Chapter 17

The following morning, Amanda strolled into the dining room to find it empty. She glanced around the room, still not finding anyone. She shrugged her shoulders and thought, I guess I'm the first one awake.

Amanda decided to make some coffee for everyone and made her way to the kitchen. She searched the cabinets until she found the coffee and filters. Amanda placed the filter in the machine, dumped coffee grounds in, hit the start button, and leaned back on the counter to listen to the percolating sound.

Once the coffee had finished, Amanda stared at it for a short moment. "That's not a very big pot. It's not going to be enough for all four of us." She snapped her fingers when she remembered the coffee warmer in the dining room. Amanda grabbed the coffee decanter and proceeded into the dining room to fill the carafe.

Amanda came back to the kitchen and repeated her actions. Once that was complete, she searched the kitchen to see what else was there. In the refrigerator, Amanda found a huge supply of breakfast items. She grabbed a box of eggs, some bacon, and sausage.

She then investigated the cupboards to see what else she could find and removed the contents she needed. Soon Amanda was hard at work, making a healthy, hearty breakfast for everyone.

In no time at all, Amanda set the last plate of food on the dining room table. She stood tall, placed her hands on her hips, and announced, "Perfect."

At that moment, Penny and Rheza walked out of the bedroom and saw the extravagant spread before them. "Amanda, what have you done?" Penny exclaimed.

Startled, Amanda twisted around quickly. "Oh, Penny, you scared me." Amanda glanced back at the table. "I was just bored this morning and was in the kitchen making some coffee. When I was done with the coffee, I figured I'd go ahead and see what else was in the kitchen. I found some eggs, bacon, and sausage. Then I found everything I needed to make my pancakes. Man, Philip and Jamie really love my pancakes! Well, anyway, I just started cooking. One thing led to another, and here we are." She waved her hand over the dining room table.

Penny and Rheza just shook their heads in amazement. "Well, thank you, Amanda. That was very sweet of you."

"You're welcome. Come sit down. Let's eat before it cools off. We don't need to wait for Lee. He'll probably be in bed for a while longer. Besides, he doesn't eat breakfast anyway."

The three of them sat and enjoyed their breakfast while they talked about everything they'd done this week and how much they'd enjoyed the time spent together. Before they knew it, Lee sauntered into the dining room, scratching his head and stretching.

"Amanda, you need to stop doing that."

"Doing what, sweetheart?"

"Making me wake up to an empty bed. You know how much I hate it."

"Yes, I do know how much you hate it, sweetheart. But if you're going to continue sleeping in, you're going to have to get used to it. I just couldn't stay in bed any longer."

Lee leaned down with his dimples on display and gave her the sweetest kiss. "Fair point, my love." He glanced across the table and shook his head in disbelief. "Man, the servant does know how to put a spread of food out."

Penny and Rheza chuckled. "Oh, that wasn't the servant. That was your fiancee."

Lee quickly looked at Amanda. "Amanda, we're on vacation. This had to take you forever."

"Oh, Lee. It didn't take any time at all. Now, please sit down and have some coffee."

"Yes, ma'am." Lee sat next to Amanda just as the telephone rang.

Rheza wiped his mouth with his napkin, placed it on the table, and raised from his chair. "Excuse me. I'll be right back."

Penny's eyes followed Rheza over to the phone. She absentmindedly glanced back towards Lee and Amanda as their words garbled together. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she bobbed her head and responded to them with an "uh-huh", but quickly returned to Rheza.

Rheza placed the receiver back in the phone cradle and slowly made his way back to the table. Penny's worry increased when he didn't make eye contact with her on his way back.

"Rheza, what's wrong? Who was that?"

Rheza's eyes slanted towards Penny, then over to Lee and Amanda. "I'm so sorry, my love. We have to cut our vacation short. An emergency has come up, and we need to get home."

"Is everything alright?" Lee queried.

"Nothing to worry about, but it does require my attention." Rheza placed his hand on Penny's with an apologetic expression. "Lee, Amanda. You are free to stay until tomorrow. The suite is already paid for through tomorrow."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Rheza, thank you," Amanda responded.

"Actually, Amanda, if it's okay with you, I wouldn't mind trying to get back today." Seeing the questioning look on Amanda's face, Lee continued. "If we can get our tickets changed and get back today, it would give us a full day to spend with the boys. Maybe we can take them over to the new house."

"Oh, sweetheart. That's a wonderful idea."

Lee grinned with her response. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go call the airport and see what they say."

"Lee, wait! Let me call my people. It is my fault you have to make changes. It's the least I can do. Plus, I may have better luck getting you seats. Sometimes, my position has its perks."

A few minutes later, Rheza returned. "Good news. I got your flight changed. It's scheduled to depart at twelve-thirty. So you can ride with us to the airport. That way we don't have to say our goodbyes here."

"Thank you, Rheza," Lee acknowledged.

"It doesn't give us very much time to get packed though. You know how long it takes to get through the airport on a Saturday. We need to get moving." Amanda stood to start clearing the table.

"Amanda, let me help you. We'll have to call the servant to put stuff away, but at least we can get everything into the kitchen."

"Penny, I just hate leaving this mess for someone else to clean up."

"Amanda, I'll go start packing while you're clearing the table. Maybe, you'll have time to do a little more if I do that." Lee suggested.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"I'll do the same," Rheza added.

The two men went off towards their rooms while the ladies cleared the table. In no time at all, Penny and Amanda had cleaned and put away enough for Amanda to feel better about leaving. When Amanda went into their bedroom, she found all their luggage sitting on the bed, ready to go.

Lee walked out of the bathroom and smiled at Amanda. "Everything's out of the bathroom and all packed up. Do you want to do your last look around?"

Amanda glanced around the room. "No. If you say you've got everything packed, I trust you." She walked up to him and put her arms around his waist as he did the same to her.

"Are you sure you're okay with us leaving early?"

"Absolutely. Mother and the boys will be ecstatic they get to spend some time with you. Especially if we tell them about the house."

"Oh, that reminds me. I called Leatherneck to check on the progress with the renovations we asked for. He said they have the sound-proofing done around our bedroom, and the drawings for the office and safe room have been approved."

"Wow! He got all that done in three days?"

"Yep. I also called Billy to let him know the changes in our plans. He said we could debrief on Monday."

"Not much to debrief, but at least we don't have to go in today. We better get going. I bet they're waiting on us."

Lee grabbed the two large bags while Amanda picked up the smaller carry-on bag. As they passed through the bedroom door, Amanda snapped her fingers. "I forgot to grab my purse on the chair. I'll be right back."

Lee nodded and continued on. Amanda strolled right up to the chair, grabbed her purse, and threw it over her shoulder. She began to leave and stopped abruptly. She thought for a moment and quickly made her way to the bathroom to do one last glance around the room.

Satisfied Lee didn't forget anything. She made her way back to the door as she spoke out loud, "Better to be safe than sorry."

A long New York minute later, the foursome found themselves pulling up to the airport drop off. They got out. Penny and Amanda hugged as Lee and Rheza shook hands. "Sorry, we have to say our goodbyes here. Our plane is over in the private section."

"No worries, Rheza. We understand." They glanced over to the ladies, still embraced. "Come on now. You'll see each other in a few months at the wedding. We don't want to miss our plane."

The ladies broke apart with watery eyes. "I'm so glad you asked for our help. It was so great to see you again."

"I'm glad we were able to persuade the royal security to let us go without them. We had a great time. You keep me posted on your move and wedding plans."

"I will." They hugged again before Lee interrupted them once more.

"Come on, we really need to get going."

"Okay, okay. Goodbye, Penny. Goodbye, Rheza. Thank you again."

"Goodbye. We'll see you in a few months."

Penny and Rheza returned to the limo while Lee and Amanda headed into the airport. As they walked through the doors, Lee commented. "You went back and checked, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry. What do you mean, I went back?"

"When you went back for your purse, you checked the room to make sure I didn't miss anything, didn't you?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and gave Lee a sheepish look.

"Well?" Lee asked.

"Well, what?"

"Did I miss anything?"

Amanda smugly ignored his question and strolled off in front of him, leaving Lee with a stunned expression on his face.