3. Settling in

Romney was a charming little city. They stood out a little of course, as total strangers, but not as much as they might have feared. The people running the local stores and food market were used to tourists from the various campsites and cabins in the area and were very helpful. They managed to get all the groceries they needed and then some, and when they were finished loading everything into the back of the Jeep, Amanda remarked that they had enough to hole up in the cabin for weeks.

"That's the idea," Lee told her. "We're going to try to have a normal-looking life here, but if we ever need to stay out of sight, it will be good to have reserves."

"Right. Of course. But how will we keep it all fresh?"

"We have a large freezer."

"Where?" Amanda asked.

She didn't remember seeing a freezer at all, just the fridge in the kitchen. It was big, but not that big. She would have to check out the cabin and its surroundings better now that it was light again. Lee explained that there was an extra storage room on one side of the cabin that could only be accessed from outside. It held some fishing and gardening equipment, snow gear, garden furniture and the big freezer.

When they got back to the cabin, Dotty and the boys were busy unpacking their clothes and putting them in their closets. Dotty was tending to Amanda's clothes as well and happily put Lee's suit and shirt in Amanda's side of their closet. She gave her daughter a knowing smile and Amanda rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to make some coffee," she announced, leaving her mother to finish unpacking.

After putting the coffee maker to work, she checked on the boys. She wasn't going to bother them with school work on the first day but wanted their school things to be put away neatly in the bookcase in the dining area. Once they were all finally settled in, Amanda served them coffee and cake, with lemonade for the boys. She was planning on baking her own cakes again soon and had already stocked up on ingredients, but they had bought some cake and cookies to tie them over for a few days.

Lee had put away all their groceries and looked around the cabin contently. They were all set now for a prolonged stay and he could finally relax. Amanda had been right, there wouldn't be a lot of spy work for him here and he wondered if he wouldn't get bored after all. He only had to check in with Billy once every 48 hours after all. His eyes drifted to Amanda, who was talking quietly with Jamie. He knew for a fact that Amanda was someone who never got bored. She always had energy to think of something to do. Aside from a collection of books, she'd even insisted on buying a few board games in Romney. He had placed them on the dinner table, not knowing where she'd want them, and when Philip spotted the games, he picked out a game right away. Ludo.

Amanda instantly looked at Lee, a sparkle in her eyes. It was as if she was looking right through him and just knew he hated that game. He wasn't a very good loser and she knew it. But neither was she and he was kind of looking forward to the challenge.

"You know what?" Amanda suggested. "It's a beautiful day and I think we should go out after lunch and explore a little. Then we can sit down to play some games after dark. How does that sound?"

The boys thought it was a great idea and Lee even felt himself get slightly enthused. Maybe he wouldn't get bored after all; not while Amanda was around. His mind instantly took a sidestep he was trying to avoid and he slapped himself mentally. No matter how funny it was to make jokes about it just to see her blush, he couldn't see Amanda take a real interest in a guy like him. She was too good for him; too pure. No matter how much she seemed to care about him, he shouldn't read more into that. She'd never go for a player like him; they were just too different.

…

They all had fun in the woods, and circled the entire lake to check out the vegetation around it and basically map out the lake. It wasn't very big and they found out that they had it completely to themselves. There were no other cabins nearby. Amanda shared her vast Trailblazer knowledge with the group and her sons began to chime in with what they had learned so far during their time with the boy scouts. Dotty just watched her loved ones and glanced at the only stranger in the group from time to time. Lee seemed to feel right at home with them; well, with Amanda mostly. Those two interacted with each other so naturally, as if they had known each other forever. She had never seen her so at ease around Dean. Maybe not even around Joe. Dotty often heard Amanda's loud, melodious laugh echo between the trees and it was like music to her ears. She wanted her daughter to be happy and to have some excitement in her life. Never in a million years could she have guessed how much excitement had fallen into Amanda's lap over the past few years though. A secret agent! Her friends would never believe them if she told them. Not her little girl. Not her Amanda! But she knew she could never tell them. It had to remain a secret.

Dotty sighed and then picked up the pace when Jamie called out to her that he'd found a fascinating bug or something.

While the boys and their grandmother went in search of more forest dwellers, Lee stood next to Amanda as she looked out over the lake. She seemed to be deep in thought and he wondered what she was thinking. When she sensed him next to her, she snapped out of it and smiled at him, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes this time. Lee reached out and put a hand on her lower back reassuringly. She had been very brave when they had suddenly had to leave their home, but it must be starting to sink in now.

"Are you okay?" he asked her and Amanda looked away.

She sighed and her shoulders sagged a little.

"Yeah, I guess so. I was just thinking this would be such a lovely place to spend a vacation. But we're not on vacation."

"I'm sorry, Amanda." He moved his arm up to wrap it around her shoulders and squeezed her shoulder. "You keep getting dragged into trouble because of me."

"Not because of you, Lee. We've had this conversation before. It's because of the job and I chose to do this job, remember? Just like you."

Lee smiled.

"And you're getting to be damned good at it too," he told her, and he meant it.

She'd been the most unlikely candidate to ever become an agent, let alone his partner, but as it turned out, she was absolutely perfect for him. To work with him, he added to his own thoughts quickly, almost as if she could hear him think.

"Oh Lee. You're just saying that to make me feel better," Amanda said, trying to brush off the compliment, but Lee insisted,

"No. It's true Amanda. You're resourceful and you can think on your feet. And although it took me a while to get used to it, you do have a logical mind. You've gotten me out of a tight spot more than once."

"That's sweet of you to say, Lee," Amanda said with a half smile. "But I think you've gotten me out of a lot more tight spots than the other way around."

"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean you're doing a bad job. You know that, right?"

Amanda wiggled her head and Lee released his hold on her shoulder.

"Yeah. I guess I'm getting the hang of it. Thank you, Lee."

Lee smiled at her and then made an inviting gesture from her to the overgrown trail they'd been following around the lake.

"Well, lead the way, Trailblazer. Your troops are awaiting instructions."

A wide smile lit up Amanda's face then and Lee was content. He didn't want her to be sad or worried. They had to keep believing that they hadn't really been relocated permanently. And meanwhile, they should just try to enjoy their stay here, as if it was a vacation. If they had to stay in their new identities as a married couple … well, that was another thing altogether. Lee watched Amanda as she led their little group along the lake and back to the cabin, and took in her slender form. She really was a good scout and felt right at home in the woods. Anyone who'd see her now, wouldn't know how stunning she could be at an embassy party or another official function. She could adapt to anything, just like a real spy, and he was proud of her. She was practical and strong, and at the same time she was incredibly feminine and beautiful. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be 'married' to her for a while ...

…

Back at the cabin, Dotty made everyone some hot cocoa. It wasn't really cold outside for early March, but it wasn't spring yet either and they had been outside for a long time. Amanda glanced at Lee a few times from her spot in the second armchair when they were all sitting together. She wasn't used to seeing him just sitting. He was always doing something; either coming or going, and when he was sitting, he was usually plotting something. But he seemed content for now, sipping his hot cocoa and listening to mother and the boys chatting about all the bugs they had seen. When his eyes landed on her, she looked away as if she'd been caught. Well, that's a silly thought, she thought to herself. I wasn't doing anything. She looked at Lee again and found him still watching her, a small smile playing on his lips. She cocked her head and looked at him questioningly, but Lee just smiled again and then focused on Dotty, who was explaining to the boys that they could definitely not set up a bug farm inside the cabin.

Amanda decided that it was time to get dinner started and moved to the kitchen. It was nice to be able to see the family while she busied herself with dinner. The cabin was much smaller than her house, and the kitchen was far more modest than what she was used to, but everything she needed was there and so she got to work. The boys began bickering a little on the couch and Amanda realized for the first time that they didn't have a TV at the cabin. She preferred to read instead of watch TV, but mother loved to dream away when a romantic movie was on, and it was a nice distraction for the boys, who usually watched some TV after dinner and before going to bed. Dotty tried to get the boys to settle down again but sure enough, Jamie began to whine that he was bored.

"We just got back inside after a long walk. How can you be bored already?" Dotty asked.

"I wanna watch TV."

Dotty glanced at Amanda across the kitchen counter and she pulled her shoulders up. There was no TV so they would have to think of something else.

And then Lee spoke up.

"Hey guys, listen. You wanna hear a story about one of my trips to Europe when I had to catch a bad guy?"

Amanda's eyebrows shot up and she stared at Lee. She was very surprised at his suggestion, but for some reason it also made her feel happy inside that Lee was making an effort for the boys. Even her mother sat up to listen to Lee's tale and Amanda beamed at Lee when he looked at her. And then he began to tell his story.

…

The family went through their normal dinner routine and afterwards the boys set up the game on the dinner table.

"There's only four colors and there's five of us," Jamie remarked.

"Oh, that's okay honey. I don't really have to play. I can just watch," Amanda called from the kitchen, where she and Lee were finishing up doing the dishes.

"Oho, right," Lee chimed in, chuckling. "You just don't want to get beaten."

"What?" Amanda asked incredulously.

"You heard me."

She grinned at him.

"I have never shied away from a good game of Ludo."

"Amanda and I can play together," Dotty suggested but all the men agreed that that wouldn't be fair.

"Then I will watch. I'm not part of the family after all," Lee offered.

"Oh no! You challenged me, so you're playing!" Amanda said, wagging her finger at him.

Lee was standing very close to her when he smiled at her and Amanda had to look away. The look in his eyes hit her like that sometimes and she quickly focused on the last dishes.

Lee watched her profile and he swore Amanda was suddenly blushing. Must be the hot water in the sink, he reasoned but part of him knew better. He hadn't meant to fluster her; they were both just very competitive. Finally, it was decided that they would throw the die and the one who rolled the lowest number would be the first to watch. They could switch it up later, depending on how long it took to finish a game.

Lee was kind of disappointed when it was Amanda who rolled a two, the lowest number, but they all had a lot of fun anyway. Amanda sat down to his right at the head of the table and during the game, she cheered for her boys. Suddenly, Lee didn't even mind that his tokens kept being knocked off the board. It made Philip happy that he was in the lead, and that made Amanda happy. Philip won the first game in a landslide, and instead of competing for second place, they decided to start a new game, so Amanda could play as well. Dotty would bow out, because she hadn't even gotten one piece to the finish.

Dotty watched her daughter and her fellow agent as the new game progressed. They were cheering for the boys but were definitely competing with each other. They laughed a lot and she thought again that she couldn't remember Amanda being this comfortable with a man before. And she didn't miss the tenderness in his hazel eyes either, when he looked at Amanda while she wasn't paying attention to him.

When Lee saw Dotty looking at him, he cleared his throat nervously and almost seemed shy. He quickly focused on retrieving the die from Jamie, who had just knocked one of Philip's tokens off the board.

"Good for you, Jamie!" Amanda cheered. "Philip doesn't have to win twice."

"Why not? I'm the king of Ludo!" Philip declared.

And sure enough, Philip ended up winning the second game as well, followed very closely by Amanda.

"I beat you," she told Lee triumphantly, bumping her shoulder against his.

"This isn't over," he countered. "I could still have caught up."

"Sure Lee. Of course you could have," Amanda answered sweetly as she stood up, playful sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Yeah. I could have," Lee huffed indignantly, and Dotty couldn't help grinning along with Amanda.

They let the men put the game back in the box while they fixed the boys their final glass of milk of the day. Once they had it in front of them on the table, Jamie asked Lee if he would tell them another story, for lack of a TV show to watch. He knew he had to mind his language and maybe not talk about people dying too much, but he actually enjoyed sharing his experiences with these two young boys. Their amazed reactions made him feel like he had actually made a difference in the world. Not that he had doubts about that, but it was nice to get some confirmation from regular Americans; the people he was actually working to keep safe. He finished up with telling them about a case their mother had worked on with him, and he could see that the boys' admiration for their mother was growing by the minute.

"Oh well, I was just doing what I felt was the most logical thing to do," Amanda said, waving off the praise.

"And her logic saved my life," Lee stressed, waving his finger in the air. "So you better listen to your mother boys. She knows what she's talking about."

"And right now, she's saying it's time for bed!" Amanda announced. "Even top spies need their rest. Now come on, off you go."

It tampered their good spirits a bit, but the boys stood up to get ready anyway.

"And tomorrow, we're hitting the books."

"Oh mom."

"Yes, we are. Bright and early so go to sleep right away, alright?"

"Okay," the boys muttered.

They kissed Amanda and Dotty on the cheek, greeted Lee politely and as they walked off to go to the bathroom, Jamie turned to wave at Lee.

"Good night, Lee."

"Goodnight kiddo," Lee said, a little surprised.

Amanda smiled warmly at him, and Lee chuckled nervously. She knew he wasn't completely at ease with her boys yet, but that was because they all didn't really know each other yet, she told herself. Her youngest seemed taken with the federal agent though, and that made her happy. And from the looks of it, it didn't leave Lee completely unaffected either. She thought once again that she had been right all along. The exposure to 'normal people' like them was absolutely good for Lee. And on a slightly more selfish note, she was very glad to have him here as well.

...

To be continued