Many thanks to k2912p who inspired this story with a simple question and to Cindy for some well-placed suggestions.
"I know you're out here, you long-legged varmint, and when I find you, there will be hell to pay!"
The quiet furious voice stopped Lee in his tracks as he headed through his usual gap in the hedge into Amanda's backyard. He started to slide further into the cover of the bushes when Dotty practically snarled, "Oh no, not there, you pest! Not my tulips! Not after all the work I've put into getting them to grow the last few years!"
Lee automatically shifted his feet, trying to move off the flowers.
"Mother? Are you still trying to catch him? I'm sure he's not out here" Amanda's voice joined the conversation.
"Oh, I know he's out here! I heard him!" Dotty spat out. "He's a good hider, but I'm a better finder and after all the damage he's done out here, he better be ready to face the consequences! I tell you, Amanda, I have had enough!"
"Well, you know Mother…" Lee could hear the laughter in Amanda's voice. "You brought this on yourself."
"I did no such thing! How can you say that?" Dotty asked in outraged tones.
"Get yourself out there, Amanda! Find adventure, Amanda! Broaden your horizons, Amanda!" she mimicked. "There I was, happy to just live a quiet life but you wouldn't leave it alone!"
"You did need to broaden your horizons and find adventure! I just don't see why my garden has to suffer for it!"
"I'll tell you what, Mother. You go in and make yourself a nice glass of warm milk and I'll take care of him. He usually listens to me pretty well and he hardly knows you. I think he's a little afraid of you, honestly."
"You think you can deal with him by yourself?"
"Oh, I think so," Amanda gave a low laugh. "I know all his tricks. Now where did you see him?"
"Over here somewhere." Lee could hear Dotty getting closer and tried to shift back further into the bushes. "Do you hear that, Amanda? There is definitely rustling in there."
Lee froze, and held his breath.
"Oh Mother, you're probably frightening him. You go inside and leave him to me."
"Well, I am getting cold… if you're certain you don't need my help."
"When have I ever needed your help with a man, Mother? You thought I was having an affair with Bud Marcher!"
"Very funny, Amanda. Fine, you deal with him! I'm going inside! But if I find any more destroyed flowers out here in the morning, I will scream, simply scream, do you hear me?" Dotty flounced off toward the back door.
"Yes Mother," said Amanda. She was close enough for Lee to hear her add under her breath, "I'm sure most of the neighborhood heard you."
He stifled a laugh, worried that Dotty might hear him before she got inside, and heard Amanda start to talk quietly to herself.
"Okay, you might think you're cute, Buster, but you're not that cute." She leaned down and began poking around close to where he was standing. "I can hear you in there, you know, with your pretty eyes and your lovely silky hair and your adorable little pointy ears…"
Lee lifted a hand self-consciously to the shell of his ear, and in doing so, shifted slightly.
"Ah, gotcha!" said Amanda, plunging her hand into the bushes and grabbing his ankle.
Lee yelped, and Amanda screamed, falling backwards onto the grass.
"Amanda? Are you all right?" called Dotty from the doorway.
Amanda looked up and locked eyes with Lee as he peered out from his hiding spot.
"I'm fine, Mother," she called back. "He just startled me with a move I wasn't expecting."
"Alright then, Darling. Call if you decide you need help after all."
They both held their breath until they heard the back door close again.
"What are you doing in there?" she hissed at him, sitting up and shifting to a kneeling position
"Hiding from your mother!" he hissed back. "What on earth is going on anyway? How did she find out about me?"
"Find out about you?" repeated Amanda, her brow crinkling in confusion. "What are you talking ab-ahhhh! Don't move! Gotcha!" On the last word, she suddenly sprang forward, diving into the bushes headfirst.
"Amanda! What are you doing?" Lee whisper-yelled.
There was a momentary sound of thrashing and then Amanda emerged backwards, holding onto something that was struggling in her hands.
"Oh stop it, you adorable little furball," she cooed at it. "You must have known I wasn't going to let you just roam around my garden forever."
"What is that?" asked Lee, finally stepping out from his own hiding place, and brushing the loose twigs and leaves off his coat.
"This? Oh, this is Presto," said Amanda, holding her prey up for him to see.
"Is that... a rabbit?" he asked.
"Yep!" she grinned at him, as she snuggled the bunny back against her chest. "He's been slipping through our fingers for hours now, but he must be tired. He hardly even fought me that time."
"But why are you chasing rabbits around your yard at this time of night?" Lee paused, struck by a sudden thought. "Is he wild?"
"Oh Lee, honestly! Why would I be chasing wild rabbits named Presto?"
He was still confused. "Did you get a pet then?"
"No, I would have told you that," she answered. She lifted the rabbit upright so that she could waggle his front paws at Lee. "Presto here is from my pet sitting service."
"But you don't have a pet sitting service," he pointed out. "Not really."
"Well, I know that and you know that, but Mother doesn't know that, and she keeps finding me clients and I can't say no because that would blow my cover," said Amanda. The bunny was now lying quite contentedly along her arm, letting her stroke him soothingly. She ran her hand along his ears, crooning "Who has the cutest little pointy ears, hmm? Who's the cutest little thing ever? I could run my fingers through your hair all day, yes I could!"
"He's not that cute," Lee found himself saying, defensively, even as he ran a hand along his own ear again.
"Oh come on, look how adorable he is!" Amanda contradicted him. "Even if he has been ruining Mother's flower bed all afternoon."
"Can you start back at the beginning?" asked Lee. "And tell me why you're babysitting a rabbit and why it's loose?"
"Well, it's like I said. Mother is so determined to help me get this supposed pet and plant business going well that she keeps drumming up new business for me. And honestly, with the Agency only using me part time, I can use the extra money."
Lee grimaced, but her attention was on the rabbit, and she missed it.
"And she met this magician at one of the birthday parties Phillip went to, and they got to chatting and he mentioned he needed someone to look after his rabbits while he went on vacation. So I came home the other day and there were all these hutches in the back garden."
As she was speaking, she had gotten up off the ground and begun to walk away, Lee following her. She moved to the back of the gazebo and there, just as she had described, were three hutches, two with bunnies peering out with curiosity and one empty one.
"There you go, Presto, home again," she cooed at him, depositing him into that one gently and carefully latching the door. "Abra and Dabra have been missing you. They've been home for hours, having their nice carrots and bunny pellets. And you must be thirsty." She crooked a finger through the chicken wire and chucked him under the chin.
"So why was he running around the yard anyway?" Lee asked, leaning on the gazebo and watching her with a soft smile.
"Ah well now, that wasn't my fault," she grinned. "Jamie has really loved helping with these guys, checking their food and their water and even helping clean out the, uh.."
"Bunny pellets?" Lee supplied, with a chuckle.
"Yes," she smiled back at him. "But this afternoon, he decided they looked sad, not getting any exercise, and then he decided that it wasn't fair if one was out and the others were stuck in their separate cages watching…"
"So he let them all out?" Lee began to laugh.
"He sure did – and we've been chasing them ever since. Presto was our holdout – he's a speedy little guy with those long legs."
"Good thing they stayed in your yard," Lee commented.
"Well, Mother's flowers are apparently very tasty, so they've been enjoying the bunny buffet," said Amanda with a wry look.
"Well, I'm glad I got here in time to enjoy the show," he teased her. "It's not usually this exciting back here."
"Why are you here anyway?" she asked. "Not that I'm not always happy to see you, but you must have a reason."
"Oh! Yeah! I almost forgot." He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. "Billy wants us to go do our IRS schtick on someone tomorrow, see what we can sniff out on him. This is everything we know on him, so you can look it over tonight."
"You mean I get to know before I need to know?" asked Amanda as she took the envelope. "That's progress."
Lee leaned down and waggled a finger through the mesh, letting Presto sniff him. "You know, when I heard your mother yelling at him to get out of her tulips, I thought she was talking to me," he grinned.
"Oh!" Amanda gasped and then began to giggle. "I guess it did sound like that!"
"I guess I should have clued in when you started describing him," he said. "But I was busy worrying about ruining the flowers."
Amanda cocked her head, and stared at him for a moment with a considering expression. "Well, you do have long legs" she said. "I've seen you run pretty fast after bad guys. And you have nice hair."
"Yeah, well…" He stopped embarrassed, and ran his fingers over his ear again. He looked around, thus missing the way Amanda's lips twitched at the unconscious movement.
"And you're good at hiding out here," she continued.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he interrupted.
"Amanda? Is he still loose?" called Dotty, and Lee dived further behind the gazebo.
"No, he's back where he belongs!" Amanda called back, grinning at Lee.
"I'll see you in the morning," he whispered.
"Good night, Lee." She waved goodbye as he vanished. "So, Presto," she leaned down and looked the rabbit in the eye. "Do you think he's upset that he's not the one with the prettiest hair and the cutest pointy ears?" Presto twitched his nose in agreement and she finally let out the belly laugh she'd been keeping inside.
Dotty barely looked up from her book when the phone rang, knowing Amanda was closer.
"Yes, this is Amanda," she heard her say. "Oh hello, Mr. Wallace, how are you?"
There was a long silence and then Amanda said the oddest thing. "Oh no, Sir! Not together, definitely!"
Dotty put down her book and swivelled to stare at her. Amanda was looking back at her with a hunted expression as she listened to whoever was on the phone.
"Has something happened? Are they ill?" asked Amanda. Another silence. "Oh no!" Amanda gasped. "I mean, how wonderful!"
Dotty watched as Amanda finished the conversation, waiting avidly to hear what she was talking about. Finally Amanda put down the phone and burst into giggles.
"Who was that, Darling?"
"Mr. Wallace! You remember him? Mr. Bubbles the magician?" Amanda gasped out. "Two of his rabbits just had babies!"
"Oh no!" Dotty stared at her wide-eyed. "From when Jamie let them out?"
"It must be! But when he asked if I'd ever put any of them in a cage together, I said no, because we didn't but I didn't tell him about the great escape! I feel terrible!"
"Well, it's not really your fault, Darling. I mean, they didn't escape, did they? Jamie let them out! And then rabbits will do what rabbits do, won't they?" She paused, and then her face lit up with a mischievous look. "You know what that makes Presto?"
"A father?" grinned Amanda.
"A playboy bunny!" responded Dotty triumphantly.
"Oh Mother! That's terrible!" said Amanda, before starting to laugh again. "That poor man though! Do you know what he said after I told him it couldn't have happened here?"
Dotty shook her head.
"He said…" Amanda took a deep breath and got her laughter under control. "He said he really needed to stop keeping them in the same pocket during his act!"