Much later that afternoon, Amanda had drifted off into a deep sleep. The painkillers were definitely doing their job in that department, Dotty decided approvingly. She stared at her daughter's face, relieved to see how much colour she'd regained since those first few horrible days after the accident. She shuddered to think how close they'd come to losing her that day– if Lee hadn't been there holding her, she wasn't sure she could have stayed upright. Amanda's strength amazed her – she seemed to treat being shot as a sort of everyday occurrence and Lee was no different. Once Amanda had turned the corner and started to recover, he'd been a pillar of strength, asking all the right questions, sometimes questions she would never have thought of, and he had an almost instinctive understanding of what Amanda needed in her condition as if he'd experienced it himself.
She couldn't help smiling as she thought about her daughter's boyfriend. Amanda always teased her about being like a CIA-level interrogator but she had nothing on Lee Stetson. She didn't know why it was so easy to talk to him, but during all those hours at Amanda's bedside, she'd found herself telling him all sorts of stories of Amanda's childhood, about Carl, about the boys, all manner of ridiculous stories and he'd always found the right question to lead to another. As Amanda had begun to recover and they'd all relaxed more, she'd tried to turn the tables, trying to get him to talk about himself, but he was charmingly evasive. He'd talked easily about his childhood, losing his parents and moving constantly with his uncle. He'd told funny stories about Barney, about high school hijinks, a very little bit about his time in Vietnam but whenever it got too close to the present day, he'd just waved it off as dull office stuff. "Hours standing around trying to get a good shot of a buffalo and then hours in the editing room trying to make it seem interesting," was how he'd described it. Well, she could see what her daughter found interesting about all those hours in the editing room; the look in their eyes when she and Lee looked at each other suggested he'd let her in more than he was willing to let Dotty in just yet.
She wondered idly if he'd made a film about hospitals because he seemed to understand how they worked much better than most people. Of course, once they knew that Amanda was going to recover, that had worked against him when he was pestering the staff all the time, impatient and frustrated in the way only a man used to acting on problems was. It had almost been easier for him when the accident had just happened and he had had to keep going down to the police station to give statements and whatnot. She'd had no idea how time consuming it was to be a victim of a crime; Lee had almost spent more time with the police than he had at the hospital those first few days, but at least he'd had something to do instead of just pacing the hallways like she had.
She smiled to herself, remembering how her husband had been exactly the same – faced with a problem, he'd been like a terrier until he could solve it and driven to distraction by things he couldn't fix, like Amanda's childhood ailments. She wondered if Amanda realized how much like her father Lee was or for that matter how much power she seemed to have over him. It seemed sometimes like all it took was Amanda saying his name and he'd go from caged lion to housecat in a heartbeat. It was good that he'd gone back to Washington though, she thought; he needed to escape this for a while and recharge, and when he came back for the weekend, she'd be able to go and do the same with a clear conscience. Barney and Gus had offered to show her all the sights anytime she wanted a day off from the hospital and she was just about at that point. It was a relief to know she could leave the hospital and not worry that something would happen while she was gone. No, Amanda was well on the way to recovery and now it was just going to be time and TLC.
She looked down at the book on her lap and realized she'd read the same page three times. She stood up and stretched, only then noticing the Walkman and cassettes sitting on the bedside table. Amanda had spent the morning listening to them, sometimes laughing, sometimes just with a dreamy smile on her face. At some point she had told Dotty that she should listen to the Family tape if she was missing the boys, which of course she was.
"No time like the present," she thought and picked up the headphones. Slipping the cassette in, she pulled the chair over to the window and sat down in the sunshine to listen. The first song sent her into fits of giggles. 'How does Lee know this was the boys' favourite song when they were babies?' she thought to herself as Ernie sang about his rubber ducky. As the tape continued to play, she became more and more amazed at how much attention Lee had been spending to her stories. There were songs she'd barely mentioned in passing, songs she had danced to with Carl, and songs she'd sung to Amanda as a baby like "Yellow Rose of Texas", "Tennessee Waltz" and "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?" Then it turned into a mix of modern songs that she had heard the boys sing along to a million times like "Amanda" – she could still hear the boys teasing their mother by singing along with the chorus at the top of their lungs every time it came on the radio. By the time she was further into the tape, she would swear Lee Stetson must just hang around outside the kitchen window listening in on their family.
After checking to see that Amanda was still sleeping, she flipped over the cassette and sat back to listen to the side marked 'Soundtracks'. She was not all surprised to hear it start with "Edelweiss" – anyone who knew Amanda for more than five minutes knew that was one of her favourite movies. Then a song from "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" – she'd almost forgotten Lee and Amanda had gone to see that as well. Thinking about that made her miss Curt – she really needed to call him soon, she thought.
All the songs were familiar even the theme song from the Addams Family – that had to have been one of the ones that made Amanda laugh earlier but she couldn't imagine why - another inside joke, she supposed. She stood up to waltz around the room to "Some Enchanted Evening" by herself. Had she told Lee this song had been her wedding dance with Carl? She must have, she decided – it was the only old song so far, unless- no wait - he'd also included "As Time Goes By". She wondered if he owned all these records or if he'd had to go out and buy them. No matter how he'd done it, she was impressed with the work he'd put into this gift.
She walked over to check on Amanda, who was still dozing peacefully, so Dotty picked up the second cassette and slipped it into the Walkman. The sounds of Amanda's teen years began. She could remember every one of these songs and the sights and sounds of Amanda and Debbie Ann singing and dancing to them upstairs in Amanda's bedroom or around the kitchen. She thought she knew what had made Amanda laugh when she heard the opening notes of "Snoopy and the Red Baron". Lee certainly understood Amanda's humour as well as her taste in music When it came time to flip the cassette to the other side, she expected it to be much of the same and when it started off with the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't it be Nice?" she settled back into her chair and picked up her book again, letting the songs provide a background. Within a few songs however, she had dropped the book again and was listening to the songs more carefully. As song after song played, she began to feel guiltily as if she was listening to a love letter; Lee may have managed to avoid most of her questions about him but she wondered if he had any idea how much he revealed himself here. If she'd ever doubted he loved her daughter, well, that ship had sailed now. As the last few notes of "Chapel of Love" chimed in her ears, she noticed Amanda stirring. Rising to her feet, she turned off the tape, and quietly placed the Walkman back onto the table beside the bed.
As Amanda looked up at her sleepily, she leaned forward to stroke her to the cheek. "Feeling better, Darling? You've been asleep for almost three hours."
"I'm sorry I'm such dull company, Mother."
"Oh I kept myself entertained with everything Lee sent." She paused for a moment and then added, "You know, Darling, I think I was wrong about Lee Stetson."
Amanda's eyes widened with confusion. "Really, Mother? In what way?"
Dotty leaned forward confidentially. "He's not an eleven. He's a twelve."
.
Of course, I'm going to tell you what's on the tape. I'm not that cruel!
Side 1 - Family
Rubber Duckie – Ernie/Sesame Street
Yellow Rose of Texas
Tennessee Waltz – Patti Page
How much is that doggie in the window? – Patti Page
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic
Amanda- Boston
Uptown Girl – Billy Joel
Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss
We are the World – USA for Africa
Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr.
Summer of '69 – Bryan Adams
Side 2 – Soundtracks
Edelweiss – Sound Of Music
Something Good– Sound Of Music
Sneakin' Around – Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Hello Dolly
Good morning Starshine - Hair
Raindrops Keep Fallin' – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Addams Family Theme song
You've lost that loving feeling – Top Gun
Some Enchanted Evening – South Pacific
As Time Goes By - Casablanca
At this Moment – Family Ties
Side 1 – High School Reunion
Puff the Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul and Mary
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
A Little Less Conversation – Elvis Presley
Somethin' Stupid – Frank & Nancy Sinatra
Be my Baby – The Ronettes
Only you- The Platters
I second that Emotion – Smokey Robinson
Snoopy and the Red Baron– The Royal Guardsmen
You're my everything – The Temptations
Daydream Believer – The Monkees
Wake up Little Susie – The Everly Brothers
Hello Mary Lou – Ricky Nelson
Side 2
Wouldn't it be Nice - The Beach Boys
My Girl– The Temptations
I'm a Believer– The Monkees
She'd Rather be with Me – The Turtles
And then he kissed me – The Crystals
Happy Together – The Turtles
There's a Kind of Hush – Herman's Hermits
Here, There and Everywhere – The Beatles
God Only Knows- The Beach Boys
Dedicated to the One I Love – The Mamas and the Papas
Chapel of Love – The Dixie Cups