Partners

Chapter 17

It had been a memorable adventure for Amanda, but now it was time to get back to regular life. The boys were upstairs and all the dishes had been washed and put away. Another day has come to an end. Amanda felt drained this week, yet there was satisfaction in knowing that not only were she able to get the household into manageable control, she and Lee had also been successful in completing another mission.

She looked forward to taking a hot shower and curling up to a good book. Taking her broom, Amanda began sweeping the kitchen floor, personally enjoying this quiet time alone, her mind totally void of anything but good thoughts.

These musings included images of Lee as he carried her down the stairs. It seemed as if they descended down together on a cloud of enchantment as his eyes watched her with an intensity that made stole her breath away.

And then of course, there was that romantic glitch in the universe when Lee had said, "Stay with me, honey." The endearment made her cheeks flood with heat. He seemed to always send mixed messages to her. First it's all business, then it's all about a friendship, and then it seems to lead to the possibility of-

A light tap coming from her back door interrupted her thoughts and Lee stuck his head in.

"Is it clear now?" he covertly inquired.

After all they've been through, Lee knew Amanda would more than welcome his entrance. Although she was now looking at him in a pensive manner, any second now, her sunshine smile would burst forth and everything would be right with the world. His anticipation ran high.

Amanda reacted quickly, alright.

"Lee...get out!"

Lee's face fell,"Amanda, wha-"

Swish!

Her broom was attacking his feet.

Swish! Swish!

"You...you want me to go?" Lee asked incredulously.

"Yes...go, Lee...out!" Amanda made several short, decisive sweeps his way. The dust particles flew up around his carefully polished shoes.

"Amanda-" Lee was brushing his legs now only to have more dust come up, "Hey!-

"Go, (swish) Go!" Amanda ordered as Lee retreated and she shut the back door quietly, just as the kitchen door swung opened. Amanda immediately turned to face her mother.

"Mo-ther!..."

Dotty came in, her mug in her hand, "Oh! Now at last I can brew some tea in my favorite mug! It just doesn't taste the same with any other mug!"

Earlier, she had told Amanda that she wanted to make some tea, but that she had left her 'lucky mug' in her bedroom and had gone up to retrieve it. Now she was back in the kitchen.

Dotty looked skeptically at her daughter.

"Amanda," she began, "did I just see what I thought I saw?"

Amanda casually leaned against the back door, "I don't know, Mother, because I don't know if I saw what you thought you saw, " she tried to keep her voice even, "so, what did you see?"

"It's just..." Dotty began, "were you really just sweeping that dust into the backyard instead of using a dustpan?" she inquired, "because really, that is a wasted effort! You do realize, Amanda, that the minute you open that door, allll that dust will come flying back in?"

With relief, Amanda felt her heart no longer pounding loudly as she turned to look at the door, "You do have a point, Mother. I guess I'll use the old dustpan method tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Dotty tsked, "You need to do it now, Amanda."

"Now?"

"Yes, now; Like I've told you before: tomorrow is a word that applies to a lazy person."

Amanda's eyes opened wider, "So are you saying you want me to re-sweep the whole floor again, right this very minute, Mother?"

"There's no day like today, right?" Dotty inquired, making a big sweeping gesture with her hand.

"It will be difficult for me to sweep this floor now, Mother, " Amanda reasoned, "if you plan to stay here and brew your tea, Mother."

Dotty thought about that, "Oh, you're right about that, I suppose," she said as she placed her mug on the counter next to the sink, "I guess I won't have any tea tonight...all that caffeine will keep me awake, anyway."

She then leaned Amanda's way to peck her daughter on her cheek, "Good night dear," she said and then as an afterthought added, "You don't plan to stay up much longer, do you?"

"No Mother, " Amanda stated, "I plan to take a hot shower and curl up to a good book."

"Ahhh yes, your romance novel," Dotty stated, "And have you gotten to the part where Victoria Greenwich has a secret rendezvous with the dashing, charming hero yet?"

Amanda couldn't help but let her eyes wander towards the darkness, "She's about to, Mother."

"Just don't stay up too late with your fantasy, Amanda," advised Dotty.

"Yes, Mother," agreed Amanda as she purposely continued sweeping until she no longer heard Dotty's footsteps. Once her mother was gone, Amanda leaned the broom against the wall and surreptitiously opened the back door leading to the backyard, stepped out and silently closed the door behind her.

"Lee!" she yelled out in a low tone, "Leeee!"

Nothing.

Had he left? Amanda gave another look about, somewhat frantic .

"I'm here," a familiar voice called out, "but I'm giving you a fair warning so as to not scare you."

So he's learning, Amanda thought to herself, a pleased smile on her face.

"Okay, I'm prepared," she said, her eyes dancing, as she spoke into the cool night air, "you can make your appearance now."

Suddenly Lee was in front of her, chasing away the evening chill. Even though they had just seen each other yesterday, seeing him amidst the backdrop of the stars twinkling in the night sky caused little knots of excitement and pleasure to tighten in her stomach.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hi?" his tone was higher and sounded sardonic, "That's all you have to say? If I remembered correctly, I was just given the official brush- off, both figuratively and literally!"

"Oh, sorry about that," she stated her head tilting towards the kitchen area, "I knew Mother was coming back immediately from the other room and it wouldn't look right, you know, having you in my kitchen..."

So that explained it.

"Yeah, that would be rather awkward, after all, how would you explain me?"

Her eyes danced again, "There are no words to explain you, Lee."

As Lee regarded her, he was assailed by a strange yearning he had never experienced before. In all his worldly adventures, he had never once allowed himself to imagine that somewhere out there was a woman who was not only beautiful and intelligent, but kind and unaffected as well.

The fact that Amanda fit those qualifications absolutely scared him.

"Lee," Amanda interrupted his musings, "is there a reason you're here?"

Lee cleared his throat. He really didn't know what was wrong with him lately when it came to Amanda. He silently berated himself for thinking about her in terms of anything other than a work colleague.

"Yes, there is a reason why I am here," Lee stated as he reached into his the pocket of his jacket, "I have something for you..."

Amanda was momentarily stunned. He had something to give her? Whatever could it be? It was hard for her to keep still, her excitement ran so high. He had a grin on his face as he pulled out an envelope.

"What is this Lee?" she asked as she took it and held it in her hands.

"Work related," Lee stated, trying to convince himself that this was keeping it business-like. Who was he fooling?

Amanda's face was lit up with curiosity, "Work related?"

Okay, forget about being professional. He was going to enjoy this.

"Yes and no," he tried to sound mysterious, "Let's just say it's something that will help make your dream come true."

She eyed him suspiciously.

"This will make my dream come true? I didn't know Ferrari's came in a white envelope, Lee." she jested.

He broke out in a grin, "Go ahead, Amanda," he encouraged, "open it."

"Okay..." she stated excitedly as she opened the envelope and took out something that looked like...a coupon. Looking at more closely, a smile came to her lips that he had remember her wanting to use a coffee can to defend herself against Horton.

It was a gift certificate for a case of Virginia's best coffee in the huge vacuum- sealed cans. Amanda laughed, and Lee again was struck by how musical her laugh sounded.

"I'm sure you can put those cans to good use," Lee commented, enjoying her reaction.

"This is perfect," she said, as she looked up at him sincerely, "I was in need of some more ammunition."

Lee laughed.

"Thank you, Lee," Amanda said, holding it close to her body, "I'm truly touched."

Lee looked happy that she liked his little gift, "It's the least I could do for my partner."

Partner. She had earned that title although it was not quite as intimate as being called honey. She had considered bringing up why during her rescue, he had called her honey, but thought better of it. There was no need to turn the situation awkward. Still, she wondered if he had remembered calling her that word of endearment.

And coincidences being what they were, Lee had a similar thought.

"Say, by the way, Amanda," he tried to appear casual, "When I was carrying you to the ambulance, did you, uh, remember everything I said to you?"

Here was the opening; her chance. But should she admit that she knew?

"Well," Amanda seemed to be considering her answer, "As it turns out, the doctor at the hospital did say I had a concussion and he said one of the symptoms that accompany it is a partial loss of memory."

"Oh really?...Partial memory loss, you say?" Lee leaned in as he gazed speculatively at her, "And?"

For a second his nearness caused her pulse to start racing.

"And," Amanda declared, "as far as what you said to me, I remembered... everything."

Lee looked astonished, "So no memory loss? You remembered everything?"

She nodded, "Everything."

"Well," Lee looked down and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck before he looked back up at her, "You know, ,...I should remind you that...the tricky part about a concussion is that its signs and symptoms are not always straightforward and what you think you remembered a person saying may not be what was actually said..."

Lee was getting lost in his own wording and didn't know how to continue. So he was surprised when he saw Amanda nodding knowingly.

"You're right, Lee."

He peered at her hesitantly.

"I'm...I'm right?"

"Huh-huh," she agreed, "So let's say we stop talking about this."

Lee visibly relaxed, "Good. Agreed. No more talk about concussions and memory. That's good, Amanda."

She smiled, "and tomorrow, when I come into the office, I'll brew some of my store- bought coffee AND," she added, " I'll be sure to bring in some biscuits and honey with me, too."

The way she had said the word honey, caught Lee's attention. He started to become nervous again.

"Um, what did you say?" he looked a little distressed.

"I said," repeated Amanda, "Tomorrow when I come into the office..."

"No, no, skip that part, Amanda," Lee said, "and go to the part about the biscuits and honey."

Amanda's eyes looked round with innocence, "Biscuits and honey?"

"Biscuits and ho-ney," Lee accented the last word, "You had earlier put special emphasis on the word honey."

She almost squeaked out the last part of her question, "I did?"

Lee was starting to get impatient, "Amanda, come clean! You said the word honey to specifically make a point!"

She didn't blink, "And what point is that, Lee?" she asked.

Lee couldn't look directly at her as color rose to his cheeks, "Well, ...that...that..."

Amanda gave him a playful smirk, "...that biscuits go well with honey?"

At first Lee looked confused but then he realized she was giving him a way out, "Uh...yes, that's it...precisely!" he said at last with conviction.

*High flute notes of the theme song could be heard in the background*

She gave him a sparkling smile.

"Biscuits go well with honey, BUT I like honey most during concussions, wouldn't you agree, Lee?" she asked him, letting him know that she knew.

And despite his embarrassment, Lee gave a small laugh at her mischievous question, "Yeah, honey with concussions...an interesting pairing, Amanda!"

*Freeze frame of the two of them exchanging smiles*

*Last note plays*

The End.

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*Ending theme music immersed with heavy tuba sounds as the screen displays a freeze-frame shot of Lee and Amanda running down the steps of a government building*

The very end

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(And there it is! I hope I was able to show you the deep love and respect I have for this amazing show. It took many nights of staying up until midnight to write this and every single minute spent writing this was an absolute JOY. And yes, I have another story written but won't be posting it for a while. I've met some wonderful people here. SMK readers are the BEST! Goodbye for now and thank you for all your kind words. I truly cherish them all... Much love, DaisyDay)

Please review for the last time! :D