Lee and Amanda exited the elevator to find Dotty searching her purse. "What's wrong, Mother?" Amanda asked when they got closer.
"I can't find my room key," Dotty explained as she searched her bag once more.
Lee pulled out the key to their adjoining room and unlocked the door. He walked through the room and opened the door for them. He spotted her key and lifted it up with a smile as he said, "Is this what you were looking for?"
Dotty nodded and said, "I must have left it on the table this morning. I could have sworn I put it in my bag."
"It's all right, Dotty, we all have our moments," Lee replied. Jamie and Philip were pulling swim trunks out of their suitcases and arguing over who was going to get into the bathroom first to change. "Hey boys, one of you can change in here, the other can use the other bathroom. There's no reason to argue over this."
Jamie looked sheepishly at Lee and without a word moved to the other room to change. He appeared a few minutes later wearing his trunks and carrying a towel. "I hope you don't mind. I grabbed an extra towel from your room," he stated.
"We don't mind at all, Sweetheart, we can get more from housekeeping if we need to. Now, go on with your brother and your grandmother and have a good time. We'll meet you guys in the arcade later if that's okay," Amanda stated.
Dotty nodded with a smile, "Are you sure, Amanda? I can bring the boys back here later and we can decide what to do for dinner. Unless you and Lee want to have dinner alone?" She looked at Amanda first, her eyebrows raised, then at Lee with a smile.
"No, Dotty, that's not necessary. This weekend is for all of us," Lee stated firmly. He shook his head and fought the frustration he was beginning to feel. He wanted them to spend time as a family and so far, he was feeling very disjointed. The only true family time they had was limited to meals. "I have an idea. After the arcade, let's get dinner at that restaurant down the street, Amanda, you know the one we went to with Charlie. Then let's see if we can rent a boat for a few hours tonight. You know, watch the sunset on the water. I think there are fireworks tonight too."
Amanda looked at the boys who responded excitedly, "You mean we can do that? What kind of boat? What time are the fireworks?" They fired off their questions so quickly, Lee couldn't even tell who was asking.
Amanda raised her hands to calm them, "Slow down, slow down. While you're at the pool, Lee and I will find out about a boat for tonight. We might not even be able to get one but we can try. There's no guarantee so don't get your hopes up too high. Just behave for your grandmother and we'll do our best."
Philip gave Amanda a quick hug as he darted toward the door, "Thanks, Mom, thanks, Lee." Jamie followed suit only he hugged both Amanda and Lee before he left the room, the door wide open.
Dotty got the book she brought out of her bag, thanked Amanda and Lee then followed the boys. Lee just laughed as he heard her call down the hallway, "Hey, boys, wait for me!" He turned to Amanda and said, "I'm going to take a quick shower, change then we can talk to the front desk, maybe they'll have an idea where we can rent a boat."
"That sounds like a great idea to me. I"ll make reservations for dinner," Amanda replied. Lee smiled and headed into the bathroom. Amanda laughed when she heard the water turn on, then Lee happily singing off key. Ten minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom, once again, wearing nothing but a towel slung low on his hips. Amanda inhaled sharply at her husband's nearly nude body and averted her eyes quickly. Lee didn't miss how her skin pinkened and she bit her bottom lip.
He took his time sorting through the clothes in his suitcase, deciding what to wear. Amanda tried to look everywhere in the room but at him. Lee puckered his lips and blew her a kiss across the room when their eyes met. Amanda bit her lip once more then said, "If you keep that up, we won't be leaving this room anytime soon, Sweetheart. And if we don't at least try to rent a boat, well, I don't want to disappoint the boys because we didn't try. I was able to make reservations for dinner at five thirty."
"I know, I just couldn't help teasing you," Lee admitted. "Let me get dressed and then we can see what we can do. I don't want to disappoint the boys either. I want everything this weekend to be perfect."
"It's perfect just because we're here together," Amanda stated. "Tell you what, I'm going to head down to the lobby. I'll meet you there. I'll check in with the desk and see if they have any ideas about that boat." She crossed the room and tried to give Lee a light kiss but he pulled her close and deepened it quickly. Amanda sighed happily but pushed him away gently. "Get dressed, I'll meet you downstairs," she commanded softly. She turned away, picked up her purse and left the room, leaving Lee standing there alone shaking his head.
In the lobby, Lee found Amanda sitting in an armchair with several pamphlets in her hand. "Did you find anything?" he asked.
"There are a few marinas on the north side of the bay that may have a few rentals left, according to the clerk at the desk. She recommended this one," Amanda said as she stood up and handed Lee one particular colorful pamphlet. "She said her dad works there. She even called up and he told her they had a few right now but they are going fast."
"Well, let's head over there right now. Strike while the iron is hot. The boys seemed pretty excited about the idea. There's nothing like watching fireworks from the water. I remember Barney took me once when I was a kid. I never forgot that," Lee explained as he placed his hand on her lower back and guided her to the front doors of the hotel.
They followed the direction the hotel clerk gave them to a small marina on the north side of Virginia Beach. They were able to secure a small 18 foot Duffy electric boat for a four hour rental for the evening. After Lee paid the security deposit they made arrangements to return at seven. On the drive back to the hotel Amanda worried, "Lee, wasn't that a lot of money for just four hours? I mean, we can do something else with the boys. We can… watch the fireworks from the beach, that would be fun, wouldn't it?"
"Amanda, the money isn't a problem, please. I've spent more than that on a night on the town with," Lee saw her eyebrow raise immediately and didn't want to go into detail about past relationships while they were on vacation. "Never mind, look, it's not that much money. I want the boys to have a good time. It's not a speedboat or a sailboat but it will make do," Lee stammered.
"Uh-huh. I'm sure the boys are going to love it but I still think it's a lot of money, especially with our wedding and honeymoon coming up, not to mention the house," Amanda shook her head.
Lee took her hand in his and brushed his lips across her fingers as he said, "It's going to be fine. Don't forget, my uncle gave us that check, too. We have plenty of money for our house, our honeymoon and for this weekend with the boys. Now, will you relax, please?"
Amanda glanced over at Lee and squeezed his hand as she asked, "Do you want to tell the boys or do you want me to do it?"