that he feeds and well the next I knew, he had hired me to help him out while he is away."

"Rudy Dear?" Dotty asked Amanda. "Little Fluffy? Amanda, does that mean that you will be staying there instead of here?"

"Yes Mother, I'm sorry to drop all of this on you this way but I wasn't expecting Dean to be here when I got here so I figured we could talk about it after the play. In any case, I wouldn't be able to go with you Dean because I already promised Mr. Putney. I hope you understand."

Dean was still trying to catch up with Amanda's ramble but he absently nodded his head to let her know it was okay.

"Well I'm disappointed Amanda because we never seem to have any time together and I was hoping this would be a good opportunity for us."

"Well Dean, I could really use the money. After all it is Christmas time and I still need to finish buying gifts for the boys and money isn't really plentiful so I have to take these jobs when I'm offered them."

"Amanda, I've told you before, when we get married, I will take care of you and the boys and your Mother. You won't need to work then."

"Dean, we've talked about this before. I'm not ready to be married again. Please don't pressure me, especially in front of my family." Amanda said quietly.

"No pressure. I'm just reminding you that things could be different if you would take me up on my offer." Dean said with a smug look.

Dotty realized that Amanda was getting upset so she said "Well let's get to the play so we don't miss the opening act, shall we? JAMIE, PHILLIP, let's go!" She yelled up the stairs.

Jamie and Phillip ran down the stairs and everyone piled into the Station Wagon for the trip to the school where the play was being put on. Jamie and Phillip kept up a stream of conversation talking about various girls that were in the play. It was good that they did since all the adults had nothing to say to each other. They arrived at the play and Amanda found herself smiling again as she found out that the play was called "Christmas in the Land of Oz" They all took seats together near the front and soon the play helped ease the tension among the adults. The wicked witch was the Grinch as she stole Christmas from Munchkinland. All the characters from Oz had to work together to bring back Christmas. Suzy played Dorothy and did a really good job. Toto was a stuffed animal that looked more like a beaver than a dog. In the play, the Tin Man recovered his sense of humor, the lonely Lion found a lady companion, and Dorothy found the spirit of Christmas to take back to Kansas for Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. It was a lot of fun and even the boys ended up enjoying it. Phillip and Jamie rushed back stage afterward to congratulate Suzy and the rest of the girls while the adults exchanged kind words to the Mothers' of the young actresses.

By the time they headed back to Maplewood Drive, everyone was in a good mood and laughing about different parts of the play. Dotty had put a chicken into the oven to roast while they were gone and they came home to find that it was perfectly cooked. They all enjoyed a nice dinner and then the boys went upstairs to get their homework ready since the next morning was Monday. Dotty disappeared so that Amanda and Dean could have some time alone. Dean stood in the doorway and watched Amanda finish doing the dishes and then suggested that they watch a show on TV. Amanda really didn't want to but decided it was best to humor Dean for a little while since she knew he was still upset that she wouldn't go to Kansas with him. They sat next to each other on the couch while Dean watched a popular sitcom and Amanda became lost in her thoughts. She couldn't believe that she was going to be Victoria Greenwich again. She was nervous about pulling it off for a second time but it was fun to pretend to be something that she would never be. She especially wouldn't mind being able to wear the nice jewelry again. This time it would be different since she had to convince a woman that she was someone she wasn't and women were much harder to fool than men but she hoped she could pull it off. Lee seemed to have a lot of faith in her ability to do it. She smiled thinking about how Lee actually asked her to be on this case. There was no comment about it being Billy's idea this time. She had a feeling that this time had really been Lee's idea. Of course the last time she was Victoria, she almost died and Lee did warn her that this time could be more dangerous too. She was determined to do a good job though.

"Amanda? Are you okay?"

"What?" Amanda asked as she realized that Dean had called her name a few times.

"You were like a million miles away. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry Dean. I just have so much to get done before I can leave tomorrow. I think we should call it an early evening. Do you mind?"

"No, I should get going. I have an early flight. Amanda, I should be back in a week. I definitely will be back before Christmas. We're still going to celebrate it as a family together, right?"

"Of course we are." Amanda said with a smile. They quickly embraced and Dean gave Amanda a quick peck on the cheek as she walked him out to his car.

"Well have fun with the cat and houseplants." Dean said.

"Yeah, thanks. I hope your cousin heals quickly." Amanda said. Dean put his sports car in gear and did a U Turn in the middle of the road and drove away as he waved goodbye to her.

Amanda shook her head as he left. Good ole reliable Dean. She really didn't know how she was going to break up with him but she knew that sometime after Christmas, she needed to find a way. There just wasn't any magic between them and it wasn't fair to him for her to keep giving him hope that she would marry him. She would not do it during Christmas though. That would just be cruel. She soon realized that she was standing outside in the cold so she turned and headed back into the house. She had some pretend packing to do so that her Mother didn't question why she would be staying someplace without any of her things.

TBC