Disclaimer: This story is based on Characters copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only and cannot be redistributed without permission from the author. I retain the rights to the plot, not the characters. No infringement is intended.

A/N Thank you to Christi Scheirer for her great help in editing. I appreciate everything you did! All mistakes left are mine.

Chapter 1: First Date

It had only been a few days since JJ Stetson's wedding when Nick Sheridan one of the groomsmen from the wedding party called JJ's sister Mattie to make plans with her to attend the local fall festival that coming Saturday. When Nick came to Mattie's home, her father Lee Stetson was on the porch wearing a shoulder holster and gun. She had warned him that it was standard procedure with her dad whenever someone new took her out. He thought it odd that a documentary filmmaker would wear a shoulder holster. Mattie had explained her father was a gun collector and not to worry.

As Nick walked up the porch, he extended his hand to Lee. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Stetson."

Lee nodded and replied, "You too." Lee shook Nick's hand and said, "Mattie should be out soon." Then he added with a glare, "Don't you dare break my little girl's heart."

"Uh, um, I-I don't plan to," Nick stuttered.

"Good. I'll go get Mattie." Lee turned and went inside, leaving Nick out on the porch. Lee went into the kitchen and found Mattie talking to her mother.

"Mattie, Nick is here. He's waiting out front on the porch."

"Lee, why didn't you invite him in?" scolded Amanda.

"Maybe next time," he responded. Amanda noticed his jaw was clenching.

"Oh, I better get going! Thanks, Papa. I'll see you later." Mattie gave a quick hug and kiss to her parents and trotted out the door.

As the door closed, Amanda embraced her husband and reassured him, "It's going to be ok, she's been on other dates."

Lee grunted, "I know, but she just seems to like this guy, and I don't think he's her type."

Amanda placed her hands on Lee's chest and smoothed down his shirt, a habit that she formed over the years as a sign of endearment.

"Well, I have a good feeling about him…even though we only just met him at the wedding."

"Exactly. And I let him know he better not mess with her," Lee growled.

"Come on, why don't we go for a ride to take your mind off them." Amanda took Lee's hand to lead him out to the stable.

When they first arrived at the festival, Mattie and Nick saw there were sign-ups for a three-legged race and a pie-eating contest. They decided on the three-legged race, which was at one p.m. As they walked along, there were various tasting booths and cooking demonstrations. There were decorated scarecrows on display and people could vote for them.

Mattie commented, "My Mom and Papa would love this." She took some pictures of a lady scarecrow with an ample bosom. Another scarecrow had a pipe reading the newspaper. She texted the images to her parents. In all, there were fourteen to vote for in different categories.

They decided to get some lunch at one of the food booths and sat down at a table to eat their chili and cornbread.

"My mom's chili is better," commented Maddie.

"You haven't tasted my mom's…maybe we should make our moms have a chili cook-off," Nick retorted.

Mattie laughed at his comment, imagining such a thing.

As they sat eating, there was a sudden loud boom. Mattie screamed and dove under the table. She hunched over with her arms over her head.

Nick was shocked at Mattie's reaction and leaned down under the table to reassure her. "It was a car that backfired, Mattie. Nothing to be scared of, come on out." He noticed Mattie was shaking uncontrollably and did not move or answer him. Nick decided to get under the table too and sat uncomfortably with his 6-foot body squashed next to her.

"Mattie, hey it's ok, it's just a car backfiring," he repeated. Nick put one arm around Mattie's shoulder and pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around his torso and hid her head in his chest. Nick continued to whisper soothing words to her. After a few minutes, Mattie got her bearings back. Feeling embarrassed, she climbed back up to sit at the table as Nick followed.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" asked Nick.

"N-Not really, but I guess I should. I had a flashback."

"A flashback of what?"

Mattie began to tell Nick about what happened seven months ago. She had been dating a man she thought worked at the Lebanese embassy. But he had turned out to be a terrorist. He kidnapped her because she was an aide to one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon and Bukhari was also seeking revenge on her parents who were federal agents. Nick was quiet and let her explain until she was finished talking.

He waited a moment and then replied, "I understand now; I said something to Scott at the wedding about taking you out, and he had warned me that you had had a traumatic experience. But, I never imagined. I remember when that was in the news. They kept you and your parents' names out of the reports?"

"Yes, because my parents are federal agents. Now you know my family's big secret. You can't tell anyone…Not even your parents. Please, Nick!" Mattie's voice broke.

"Don't worry!" He gathered her in his arms. "Now I understand about your dad's shoulder holster…Hey, wait a minute! If your sister and Scott work at IFF with your parents that means Scott and JJ are…"

"Yes, both of them too."

"Okay, now it all makes sense. It did seem strange to me how Scott got mixed up being a documentary filmmaker when he was planning to go into the diplomatic core and then suddenly started working for IFF."

Mattie smiled warily and commented, "So I guess you don't want to see me anymore." Mattie sighed.

"It's not a big deal to me. You can't scare me off that easily," Nick assured her.

"I don't get it. You haven't known me that long. We just met at my sister's wedding."

"What I saw there was good enough for me. When we weren't together, I watched you. "You were so kind and caring to your grandmother and, I think, your aunt?

"Yes, Aunt Lillian, my grandmother's sister."

"You helped them through the buffet line at the rehearsal dinner and sat with them. At the wedding, you helped your brothers and their wives with their children. You entertained the kids for a time so they could enjoy socializing. You are kind, thoughtful, and think of others. So that, Mattie Stetson, is why I am not turning and running."

They finished eating and as they walked, Nick took Mattie's hand and laced his fingers between hers. She felt herself blush as he held up her hand and gave it a quick kiss.

Later, they finished fourth in the three-legged race. Mattie was gasping in laughter at all the silly comments Nick made about their other competitors.

At the end of the race, a little boy came up to Nick and said excitedly, "Mr. Sheridan, what are you doing here?"

"Well, hi there, Sammy. I'm here to have fun just like you."

"But why aren't you at school?" Sammy questioned.

"Because school is closed, and I don't live there."

"Oh, do you have a house, too? Is this lady your mom?" He pointed to Mattie.

Mattie stifled a laugh and looked at Nick.

"Oh no, this is my friend, Miss. Stetson. Mattie, this is Sammy, one of my students."

"Hi Sammy, I'm glad to meet you." Mattie reached out her hand and shook his hand. He looked very pleased that someone would do that.

Sammy heard his name called and yelled, "I'm coming Mommy," and sprinted away.

They continued walking as Nick apologized, "The hazards of teaching."

"He was cute. It didn't bother me at all."

"Let's go try some arcade games," Nick suggested.

Mattie agreed.

At the milk bottle toss, there was a small panda bear that was the prize for clearing all the bottles. Mattie exclaimed "That panda is just like the one JJ and I had when we were little. Except the one we had was huge!"

Nick decided to try and win it for Mattie.

At the end of the day, Nick won a variety of sizes of stuffed pandas for Mattie.

TBC