Chapter 15

A week after the traffic accident that had cost Louise Osterman her life, her colleagues, friends and students gathered in the TWU auditorium to honor her memory. She'd left instructions that, once any useable organs had been harvested for donation, she was to be cremated, so it was a memorial service rather than a funeral. The university's on-campus television department made a videotape of the service for Leeanne, and Amanda stayed with her at the hospital while Lee attended the service and gave one of the eulogies, as Leeanne had requested. He spoke, as did the university president, the head of the Department of Education, and several other colleagues and students or former students, so that the service lasted over two hours. Lee brought the videotape back to the hospital and the staff brought in a VCR and video monitor so she could watch it; at the end, she wiped her eyes with the handkerchief Lee had given her and said, "It was beautiful. Everyone has been so kind."

"They loved her, Leelee, and they love you," Lee told her. "When you hit bottom and you think you're never going to get out of the pit, remember that."

"You know," she said quietly. "Losing your parents when you were only five… you know."

"Yes."

She was quiet for a several minutes and they didn't intrude on her thoughts. "How did you get through it, Lee?" she finally asked.

"One day at a time, Baby Girl, but you've got plenty of help, and you're strong. Amanda will be here with you until you're ready to come up to Virginia and live with us, and by then I hope to have a house big enough for all of us."

"How can you afford to take so much time off work, Amanda?"

"I'm on leave without pay right now, Sweetie. Don't worry about that; you're our first priority."

"Mom left everything in trust for me; she sat me down and talked me through it when I turned seventeen back in February. She named you as the trustee, Lee, and added Amanda when she found out you were married."

"Yes, she told us at the time," Lee said. "I've been in touch with your attorney, Leeanne, and we're working on taking care of everything. You'll have plenty of money to finish your education at whatever school you choose, and you'll have a home with us for as long as you need one."

"Ricky wrote me the sweetest letter, telling me that he was behind me a hundred percent."

"He's a good man; his parents raised him well," Amanda agreed. "You've had a tiring day, Sweetie, so why don't you just rest now?"

"I think I will. Will you be here when I wake up?"

"Always."

The next day, Leeanne was released from the hospital with casts on both lower legs and strapping around her broken ribs. Her care team accompanied her and Amanda down to the front of the hospital, where Lee was waiting to drive them home in the Van Slaars' minivan, which he'd borrowed for the occasion. Tenderly, he picked her up and set her on the middle seat, buckled her in – she would never, ever ride even in the back seat of a car without a seat belt, she said – and helped hospital personnel load the many plants, balloons and stuffed animals Leeanne had received over the last week. When they were all loaded, he and Amanda shook hands with each and every one of them, thanked them for their help, and got into the minivan.

"Let's go home, Leelee," he said.

The whole neighborhood, it seemed, had turned out to welcome her home. There were balloons, flowers, streamers, a cake that Barb Van Slaars, who had a home business making and decorating cakes for special events, had made, and homemade fresh peach ice cream. About forty-five minutes into the party, though, Amanda sent Lee a wordless signal and he said, " Folks, this has been wonderful, but we need to get our girl to bed. Thank you for everything you've done."

They said goodbye and left. Lee carried Leeanne to her room, which he and Amanda had cleared of all hazards to navigation for someone in a wheelchair, and laid her down on the bed before leaving so Amanda could help her change into shorts and a T-shirt for sleeping. A few minutes later, Amanda came out of the room.
"She's out. I gave her that pain medication the doctor prescribed and it knocked her right out, that and sheer exhaustion. She's going to be just fine, Lee."

"Yeah." He took Amanda in his arms and held her for long moments, his chin on the top of her head. "You did so well, Panda. No mother, except her own, could have taken better care of her."

"I love her, Lee, just as much as you do."

"I know. It's going to be hard to go back to D.C. without the two of you, but I can't ask Billy to give me any more time off, not after what happened back in February and now this."

"I know. We'll do fine, though."

"Yes. Once Dotty and the boys get here on Tuesday, you'll have extra help here, and the boys will love spending time with the Van Slaars boys. I was surprised that your mother said she'd come and stay several weeks."

When Dotty had expressed an interest in coming to stay, Lee and Amanda had been able to borrow a folding trundle bed from Bob and Barb Van Slaars, who kept it around for when extra company came. Lee and Bob had cleared out the sewing room and set the trundle up in there.

"She needs some time to do some thinking. Curt Weller asked her to marry him and she has to make a decision."

"Ah. Well, if I know Captain Curt, he'll manage to fly down here sometime in the next few weeks to be with her. He and Bob should get along like a house afire – a retired naval aviator and a retired Air Force bomber pilot."

"Yes, I think they will. Now that we've got Leelee home, I need to make a run to the grocery store."

She left and Lee went back to the piles of paperwork that came with being the trustee of a minor child whose only surviving relative had just died. He was making lists of people to contact and questions to ask when the doorbell rang. Expecting to find another neighbor with a casserole, a get- well card, or a bunch of homegrown flowers, he smiled and opened the door.

The man on the doorstep was about sixty, dressed in a dark suit that years out of style and shiny with age, and scowling.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my daughter's house?" he barked. "My name is Abner Canfield."

Memories nearly twenty years old came flooding back into Lee's mind as the name registered. This was Louise's father, and he had a lot to answer for. The smile left Lee's face, and in its stead came a steely look that should have told the man he'd made a serious mistake, but instead he blustered and blundered on: " I came here because I read that my darling Louise, our beloved prodigal daughter, died in a car wreck. I came here to offer comfort and a home to her only child, dear little Leeanne, whom we will call Leah. Now, I don't know who you are, young man, but you've no right to be in my house, so you'll just have to leave."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lee saw Bob Van Slaars, who had taken the day off from his job as the Denton city manager to attend the funeral and be there in case he was needed and was now in his driveway washing his car, start across the yard in their direction. Ah, backup, he thought, not that he expected to need it. Still, it was good to know the neighbors were on his side.

"One, this isn't your house, it's Leeanne's, left in trust for her by her mother, and you won't be changing anything, certainly not her name. Two, calling Louise 'beloved' after the way you treated her eighteen years ago is the height of hypocrisy. Three, I'm giving you to the count of five to get off this property, and once you do, I'm going to court to get a restraining order against you and any member of your family. I'll start counting now. One…"

"I'd do as he says," Bob said mildly from behind Canfield. "Otherwise, I'd have to call my friend, the chief of police here in Denton, and have you thrown in jail for trespassing. Oh, and since he hasn't seen fit to tell you who he is, I'll do it for him: this is Lee Stetson, a federal agent. You've heard of the KGB, the Soviet secret police? Well, the last KGB agent that made the mistake of tangling with Mr. Stetson here, who happens to be Leeanne's trustee and guardian, ended up in the morgue."

"Two….Three…" Lee said calmly.

Canfield ran down the sidewalk, jumped into a beat-up old sedan that was at least twenty years old, and took off with a screech of tires. Bob raised a hand and he and Lee high-fived.

"Nice touch, there, Van, although to be truthful, the last KGB agent I tangled with, Anatoly Donek, may or may not be dead; the last I heard he was in the Gulag, so you never know."

Van just laughed. "Details, details. Lee, if he doesn't have to change his pants when he gets home, I'll be very surprised. Typical of all bullies, when he's faced with someone who won't back down, he turns tail and runs. You were so cold you even gave me chills, and I happen to like you."

"Well, you didn't do such a bad job yourself, Colonel. You know, we can use men with your experience at the Agency."

"I'm happy where I am, but thanks for the offer. I would suggest, though, that you and Amanda look into legally adopting Leeanne. Your trusteeship and guardianship give you certain rights, but if she's your adopted child, you have even more. I know the county judge; we can make this happen."

"That's a good idea. As soon as Amanda gets back and Leelee's awake, we'll talk about it. He was after the house and the money, of course."

"Of course. We'll make damn sure that he won't get anything but a quick trip out of Denton County. Too bad tarring and feathering has gone out of style."

Lee was still laughing when Van went back to washing his car.