Epilogue

'cause baby i

i believe in all

all of love's glory

and no one's gonna talk me down . . .'

Saturday, May 22, 1988

11:32. p.m.

Lee Stetson paused beneath the square entryway and scanned the crowd.  Though the hour was late, the elegant ballroom was still packed, the party in full swing.  Trust Francine to turn her wedding reception into the social event of the season.  He smiled and shook his head.  The elite of D.C. certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves, but the gala celebration didn't hold a candle to quiet evenings spent in his new home, with his new family.

Searching the elegant crowd again, he spotted a familiar face in the corner.  Taking care to protect his drink, he negotiated his way through the boisterous crowd and approached the small table. 

A smile lit up the man's dark face.  "Scarecrow.  It's good to see you."

"Same here, Billy."  He indicated an empty chair.  "Do you mind?"

"Not at all.  Sit down, please."  Melrose brought his glass to his lips and took a quick sip.  "Where the hell have you been keeping yourself?  I've been looking for an opportunity to talk to you all night."

"It's been pretty hectic.  There was a minor emergency on a job we're doing, and I had to take care of it right after the ceremony.  I didn't want to spoil Francine's big day, so Amanda covered my 'escape.'"

Billy nodded.  "I'd heard you two landed the Tel-Star contract."

"Yeah, it's turning out to be a pretty big job.  Lucrative, too," he added, with a satisfied grin.  It was comforting to see his new venture showing signs of paying off so soon.  Though they had a good nest egg in the bank, the new house in Rockville had put a sizable dent in it.  Not to mention the horse he'd just bought for Jamie—the one he hadn't quite found the nerve to tell Amanda about yet.

He turned his attention back to Billy.  "I'm sure this job is just the first of many," his friend was saying.  "My contacts tell me 'Security Consultants' has made quite a splash.  D.C. is buzzing."

 

"Thanks, but I think the jury's still out.  There's a lot riding on this new project—with a little luck, it'll give the Seaforth people a run for their money."  He took a long drink.  "Amanda's been terrific about it all, though.  Keeps telling me that I have 'options' and everything will work out just fine."

"She might be right about that.  I probably shouldn't say anything, but . . ."  Billy glanced around the room then leaned closer and lowered his voice.  "You two will be getting a call from the Agency next week.  Scuttlebutt has it Smyth is drooling over the specs of your new security system."

Lee's face broke out into a wide grin.  "And we'll be more than happy to talk to him, Billy.  For a big, fat fee."

"I'll just bet you will."  Billy's laughter boomed.  "So, tell me, how is that adorable little daughter of yours?"

"She's getting cuter every day, especially since she started sleeping through the night."  He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet.  "I just happen to have a few pictures . . . what?"

"Nothing."  Billy let out another deep belly laugh.   "I just never thought I'd live to see the day when the legendary Scarecrow carried family pictures in his wallet instead of—"  He ended the sentence with a discrete cough. 

Lee pretended to be affronted as he spread the snapshots out in front of his friend.  "Times change, Billy, and, I'm happy to say, I've changed with them."

"I can see that."  Billy raised a bushy eyebrow as he looked at one of the shots.  "Are these Amanda's boys?  They've certainly grown."

He nodded.  "Jamie has really shot up over the past few months.  He's almost as tall as Phillip now.  Amanda says the air up in Rockville agrees with him." 

Not to mention the fresh start he'd made.  The boy seemed to thriving in his new school environment, free from the innuendo that had accompanied their secret marriage.  Children could be cruel sometimes, especially to a sensitive kid like Jamie. "I think he really enjoys being a big brother, too.  He's crazy about the baby."

Billy studied the pictures again.  "This must be Phillip."  He pointed to the shot of a tall, sandy-haired boy in a baseball uniform.

"His team photo.  It was taken just last week."  He rolled his eyes.  "Did you know they even make them into buttons?"

Billy's eyes sparkled.  "You aren't going to tell me you actually have one, are you?"

"I'll admit to a magnet on the refrigerator, but nothing more.  Aw, come on, Billy," he said when his friend laughed out loud, "I have to support the kid somehow.  He's had a hard time settling in.  He had to leave his cute little girlfriend behind in Arlington." 

"That's hardly the end of the earth, you know," Billy said, with a laugh.

"Not to hear Phillip tell it.  Amanda doesn't seem to be all that broken up over it, though." 

In fact, he suspected that had been the deciding factor for his wife in favor of the move.  She thought Phillip and Linda were getting entirely too serious.  From the compromising position he'd caught the pair in right before Christmas, she might have had a point. 

"I think making Rockville High's traveling baseball team has been good for Phillip," Lee added thoughtfully.  "It's given him something else to concentrate on.  You know, Billy, you should try to come to one of his games this summer, if you get the chance.  The kid has a pretty decent arm."

Billy smiled.  "Let me know when and where, and I'll be there."

"Thanks.  I know Amanda would love it, too.  We're trying to prove that . . ."  He shrugged.  "Well, I think it might help."

Billy rolled his eyes.  "How are things with Joe?"

Lee winced; the subject of Joe King was still a touchy one.  "He's not exactly overjoyed at the boys' decision to stay with us, but he did have the decency to accept it.  I think my leaving the Agency made him feel a little more secure about things.  He doesn't want a custody battle anymore than we do, but . . . well, what happened last summer scared him.  Badly."

Billy frowned.  "I'm sorry about that.  At the time, we thought the threat to your family was real."

"It was real, Billy.  What happened to Francine proved that.  If I hadn't carried through with that damnable charade—if Arbaalk had thought Amanda and I were still connected—they might have targeted her as well."  He let out a deep sigh.  "Knowing that at least helps me sleep at night.  I just wish . . ."

"What?" his friend prodded.

Lee bit his lip.  "At the risk of sounding a little like Joe King, I wish that Amanda didn't want to go back to work at the Agency when her maternity leave is up next month.  There's no talking her out of it, though.  She can be kind of stubborn when she wants to be."

"So I've noticed.  It's a trait you both happen to share."

Lee grimaced.  "The odd thing is—Dotty supports her decision.  Even though she's moved into a condo of her own, she's offered to come by every day to watch the baby.  Go figure."

Leaning his elbows on the table, Billy interlocked his fingers.  "Amanda has decided to take a desk job.  She won't be in the field anymore."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?  You know as well as I do, no one's really safe in this business."

"In or out of this business, Scarecrow.  You and Francine may have decided to cash in your chips, but that doesn't cancel out the past."

"I know.  Trust me, I intend to keep a close net around my children and my wife.  It would be easier to do if she would agree to work with us at our new company, but . . ."  Lee rolled his eyes.  "She has this crazy idea that we need benefits."

Billy snickered.  "Amanda's always been practical."

Lee smiled wryly.  "Yeah—although I'm not sure marrying me in secret was one of the most sensible things she's ever done."

"Stranger things happen all the time, Scarecrow.  I would never have predicted that Francine Desmond would chuck her career to go into business with you."  Billy's eyes drifted to the dance floor, where Francine was smiling happily in the arms of her new husband.  "Or that she would have ever entertained a second thought about Effrom Beaman, for that matter."

"Now, Billy, he did keep offering her the pink slip to his car." 

"Yeah."  Billy gave him a dry smile.  "Who would have guessed he'd traded in that Buick of his for a Jaguar."

"Seriously, though," Lee said, as they both shared a laugh, "she seems genuinely happy.  Amanda says Beaman is Francine's reality check."

Billy snorted.  "I've always thought she could use one.  The same as you, my friend."

Lee tipped his glass in Billy's direction and leaned back in his chair.  Nursing his drink, he let his eyes follow the bride and groom as they glided across the floor.  Francine's smile seemed to light up her face as she gazed at Beaman.  Lee recognized the look.  He saw it shining back at him every morning in his own mirror.  It was contentment, the kind that sprang from deep inside, from knowing—finally and irrevocably—that you'd reached journey's end.  He hoped it would be the same for Francine; she certainly deserved it.  If luck was on her side, she might even discover that "normal" really was all it was cracked up to be.  And then some.

Pushing back his chair, he turned to his friend and smiled.  Something seemed to catch in his throat, but when he spoke, Lee Stetson's voice was warm and deep.  "Excuse me, Billy.  I think it's time I danced with my wife."

Finis