Unforeseen Path
Chapter 10
Amanda was perusing the Colonel's will and said near the end of reading it, "Lee, did the lawyer give you a note from the Colonel? "
Lee shrugged, "No. Why? "
Amanda said as she finished and put the paper down on the coffee table, "Because it said that the note would explain why the Colonel put the trust factor in the will. Are you sure you didn't get anything else from the lawyer? "
Lee sighed, "I would've remembered getting an envelope I think."
Amanda thought for a moment to herself saying, "If he's anything like my boys..." She then said aloud, "Check your jacket pockets. Maybe you forgot and stuck the note in one of them? "
Lee shook his head knowing where she was going with this. "Amanda, I'm not one of your children! I don't do stuff like that-."
Amanda put up a hand! "Please! I didn't say you were, but just check anyway. Then, if you don't find it, then we'll call the lawyer, okay? "
Lee sighed and got up and said, "I'll go check..." Going to his room he said, "Man...!"
Amanda smiled in spite of herself. He was just like a boy in a lot of ways. Pouting when he didn't get his way at certain times. It was cute, Wait. "Where did that come from? " she thought as she saw him emerge from his bedroom. Amanda shook herself thinking, "Get it together, Amanda. He's a grown man."
Lee saw the look on her face and said with a sidelong glance, "Hey? You all right? "
Amanda shrugged trying to appeared normal. "Sure. Did you find it? "
Lee shook his head. "No. I told you I don't-. " His hand went to his back jeans pocket and he felt something lumpy there! Pulling it out, it was the letter!
Clearing his throat and feeling somewhat embarrassed he said, "I-I guess I have been sort of distracted lately. Sorry."
Amanda's insides did a cheer! She thought, "I knew it! My boys conveniently "forget" to give me notes from their teachers or their report cards all the time!" Although this was a different case. Lee really had been through the wringer and his head was somewhere else. She said, "It's okay, Lee. Um, I'll go make some coffee while you look at the letter..."
Amanda went into the kitchen and made the coffee and got out the cups and saucers and put them on a tray.
As the coffee finished brewing, she put the decanter on the tray as well and headed out to the dining room table to put the tray down and looked over at Lee who was just putting the letter down on the table. She saw the tears in his eyes and said gently, "You all right? "
Lee suddenly got up and turned from her clearing his throat and sniffing as he looked out the living room window. "Y-Yeah, sure. Never better. "
Amanda swallowed hard and said, "Um, I gotta go get something from the car. I'll be right back. "
She left and Lee thought as he watched her go,"More groceries? " He shook his head. She had to stop doing stuff like that. As he looked around the room, he focused on his record collection and smiled to himself remembering when she "straightened" it and he went crazy on her about where the Stones albums were and she said, "Stones, Rolling."
Chuckling he thought to himself, "What is keeping her from throttling me by now? How can she not be tired of my crap? "
He remembered the time he tried pulling a prank one morning at the base to wake the guys up. Barney the base cook and one of his eventual friends helped him with it. At dawn, He played the song, "Ruby Tuesday" thinking it would be a gas! The guys loved it but the Colonel of course went ballistic and sent Lee to K.P. and latrine duty for the rest of the week and said to him that night at dinner in their quarters, "Son, keep your fun and games in your quarters only and not on my base! Are we clear? "
Smiling at the memory he then heard knocking at the door. It was Amanda. She said, "Could you help me here? It's heavy."
Lee opened the door and grabbed the box and put it over on the coffee table. "What is it?"
Amanda swallowed, "Ah, it's Emily's sketchwork. I got it this morning special delivery. Oh, Mr. Henderson said you got the papers for the ownership transfer? He said we should both sign them? "
Lee looked blankly at the sketches and then nodded. "Yeah. Let me go get them." He came back in a few minutes and they signed in the appropriate areas and Lee sealed the envelope and put a stamp on it and said,"Let me take this down to Norman to put with tomorrow's mail to be sent out."
He left and Amanda sat on the couch and looked at one of the sketches and remembered when Emily was last at her house. She and Lee arranged her dining room to be transformed for one case and had her furniture moved out and her walls painted gray! She felt tears come to her eyes and Lee came back and saw her face and said, "What? "
Amanda let her tears fall and said, "Gray walls? My dining room was gray! Why not blue for god sakes! Or green, or-."
Lee came over and gently folded her into his arms and held her saying, "I know, I know. I-I miss her too. Damn..."
They laid back against the couch holding each other and Lee cleared his throat and gave Amanda the letter from the Colonel and said, "I think you should see this. I-I didn't know what to make of it really. Maybe you can figure it out, huh? "
TBC