Chapter 2

Dotty was watching the evening news while Amanda finished washing the dinner dishes. "Oh, this is awful," Dotty exclaimed. "Those poor people."

"What's wrong, Mother?" Amanda asked as she entered the living room carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. She sat down on the couch beside her and settled against the pillows.

"Why do I watch the news? It's filled with sad, sad stories all the time. The latest story is about four Senators have been poisoned over the last two weeks and no one can figure out how. I mean, who would do such a thing?" Dotty lamented.

Amanda shook her head and replied, "There are some pretty mean people out there that will do just about anything to prove their point."

"But what did these poor people do? The reporter said they've had to be hospitalized and there are no leads on what poison was used," Dotty recounted the news report.

"Well, we don't have to worry about anything, Mother, because we are not Senators," Amanda tried to cheer her up. Dotty gave her a weak smile, so Amanda added, "Are you sure you're happy with your room? You sure you don't want to paint it?"

Dotty smiled widely, the news report seemingly forgotten as she exclaimed, "Amanda, I've told you, the room is perfect! Some new curtains will make all the difference. I'm so glad I kept a neutral spread for the bed. And the room is much bigger than my room at the Maplewood house. I couldn't ask for anything more."

"Well, I'm glad, Mother. The boys seem happy about having their own space now, although I found Jamie on Philip's bed this afternoon as he was putting things away. This should be interesting," Amanda smiled once more.

"Amanda?" Lee's voice echoed through the house.

"In here!" Amanda called back. She watched Lee enter the kitchen and called out, "There's a plate in the oven for you. I kept it warm."

Lee stopped, sighed and pulled the foil covered warm, heavy dish of meatloaf and baked potato out of the oven. He looked up as Amanda entered the kitchen and asked, "What did Leatherneck say about your car? Can he fix it?"

Lee nodded, "You mean after he stopped laughing? He said yeah, he could fix it. It's going to be a few weeks though, so either we are down to one car during that time or I can borrow one from the motor pool this week." Lee inhaled the delicious aroma of his dinner as he removed the foil and set it aside. "Hmmm, this smells good."

"It was good! And Mom had to hide that plate from Philip before he ate it," Jamie teased as he ran into the kitchen. He stopped at the large refrigerator and pulled open the doors. "Hey Mom, is there any more of that chocolate and raspberry pudding left?" he asked, scanning the shelves.

"There is one for Lee and one more for both you and your brother. Tell you what, he's probably gonna be down here soon looking for some too, so if you promise me you're gonna bring the dishes right back down, you can eat it in his room with him," Amanda said, eliciting a large smile from both Lee and Jamie.

"Thanks, Mom!" he exclaimed as he carefully carried the two small bowls with two spoons back up the steps. Amanda laughed when she heard Philip yell down, "Thanks, Mom!"

"Meatloaf AND chocolate raspberry pudding? How did you manage to pull all that off this afternoon?" Lee asked between bites. He sighed happily as he bit into another piece of the meat.

Amanda got a glass and poured him some milk as she said, "Well, after the tow truck left, the delivery guys felt so bad, they offered to help put the beds together for me. We were their last delivery and they got paid by the hour, so they didn't mind helping out. Plus, I gave them each a twenty dollar tip. So that saved a lot of time, and Mother finished unpacking all the kitchen boxes, I finished the family room downstairs so putting together dinner was a piece of cake."

"Well, thank you. I never thought it would be so nice to come home to find a hot meal waiting for me. I almost picked up a sandwich on my way home," Lee admitted.

Dotty entered the kitchen and placed her now empty coffee mug in the sink before announcing, "I can't watch any more. I'm heading up to take a long hot bath in my own private bathroom! Ahhh, no interruptions, just me and my book and my apricot cinnamon bubble bath!"

Amanda laughed, "You enjoy that, Mother! I appreciate all your help today. The kitchen looks great, it really does."

"Tomorrow we tackle the rest of the living room!" Dotty called as she ascended the steps to her room. Amanda and Lee could hear her humming happily until she closed her bedroom door with a soft click.

Amanda shook her head and still smiling asked, "So what did Billy need that was so important it couldn't wait until Monday?"

Lee replied quietly, "Did you hear about the Senators that have been poisoned?" Amanda nodded in response, her dark brown eyes wide. "Well," he continued, "I've worked with most of these guys in the past, so Billy wanted my take on it. See if I had a fresh insight into how they may be connected."

"But why did you need to head into the office? He couldn't just ask you over the phone?" Amanda replied, annoyed.

"He wasn't sure how much of a secure conversation we could have with everyone around," Lee tried to explain. Amanda folded her arms across her chest in irritation and pressed her lips together tightly. "Hey, I didn't want to leave, but it's our job remember."

Amanda was trying hard to remain calm but inside she was seething. "I know it's our job, but we are also not on the active duty roster until Monday. Today is Saturday. That still leaves us two days to get as much of the house in order, not to mention we still need to go back to the house on Maplewood and clean all the rooms so Joe and Carrie can start moving in."

"I know, I know. Have you talked to Joe yet? Was he in agreement with the buyout amount?" Lee asked as he pulled the pudding out of the refrigerator.

"I did. He said he thought it was too low and wants the bank to do an assessment since the market's gone up from the time we bought it. And as he put it, what's fair is fair. I've paid for everything the last few years, so he thinks he owes me a little more than just half of what we paid for it," Amanda explained. She watched as Lee sank the spoon into the chocolatey confection, his eyes twinkling in anticipation.

Lee slipped the spoon into his mouth and closed his eyes in pure joy. "Don't think you can butter me up with that look," Amanda warned.

He opened his eyes, scooped more pudding onto the spoon, but this time offered it to her with a wink and said, "I promised to make it up to you, didn't I? And this…" Lee pulled the spoon slowly from her lips, "this is just a small token of what might be coming later." He winked at her again, completely lost in the moment until he heard Philip behind him.

"What's coming later? Do we have to finish unpacking more boxes tonight?" Philip groaned. He placed the now empty bowls in the sink, looked at Lee and asked, "Seriously, do we have to unpack more tonight? Jamie and I were going to watch a movie if that's okay. Mom showed us all the ones you had at your apartment and we haven't seen half of them."

Lee exhaled loudly and said, "No, no more unpacking tonight. What movie were you guys thinking of watching? Maybe we can join you…make some popcorn…hang out as a family."

"Jamie!" Philip yelled loudly, causing Amanda to flinch. "Lee wants to know what movie we want to watch!"

"Philip, was that necessary?" Amanda reprimanded him. Jamie bounded down the stairs loudly and ran into the kitchen. "Jamie, what have I told you about running in the house."

Jamie looked confused for a moment then replied, "Well, that was at our old house, so I didn't think it still applied here. I mean, we have a lot more room that nothing's gonna get broken-"

Amanda held her hand up to stop him. "Have you seen Lee's collection of artifacts from around the world?"

Jamie nodded, "Yes, but-" Amanda's hand shot up again.

"And do you think they can easily be replaced if they do get broken because you were running through the house?" she questioned him.

"No, but-" Jamie tried again, and once again Amanda stopped him.

"So, explain to me why you thought you could run in this house, possibly breaking something that doesn't belong to you, that's nearly impossible to replace?" she finished with a firm tone.

Jamie looked at the floor, "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry, Lee. I wasn't thinking. Does this mean I can't watch the movie now?"

Amanda looked at her youngest son, pulled him to her chest for a hug and said, "No, it doesn't mean you have to miss the movie. Now, what movie were you guys thinking of?"

Philip grinned widely as he announced, "The Terminator! I'll be back!"