Chapter 3

The Wagoneer slowly pulled into Lee's parking spot at his apartment. He placed it in park, then turned to everyone and announced, "We're here." Four doors opened at once. Amanda walked around to Lee, taking his outstretched hand.

Together, the five of them walked to the front door. Lee held it open so everyone could enter the building. After he walked through himself, he quickly found Amanda's hand again. He acknowledged the doorman with a nod, and the doorman replied, "Good afternoon, Mr. Stetson. Mrs. King. And who may these lovely people be?"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Feller," Lee responded. He let go of Amanda's hand and proudly placed a hand on each of the boys' shoulders as he continued, "These two fine gentlemen are my soon-to-be stepsons. Jamie and Philip." Lee glanced towards each boy as he stated their names, smiling as he noticed both of them stood up a little straighter as Lee introduced them as his stepsons.

Lee moved his left arm and placed it around Dotty's shoulders. "And this is my charming soon-to-be mother-in-law, Dotty."

Mr. Feller nodded towards the boys and tipped his hat at Dotty. "Very nice to meet you all. I have to say I was so happy when I heard the news of Mr. Stetson and Mrs. King's engagement. Mrs. King is such an improvement from all your other lady callers who have come through your door."

Lee coughed and appeared as though he wanted to find a corner and crawl into it to escape the glare he was getting from Dotty. Amanda jumped in and saved him by quickly changing the subject. "Now, Mr. Feller, I thought we agreed you would call me Amanda."

"Yes, we did. I'm sorry, Amanda. It's a hard habit to break."

Amanda smiled at him. "I completely understand. We just found out today the offer we put on a new house was accepted, so we thought we'd bring the family over to start making plans for the move."

"Congratulations! I'm sorry to see you go, but I do understand. Don't let me keep you. Enjoy the rest of your day. I assume we will be seeing more of you all in the next few months before the big move."

Lee swiftly moved everyone towards the elevators to avoid any more of Mr. Feller's comments as he turned back to respond, "Thank you, Mr. Feller. I'm going to miss you as well."

The ride in the elevator was a quiet one, as was the walk to his door. Lee inserted the key and hesitated before opening the door. "Now remember, I warned you my place was not very clean."

"Yes, sweetheart. We all remember."

"Okay." He turned the knob, pushed the door open, and stood back once more to allow them in before him.

Dotty entered first, then the boys. Finally, Amanda crossed the threshold as her hand softly grazed his arm to help calm him as she whispered, "It'll be okay, sweetheart."

Lee sighed and shook his head as he followed her in. He couldn't believe how a simple touch could turn him to mush. He chuckled as he realized just how much he sounded like the boys with his last thought. He shut the door behind him and stepped into the living room. As he stood watching Dotty and the boys looking around, he broke the silence. "So, what do you think?"

Dotty glanced towards him, then scanned the apartment. She picked up a pair of socks from the pile of clothes covering the couch, and with a disgusted expression on her face, she answered, "Well, it's smaller than I thought it would be."

Lee grimaced as he responded, "I don't need a lot of space with as much traveling as I do. It's only a one-bedroom, so I don't have a lot of possessions."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. There are quite a few relics—"

"Artifacts," Lee interrupted.

"Excuse me," Dotty responded with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry. I have artifacts from all over the world. I try to bring something home from every new place I visit."

"Okay, you have quite a few artifacts," Dotty confirmed.

"Oh, boy! You've got fish!" Jamie exclaimed as he ran towards the fish tank. Lee smirked at Amanda, happy to have the conversation brewing with Dotty interrupted. He joined Jamie. "Jamie, these are my men. Men, this is Jamie."

Jamie stared up at Lee and muttered, "Huh?"

Lee grinned down at him and explained, "That's what I call them. They don't have names because you can't tell them apart. So I just call them men."

Jamie nodded and returned his attention to the fish. Lee started to stroll over to Amanda when he heard him ask, "Pops, do you think I could help you take care of them?"

Lee stopped and turned back to Jamie. "Of course you can. I would actually appreciate it. I had to have your mom take care of them a few times while I was out of town. So having someone to help would be great. Where do you think we should put the tank in the new house?"

Jamie put his finger to his lips, and he thought about the perfect place. His eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers. "I've got it! How about the spot right beside the stairs? I think they would be perfect right there."

Lee threw a side-eye at Amanda for confirmation. She nodded in agreement as Lee turned back to Jamie. "Looks like we can scratch that one off our list." Lee started back towards Amanda as he caught a glimpse of Philip out of the corner of his eye standing by his albums. He diverted over to him as he bumped him with his shoulder. "You've been pretty quiet. Anything wrong?"

Philip looked up at Lee and shook his head. "Nah. I'm just looking at all your albums. You've got a lot of them."

"Yeah, I do." Lee shuffled the albums until he found the one he wanted, pulled it out, and showed it to him. "This is one of my favorites. Some of the best music is Jazz."

Philip rolled his eyes at him. "Hey, don't roll your eyes. Have you ever listened to Jazz music?" Philip shook his head. "Then how do you know if you like it or not?" He flipped it over and pointed to the first song on the album. "This song makes me think of your mom. I'll have to play it for you sometime."

Philip took the album from him and examined it closely, and softly responded, "I'd like that."

Suddenly, everyone was startled when Dotty let out a yelp. Lee quickly spun and asked, "What's wrong, Dotty?"

She peered at Lee with an embarrassed expression on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare anyone. I was just excited. Lee, this is a stunning roll-top desk. Where did you get this?"

Lee headed over to Dotty and put his hands on her shoulders, and softly spoke. "It belonged to my parents."

Amanda, shocked at his answer, questioned, "It was?"

He nodded and continued his story, "I asked my uncle about it one time. He mentioned he had it in storage, and if I wanted it, I could have it. The next weekend, I got it delivered."

Lee stepped beside Dotty and slowly lifted the roll-top, and picked up the picture that sat in the corner. He eased his fingers over the two faces that adorned the photo. He handed it to Dotty and pointed, "My Dad was in the military, and Mum was British."

Dotty studied the picture, then met Amanda and the boys in front of the couch. She handed the picture to Amanda, with the boys peering around her to see as Lee wandered over to the window, deep in thought.

They all silently listened as Lee continued. "Some of the few memories I have of my parents were of Dad sitting at his desk working. Mum would come up behind him and stand, leaning over his shoulder. I noticed they would always be touching each other in some way. Whether they were holding hands or something as simple as a light pass over the arm. It didn't matter who initiated it, but it was always there."

Lee softly smiled as he chuckled, "I never knew what they were working on, but I knew it had to be important. I remember one time, I was sitting on the floor in the living room playing with my cowboys and horses. Mum came in from the kitchen and tried to get Dad to stop working. He'd been sitting at the desk all afternoon. I could tell he was frustrated or worried about something."

Lee turned and stared wistfully at the kitchen doorway. "But every time he checked on me, he would have the biggest smile on his face. When he'd turn back to his work, all his frustration and worry immediately returned. No matter what Mum tried, she couldn't get him to stop."

Lee's head tracked over to the stereo. "I remember, all of a sudden, she walked over to the record player, pulled out an album, gently placed it on the player, and dropped the needle. She turned and just stared at Dad, so I peeked back at him too. He instantly dropped the paperwork he was holding and spun towards Mum. It only took a smile between them, and Dad was on his feet. They met in the middle of the living room as he pulled her into his arms. You could see Dad relax as soon as they began dancing."

He glanced briefly at Amanda and began again, "They held onto each other so tight and swayed back and forth to that very song I just showed Philip. I was in awe of the love I saw between them. Before I knew it, the song was over, and they stopped dancing."

Lee lowered his head and slowly twisted towards everyone but couldn't make eye contact. He stared at his hands as he idly rubbed his thumbs and fingers together. He took a deep breath and finished. "A short time later, they left for work." He paused and took a deep breath. "That was the last time I ever saw them."

With tears in his eyes, Lee lifted his head to find the warmth of Amanda's loving gaze. She quickly closed the distance between them as they embraced.