Chapter 18

"That was so good!" Philip declared as he pushed the plate away from him. He just finished eating four stuffed waffles, filled with strawberries, whipped cream, Nutella and bananas, much to everyone's amazement. Even Lee shook his head as he watched him finish everything on the plate.

"Philip, I hope you didn't overeat. Remember last weekend?" Amanda reminded him with a raised eyebrow. Lee shuttered at the memory of Philip getting sick after his cake eating episode at Joe's wedding.

Philip laughed as he shook his head. "No way! I could probably eat one more, but I figured I would save some room in case we get a snack before lunch," he stated matter-of-factly.

Jamie elbowed his brother and said, "Don't tell me you ate too much and we can't go to the beach." He was looking forward to wave jumping and body surfing and the thought their beach time might be ruined because of Philip's stomach began to frustrate him.

Philip stood up and shoved his chair in as he announced, "I'm fine. Now I'm going to run back to the room and put my swimsuit, on if that's okay."

"Philip King, you will not take that tone with me!" Amanda hissed as she looked around, tried to keep her voice low and not cause a scene.

"It's not a big deal! I don't know why everyone keeps ragging on me!" he whined loudly as he shoved his chair one more time.

Lee stood slowly, his jaw clenched as the muscle twitched wildly in his cheek. "Philip, I believe you owe your mother an apology," he stated firmly as he leaned on the table to get close enough to Philip without raising his voice also.

Philip cringed when he saw the look on Lee's face and knew he was in trouble. He dropped his chin and sheepishly looked up at Amanda and said, "I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean that the way it sounded." He didn't dare look at Lee. Something in Lee's tone was scarier than Amanda's. "Can I go up to the room and change now? Please?" he asked softly.

"Go on. Jamie, you should go with him. Lee and I are going to head to Mrs. White's office now. Our meeting starts in a few minutes," Amanda declared. "Remember, keep a change of clothes out for the ride home. Mother, you're in charge of packing the car."

"Alright troops, let's get this show on the road," Dotty teased as the boys marched toward the elevator jokingly.

Amanda linked her arm in Lee's after he dropped a few bills on the table to cover their check. Together they walked through the lobby to Mrs. White's office where she was already waiting for them. She smiled when they walked through the door and immediately offered, "Coffee?"

"No, thank you. We just finished breakfast with the boys and my mother," Amanda replied sweetly. Lee closed the door behind him and escorted Amanda to the chairs across from Mrs. White's desk.

"Well, I have to say, I was completely taken by surprise over your mother's offer yesterday," Mrs. White admitted. "I have a feeling there is a full story behind this that I must know."

Lee pressed his lips together, nodded his head then licked them nervously. He looked at Amanda with raised eyebrows, waiting for her to respond. When she raised her eyebrows back at him, he cleared his throat and said, "Mrs. White, the last time we were here I explained we needed to be careful displaying any pictures because of our jobs."

Mrs. White nodded, smiled and replied, "I do, which is why this intrigues me even more."

Amanda looked at Lee then said, "Mrs. White, we are federal agents and the work we do is mostly confidential. So much so, my family doesn't know the whole of it." She stopped to take a deep breath then continued, "And to be honest, as you can guess, my family doesn't know we are already married. It wasn't until we were here a few weeks ago that we decided we didn't want the secrets anymore."

"We told them the pictures you took were my proposal to Amanda," Lee added. "And in a way, it was. So if you decide you do want to do this next weekend, you can't tell anyone you know the truth."

Mrs. White sat back in her chair and took a long swallow of her coffee as she studied them. Amanda's eyes were wide, as she nervously glanced over at Lee. Lee sat on the edge of the chair, while his left knee bounced anxiously, but all the while, they held hands, her right under his left, his thumb caressing hers. Mrs. White nodded, sipped her coffee again then stated, "It would be my pleasure to photograph your wedding. I've met a lot of people in this job, taken thousands of photographs, but there's something about you two. I think what I witnessed on the break wall is just the tip of the iceberg and I can't wait to dig deeper and discover more."

"But, you do understand, you won't be able to keep the proofs. There will be people at our wedding, that if their photograph got out, it could be a risk to national security. And I'll have to do a full background check on you this week before we confirm," Lee explained. He didn't want to scare her, but he needed her to understand it wasn't going to be as simple as she thought.

"Mr. Stetson, I have absolutely nothing to hide. I understand a background check is necessary. There are no skeletons in my past. I live a simple life, here on the beach. My husband and I were both born here and grew up here. I can give you any information you'd like. It's pretty boring I can assure you," she answered with a smile.

Amanda smiled as she finally relaxed and said, "Mrs. White, I was a housewife from Arlington, Virginia with two boys and a mortgage. It doesn't get any more boring than that. But yet, here I am, a few years later and a federal agent. It only took a chance meeting for my life to change."

"So, you're still willing to photograph our wedding, should your check come back clean?" Lee asked tentatively.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, it would be my honor," Mrs. White stood and shook their hands. "Just tell me what you need from me and I'll be sure to get it to you. But you must excuse me, I have another client coming in, in just a few minutes." She escorted them to the door and said, "I'll look forward to hearing from you, Mr. Stetson."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. White," Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid they would have to get into more detail than they wanted.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. White. I'll give you a call first thing tomorrow," Lee stated as he guided Amanda into the hall.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, I just want you to know, your secret is safe with me. I won't tell a soul," Mrs. White smiled warmly.

Amanda glanced at Lee and nodded once more, "Thank you. We'll talk to you soon." As they walked back toward the lobby, Amanda whispered to Lee, "Do you think we can trust her?"

Lee nodded as he replied, "You know what, I think we can. I'll start that background check first thing tomorrow morning. I hope Billy doesn't have any more surprises up his sleeves."

They found Dotty and the boys walking back into the lobby, Philip was carrying a small gym bag. "Good thing I pack extra bags in case we need them, right Amanda?" Dotty stated. "The boys each have a change of clothes for the ride home and I already asked at the front desk and they said you can use the pool and facilities as long as we'd like."

Lee stepped away from Amanda and offered his elbow to Dotty as he said, "Well then, Dotty, I guess it's just you and me."

Linking her arm in his, Dotty smiled up at him and stated, "Lead the way!"

"Have a good time, Mother. We'll see you later," Amanda said as she leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek.