Sunday

Sunday

Lee was up before Amanda the next morning. He approached her door, wanting to check on her, relaxing when he heard the running water; she was in the shower. He walked to the nearby window and looked out over the now-familiar view of the parking lot.

It had been a strange weekend so far, at least by his standards. If this quarantine hadn't shattered his plans, he'd have passed the time much differently. But of course, he wasn't with Giselle, and, if their earlier conversation was any indication, it seemed unlikely that he ever would be again. He shook his head, realizing that he didn't really care.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, considering some of the other changes that had been working their way into his life of late. Most obvious was the diminishing frequency with which he turned to his black books. He hadn't become a total hermit, but the appeal of his flamboyant social life seemed to be fading. He'd heard that his absence had become a topic of conversation among regulars at some of the D.C. nightspots he'd once frequented. He'd also heard that their general conclusion was that his absence was due to a new woman in his life, and that she must really be something, if she'd managed to keep Stetson grounded for this long.

He shook his head and leaned against the window with a frown. They couldn't have been more wrong. The recent lull in his social life wasn't because of any new woman. He'd just been too busy lately to pursue his normal activities. Sure, over the past couple of years he'd somehow developed the habit of driving by Amanda's house after a case, just to be sure she was okay. And yes, in the past few months, other evenings just might find him in that Arlington neighborhood, sometimes knocking on the kitchen window, more often just sitting in his car, watching.

He turned away from the window with an uneasy feeling and began again to justify his recent actions to himself. Yes, he had been checking up on Amanda more and more often. But that was only because of how much more they'd been working together. There were simply more occasions for him to be concerned about his partner, the same way he would be concerned about any other relative newcomer to this crazy business. And if he felt a little more solicitous about Amanda, he had a right, didn't he? After all, it was because of him that she'd gotten involved in all of this. It had been a long time since he'd admitted that she was more than 'just' a housewife, but he still felt responsible for her. It was nothing more.

His conscience wouldn't let him off that easily, and an unwanted thought came into his awareness. 'She intrigues you, Stetson.' With a resigned sigh, he had to admit that it was true. He was attracted to Amanda King, unintentionally but undeniably. He'd lately been focusing on her far more intensely than he cared to admit, and he couldn't seem to take the needed step back. Sure, the weekend he'd planned was supposed to get him back into the mood to return to his former circle of friends. But he hadn't really expected it to work. Things were changing rapidly, and he had the disquieting impression that it might already be too late for him to distance himself from Amanda.

His thoughts were interrupted when Amanda breezed into the room.

"Good morning, Lee. You're up early," she said with a smile. "How did you sleep last night?"

"It was one of the best night's sleep I've had in ages," he said, realizing that, for the first time in recent memory, he'd felt alert and refreshed when he'd first awakened. "Maybe this forced 'down time' is doing me some good, after all. How about you?"

"I'm great," she replied. "But I'm starving. Any sign of Hutchins yet?"

"Not yet. But since we ordered breakfast yesterday afternoon, he should be here shortly."

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door and the young agent appeared, tray in hand. "Good morning! I hope you two are ready for breakfast."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning passed quickly, with conversation flowing easily as they returned to the games that they'd found the day before. They were interrupted only by lunch and Dr. Kelford's visit for their daily checkup. Again they endured the sample collections, vital sign readings, and general poking and prodding. There was no change in the state of their health, nor was there any real progress in the medical investigation -- Mbuto had begun to improve, but the medical mystery remained unsolved. So the quarantine continued.

After Kelford left they returned to their games, and before they knew it, it was early evening. "Dinner should be here soon," Lee said as he rose from the table. "With any luck, this will be our last night in this place. Let's try to do it up right, okay?"

They'd just finished putting the game away when the expected knock sounded. Hutchins breezed in, pushing a cart laden with dishes and tableware and began to set out their dinner.

He quickly retrieved the wine and glasses, then reached to the cart's second shelf and produced a small bag, which he handed to Lee with a wink. "That should finish it up," he said. With a nod to Amanda, he took his leave.

"Lee, what's going on?" Amanda asked as she surveyed the table. "This looks even better than last night's dinner."

"Amanda, you've been a lifesaver this weekend," Lee explained, standing close enough to take both her hands in his. "Even when I lost my temper the other night, you kept your cool. I don't know what I'd have done, locked up like this all weekend, if it hadn't been for you."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "I didn't do anything."

"You may not think so," he replied. "But you showed me a whole new way to unwind, and I wanted to find a way to say thank you." He gave her a smile and gently squeezed her hands, allowing himself to drift for a while in the warm brown depths of her eyes.

"So that's what you were talking with Hutchins about earlier," Amanda said, nodding her head thoughtfully.

"I couldn't do it alone from here," he admitted, "so I asked him to help me out. I gave him some general guidelines, like telling him that dinner was to come from Spencer's, but the specifics were all up to him."

Her eyes lit up. "And what about the bag he handed you?" she asked. She reminded him of a small child at Christmas, and he wondered why he'd never before done anything like this. She was so easy to please, and the return -- that smile could light up the darkest night.

"Just a little something for later on." He smiled at her obvious curiosity as he let go of one hand and guided her to the table. "Now, are you ready for dinner?"

"Absolutely."

He watched her as they ate, studying her until her eyes dropped and her cheeks glowed. For all the time they'd spent together over the past two years, they'd had little opportunity to just be together, without the distractions of work or family. If anything, he'd been avoiding just such a situation. Now, forced into close proximity to the woman he'd been avoiding, he found it increasingly hard to keep his guard up. And increasingly hard to remember why he needed to.

After they had finished, Lee escorted her to the couch. "All right," he said, reaching for the small bag that Hutchins had given him earlier and smiling to himself as she eyed it curiously. "Let's see what else we have for the evening. This was the hard part of his 'assignment'," Lee confessed. "There wasn't anything else in the hospital's tape collection that seemed right, so I told him what we watched last night and asked him to find something in the same vein."

"And what did he come up with?"

Lee pulled the tape from the bag and smiled. "I'd say that Hutchins has a pretty good sense of humor. Tonight we're going to see 'Charade'."

Amanda leaned in to see the box. "Oh, look! Cary Grant again," she said with delight. "And Audrey Hepburn."

"One of the classic mysteries of the 60's," he confirmed, slipping the tape into the player as she brought their glasses and the remainder of the wine to the coffee table in front of the couch. He sat next to her, picking up the remote as he asked, "Mystery, intrigue, spies, romance . . . Have you ever seen it?"

"Once, I think, but it's been years," she said, refilling their wine glasses. "I don't think I remember the plot line at all . . ."

"Well, then, you're in for a lot of surprises," he promised. He hit the play button, then settled back into the couch cushions and accepted the offered glass.

As the movie played, Lee found it hard to concentrate on the plot. His mind kept wandering to his partner, sitting enticingly close beside him. From the beginning, he'd never intended to think about Amanda as anything other than partner and friend. Why did it now seem that she was so much more?

He was still pondering that mystery when the movie ended. Looking down at her, sitting within the protective circle of his arm, he was caught between the desire to stay where he was and the familiar need to move away from her quickly, as though the moments of closeness had never happened. He compromised by leaning forward to shut off the TV, easing back from her a few inches when he returned to the sofa. Amanda, looking as confused as he felt, also took advantage of the break to shift toward her own end of the couch.

There was an awkward silence, finally broken by Amanda's, "At least you didn't use a different name every time we met." She laughed. "And you did tell me that you were an 'intelligence operative' that first day we 'officially' met. At the costume party, I mean. Other than that, I'd have to say that the movie was pretty believable."

"You're right," Lee agreed, relieved that she had found a neutral topic. He didn't care to dwell on the romantic subplot. Such a thing couldn't happen, right? Not in 'real life'. Certainly not in his life.

"For the most part anyway." He hesitated. He hadn't intended to start down this path but was now unable to keep himself from continuing, despite the warnings his brain was telegraphing throughout his body. "But I don't really buy the romance stuff. Things just don't happen like that except in the movies."

"You might be right," Amanda replied. "But you never can tell."

He realized, not for the first time, that he was on a very treacherous slope. He'd hoped that Amanda would give him a lifeline -- something, anything to help convince himself that this growing attraction toward her was nothing to worry about. Instead, he had the novel impression that she might even reciprocate the feeling and the nearly unbelievable feeling that he hoped that she did. What was he supposed to do now?

He was staring, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'm afraid I'm going to be a party pooper," she said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "All this relaxing is making me tired. I'll see you in the morning, all right?"

"Wha . . . ? Oh, uh, yeah. Sure thing," he said, rising and extending a hand to help her up. "Sleep well. Maybe tomorrow we'll get to go home." Without thinking, he surrendered, at least in part, to his fantasy and gave her a quick good night hug.

She returned the hug, holding him close for a few brief seconds before pulling back to wish him a good night. "I sure hope so; I miss my family. Good night." The bedroom door closed quietly behind her, and Lee was alone again. No late night musings tonight, though. This evening was one to be savored, not analyzed. It was time to just enjoy the feelings for a change. He turned out the lights and entered his bedroom, still smiling to himself.

He'd not been asleep for long before the ringing of the telephone awakened him. It was Kelford, with good news for a change. They had confirmed that Mbuto was suffering from a new strain of dengue fever, dangerous in its own right, but not one of the more deadly viruses also endemic to his part of the world. He would recover, and since the disease could only be transmitted by an insect bite, Lee and Amanda were in the clear. They could go home anytime they wanted.

He shrugged into his robe and crossed the dark living room to stand at Amanda's door. He listened for a moment, then softly knocked, but there was no answer. Without thinking about what he was doing, he quietly opened the door and peeked in. A faint light from outside partially illuminated the room, and he could see her sleeping, curled up around a pillow, with a serene smile on her face. He caught his breath at the sight. He knew all too well that his partner was attractive, but sometimes, when he least expected it, her beauty overwhelmed him.

He let his eyes linger on her for several long minutes before slowly and quietly closing the door. It was late, and she looked utterly contented in her sleep. He wouldn't wake her tonight; Doc Kelford's news could wait until morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To be continued . . .