The two pairs of agents sat in the main room of their cabin discussing their next move. "The welcome dinner-mixer thing starts in about twenty minutes," Lee said. "Since there's no phone in here, I'm going to head out to the car and try to give Billy a call if I can get a signal out here. I want to have him do some background on some of these familiar names."
"We'll go ahead and head down to the dining room then," Francine said. "It's probably a good idea that all four of us don't arrive together anyway. We don't want to give anyone the impression that we didn't just meet today."
"Good plan," Amanda said as she rose from her comfortable perch on her husband's lap.
"Come on, Efraim, we should go," Francine said reluctantly not looking forward to having to publicly pretend to be Beaman's wife, but she was a professional. She could do this.
"Give me just a second to grab my jacket. I'll meet you out there" Efraim said as he left the main room for the one he was sharing with Francine.
As they headed outside, Francine hissed at Lee and Amanda, "What the hell is going on here? You two begged me to keep your secret, now you're just blurting it out to Efraim."
"We're tired of hiding, Francine," Lee said as he slid into the driver's seat of the 'Vette to make his call.
"Besides," Amanda said. "It's not like we're going to be able to hide for very long anyway. Once news gets around The Agency that I'm pregnant, everyone's going to know right away who my baby's father is."
"You have a good point there," Francine said. "That fight you two had will make that plain as day, but It's very obvious that Efraim didn't believe you. "
'Well, You didn't seem too convinced of it either at the hospital yesterday either so what changed your mind?"
"I did what you suggested. You were right. It's all right there. Your marriage license is public record. I think Efraim's going to have to see it to believe it too," Francine said before turning to Lee and adding, "He seems to think you're just using this undercover assignment to coerce Amanda into bed with you."
"Francine, you should know better than anyone that I've never had to coerce a woman into my bed," Lee said as Francine nodded in agreement. "In fact, the first time we spent the night together, Amanda was the one who jumped me." He then turned his attention to the phone.
"Now who's giving away all our secrets?" Amanda teased.
"You jumped him?"Efraim scoffed as he joined them outside.
"Shouldn't you two be going?"Amanda said frostily to Efraim
"Yes, we should," Efraim said with a glare at Lee before turning to Francine and wrapping his arm around her waist. "Come along, Darling, shall we go?" he said with a grin.
Francine had no choice but to play along since they were out in the open now. "Why, yes, Sugar, we shall," she said pasting on a bright smile before hissing in his ear as they walked off together, "You're getting a little too much enjoyment out of this."
He laughed heartily just playing it off like a doting husband laughing at his wife's jokes. "That is a wicked sense of humor you've got, Honey."
Amanda couldn't help but laugh and said, "This is going to be an interesting five days."
"Thanks, Billy," Lee was saying as he wrapped up his phone conversation. "It'll be really entertaining to see which one of them tries to kill the other one first," said with a laugh. "Come along, Darling, shall we go?" he said mocking Efraim as he extended his hand to his wife.
Amanda giggle and replied, "Why, yes, Sugar, we shall." as she accepted his offered hand. She leaned in close to him and whispered, "So, what'd Billy say?"
"He's going to run down those names for me," he said low against her ear as if whispering an endearment. Amanda shuddered a little at his breath in her ear. She couldn't believe that just having him that close talking about mundane work stuff could elicit such a response in her. Lee noticing her response took the opportunity to nibble at her ear a little causing her to sigh at the contact.
"Hey, now, there'll be plenty of time for that later," a male voice said from slightly ahead of them. They turned to the right find another couple exiting a different cabin. "That is, if you can still stand the sight of each other by the time this whole thing is done. Right, Honey?" the man said with a squeeze of his wife's shoulders.
"You'll have to ignore my cynical husband. Irene Patterson," the woman said introducing herself. "And this is my husband, Jim."
"Nice to meet you," Lee said. "Lee and Amanda Stetson."
"Pleasure," Amanda said with a smile at being openly called Amanda Stetson.
"Now, Honey," Jim Patterson said as the two couples began walking together. "I'm not being cynical. I'm just being realistic. This is our third one of these and by the time they're done, there's always a couple or two that are headed for divorce court."
"Are they always held here?" Amanda inquired her interrogation techniques kicking in.
"Oh, no," Irene answered. "Different location every time, different tasks. That's what truly makes it a challenge. And it's one we welcome. After twelve years of marriage, it really helps us keep the togetherness going, working together to overcome the obstacles thrown at us."
"How lovely," Amanda said. "This should be a piece of cake for us then, Honey, We overcome obstacles together at work all the time."
"You work together too? That must get tiresome, seeing each other all the time," Jim said which earned him a playful smack from his wife.
"Oh no, we love it. We're documentary filmmakers, so we get to travel and see new things, meet new people all the time. This is just a vacation for us, but we'd love to get permission to do a documentary on this.
"That's a great idea, Sweetheart," Lee said proud of Amanda's ingenuity. "If it's as great as they say it is, then more people should know about it."
"I don't know that that's such a great idea. The leader of the group doesn't like a lot of publicity. It's more word of mouth."
"Oh, I don't know, Honey," Irene said. "It's a documentary. It's not like broadcasting it all over the news or anything. I bet David would agree to it."
"David?" Amanda said.
"David Chambers," Irene said. "He's the one who puts these things together. Great guy."
"Maybe you could introduce us and we could ask him?" Amanda suggested. "I mean, the worst he could do is say no, right?"
"Sure, the if he says no, no harm done," Lee said trying to make it sound like they could care less. "Lord knows, after taking this time off work, there's going to be plenty of work for us at the office when we go back on Monday."
"Absolutely," Amanda said. "The boss sure keeps up hopping." They had reached the entrance to the park's restaurant.
"Here we are," Jim Patterson said as they entered the building. "Oh, and there's David now. Come one, we'll introduce you."
Lee and Amanda glanced over the direction Jim had pointed and found that the man in question was already engaged in conversation with Efraim and Francine. "Great," Lee muttered under his breath.
"David," Jim said. "There's someone I'd like you to meet. This is Lee and Amanda Stetson. They're one of our new couples this year." Efraim gave Lee and Amanda a quizzical look wondering what they were up to.
"Nice to meet you," Chambers said. "And this is my lovely wife, Candace. We were just chatting with another of our new couples. Mr. and Mrs..."
"Bormann. I'm Efraim and this," he said his hand on Francine's hip as he grinned at her, "Is my beautiful bride, Francine."
"Oh, that's so sweet of you to say, Dear," Francine said playing her cover perfectly. "You're going t o make me blush." She looked at Efraim with a smile, but with murder in her eyes.
"Nice to meet you," Irene Patterson said. "Have you met the Stetson?"
"Yes, We met just today," Francine said. "They're our cabin-mates."
"Why don't we all get a table together and get to know one another?"David Chambers said with an appreciative glance at Amanda as he gestured to a nearby empty table.
"That'd be nice," Lee said wrapping his arm around Amanda's waist to guide her to the table Chambers had indicated with a suspicious glare, not liking one bit the way the other man was leering at his wife and liking it even less when the man positioned himself directly to Amanda's left. "You know what, Honey, we should probably switch sides, otherwise we'll be knocking elbows all night with me being left-handed and you being right-handed."
"You're absolutely right, Sweetheart," she said as she rose to switch seats with Lee placing her next to Irene Patterson instead grateful for her husband's creativity. David Chambers' looks were making her massively uncomfortable.
"Better?"Lee said with a smile.
"Yes, much," she said linking her hand with his.
"So, how did you guys decide who gets which room?" Jim Patterson asked. "Did you duke it out or flip a coin?"
"Actually," Francine said seeing an opportunity to pay Efraim back and seizing it. "It wasn't that difficult a decision. Efraim and I have been having a few problems..." she lowered her voice to just above a whisper, "...in the bedroom, you know. I think it's that whole seven-year itch rearing its ugly head." Lee and Amanda were both trying hard to stifle their laughter.
She delighted in look of fury that crossed Efraim's face briefly before he recovered and said, "But that's why we're here, isn't it, my love? Trying to recapture the old spark that brought us together in the first place," He squeezed her hand affectionately.
"Besides," Francine said ignoring Efraim's last comment. "The Stetsons told us when we first met them that they're still newlyweds, so we thought it was only fair to let them have the double bed, since we wouldn't be using it for anything but sleeping anyway." She fixed Efraim with an icy stare.
"Oh, you're newlyweds?" Candace Chambers said to Lee and Amanda. "How long have you been married?"
"Four months," Lee and Amanda said in unison then looked at each other and laughed.
"Oh, how wonderful! We don't get newlyweds at these things very often."
As other couples starting filling in the other tables in the room, Chambers rose to his feet clanging his spoon against his water glass to quiet the room down. "If I could get everyone's attention, please!" When the room was quiet and all eyes were one him, he continued. "First of all, I'd like to welcome all of our couples, both new and old. For those of you who haven't looked at your agendas in detail, I wanted to remind everyone that tonight's feast will be the only catered meal until the closing dinner on Sunday. The rest of the week you will all have to fend for yourselves, just like you would at home. You'll find that all of your cabins are equipped with full kitchens. You'll find everything you need in them except food. There are several shopping outlets just off the highway leading into the park and you'll have time between events throughout the week for free time to do your shopping, cooking and whatever else you want to do. Our real events don't get started until tomorrow morning. So, enjoy tonight's meal!" He nodded to the catering staff at the kitchen door before resuming his seat.
"Well, I certainly hope one of you knows how to cook," Efraim said. "My little muffin here may be beautiful, but she's an absolute train wreck in the kitchen. Her talents are better suited to other rooms of the house." He couldn't resist getting in a little dig to pay her back for the bedroom crack she'd made.
"So, Mr. and Mrs. Stetson," David Chambers said. "My wife was quite right earlier. We don't get many newlyweds here. Most of our couples join these events very much like the Bormanns here, as a last-ditch effort to save their marriages or rekindle the old spark."
"I was curious about that myself," Francine said. "Seeing the way you two look at each other, it doesn't seem that you need any help in that area." She grinned at Lee and Amanda.
"And we'd very much like to keep it that way," Lee said with a smile at his wife.
"Truthfully, it was my idea," Amanda said. "This is a second marriage for me and the first one ended badly. Now with Lee, I feel like I have a second chance to do it right."
"I don't blame you there," Irene said. "You have quite a handsome husband. I wouldn't want to let that one go either."
"Irene, really," her husband said.
"Oh, come on. I may be married, but I'm not dead," She teased. "Besides, it's not like I haven't noticed you noticing Mrs. Bormann here," she added with a glance at Francine across the table from her.
"You'll have to excuse them," Candace Chambers said. "They're always like this."
"Yes, but we have a strictly "look, but don't touch" policy," Jim said. "It's like being on a diet. You can look all you want at the dessert cart, but as long as you don't partake, it's harmless."
"Besides that, it helps keep the spark alive," Irene said.
"I don't know about that," Lee said. "I haven't had eyes for anyone but Amanda for a long time, long before we were married." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
A waiter arrived carrying a decanter of wine and offered it around the table. When he got to Amanda, she said, "No, thank you."
"You don't drink, Mrs. Stetson?" Irene said.
"None for me either," Lee said to the waiter before Amanda could answer not wanting the other couples to ask too many questions about why she wasn't drinking. "Neither of us are very big drinkers. We prefer to remain clear-headed when we're together. It's so much better that way," he said with an impish grin at his wife. Nice cover, Francine thought knowing the real reason that Amanda had turned down the wine. She raised her glass slightly toward Lee for his quick thinking.
"So," Irene said. "The Stetsons were telling us on the walk up here that they're documentary filmmakers and they were thinking that our little adventures might make a good project for them."
"Is that why you're really here?" David Chambers asked eyeing them suspiciously.
"Oh, no not at all," Lee said. "This is simply for us. We just thought this thing was such a great idea to promote togetherness for married couples that more people should know about it."
"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll think about it, but you should think about it too. We haven't even gotten started yet. There are many couples who don't survive our challenges and never come back. I suggest you give it a couple of days and see if this is still something that you want to promote."
"That's fair," Lee said. He glanced at Amanda, knowing that they were thinking the same thing. He hadn't outright said no, which surprised both of them.
The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, after dinner they mingled with other couples, Lee trying in particular to meet with the ones whose names had struck him when reading the list of participants. As the evening would down, they caught up with Francine and Efraim. "Listen, Amanda and I are going to head down the road to find this shopping area Chambers was talking about so we don't starve the rest of the week." He glanced around and noticed there were too many people around to discuss anything else.
"Ok," Francine said, "But who's going to do the cooking. Efraim was right, I can't cook to save my life."
"It's ok, Francine," Amanda said. "I can cook and so can Lee. We can take turns. We'll see you later."
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Lee and Amanda walked into their cabin later arms laden with grocery bags to find Efraim and Francine having a blazing screaming match.
"What was that crack about other rooms of the house supposed to mean?" Francine demanded.
"Well, you're the one who started it talking about bedroom problems, like you'd even you'd even know anything about it!"
"You're right, Efraim, I wouldn't and I never have any intention of knowing, no matter how much you use this cover assignment to get all touchy-feely, which by the way, I don't appreciate!"
"Speaking of using cover assignments," Efraim said gesturing toward the kitchen area where Lee and Amanda were putting away grocery items.
"Hey, leave us out of this," Lee said. "I'm sure you noticed this earlier, but neither Amanda or I have any problem playing our cover convincingly."
"Yeah, I noticed, Stetson! I also noticed you're using your real name. What the hell were you thinking in doing that? Do you know what could happen if you get found out? Not to mention the jobs as documentary filmmakers for IFF."
"Here, let me help you with this stuff," Francine said as she jumped in to unpack grocery bags.
"Efraim, weren't you paying attention earlier," Amanda said. "We're not going to get found out. Our marriage is not a cover. I really am Mrs. Lee Stetson. Playing ourselves is going to be a lot more convincing that some made-up identity."
"Oh, not this again," Efraim said in frustration.
"Yes, this again," Lee said. "I don't know how many times or how many different ways I can say it to convince you. Amanda is my wife. If they check us out, they'll find out that we were married four months ago right here in Marion just like we said. And you know as well as I do that if they check out IFF, all they'll find is the film company cover." Lee crumpled an empty grocery bag and tossed it violently into the trash can.
"Sweetheart, calm down," Amanda said laying a soothing hand on his arm. "Getting worked up like this really isn't going to do anybody any good."
"Amanda, would you lay off already," Efraim said. "It's just the four of us now. There's no need for the pet names in here."
"No, there's not a need for it, maybe just a desire for it," Amanda said with a grin at her husband as she kissed him firmly, not caring that Efraim was watching. Lee reached for the back of her neck and pulled her close to deepen their kiss.
"Would you two knock it off already!"Efraim yelled while Francine just laughed at his growing frustration.
Lee and Amanda ended their kiss, but didn't pull apart. Lee still with his hand on Amanda's neck pulled down on her turtleneck and said, "Wow, that really looks bad, doesn't it?"
Francine glanced over and noticed the now uncovered hickey on Amanda's neck. "Oh my God, Did Lee do that to you?" She said.
"Yeah," Amanda said to Francine then to her husband. "And don't think you won't get paid back for it."
"Oh?" Lee said. "I'd love to see you try."
"You just better sleep with one eye open, Scarecrow," she teased.
"That would mean we'd have to sleep and that's not exactly what I had on my mind."
"Well, hold that thought for now until we get this all taken care of," she said as she returned to the task of putting away groceries. She, Lee and Francine chatted about what went where while Efraim silently fumed at the interaction that had just taken place.
With their task completed, Amanda searched the cupboards. "What are you looking for?"Francine asked.
"Just trying to get the lay of the land," Amanda said. "That and find drinking glasses. Aha," she said as she found what she was looking for and took one out and poured herself a glass of milk then reached for her purse to pull out her prescription bottle.
"What's that?" Efraim said.
"Just a prescription," Amanda said as she extracted a pill from the bottle before stowing it back in her purse. "Maybe you hadn't heard, but I did just get out of the hospital yesterday."
"Yeah, but I heard it was just due to exhaustion." he replied. "Why would that require a prescription?"
"Actually, Efraim, I was there," Lee said. "It was a combination of exhaustion and malnutrition so they prescribed her a vitamin supplement to get her back up to par." It was partially the truth. Lee wanted Efraim to know they were married, but neither of them was quite ready to broadcast that they were expecting, not until they knew for sure that everything was ok.
"Oh, I didn't realize," Efraim said his voice calmer now. "Are you ok, Amanda?"
Amanda finished her milk and rinsed out the glass. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine, Efraim. I was never sick to start with. I was just neglecting to take care of myself while I was trying to take care of my sick kids and it took its toll."
"Maybe your "husband" should have helped with that," Efraim said sarcastically.
"He did, otherwise I'd have been in worse shape than I was. Plus, he's the one who took me to the hospital when I needed to go, along with my son, Jamie, when his fever spiked to 102."
"Lee Stetson looking after sick kids. That'll be the day," he snorted.
"It's a fact, Efraim," Francine interjected. "I was there and witnessed it myself."
"Look, Efraim," Lee said. "Can we just talk about this another time? It's been a long day," He said reaching for Amanda's hand and leading her toward their room.
"Where are you going?" Efraim said. "We need to discuss this case."
"Well, you wasted too much time arguing. It's too late now. We can discuss it in the morning. Right now, the only thing I'm interested in is taking my wife to bed," Lee said as he and Amanda entered their room and slammed the door behind them leaving a dumfounded Efraim in their wake.