Mother's Day Chapter 4

Jamie left a few minutes after Phillip had after making sure Victoria was okay.

"I am fine. I think I will just clean up here and then head on out." She told her older brother.

Jamie went by his studio to find Ashlyn in the office doing paperwork. "I thought I would find you here."

"Where else would I be? You have a ton of invoices to send out for work you haven't been paid for yet." She leaned over the desk and planted a big kiss on him.

"Wow! What was that for?" Jamie asked.

"Disappointed?"

"Not in the least, just surprised. I haven't been able to touch you in weeks and now you give a kiss like that and it sends all kinds of signals through my head."

"I know I don't get it either, must be a pregnancy thing."

Jamie laughed at her statement after remembering his mother's words from earlier. "How is your appetite?"

"Crazy, I have already eaten like three times today and I am still hungry."

"Call mom, she might be able to help you with that. I want to talk to you about something."

Sitting in the chair across from her he looked at her face and all he could do was smile. That is what she did for him.

"I met Lee Stetson after mom was already pregnant with Victoria. He was tall and big and seemed nervous about us boys. He didn't have a father growing up after five, his parents died in a car crash and he lives with his uncle an Air Force Colonel. I thought he was great, but I didn't show it at first because I didn't want to get close to him and him leave like my Dad and Dean had."

Taking a deep breath he continued, "I overheard him talking about not being in the same house as Victoria when she would be growing up and all the things he would miss out on. I told him and my mom he didn't have to miss anything Lee could just move in and then if he missed something it was because he was at work, like any other parent."

Ashlyn sat in silence. Jamie had only ever talked about his step-father a hand full of times, usually after having a few too many drinks.

"He taught me everything I know about being a man. Phillip and Dad have a bigger connection and I am okay with that, we have our own relationship, but Lee, Lee was the one that taught me that it is not okay not to open doors for a lady. He taught me how to drive a stick shift before I was allowed to drive any other car. He told me the secrets to a good wine and taught me that Mozart was just as good as metal. When I went to buy my truck he was there from beginning to end. We took it to his friend Leatherneck to check it out."

"Leatherneck what kind of name is that?"

"I think it was a code name. He was ex-military and at the Agency he was the Quarter Master. Well, Leatherneck told us that the truck body was still in great shape, but the insides were only going to make it enough to get it back to the owner and maybe to our house from there. Lee made a deal that if it made it back to the owner and we bought it and it made it to the house he would help cover the cost of some of the repairs, as a loan. It made it to the house. I scoured every junk yard and looked up every car part store in the country. I found all the parts we needed. Lee put the parts that had to be ordered on his credit card and everything local I picked up on my own."

"That must have been on hell of a credit card bill."

"It was let me tell you. He showed it to me after all the charges went through and the bill came in. I had a job and every time I got paid, no matter how little or big the check was, I gave Lee half. He would take the money, put it in his pocket and just say thanks. Mom would just look at him as if he should give it back since I was making the effort. He would just smile at her."

"Oh I bet that made her mad." Ashlyn knew Amanda could get a temper.

"Sometimes, but Lee just tell her that I would not learn how to be responsible with my money if I thought I could just borrow that large of an amount and not pay it back. I told Mom that it is was fine; I was able to pay Lee back and still save money. After that she kind of just stayed out of it. A few times working on the car, we would get to a place where we needed more help and Leatherneck would come over and help out. Sometimes he would have to take it with him and bring it back because he didn't have the equipment to work on it there at the house."

"How long did it take?" Grabbing a candy bar from the desk drawer Ashlyn asked while tearing the wrapper open.

"It took Lee, Leatherneck, and I about a good seven months to complete the truck. All it came down to was getting the paint job done. I told Lee I would have to wait in getting it painted. He asked me why and then I explained that I had just paid off the parts on his card and had to save for the paint job. I told him it was no big deal; I could drive it and then get the paint later. The next weekend I went to go get in the truck to meet up with some friends and I reached into the glove compartment to put my wallet in there and found an envelope full of cash."

"I knew I liked that truck let's go see if the next insurance payment is in there." Ashlyn joked.

"Funny, my sweet monkey, I took the envelope in the house and I looked at Lee and asked what the hell the envelope was."

"Looks like money for a paint job to me." Lee said not even looking at him.

"This money is yours. I didn't pay it back just to borrow it again."

"You aren't being asked to pay anything back. You worked for that truck and on it. You put your blood, sweat, and a few cuss words into that truck. I wanted you to learn the lesson of repayment, you did that and more."

"He never sent any of that money in to the credit card or even put it in the bank. He just placed it in the envelope all those times. He told me his intention all along was to give me back the money."

"Well, it seems that you learned more from him than just your camera skills. He taught you how to be the man you are. I can see why you hurt so long after he died."

"Did I ever tell you how he died?" Jamie asked her knowing that he was ready to finally share the greatest man he ever knew with her.

"I would love to hear the story if you're ready to tell me."

"Let's get out of here." Taking her hand Jamie spent the rest of the day telling Ashlyn all about the greatest man he ever knew.