Chapter 21

Lee and Amanda made their way to the back booth at Neds. As Lee helped seat Amanda, he spoke, "I'm sorry Francine cornered you like that. I can talk to her if you want me to."

"Oh, it's no big deal. I'm getting used to her, and I think I know how to handle her. Thank you, though. How'd things go with Billy?"

"I'm sorry, Amanda. It's need to know so I can't tell you. But I can say, Billy just wanted to give me a heads up on a possible case."

"It's fine. I understand." Amanda lowered her head with slight disappointment.

"Amanda, you know I'd tell you if I could. There will be times when I can't tell you anything." Amanda nodded. "But I have told Billy I need to cut back on my out-of-town cases as much as possible if that helps."

Amanda shyly grinned. "It does. Thank you."

Lee glanced up and whispered, "There's Mom now." He stood to greet her. "Thank you for agreeing to join us, Mom."

"You're welcome, dear. I do have to say I was kind of surprised you wanted to meet in such a public place, considering the subject we'll be discussing."

"Well, there's a reason we're meeting here, and I'll explain soon. Why don't we have a seat, and we'll order our lunch first."

After Lee assisted Dotty into her seat next to Amanda, he sat back down across from them. Soon after, Ned approached the table. "Lee, Amanda, how are you today?"

"Hello, Ned. We're doing well. How are you?" Amanda greeted him.

"Oh, I'm good. Thank you for asking. And who is this lovely lady joining you both today?"

"Ned, this is my mother, Dotty. Mother, this is Ned. He owns this place."

"Nice to meet you. You have a lovely place."

"Thank you. What can I get you guys today?"

Ned took their orders and left them alone. He knew not to stay too long and linger at the tables of his patrons. An awkward silence filled the air as Lee, Amanda, and Dotty glanced back and forth between one another.

Dotty was first to break the silence. "Okay, shall we get this started?"

Lee and Amanda shared a look, and both took a deep breath. Lee spoke first. "First, I want you to look around the restaurant and tell me what you see."

Dotty leaned around the booth and scanned the area. She turned back to Lee and answered, "I see what appears to be professional people on their lunch break. They all seem to be relaxed and enjoying their downtime."

"Okay. Do you see anything else?"

"No, am I supposed to?"

Lee grinned. "Not necessarily. Do you feel comfortable here? Safe?"

Dotty laughed off his question but soon realized he was serious. "Of course, I feel comfortable. It's just a restaurant, and we're just having lunch."

Amanda smiled at Lee. "Mother, everyone in this restaurant but two people are carrying guns."

Dotty stared at Amanda then towards Lee. "Are you serious? Everyone but two. Who are the two?"

"Obviously, Mother, you and I are the only two. All of them are federal agents in some form. This place is like a "safe place" for them. Somewhere they know they can come and just relax."

Dotty glanced at Lee with a question in her eyes. Lee nodded his agreement. "I wanted you to meet us here today so you could see that just because I'm a federal agent and Amanda works with us, that you can feel comfortable around us. We're the same people we were before. You just know what we do for a living now."

"But what you do is dangerous. You could get killed."

"Yes, that's a possibility. But it's the same dangers a cop faces every day. Would you have a problem if Amanda or I were a cop?"

"Don't be silly. Of course, I wouldn't. You would be serving your community."

"That's what we are doing now. However, our community just happens to be the world. We take the same risks everyone else takes when they walk out their door. A policeman, a firefighter, a soldier, lawyer, and even a mother."

Dotty began to disagree but stopped herself. "Well, when you put it that way…" She raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I understand what you're trying to tell me. But what I still don't understand is why all the secrecy."

"Because I told Amanda she had to keep it a secret. Our agency is not one that...let's say, advertises we exist."

"You mean like the FBI or the CIA? Everybody knows about them," Dotty questioned.

"Exactly! Which is also why you can't say anything either. We sometimes deal with some very dangerous people, and we need to keep ourselves as safe as possible. That's why, when Amanda and I are on a case, we use aliases. Most of our work is not dangerous at all, but there are times, and we have to be careful. The less we talk about it, the safer we all are."

Dotty took a moment to take in everything Lee said. She stared both of them in the eyes and, with a pointed finger, stated, "I still don't like how you both lied to me, but I understand why you did it. I will keep your secret, but no more lies."

They both nodded as Amanda added, "As long as you understand, Mother, there will be times when we can't give you specifics, but we will be truthful as much as we can. However, we are not telling the boys yet. They are way too young for this."

"I agree." Dotty turned her attention to Lee. "You have to promise me that you will keep my one and only child safe."

"With my own life, Mom," Lee responded.

"That's good to hear, son, but you need to keep yourself safe as well."

"I will do everything in my power to keep us both safe."

After a moment of contemplating everything, Dotty placed her hands on the table and smiled, "Now, how about we talk about the wedding?"

Lee and Amanda looked at one another in disbelief. "Mother, are you sure you don't have any other questions?"

"No, I think I'm good for now. I've always known you weren't being completely truthful with me. I mean, I'm not completely naive. I trust you both. However, I am still going to worry about you. That's what good mothers do, but at least I won't be left in the dark."

"Okay, if that's how you feel."

"I do. Speaking of I do, Pastor McCormick called today and said the church is available, and he would be more than happy to perform your ceremony. You two just need to set up a time to go and speak to him about what you want."

"That's fantastic news. We'll make sure to call him when we get back to the office."

"Oh, this is so exciting. Things are starting to fall into place. Have you two figured out who's going to stand up with you yet?"

"I know who I want to ask at least," Amanda responded. Lee glanced towards her in shock. "What? Don't you realize once a woman gets engaged, she always thinks about the wedding whether she shows it or not?"

Lee held up his hands and shook his head. "I just haven't heard you mention it, that's all."

"I've been thinking about it all weekend. I can't ask Debbie Anne. She would ask too many questions about the agency. I have friends from the PTA, but none you ask to stand up with you at your wedding. So there really is only one person I could ask."

Lee and Dotty glanced back and forth, wondering if Amanda would share who this person was. Amanda gazed back at them, not realizing they were waiting for her to let them know.

"Dear, are you going to tell us who you're thinking of, or are you going to make us guess?" Dotty questioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I want to ask Penny. She's going to be in town. She knows about the agency, and she knows about keeping secrets. Plus, she's my friend."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Lee supported.

"Thank you. What about you? Are you going to ask Billy?"

Lee finished taking a drink quickly and wiped his mouth. "Billy? No, I don't think I'm going to ask him. Yes, he's a good friend, but he's more of a father figure to me, you know?"

"I can see that. If you're not going to ask Billy, then who?"

Lee lowered his head with uncertainty. "I do have someone in mind, but I don't know how you will react." Lee raised his head and stared into Amanda's eyes. "I'd like to have Philip and Jamie stand up with me."

Amanda lovingly smiled at Lee, while Dotty gasped as her hand covered her mouth. "I think it's perfect."

"You do? I was worried you'd think it was too corny. But they will be my sons and I'm not just marrying you. They are part of it as well and I want to include them as much as we can."

"Oh, sweetheart. They're going to love it."

Lee's smile grew on his face. "You think so?"

"I know so."

"Perfect. We can check that off our list." Dotty turned towards Amanda. "Dear, have you thought of who is going to walk you down the aisle?"

"I have, Mother. This is usually an easy decision, but it's a lot tougher with daddy being gone than you think. At first, I thought of Billy. And I know he would do it in a heartbeat. But, after thinking about it for a while, I've come to a decision. I'm going to go against tradition. Mother, I would love it if you would walk me down the aisle."

Dotty placed her hand on Amanda's cheek with watery eyes. "It would be my honor."

Lee glanced at his watch. "I hate to break this up, but we need to get back to the office. Can we drop you off anywhere?"

"No, I can take a cab home. You two get back to work. I was thinking of going over to the house and work on my place a little. You know, clean it up before we start moving things in."

"Don't work too hard, Mother. We'll see you tonight."