Chapter 16

Watershed

Over the next couple of weeks, life got back to normal. The bruises were finally gone and Amanda was feeling a little more like herself. She was assigned to complete a security evaluation with Kristen and the two were out completing an inspection. Lee was sitting in the Q Bureau completing a few reports that afternoon when the phone rang.

"Stetson," he replied.

"Is Amanda King there?" said a voice that sounded like Jamie.

"No, she's out on assignment today? Is this Jamie?" Lee said.

"Yeah. Is Kristen there?"

"No, she's actually out with your mom. What's going on?" Lee asked him.

"My Grandma's out getting her hair done and Phillip is at a friend's house. My bike got hit by a truck that drove away. I don't know what to do. I don't want to call my dad."

"Stay there. Where are you?" Lee was genuinely worried about the boy. "I'm on my way."

Lee pulled up to find Jamie sitting on a curb with his bike which had a bent front wheel. He had scrapes and torn jeans. A woman was sitting with him. "Are you okay, Jamie? Anything broken?" Lee asked.

"I think he's ok," the woman said. "Some guy in a truck pulled out and hit him and then drove off. Are you his dad?"

"Mother's boyfriend," Lee explained. "Thank you for sitting with him."

"I think I'm ok," Jamie said to Lee. "But look at my bike. My mom is gonna be so mad."

"Bikes can be replaced. You can't. Trust me, she won't be mad. I left a message for her."

"Thank you for coming to get me. I know my dad would have been mad." Jamie said. Given Joe King's recent behavior, Lee could understand why Jamie would rather have him pick him up. However, he knew better than to disparage Joe King in front of his son.

'"Don't worry about that, we'll get this figured out."

Jamie looked at Lee's car.

"Um, how are we going to take my bike."

"Excellent question," Lee said. "Look. There's an ice cream shop up the street. What do you say we get a sundae and we'll have your mom meet us there." Lee made a quick call from a pay phone to have Amanda meet them. Then he and Jamie walked the bike to the ice cream shop.

"So what happened?" Lee asked. "No judgment, I did plenty of things I shouldn't have when I was a kid."

"Well, I wanted to look at the camera shop. I like taking pictures and my art teacher says I'm good at it. I wanted to see how much the cameras were. I'm really not supposed to come over here. Now I know why." He looked down.

"Hey, I like photography too," Lee said. "If you want, I just bought a new camera. You can practice with my old one."

"Really?"

"Sure you can."

Jamie ordered a hot fudge sundae with extra whipped cream and the two sat at a table. After a few bites Jamie looked up.

"So, are you going to marry my mom?" Jamie clearly had been thinking about this for a while. Lee wasn't sure how to answer, but then remembered what Amanda said: Just be as honest as possible.

"Can you keep a secret?" Lee asked.

"Yeah."

"Yes, I do want to marry your mom." Lee said. "But I wanted you and Phillip and I to get to know each other first. I don't want to take over being your dad, just someone you can come to when you need help. "

"Like now." Said Jamie with a smile.

"Yeah, like now." Lee realized this was a watershed moment between he and Jamie.

"Well, my mom looks really happy with you. You've been really nice to Phillip and me. I'm sorry I was a jerk to you at first."

"It's okay," Lee said. "You were just getting to know me. I get it."

"I think it would be okay. But you need to ask Phillip too."'

"Absolutely." Lee said.

Jamie smiled as he ate his ice cream. A few minutes later Amanda arrived.

"Oh my gosh, Jamie, is that your bike out there? Are you okay?" Amanda checked him over.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Jamie said. "You were gone so Lee came to get me. I know I'm not supposed to be over here. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you aren't hurt too badly."

"Told you she wouldn't be mad," Lee smiled at him.

While Lee and Amanda were out a message was dropped on Lee's desk. Nathanial Brody escaped prison 36 hours ago. While Lee was sitting in the ice cream shop, a car drove by slowly watching. A man got out and walked up to a pay phone nearby. "Found Stetson. Get this. He's got a kid with him. Looks like he's becoming a family man."

After they arrived back to Amanda's place, Lee pulled her aside.

"Jamie asked if I was going to marry you?" Lee told her quietly.

"He did? " Amanda looked surprised. "What did you say?"

"I told him I wanted to marry you," Lee smiled broadly. "I told him we needed to keep it a secret."

Amanda kissed him.

"This feels kind of surreal," she said. "Maybe we should start going public with this."

"Yeah. Once we talk to Phillip and your mother we can talk to Billy."