This story is the second installment of my "Love at First Sight" series. It follows 'The Night the Walls Fell in Paris'. If you haven't read that one yet, you might want to read it first.

Before you begin this story, I need to give an enormous thank you to the best beta team around. Thank you for all of your help and advice. I have learned so much from both of you, and you two make me a better writer. Thank you, Tracey Arcieri and Karen LaManna.

I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

Billy sat at his desk when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." His door opened, and Amanda walked in.

"Good Morning, sir."

"Good Morning, Amanda. How are you this morning?"

"Well, sir, I'm not doing very well. I'm starting to get worried. We haven't heard anything from Lee in two weeks. Have you heard anything new?"

"No, I haven't. I'm sorry. You know how these things go. Give it a little more time. I know we'll hear something very soon."

Amanda stared down at her hands and stated softly, "That's what you said last week."

Billy raised from his chair and walked over to Amanda. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Amanda, I know you're worried about Lee. We all are. This isn't the first time he's been on a mission and lost contact with us, especially on a zero-contact mission. Have faith Lee will be home before you know it. Why don't you stay in here for a little while until you're ready to start your day? I'll lock the door, so nobody disturbs you."

"Thank you, sir. I think I'll take you up on that." Billy walked out, making sure to lock the door. Amanda sat back in her chair, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. She started to think back to the day Lee left.

Lee was in Billy's office while she was working on one of Lee's reports. Suddenly, she heard her name. "Mrs. King, can you join me in my office for a minute?" She walked into Billy's office and saw Lee standing over in the corner with his back to her. The sad look on Billy's face worried her.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

"Thank you for joining us, Amanda. I just gave Lee his next assignment, and I wanted you two to have a minute before he leaves." Amanda looked over to Lee, who hadn't moved, then back to Billy. "The mission Lee has to leave for is a zero-contact mission. Since I have already briefed him, as soon as either of us leaves this office, neither of us can discuss it, and Lee can't talk to anyone. Since technically we haven't left the office, he can still talk. I will have to stay in the office, so this is as private as it will get."

Amanda nodded her acknowledgment and walked over to Lee. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Lee, what's going on?" Lee slowly turned to face her and reached for her arms. Amanda noticed the look in his eyes and stated, "Lee, you're scaring me. Please! What's a zero-contact mission?"

"Exactly that, Amanda. I can't call or contact anyone until the mission is complete. I can't even tell you where I'm going. However, where I am going, I have local contacts that I will get word to, and they will check in with Billy, but it's not a set schedule. It might be days before I can get word to them or more. Technically, you and I shouldn't even be talking right now." They both glanced over to Billy with thankful looks.

"Lee, how long will you be gone? We've only been back from Paris a week. Mother and the boys just met you."

"I know, I know. I don't want to go, but I'm the only one that can do this. And with all that's happening right now, I'm worried I will ruin everything I've started with the boys and Dotty. What are they going to think about me? I just popped into their lives, and now I'm leaving. I can't even tell them good-bye, and I don't know when I'll be back." He hugged her close and spoke, "I hope it will only be a couple of weeks, but there's no telling how long it will take."

"What should I tell my family?"

"As close to the truth as you can. Tell them an emergency came up at one of our location shoots, and I had to leave immediately. It's a remote location, and there's no way to contact you. Hopefully, that will be enough." Lee could see the concern in her eyes. He leaned in and kissed her softly. Amanda quickly reached behind his head to pull him closer, causing the back of her shirt to pull out of her waist. Lee's hands instantly went around her to deepen the kiss. His hand drifted up under her shirt, needing to feel her skin. Remembering where they were, he pulled back and leaned against her head. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too." She gently placed her hand on the side of his cheek and leaned back to stare into those beautiful hazel eyes. "You be careful. You have a lot of reasons to come home in one piece."

He smiled and softly kissed her lips. "Yes, I do. I love you!"

"I love you, too!"

That was almost six weeks ago. Amanda brought herself back to the present. She wiped her eyes, stood, smoothed her skirt, and sighed deeply. She took a step to the door to start her day.

"Mother, I'm home."

"In the kitchen, dear," Dotty called out.

Amanda walked into the kitchen and tossed her purse on the counter. "Okay, Mother, tell me what still needs to be done for the party tonight?"

"Not much in the kitchen. I have all the snacks in the refrigerator, and the drinks are in the coolers on the patio. We need to move some of the furniture in the family room, so the space is more open. Oh, and I got some of these cute decorations this afternoon. I thought we could put them up." Dotty held up some decorations with baseball-themed items.

"Oh, Mother. I love them! Did you get any streamers?" Dotty smiled, put her hand back into the sack, and pulled out bags of streamers.

During the next thirty minutes, the ladies spent rearranging the furniture and hanging the decorations. They stood back and admired their work. "You know, Mother. I think we did a pretty good job. Do you think the boys will like it?"

"I think they'll love it, dear. Those boys are on cloud nine right now, and this party is just what they need to celebrate making the championship tournament next weekend. I'm just sad I'm going to miss it."

"I know you are, Mother, but you've done a lot of work with your garden club as well. You can't help the tournament, and your weekend getaway is at the same time."

"I know, dear." Suddenly the door opened and interrupted them.

"Oh, man. This place looks awesome!" Philip exclaimed.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Do you think the team will like it?"

"Absolutely!" Philip answered.

Amanda looked over and saw that Jamie wasn't as animated as Philip. "Jamie, what do you think?"

"It looks really nice in here, Mom." He nonchalantly acknowledged.

"Jamie, is there something wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Mom. You guys did a great job decorating the house. I was just thinking about Lee. Have you heard anything from him yet?" Jamie responded with a slightly sad expression on his face.

Amanda went over and put her arm around Jamie. "No, I haven't, sweetheart. I've been thinking about him a lot lately as well. He'll get a hold of us as soon as he can." She hugged him and continued, "Now, I want the two of you to go put your things away and get ready. Your team will be here any minute."

"Okay, Mom," both boys replied.

Amanda lowered her head as Dotty walked up and put her arm around her. "You know, darling. He's not the only one worried about Lee. Are you sure this is normal for him to be out of touch for this long?"

"Yes, Mother, it is. But it still doesn't mean I'm not worried a little either."

The party was starting to wind down when Jamie ran into the kitchen. "Mom! Mom! Bobby just invited Philip and me to spend the night with him. Can we, please?"

"Jamie, slow down. Bobby may have invited you, but we still need to make sure it's okay with his parents," Amanda reminded him.

"His dad is already here, and he said it was okay." Philip, Bobby, and his dad walked into the kitchen.

"Hello, Jack. I hear the boys don't want the party to end," Amanda stated with a smile.

Jack chuckled and answered, "It sure sounds that way. It's okay with us if it's okay with you. We could bring the boys back tomorrow morning around ten if that works for you?"

Amanda grinned at the hopeful looks of all the boys and informed them, "It's okay with me. Go on up and get your things together." The boys took off and ran up the stairs as Amanda shouted, "And don't forget to pack your toothbrushes." Amanda just shook her head at the boy's excitement. "Thank you, Jack. This is very nice of you."

"No worries. We'll see you tomorrow."

The boys came back down with their bags and yelled, "We're ready to go."

"Okay, fellas, come here real quick. You guys be good and listen to Bobby's parents. We'll see you in the morning."

"We will, Mom. Thanks," both boys answered together.

Amanda watched as the boys left the house, leaving the mess for her to deal with.