Dotty could hardly believe her eyes as she walked into the French Embassy's party arm in arm with Harry. The ball room was exquisite! She hardly knew where to begin looking! Everywhere she turned, she saw something more beautiful than the last. The perimeter of the room was lined with round tables. Each table had a white table cloth with the most delicate and beautiful place settings. Each of the napkins had the French flag woven into its pattern. The center pieces of each table were hand blown glass sculptures in red, white and blue, from the ceiling hung the most beautiful crystal chandeliers that shone and sparkled. There were so many gorgeous flower arrangements perfectly placed around the entire ball room. On one of the food tables, an ice sculpture of the Eiffel Tower, on another, an ice sculpture of the L'arc de Triomphe. Each new discovery was more thrilling that the next!

Dotty squeezed Harry's arm tightly and smiled from ear to ear. Harry glanced over at her beaming face and found himself smiling just as wide.

"Hello, Harry! Wonderful to see you tonight!"

"Billy Melrose! How are you? You know Dotty West, right?

"Yes, of course. How are you tonight Mrs. West?"

"Dotty, please! And I am fabulous! So excited to be here! Have you seen Lee and Amanda yet?"

"No, not yet but I expect they'll be along any time now. Will you excuse me?"

Billy headed off to meet and greet some more people. Harry and Dotty strolled around the room and took in the scenery. The band began to play one of Harry's favorite waltzes.

"Shall we dance, my dear?"

"Oh yes! That would be lovely!"

Lee and Amanda arrived shortly before 7:30pm. Immediately they were greeted by Billy and Francine.

"Amanda! Don't you look absolutely gorgeous tonight!"

"Oh, thank you, Sir! I am excited to be here. My mother is coming tonight, too. She's been dating Harry Thornton as I am sure you remember and he thought it would be fun to bring her tonight. I am not sure if they're here yet….we had the talk with her about be careful what you say while you are here."

"Yes, Amanda. I saw her and Harry earlier. She looked stunningly beautiful as well."

"Your mother is HERE Amanda? With Harry? They are still seeing each other?"

"yes, Francine. My mother is here with Harry and they are still seeing each other."

"Well now I have seen everything! What's next? Is she going to join the 'Family Business', too?"

Amanda looked at Francine with daggers in her eyes. She didn't know what had gotten into Francine tonight. It has been a while since she had shown that nasty streak she possesses. Amanda could handle it, but she drew the line when it came to Francine picking on her family. Lee noticed that Amanda was about to lose it on Francine.

"Uh, Amanda…..why don't we dance? Huh? Billy, Francine….we'll catch up with you later."

Lee whisked Amanda onto the dance floor and held her close.

"Lee! What did you do that for? I was about to let Francine have it for talking about Mother like that! I don't know who she thinks she is….being all high and mighty all the time! I mean really! Why is it so bad that my mother is dating Harry Thornton? What is the big deal?"

"Amanda….Francine seemed a like she has already had too much to drink. I don't know what her problem is tonight, but I didn't want to start off our evening with a fight with Francine. Besides, didn't you tell me that tonight you demanded at least 3 dances with your husband?"

Amanda looked at Lee with raised eyebrows.

"Demanded? Demanded? I believe I requested but I don't remember anything about a demand! I thought that you…."

Lee quickly interrupted Amanda's rant with a passionate kiss. He really did want to have a good time tonight and it seemed that the evening had started off on the wrong foot. Lee desperately wanted ot get it back on track. As Lee slowly pulled out of the kiss, he let his eyes rest on Amanda's face.

"Sorry….I guess demanded was a poor choice of words. Let's not get upset tonight, ok? I really just want to have a great night of dancing and fun with my wife. Forgiven?"

Amanda let out a low chuckle.

"Yes…you're forgiven. I am sorry I over reacted. Francine just can push my buttons sometimes.. I want to have a good time, too. How much time do we have before the meeting?"

"About a half hour and it is ME, not WE that has the meeting. The note said to come alone."

"Note? What note? When did you get a note?"

"Today at the agency. There was a note on my desk saying that we were still on for tonight's meeting and to come alone."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, uh..haha..I meant to, but I got a little distracted when I got home!"

Lee smiled at Amanda with that mischievous grin of his.

"Well…so you did! But I still wish you told me. Where are you meeting?"

"Here, out on the north balcony…and NO Amanda….you can't come. I want you in here, safe. Ok?"

"Me? Go with you? I wouldn't do that…why would you think I would do that?"

Lee stared at Amanda with one eyebrow raised.

"Ok, fine! I will stay in here! But you better be careful!"

"I mean it, Amanda. I want you in here out of harm's way. And I want you to ACTUALLY do what I am asking you to do. OK? Please?"

Amanda smiled at Lee and nodded. She wasn't happy about being left behind but she agreed to do as requested this time.

"Oh! Amanda! There you are, darling! I have been looking all over for you! Isn't this the most amazing thing you have ever seen in your life? Hello, Lee dear."

"Hello, Mother…..you look so beautiful tonight! Where is Harry?"

"Dotty….." Lee leaned over and gave Dotty a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh! Is this ok that I am talking to you two?" Dotty said in a whisper.

"Yes, Mother. It is fine, but just don't go spreading it around that we are related, ok?"

"Oh, ok, yes….I know. Both you and Harry had the same speech to give me today. But, Amanda…..I just HAD to come over here and tell you!"

"Tell me what, Mother?"

"Did you see who is here? Right here, in Washington, DC at this very party!"

"Well, there are a lot of people at the party. Can you be more specific or at least give me a hint?"

Amanda looked at Dotty with wide eyes and shrugged her shoulders.

"Sophia DuBois! Sophia DuBois is HERE! Can you believe it?"

Lee looked puzzled.

"Dotty, who is Sophia DuBois?"

"Lee! Are you kidding me? You don't know who Sophia DuBois is? Amanda, please tell me that YOU know who she is?"

Amanda once again shrugged her shoulders and tossed up her hands as she shook her head.

"My own daughter…..Amanda! Sophia DuBois is that French Pastry Chef that I am always talking about! I caught her on the Today show earlier this week! She is here to make a special cake for the President! And she is here tonight! That cake over there is one of hers! Come on…let's go talk to her!"

"Mother, you watch too many cooking shows on TV."

"Amanda, I think that there should be a whole channel that is all about cooking. I would watch it 24/7. Come on! There she is by the pastries! Let's go talk to her!"

Dotty grabbed Amanda by the wrist and pulled her across the room to the pastry chef. As Amanda walked away, she looked over her shoulder at Lee and mouthed "Be Careful!" to him. Lee nodded indicating that he understood her and would be careful.

Lee checked his watch: 8:15. Time to head out to the balcony and see if they mystery person was ready to make contact. Lee subtly checked to make sure his gun was accessible and ready to fire if necessary. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice behind him.

"So, Lee…Amanda abandoned you for some cake?"

Lee spun around. He knew whose voice it was that was speaking to him.

"No, Francine. She didn't abandon me for some cake. Her mother wanted to go talk to the pastry chef and brought Amanda with her."

"Oh yes! Sophia DuBois. She is all the rage these days in Europe. Designer cakes or something like that. I heard that she is baking a cake for the President while she's here. And maybe it's a good thing that Amanda didn't abandon you for cake. She looks like she's getting a little paunchy around the middle these days, doesn't she?"

Francine spoke with a mellifluent tone but the words were razor sharp. He knew that Francine really did like Amanda, but she couldn't help herself from continually taking shots at Amanda even after all these years. Lee knew exactly how to knock Francine off balance and leave her wishing she never made that comment.

"Well, Francine. That tends to happen when you are pregnant. The baby does have to grow, after all."

"Puh, puh, pregnant? Amanda is PREGNANT? She is expecting a baby? Why didn't I know about this?"

Yuh, yuh YES, Francine. Amanda is pregnant and WE are expecting a baby."

Lee knew that Amanda was going to be upset at the fact that Lee told Francine, but he was sure that once he told her why her spilled the beans to Francine, that she would be ok with it. Lee looked at Francine, mouth agape, eyes wide as saucers. Lee chuckled as he pushed Francine's jaw shut.

"Excuse me, Francine, but I have a meeting. Maybe you want to go get yourself a drink at the bar."

Lee walked away from a shocked Francine and made his way out on the balcony. There were a few people on the balcony chatting and enjoying the evening. Lee didn't seem to recognize any of them. He had to assume that whoever was contacting him knew what he looked like and would approach him. He grabbed a flout of champagne from the waitress that was passing by and had a seat at an empty café table. It wasn't long before he heard someone sit in the seat behind him. Lee checked his gun hoping that he wouldn't need to use it but ready in case he did. It was then that he heard a familiar voice speaking to him.

"Ahhhh! von Stetson! We meet again!

To be continued…..