Introduction: I'm hoping to make it through the entire series, one episode at a time, looking at the series events and Amanda's changes from Dotty's POV. Intermingling actual dialogue (in italics) with my own projected onto Dotty interpretations. I like to entertain the idea of what if she was much sharper than portrayed on screen, maybe Amanda came by her skills naturally. Might be a little slow starting as we lay the groundwork before it picks up speed. Hope you enjoy it, feedback welcome.
Disclaimer: No beta's – all mistakes belong to me. None of the characters do, well except for the ones in the novel. 😊
S1:E1 The First Time
"Darling, is that all you're wearing outside?" Dotty had to ask as Amanda came down the stairs, pulling an overcoat over her nightgown.
"I just have to take Dean to the train station. I'll be right back." Amanda whirred around the kitchen giving the boys their good morning kisses and attempting to stop Jamie from making a sugar sandwich for his school lunch.
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"It'll be nice when you get married. Then you won't have to keep running across town to see each other." Dotty said optimistically.
"Mother. We're not even engaged. I've only been divorced a year. I need a little time." Amanda patiently reminded her, tired of her mother's attempts to so quickly push her into a new relationship.
"Take all the time you need. There's no pressure here. " Dotty responded easily, though not convincingly, as Amanda left to take Dean to the train station.
Why her daughter didn't seem more interested in her appearance with Dean was beyond Dotty, but she knew her limits when it came to pushing her daughter. While they didn't generally fight, she knew how evasive Amanda could be if pushed too hard. Dean was a great catch, Dotty tried to make that clear, but despite her efforts she could tell something was missing.
As she worked in the kitchen Dotty hoped that one day her daughter would warm up to the idea of marriage again, wondering if Amanda doubted herself and needed more encouragement. Dotty missed having the perceived safety and stability of a man in the house. Even though she had liked Joe she didn't understand how he could abandon his family for his work and go to another country. She knew that while pretending to be supportive of him, that decision had hurt both her daughter and even Phillip and Jamie deeply. Amanda was focusing on the boys and going about daily life but there was part of her still wounded and in hiding if Dotty knew her daughter the way she thought she did.
Mulling over the idea of what it would be like when Amanda and Dean were married and in the same home, she went back to work on the Yankee Doodle Pot Pie. As she listened to Mrs. Welch's simple instructions about cutting vegetables her mind continued to wander. Thinking of how Dean reminded her of Amanda's father, stable, secure, and predictable, just what Amanda needed if she was ever able to truly open her heart again. Dotty would just have to do her best to help make sure that happened. She had already lived enough years alone after the death of Amanda's father and did not want her daughter to repeat that pattern.
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"Honey, what took you so long? I was getting worried." The concern was evident in Dotty's voice as soon as Amanda returned home from the train station, a good hour later than it should have taken her.
"I'm sorry Mother, I got delayed, I'm fine, I really need to get dressed now," Amanda blurted out distractedly as she quickly hugged her mother before going upstairs.
Dotty watched the retreating back of her daughter wondering just what was going on. She was tempted to ask about the box Amanda had been holding, she certainly hadn't had that when she left. Even more than the box she was definitely curious about the hint of a citrus and spice intermingling with Dean's Obsession. Dotty was certain it was a man's cologne but not Dean's. "How odd," she thought, "I'll give her the benefit of the doubt for now, maybe her being late coming home, carrying an unfamiliar package and smelling of another man's cologne is all perfectly innocent." Dotty had her doubts but knew that it was useless to confront her daughter now, she would just be dismissed as imagining things.
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Dotty's baking was finally done as Amanda left to pick up the boys from school and her mother could settled in to enjoy some quiet time. She knew the plan was to pick up the boys, along with a neighbor's child from school, then take them all to Moby Dock's for an after school treat before returning home. Knowing she had at least a couple hours alone she retrieved her latest romance novel and settled in front of the fire to read the ongoing story of a roguish knight who had captured the heart of a princess despite her already being betrothed to the king of a neighboring kingdom. Dotty had just reached the part where the knight had saved the princess from a runaway horse and was stealing a kiss when she heard the station wagon roar into the driveway. Glancing at her watch she saw it had only been 40 minutes since Amanda had left to pick up the children from school, she couldn't imagine what on earth must be wrong for her to come back this early.
"I'm sorry mother," Amanda had a strange, distracted air about her again as she brought the boys into the house, "I have something I have to take care of, can you make them a sandwich," she blurted it all out as if in one breath, not even waiting for confirmation before she disappeared.
"Something is definitely going on with that child," Dotty thought as she regretfully tucked her book back away, the knight romancing a princess would have to wait until later.
"You didn't get your hotdogs, you must be hungry," Dotty said to the boys as she started pulling out the supplies for sandwiches.
"Mom drove off while food was still on the tray and on our window, it just fell off our window onto the ground.." Phillip volunteered, causing Dotty to pause to consider this information.
"Our hotdogs even fell onto the floor when she sped up, we didn't have time to hold onto them first," Jamie complained as he thought about the hotdog that had gotten mashed on the floorboard as they had tried to hold onto.
"Oh my, I wonder what happened," Dotty asked, hoping the boys would continue sharing about the experience. They could shut down if they thought they were saying something they shouldn't, but apparently the excitement and confusion of the afternoon was sufficient distraction.
"I don't know, it was like the guy bringing our food made her mad or something, she kept telling him to go away and he was asking her to call him, he acted like they knew each other. But she told me he was a stranger." Jamie seemed eager to tell what he remembered from the aborted meal.
"Have you ever seen him before? Did you know who he was?" Dotty inquired, now concerned, wondering if her daughter was in trouble.
"No, he didn't look like anyone we knew," Phillip answered after considering.
"Maybe I know him, what did he look like?" Dotty shamelessly pumped her grandsons for information, whether the man was a threat or not, she wanted an idea of what, or who rather might be the cause of her daughter's recent behavior changes.
"Uhhh, he was tall, taller than Mom I think." Phillip supplied after a moment of thought.
"Did he seem scary?" Dotty asked watching her grandsons closely for any sign of fear though feeling that if there was anything that would have endangered her children the police would have already been called.
"No not really, he was just acting weird for someone bringing our food." Phillip frowned.
"I think he had brown hair," Jamie volunteered before his attention shifted. "Can we go play now?" He asked as they had already finished the snack their grandmother had prepared.
"You've got an hour then you have to come in and do your homework." Dotty said automatically as she considered this latest information.
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"Gee, you look great, Mom." The boys exclaimed as Amanda entered the kitchen again, obviously preparing to leave.
"You are awfully fixed up." Dottie observed considering the difference from when she had left to meet Dean that morning.
"Mother, all I did was comb my hair and put on a little makeup." Amanda almost blushed under their scrutiny.
"Usually your hair is sort of frazzled." Jamie said with childlike innocence.
"Usually I'm sort of frazzled, sweetheart." Amanda laughed, kissing her son on top of his head before giving directives to her mother about making sure they did their homework.
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"Isn't Dean supposed to call at 6?" Dotty reminded Amanda, already worrying about her daughter's sudden unpredictable schedule.
"Um, I'll be back before then." Amanda reassured as her mind was already shifting to going to meet the mysterious man who had so recently entered her life.
"I hope so, because you know Dean, he is so prompt. Now, if you're not here, where shall I say you'll be?" Dotty hoped to learn for herself where Amanda was suddenly rushing off to. Dotty couldn't remember a time in the past two years she had moved in to help Amanda with her sons that she didn't know exactly where her daughter was going, and now she was suddenly being unusually mysterious.
Amanda obviously had to think about it for a moment before responding "At my club." Quickly leaving before there was a chance to discuss it further.
"What club?" Dotty exclaimed after her daughter had exited, obviously in a hurry.
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Just when Dotty thought the day couldn't get any stranger, it was late and the boys were already asleep when Amanda returned home literally dripping water onto the carpet floor.
Dotty helped her grab newspapers and towels to mitigate the mess, wondering why as late as it was that Amanda had looked shocked and appalled at the suggestion that Dotty could bring her a bathrobe and she could take off some of her clothes before entering the house, not to be totally indecent but to shed some of the outer layers, but Amanda would hear none of it as she pushed through the door.
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you how untoward this looks, dear." Dotty said delicately wondering just what her daughter had gotten into.
"No, Mother, you don't." Amanda did not seem inclined to explain anything as she kept reaching for towels.
"I can't imagine the people that belong to this club of yours. What kind of a club did you say that was again?" Dotty pressed.
"Uh, Marine life, Mother. To save the clams." Amanda said, not sure if it explained anything but it was the best she could come up with in the moment.
"Does that involve swimming in the Potomac to save them personally?" Dotty inquired, not surprised when her daughter ignored the question and continued to focus on drying herself before exiting the kitchen.
"Gesundheit" Dotty said automatically as she heard a sneeze then paused as she realized that had not been Amanda's sneeze. Before she could consider investigating further her daughter reappeared obviously distressed, causing Dotty to temporarily forget about the mysterious sneeze she had just heard.
"Mother, where is it?" Amanda asked, obviously distressed.
"Where is what? You missed Dean's call." Dotty had already moved on to what she thought the biggest issue of the evening was.
"The package I left on dining-room table." Amanda said, not acknowledging the comment about her missing Dean's call.
"I mailed it, did you track water out there?" Dotty grabbed the towel from around her daughter's neck as she went to the dining room to see what she might need to could feel her frustration rising at how Amanda was acting as if she had done something wrong by mailing a package. "You had it all wrapped up to send to Aunt Minnie in Maine so I tried to help you. I don't drive, Amanda, so it was no picnic." Dotty continued defensively, upset that Amanda seemed so concerned about such a plain-looking package that she had obviously meant to be mailed, instead of being concerned about missing Dean's call.
Dotty sniffed the air again before turning to exit the kitchen, annoyed with the lack of gratitude for the effort she had put forth. All she did to help Amanda and her grandchildren, and this was the thanks she got. Despite her mounting frustration, and all the water she knew she had detected that scent again, the mix of citrus and spice that she knew couldn't be lingering just from one morning encounter. She hoped Amanda knew what she was doing as she climbed the stairs to her room to prepare for bed and read another chapter of her romance novel to help calm her frayed nerves.
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Dotty tried to convince herself she wasn't spying as she opened her bedroom door and tiptoed out to hear how Amanda's date with Dean was going. "Cuddling in front of the fire is good, but Amanda doesn't seem to have her heart in it," Dotty listened and thought back to when her daughter had been so in love with Joe. "She's just going through the motions, where is that spark?" She sighed to herself. "I'm going to have to tell Dean to try something more romantic than bookends."
Dean's arrival had unfortunately confirmed for her that that he was still wearing his trademark Obsession which had a more botanical base than a citrus one. Dotty West knew her fragrances but couldn't figure out how to approach that topic just yet. How did you convince someone you smelled something if they said you didn't? Just as she was getting ready to retreat to her room, she heard the boys enter the living room and felt frustrated that this was another interruption in Dean and Amanda's limited quality time.
She couldn't tell what Phillip had said that was so important as Amanda got up to move to the phone, then Dotty couldn't make out the words just whispering as Dean tried to entertain the boys who wanted to ask him questions about working on TV. Dotty sighed as she went back into her room and got her book, at least the knight and the princess would be having some romance this evening as she heard doors and car engines below that signified Dean and Amanda both leaving followed by the children's footsteps on the stairs returning to their rooms.
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Dotty descended the stairs late the next morning, hoping things were finally back to normal. The boys were at school and Amanda was busy doing housework, it seemed like old times again. "Maybe there had just been a full moon," Dotty mused as she heard the vacuum cleaner running. Just as she had started to hope that a sense of normalcy had returned, she entered the kitchen to see Amanda rifling through her recipes. Her daughter was suddenly very fascinated with the recipes Dotty had stored from the Colonial Cookery show, even wanting to watch the tape of the show Dotty had missed that morning due to a migraine.
The next thing Dotty knew they were all at the local TV station for the afterschool cub scout field trip, it was her and Amanda's day to host the den of cub scouts, but she thought the original plan had been to take them to the zoo. They weren't even the same station where Dean worked. To further confuse things, Amanda was apparently not making any effort to keep the boys behavior under control as she usually did. As Dotty finally located the group she saw the children were all running towards the playground as her daughter appeared oblivious. To top it off Amanda almost dumped all the children on her and said she had to leave. It wasn't that her mother minded helping but the return to such unpredictable behavior was alarming.
"Amanda, Dean is coming to dinner." Dotty protested.
"I'll be back in plenty of time." Amanda reassured her. "Just take the boys home for me."
"Amanda, darling. I suppose this goes without saying but a good relationship is nothing to tamper with." Dotty tried again to get her daughters attention about the state of her growing relationship with Dean.
"Mother, I have an emergency. At my club." Amanda said emphatically, not seeming concerned about her plans for dinner despite her mother's prompting.
"Clams again, dear?" Dotty wearily asked, but Amanda didn't bother to respond as she hurried away, leaving the now bewildered woman in her wake.
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With no other options Dotty herded the children home, grateful they were only a few blocks away and could walk as Amanda had taken the car. She couldn't believe Amanda had just driven off the way she had and not even offered to drop them off, said where she was going or even when she expected to be home. It was as if her predictable, dependable daughter had been replaced by someone else.
While Amanda was off tending to whatever emergency had arisen, Dotty tended to the children for the evening, making sure they had eaten, done homework, baths and ready for bed. As she did so she contemplated feeling suddenly excluded from Amanda's life. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew she didn't like it. She and Amanda had always been close but now there was not only an air of secrecy, but outright deceit. Dotty had compiled a list of many things she planned to ask her daughter about when she finally got home. Including telling her about a phone call she had made to the aquarium that had reported not knowing about any crisis involving the Potomac clam population.
As Dotty waited to confront her daughter, she realized that it was now a quarter to 6:00 and that Dean would arrive any minute. Her questions would have to wait as she began thinking about how she would explain Amanda's absence when she didn't fully understand it herself. She was relieved when the door flew open. Amanda barely announcing her return home as she began hurriedly preparing for Dean's arrival for their romantic evening. Dotty and the boys could not do anything more than watch on in silence as she efficiently zipped around the kitchen getting everything ready for her date, having just gotten the candles lit when Dean arrived.
"She's still wearing her den mother uniform, it's a good thing Dean is so smitten," Dotty couldn't help but think as she prepared to excuse herself with Phillip and Jamie after they had a chance to spend a few moments with Dean and say goodnight. The list of questions lingering in her mind would have to wait until the next day. Including questions about the towels she had found in the flowerbed and some footprints amongst her tulips that were certainly too big to be either Phillip or Jamie's. She suspected they might belong to a certain brown haired man Jamie had mentioned and quite possibly the same source of the mystery cologne she had smelled just moments ago when Amanda breezed by her. Three times in as many days that she had smelled this new mystery scent it was clear that whatever her daughter was involved with also included a man that Dotty suspected had nothing to do with saving clams.
As Dean and Amanda began their evening date, Dotty climbed the stairs leading the boys to bed and considered the past three days. Amanda was obviously up to something and if she thought her mother was going to be easily deceived, she was in for a big surprise.