CHAPTER 14

In all of Lee's life, never had he experienced such a problem like the one he was in. Here he was, holding a gun in Amanda's house, completely terrifying her mother and sons.

"Lee!" Amanda gasped, stunned to see Lee Stetson in the middle of her living room.

Seeing the horror on the faces of Amanda's family, he quickly stuffed his gun into his jacket.

"I, uh... I heard gun shots and screams," Lee stammered, his heart pounding louder than the booming sounds erupting from the box.

With her mind racing in different directions, Amanda quickly went to pick up the offensive object. She needed to get the box out of her house so that she could try to come up with an explanation for Lee.

Seeing the violently shaking object on the floor, Lee held his hand up to Amanda. There was no way he would let her touch the crazy, black box. After a brief examination of the object, he swiftly picked it up and placed it inside the trash can.

"Let me get this out of here," Lee said, placing the entire trash can into the backyard.

Dotty's eyes darted between Lee and the broken back door. "Who... who are you?!" she exclaimed in horror.

For a man that could come up with any explanation in a moment's notice, Lee was rendered speechless. "I'm... I'm..." he stuttered, desperately looking at Amanda for help.

"Mother," Amanda replied, forcing a smile on her face. She took a few steps towards Lee. "This... uh, this is my boss, Mr. Stetson."

Before Dotty could respond, Philip burst out, "He broke down our house! You're so lucky, Mom. You have the coolest boss in the world!" He threw his head back and screamed in excitement, "I can't believe it!"

"I can't believe it either," Lee muttered to himself, running his hand through his hair.

Jamie let out a wild hoot. "This is totally awesome! Aunt Edna's gift almost killed us, and then some guy busted down our door!" He bounced happily on his toes.

Dotty's eyes continued to bulge out of her head. "Why, why did you say you were here?" she repeated, shaking her head in confusion.

Before anyone could respond, Philip excitedly cried out, "I thought you were going to pump holes into everyone with that gun of yours! BAM! BAM!"

Amanda's eyes widened into saucers. "No sweetheart," she replied, shaking her head. "Nobody is pumping holes anywhere."

Lee gave Philip a weak smile. "That's right. I wasn't going to... pump holes... or bam anybody." Looking at Amanda for help, he cleared his throat.

Completely bewildered, Dotty's mouth hung open as she waited for an explanation.

"Mr. Stetson was wanting to come over and introduce himself," Amanda began, a forced smile plastered on her face.

Lee shook his head in agreement.

"He wanted to demonstrate a documentary that we were working on," Amanda said, nodding her head vigorously. "It's about..."

"Home invasions," Lee added, giving Dotty his most charming smile.

"Yes," Amanda affirmed. "Home invasions and how to handle them. And I must say, Mr. Stetson did a great job simulating an... an invasion."

"Well, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Dotty exclaimed, waving her hands around in the air.

"I always say," Lee replied, glancing at Amanda. "All demonstrations should be as realistic as possible."

"Absolutely," Amanda responded, shaking her head up and down. "Realism. Very important."

After a few seconds, Lee coughed and held his hand out to Dotty. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. West. I've heard so much about you."

At Lee's words, Dotty's face lit up with excitement. "Oh! I'm so glad to meet somebody from Amanda's work!" She shook Lee's hand vigorously. "Won't you stay for dinner? I was just about to make some sandwiches."

At the word 'sandwiches', Amanda's face reddened considerably. She looked at Lee and smiled warmly. "Thanks, Mother. I'll help Lee fix the door, and we'll join you in the kitchen in a few minutes."

After Mother and the boys swarmed into the kitchen to get dinner ready, Lee quickly started repairing the door.

Lee whispered, "Amanda, I'm so sorry. I completely terrified your Mother and the boys. I had no idea." He shook his head. "I... I thought I heard gun shots. And when I heard screaming, I didn't even bother to look through the window."

"It's okay, Lee," Amanda warmly replied. Touched by the tenderness in Lee's voice, she gently placed her hand on his arm. "Thank you again for coming to save me."

"I'll always be here to save you," Lee whispered, his eyes intense. "Like I said before, I care about you very much, Amanda."

Amanda's heart felt so warm with Lee's words. "Well," she replied, smiling. "Both of us want to spend more time together. I think that your meeting Mother and the boys is a great start."

A broad smile stretched its way across Lee's face as he realized the meaning of Amanda's words. Instead of watching from the backyard night after lonely night, he could come inside and be with Amanda and her family.

"I didn't envision meeting them like this," Lee replied as he secured the hinges back on the door. "But yeah, this is a good way to see you more. I can actually come and join you and your family for dinner."

"I'm sure Mother would love to have you over for dinner quite often," Amanda added, her eyes bright.

"Only if it's okay with her very special daughter," Lee added, tilting his head a bit to the side.

"Oh yeah," Amanda replied as she caressed Lee's arm, "It's more than okay. I wouldn't have it any other way."

As Amanda and Lee smiled into each other's eyes, Dotty's voice rang out from the kitchen. "Amanda, where did this bag of cocoa powder come from?"

Lee looked at Amanda, and they shared a huge grin. A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he placed his hand on hers.

Turning his head to make sure that nobody was watching, Lee unexpectedly brought Amanda's hand to his lips. He closed his eyes as he placed a tender kiss on the back of her hand.

Amanda let out a soft sigh as her hand melted against his lips. Without a doubt, she knew that she'd found love, wondrous and true.

As Lee gazed at the woman beside him, his heart knew that he was finally ready to embark on a new adventure. An adventure of becoming 'more than friends' with the most important person in his life, Scarecrow's sweet and precious Mrs. King.

THE END

Author's Note: Thank you very, very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Your reviews and messages mean so much to me. I am so happy to share my love of SMK with others. Have a wonderful day! :)