Chapter 19

Amanda woke up first and felt Lee's arms wrapped tightly around her. She snuggled back into him as far as she could. Lee tightened his arms around her and began to kiss her neck softly. "Hmm, good morning, sweetheart."

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Were you able to relax enough to get some sleep last night?"

"I slept like a baby, thanks to you. However, I think you may have made up for a little more than you needed to. I'll have to give a little back to you sometime soon." He nuzzled her neck.

"Well, I look forward to it, but not now. Remember, we're still in a squeaky bed." She moved her hips to show him what she meant as the bed squeaked with her movements.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot."

"I'm going to go jump in the shower first. You just stay here and relax."

Amanda leaned back to give him a quick kiss, climbed out of bed, and padded to the bathroom. Lee grabbed her pillow and pulled it to his face. He could smell her on the pillowcase. He took a deep breath and reveled in her scent. He could hear her humming in the shower, and a smile crept onto his face. "Lee Stetson, how did you get so lucky?" He pushed back the covers and got out of bed. After he stood up, he looked down at the bed, grasped the sheets, and tugged them up as he made the bed while he waited for Amanda to get out of the shower. He heard the water shut off, and shortly afterwards, she came out with her hair up in a towel and her white cotton robe wrapped around her body.

"The showers all yours, Lee.'' She noticed the bed was made and commented, "Thank you, sweetheart. That was very nice of you."

"You're welcome." He scooted over to her and kissed her lips quickly. "I'll just be a few minutes."

Lee watched as Amanda made her way over to her dresser and removed her engagement ring, grabbed the ring box, and began to place her ring in the box. "Amanda, what are you doing?" He asked as he quickly joined her.

"I'm just putting my ring in the box to keep it safe."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't think we were going to tell anyone at work yet."

Lee quickly seized the box from her and removed the ring. As he put the ring back on her finger, he insisted, "This ring is never to come off your finger. Do you understand?"

"But, Lee, how are we going to explain it to everyone?"

"We will tell them you're engaged. They don't have to know your fiance's name. Just tell them you want to keep your personal life separate from your professional one. Tell them anything you want, I don't care, but the ring stays right here." He brought her hand to his mouth and placed a sweet kiss on her ring finger just above where the ring rested.

Amanda smiled and nodded. "Okay, the ring stays on, but I'm not lying to anyone."

"Fine, just don't elaborate. Be vague."

"I think I can do that. I'm going to head downstairs and start the coffee as soon as I'm ready. See you when you're done."

Lee kissed her cheek and headed for the bathroom as Amanda finished getting ready.

A few minutes later, Amanda walked into the kitchen to find Dotty already there and the coffee already made. "Good morning, Mother. What are you doing up so early?"

"Good morning, darling. I just couldn't sleep. I had so many things running through my head, so I just decided to get up and start writing things down."

"Things? What kind of things?"

"Wedding things, dear. We need to get a guest list started. We also need to figure out where you two want to get married. Where do you want the reception? Then there are the invitations, the cake, the dinner, and your dress. Oh my, have you thought about your dress yet?"

"Mother, that's an awful lot of things you've thought about. Lee and I haven't discussed much yet. It hasn't even been forty-eight hours since he proposed. We want the boys to be part of the wedding planning as well, so nothing has been decided. We can all sit down tonight after supper and talk about it if you would like."

"That would be lovely. Speaking of your fiance, where is he?"

"He's still getting ready. When I left, he was still in the shower."

Amanda went over to the cupboards and pulled out two coffee cups and began to fill them. One she put sugar in, and the other just a little bit of milk. As she put the milk back in the refrigerator, Lee descended the stairs, entered the kitchen, and made a beeline right up to Amanda. She handed him his coffee with her left hand as her right hand went for his tie. Unconsciously, she straightened it for him as he took his coffee and raised his chin for better access. Dotty just smiled to herself as she thought they looked like they've done that all their lives. Lee glanced over to Dotty who was now sitting in the breakfast nook.

"Morning, Dotty."

"Morning, Lee. I see you found your suit."

"Yes, I did. Thank you for taking them to the cleaners for me."

"You're welcome, dear."

Lee walked over to join her at the table and reached for the paper. "Were you done with the paper, Dotty?"

"Yes, go ahead." Dotty noticed as he opened the paper and went directly to the news section. She was pleasantly surprised that he didn't go to the sports section first. As she watched him closely read each part of the news she couldn't help wonder what was so interesting in the news that would keep his attention for so long. She shook her head to bring herself out of her thoughts. "Lee, do you think you can help me with something this morning?"

Lee peeked over the top of the paper and answered, "I guess I can. What did you need?"

"Well, the shelf in the laundry room finally fell this weekend. I was able to get the support fixed, but I can't get the shelf back up."

Amanda came up behind Lee drinking her coffee. "I've wanted to fix that shelf for weeks now. I'm sorry I didn't get it fixed before it fell. It didn't fall on you, did it?"

"No, dear. I was reading in the family room when I heard it fall. So, Lee. Do you think you can help me with it?"

"Sure, it shouldn't be a problem. We probably shouldn't show up to work at the same time anyway. I can just follow after I'm done with the shelf." Amanda nodded her agreement and took his coffee cup to the sink to rinse out and place it in the dishwasher.

"Why would it make a difference if you two show up to work together or not?" Dotty queried.

Lee shot a worried look at Amanda and quickly covered his slip. "Well, we are kind of keeping our relationship quiet at work. Our boss, Billy...Mr. Melrose, knows of course, but that's it right now. Amanda is just starting to get the respect she deserves, and we feel if some people learn about our relationship, it may make some people think she doesn't deserve her position."

"Well, that's just silly. But I do understand."

"Well, I'm going to take off. I'll see you when you get there. Don't be too long, though. We have our morning meeting in about forty-five minutes," Amanda reminded him. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

"I shouldn't be too far behind you." Lee folded the paper and placed it on the table. He looked at Dotty and suggested, "Okay, Dotty. Show me where this shelf is."