She Can And She Did

Chapter 8

Lee arrived at the King home promptly at 1:00, to meet with Dotty, armed with a small peony flower arrangement he thought might look nice for the table.

Ringing the front door, he did a fast check of himself to make sure nothing was out of whack.

He thought, Suit unwrinkled, check, Appropriate tie, check, and Shoes and socks match, check!

Okay, Stetson, you're good to go!

A moment later, Dotty opened the door and greeting him, answered, "Hello, Mr. Stetson...Please come in."

Nodding, Lee gave her the flowers stating, " Hello, Mrs. West...It's very nice to meet you. Amanda told me how much you love your garden, and I thought these may look nice for the table."

Dotty smiled and remarked, showing him inside, "Well, thank you. It's nice to meet you also. You know, it's funny, but since Amanda started her IFF job, she's never talked much about it, except for the trips she sometimes takes, so I thought maybe she hadn't gotten to know her coworkers well enough, but she did mention how much everyone loved her holiday baking, and..."

And as Dotty went on, Lee, following her into the kitchen, thought tiredly, Remember Stetson, you're doing this for Amanda...Let her talk as long as she wants!

Dotty paused after a beat, and seeing what she sensed was apprehension coming from Lee, remarked with a gesture, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry! Here I am going on and on, and I haven't let you say a word...Why don't we sit down. I have everything ready here...I hope you like shrimp salad?"

As they reached the table, Lee seated her, and then himself, stating," Thank you. That's fine. You have a terrific home here. Really nice..."

Dotty smiled answering as she passed him a plate of the salad, "We like it...Actually, Amanda thought about selling it sometime after her divorce, you know, with the the cost of upkeep and all, but in the end, she thought how it would devastate the boys, and well, she just couldn't go through with it. Besides, I told her I'd be more than happy to help if we shared everything right down the middle. She was stubborn about it, and finally gave in, only accepting it as a loan until she could pay me back, which got easier when she got the IFF job..."

As they ate, Dotty noticed how quiet Lee seemed, and as she sipped her iced tea and swallowed, asked finally, "Alright, I know you didn't just stop by to meet your coworker's mother and have lunch, so, please tell me what this is really about, Lee?"

Lee, swallowing his bite of food, answered, "Well, I've only known Amanda a couple of years now, and from time to time, on our location shoots for documentaries, we've actually had words here and there, and usually found a way to make peace, until lately, that is..."

Dotty nodded as she finished her last bite of salad, and swallowing, responded, " I see...Well, was there anything in particular that started these rows?"

Lee, bewilderedly looked at Dotty querying, "R-Rows?"

Dotty touched her napkin to each corner of her mouth and stated, "Yes, you know, tiffs, squabbles, bruhahas-"

Lee shook his head in confusion answering, "Br-Bruhahas? I-I'm sorry, Mrs. West, but come again?"

Dotty sighed with slight impatience and remarked, "Yes, Young Man! I mean, spats, quarrels, and the ever popular knock down, drag out fights-"

Lee put up a hand as he put his fork down loudly answering, "C'mon! I would never hit your daughter!"

Dotty bristled immediately, and pointing a finger at Lee commented brusquely, "Oh, ho! Well, see that you don't, Young Man! Now, what I actually meant was hitting below the belt verbally!"

At that moment, Lee felt he had made a mistake by coming there, and standing up slowly, responded, "I-I'm at a complete loss here, Mrs. West. Could you please just tell me what you're talking about?"

Dotty shook her head replying quickly as she pulled at his hand to get him to sit down once more, "I-I'm sorry! I'm guessing by the meaning of "words", you or my daughter said some things in anger to each other that you don't feel you can take back, correct?"

Lee, nodding slowly as he sat again in his chair, stated in a heavy sigh, "Y-Yes, that's correct ...But all I said was-"

Immediately Dotty put up a hand remarking firmly, "Uh,uh, uh! No pointing fingers, no judgements! It doesn't matter who started it or how it ended up! There is a tradition in my family that in any argument, you must never go to bed angry-"

Seeing Lee's face pale, she quickly commented, "I-I mean, only if the two of you are-I don't know-I mean, I think my daughter has a good head on her shoulders, due to her upbringing with her late father and myself-"

Lee, placing his hand on top of Dotty's answered gently, "I care about Amanda and respect her very much. You have nothing to worry about, okay? "

Dotty sighed and patting Lee's hand, replied, "Alright. So, you just want to know how to fix things with my daughter, right?"

Lee nodded answering, "Right, so the wrong thing isn't said or done again...I would really appreciate it."

Thinking carefully, Dotty remarked sadly, "Well, there was one time that Amanda was really hurting! You see, one day, it became apparent to Amanda that the solid foundation on which her marriage was built upon was slowly crumbling...In fact, it was six years and two children later when she finally told me that she and Joe King were having problems- just going through the motions of marriage together. You see, she didn't want me to worry about her, but she's my only child, so I can't help but worry, you know?"

As Lee listened intently, he nodded as Dotty then rose from her chair, and going to the French doors to look out at the back yard, she gulped, answering, "It was one night at suppertime, I came over here to visit with Amanda and the boys...Phillip was five then, and Jamie was three. When I came in, Amanda had the radio on, and a song was playing, and it was Barbra Streisand singing, but Amanda was sobbing! She stopped for a bit after the song was over, and we fed the boys, and got them to bed, and then we came down here, and she simply said, "I think it's over, Mother." And then, in telling me her troubles, she cried all over again."

Turning back to face Lee, she answered in a firm voice, shaking her head, "My baby was hurting, Lee! I don't ever want that to happen again! Do you understand me?!"

Lee, swallowing hard, nodded commenting, "Yes, I-I do, Mrs. West...That's why I want to make things right with her. I-I don't usually go out on a limb like this, but she does mean a lot to me."

Looking at Lee, Dotty saw genuine sincerity in his eyes, and stated with a sigh as she went back over to the table and sat down, "I barely know you, but yet I feel I can trust you already...Alright, let's put our heads together and see what we can do here to help the two of you mend fences as it were..."

TBC