Chapter 30
Several weeks later, Dotty and Francine were placing the final serving dishes of snacks out for Amanda and Lee's baby shower when Lee stormed into the kitchen, "Dotty, have you seen Amanda?"
Francine looked up from the tray of deviled eggs she was holding and announced, "She went to the store."
Lee glared at her, "What do you mean, she went to the store? How long ago did she leave?"
"She left about an hour ago. She said there was something special she wanted to pick up and she noticed you were low on half and half, so she went to the store," Francine informed him.
"Alone?" Lee snapped, his tone bordering on frantic.
Dotty stopped beside her son-in-law and patted his arm lovingly, "Relax, Lee. Philip went along with her for the ride. Now, the guests will be arriving soon, so why don't you make yourself useful and bring these chips and dip into the other room for me."
Lee exhaled a sigh of relief, "Okay, she went with Philip so she's not alone. Good. Did she say which store she was going to?"
"I believe she said she was going to Maggie and Tuck's before the market," Dotty called over her shoulder as she pulled more food from the refrigerator. Hearing the name of the store Lee tensed up again. Just as he was about to say something, the doorbell rang. "That must be Billy and Jeannie. She promised she was going to be here a few minutes early," Dotty announced. "Lee, can you get that for me?"
Lee carried the chips and dip with him and opened the door before the bells chimed a second time. Just as Dotty had suspected, Billy and Jeannie stood smiling on his front step. "Hey, Billy, Jeannie. Come on in. Dotty is in the kitchen…and I just have to put these down," Lee stated with a tentative smile.
Billy knew immediately something was bothering Lee but he waited until Jeannie disappeared into the kitchen. "Scarecrow, what's wrong?" he questioned in a soft but firm tone.
Lee looked around, placed the bowls he was carrying onto the side table in the living room and motioned for Billy to follow him into the office. He closed the door behind them and sunk down into one of the leather chairs. "I don't know. I just…" he started before exhaling loudly. "Amanda went back to that baby store and I just started to panic," he admitted.
Billy smoothed the front of his shirt before he stated, "She's going to be fine. Did she go alone?"
Lee shook his head, "No, she took Philip with her. She has to go to the market, too."
Billy placed his hand on Lee's shoulder, "Don't worry so much, Lee. Since she was released from the hospital, how many times has she gone anywhere alone?"
"If you don't count the drive to work after dropping the boys off, none," Lee stated.
"And how many days is she now working?" Billy reminded him again.
Lee sighed again. "Only three. And even then, they are just for a few hours each day because if she does too much, the pain in her back flares up again," he conceded.
"Right! So, she is doing exactly what the doctor told her and what you asked her to do, right?" Billy emphasized.
"You're right. I shouldn't panic. But how do I not? How do I get past this?" Lee moaned. He looked at Billy and quickly added, "And, no, I'm not talking to Pfaff about this. He tells Dr. Smyth and then we will be separated."
Billy gave him a sharp nod, "Fine. But I would suggest talking to Amanda about this. Let her know how you feel. She's pretty good about these types of things."
Lee pushed himself to a standing position and held his hand out, "Thanks, Billy. It's hard not having any real family to talk to about these things, and, well, you're pretty much family in my book."
Billy shook Lee's hand firmly and said, "That goes the same for you, too, Scarecrow. Now, let's see if Dotty needs any more help in the kitchen. The last thing either one of us wants is to be on her bad side today."
Lee pulled the door open and laughed loudly, "You don't know the half of it."
"Half of what? Lee, what are you talking about?" Dotty demanded as she stood outside of the office door, her hand raised to knock on it.
Lee's mouth dropped open for a second before he recovered, "Nothing. No, um. Billy and I were just coming out to see if you needed any more help."
Dotty bit her bottom lip and studied the faces of the two men before her. "Uh-huh," she uttered. Without warning, she shrugged her shoulders and announced, "Good, because I need you to get more ice from the fridge in the garage. And I need those gifts brought down from the girls' room that I wrapped last night. Oh, and I need to move your car. It's blocking the basketball hoop again and well, you know what happened the last time I moved your car in the driveway. I don't think we want a repeat of that, now do we?"
Billy immediately began laughing at Dotty's ramble as Lee headed to the front door. "I'll move my car right now!" he called.
"And I'll get the ice. Just point me in the right direction, Mrs. West," Billy chuckled.
"Follow me!" she sang as she waltzed into the kitchen cheerfully.
Over an hour later, most of the guests had already arrived and Lee was beginning to panic again as Amanda still wasn't back yet. He was doing his best to keep it together while he wandered from room to room, chatting with their friends and family all the while glancing outside for any glimpse of her car. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spotted the car driving slowly into their cul de sac. He threw open the door and was surprised to see Philip behind the wheel. He rushed out to the street to meet them and in his haste, he pulled the passenger door open, "What's wrong?"
Amanda, surprised, looked up, wide-eyed. "Nothing's wrong. What's wrong with you?"
"Do you know what time it is?" Lee demanded.
Amanda looked down at her wrist where her watch should have been and shook her head, "I must have left my watch on the nightstand."
Lee gestured at Philip, "Why is he driving? Are you all right? Do we need to call the doctor?"
Amanda carefully climbed out of the car and rubbed her back gingerly. "I bent down to pick up something at the market and I started getting pins and needles down my leg. I didn't think it was safe for me to drive like that, so I had Philip drive. He's been taking drivers' education classes in school, so I thought it would be okay, just this once under the circumstances," she explained.
Lee looked at Philip, now carrying the few bags of groceries into the house and whispered, "Oh."
"He did a really good job, Sweetheart. He drove nice and slow and we took as many of the side roads as we could, so he had to go slower," Amanda assured Lee. She looked up into his hazel eyes and stated, "I know you must have been worried and I'm sorry. I was in good hands."
Lee pulled her close in a gentle hug and admitted softly, "I was worried…and scared…when I heard you were going to that store again… I…"
Amanda hugged him back, her large belly keeping them separated, "I know. And I know something else, too."
Lee gave her a weak smile, "What's that?"
"These girls like chocolate just as much as Francine! I had a candy bar a little while ago and they haven't stopped," she teased.
As if on cue, Francine called from the front door, "It's about time you got back! Everyone's been waiting for you. Leave it to Amanda to be late for her own baby shower!"
Amanda laughed and dropped her forehead against Lee's shoulder. "We should probably get inside."
"We should because there is an enormous stack of presents waiting for you to open," Lee declared.
"Well, you know what they say?" Amanda replied as she slipped her arm around his waist to walk to the house.
"What's that?" Lee asked.
Amanda smiled widely and stated, "Good things come in small packages."
To be continued in Small Packages.
