Chapter 36 - Lies and Denials

Amanda picked up the phone and called her house. Jamie answered the phone and when he heard it was Amanda he began yelling to everyone that she was on the phone.

"Calm down sweetheart." She said gently.

"Mom are you okay? I heard that you had to be taken to the hospital. When are you coming home?" He asked.

"Jamie, I had a car accident. I'm going to be fine but it was really cold where I was and I couldn't stay warm enough so I ended up with severe hypothermia."

"OH AMANDA! That's awful. My poor baby. Why didn't anyone rescue you?" Dotty asked from the upstairs extension.

"Well you see Mother, the weather wasn't the greatest and that area tends to get more snow than other parts of NH do. So while I was driving, I apparently hit some black ice or some sort of slippery spot and the next thing I knew the Station Wagon was flying through the area way over top of en embankment. Luckily a tree stopped it before I crashed into the river otherwise I would have probably been killed."

"That's so awesome!" Phillip said from the phone he was sharing with Jamie. "I had no idea that our Station Wagon could fly. Mom, you are going to have to show us how you did it."

"Now Phillip, the Station Wagon was not meant to fly and it will not be flying again. This was its one and only flight plan, got it?"

"Yes Mom" said a disappointed Phillip.

"Oh Amanda, that sounds just dreadful. Thank God you are okay. Penny said that she thought you would be coming home tomorrow?"

"Yes Mother, they say that I'm doing well and they should be able to release me early tomorrow morning.

"What about your car Amanda? How are you getting home?"

"Rheza has generously already made arrangements to get it fixed and then have it driven back to Arlington. He has also hired a driver to drive me back home."

"Oh Amanda, they are such wonderful people. Too bad you didn't get to enjoy your vacation with them."

"I know Mother. Well I should probably go. The doctor told me to rest and right now I'm not resting."

"That's true Amanda. You should always listen to your Doctor. He knows what is best. We'll see you tomorrow darling."

"Bye Boys. Bye Mother. Love all of you."

"Love you too Mom" the boys echoed each other.

They all hung up. As Amanda sat staring at the receiver she had just put back in place, she thought to herself "Well it wasn't a total lie. I did slip in the road and the Station Wagon did go flying through the air and I could have been killed if the tree hadn't stopped the car."

She let out a big sigh. It was still lying. She really hated that the lies seemed to pop out now without much thought.

Her thoughts brought her back to Lee. He sure acted weird when he arrived that morning. Could it be that he was Jealous when he saw Stanley kiss her? Nah, he couldn't have been. He was probably just feeling guilty about what happened and was trying to protect her. That was all there was to it, she was sure of it.

As she was thinking about him, she suddenly felt like she wasn't alone and looked up to see him watching her from the doorway.

"A penny for your thoughts." He said quietly.

"I don't know, I think they should be worth more than that right now." She smiled as she responded.

Lee walked over and sat down by her bed.

"Amanda, I just want you to know, well you know I can't tell you how sorry I am. You know I like to be the big tough buy but I was scared. When Penny first called and said you hadn't shown up yet on Monday night, I knew right away something had gone wrong because it wasn't like you not to call if you were stuck. Then Sheila showed up at my apartment bragging about how you were out of the picture and she and I could continue with our relationship, I knew it was bad. I'm used to fighting the bad guys. Amanda, but this time there wasn't anyone to fight. If we had found you too late, I would be the one in jail because I think; no I know that Sheila wouldn't be alive right now."

"Lee, don't talk like that. I'm fine. Tomorrow we'll go back home and pretend none of this happened."

"Amanda, it did happen."

"I know" She said quietly. "Maybe I need to pretend at least for awhile that it didn't though, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Lee said as he got out of the chair and sat on the bed beside her. He gently pulled her head onto his chest. They sat like that for a long time just feeling comfort from each other without saying a word.

Then suddenly "So glad there is nothing between the two of you. Should I leave you alone?" Penny asked as she walked into the room with a big smile on her face.

Lee quickly got up and said "I was just comforting Amanda for a few seconds is all."

"Oh yes, that was all he was doing." Amanda agreed.

"Sure, okay. That was all." Penny said as she took Lee's spot and gave Amanda a huge hug while noticing the spot on the bed seemed awful warm for a few second comfort hug. The two of them could stay in denial but she knew one day they would have to admit the truth. There were definitely sparks between them and there was definitely something between them. When they finally admitted it, she would have fun teasing them about all their denials though.

"How was the wedding?" Amanda asked as she quickly tried to change the subject.

"You ladies are going to talk about things that don't interest me so I'm going to head out for now. Amanda, enjoy your time with Penny. I'll be back around 6am tomorrow so we can get you out of here and on the road, okay?"

"Sounds good Lee." Amanda agreed.

"Rheza and I are leaving tomorrow also. Lee has promised not to whisk you off before I get to say goodbye.."

"I won't let him" Amanda said "Now please tell me about the wedding."

Penny sat with Amanda for the next 5 hours until she began to get too tired

"Amanda, we are going to get to spend time together. I think the next time you will come to our country though. With all of Rheza's security, there shouldn't be any way for you to get in trouble there. I'm going to leave so you can get some rest though. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Amanda was already half asleep but she said "Okay" as she let her body continue to relax. Penny smiled at her friend and gave her one more hug, shut off the light and left the room. Thank goodness she was going to be okay.

TBC