Screen Captures Courtesy of Swoopes For personal use and select distribution only © May 2002 by Amber Stockton Vigilante Mothers - tagalogueWritten by Rudolph Borchert (excerpts from the episode belong to him)
Lee popped his head up above the hedges below Amanda's kitchen window, having no idea how uncanny his appearance at that exact moment was. Based upon Amanda's reaction to seeing him, however, it was either good or bad timing. He really couldn't tell, but he did see Amanda successfully manage to steer her mother upstairs, then turn and pick up something from the counter before she walked to the back door. "Hi," he said as soon as she stepped outside. She set what looked like a volcano experiment gone wrong on the picnic table. "Hello." "I just wanted to return these and thank you for letting me borrow them." He held out a set of grilling tongs. "Ahh, you're welcome," she replied, taking the tongs. "Mmm, whoa!" He reached out to touch the hanging edges of the volcano. "Does Mothers for a Safe Environment know about this?" He lifted his finger and examined the residue from the volcano. "No, and don't you tell them, either!" He chuckled. "We did get a Municipal hearing on the Toxic Waste issue, though. We're pretty proud of that. It's a start." "Good. Good. The news gets better. Our lab technicians finally found a way to neutralize those crystals." "Oh!" She nodded. "That is good news." "Hm!" "Amanda!" Dotty's voice was heard calling from upstairs. "I'll be right down!" "Okay, Mother!" Amanda called back, her eyes looking up to the second story. A moment later, she placed the tongs in her pocket and turned to face him again. "Well, look, I'd better get inside and neutralize my kitchen." "Ahh!" "Want to toss this for me?" She lifted Mt. Vesuvius from the picnic table and shoved it in his direction. He stalled for a moment and gave the item a questioning look, unsure of what he was going to do with it. "Oh, come on. Take it. It's just a volcano." She made it sound like it was such a common, everyday thing to have a volcano with the top blown off that needed to be disposed. He almost had to laugh at the thought that in Amanda's life, things like this actually were quite common. Almost two years ago, he had learned to redefine the word 'normal' where Amanda was concerned. To be honest, it was surprisingly refreshing to be faced with the confusion and unexpected occurrences that seemed to follow her wherever she went. In a way, it made it easier for him to handle. Her life was just as unpredictable as his. Shifting the volcano and evenly distributing the weight in his arms, he glanced down at it again. "So, how did all of this happen, anyway?" Amanda sighed. "Oh, well, you know how boys are!" She made a sweeping motion with her left hand and waved it over top of the volcano. "We had already made this for Jamie's school project and the fair, and he and Philip decided that they wanted to test out the lava explosion. The only problem was they did it in the kitchen and didn't anticipate the explosion being so far-reaching." Lee jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the house. "So, that's what you meant by neutralizing your kitchen?" "Yeah, after I scolded the boys for their actions, I sent them upstairs to get cleaned up before coming back down to clean the kitchen. I figure it would be a good idea if I was there to supervise." It wasn't very difficult to imagine the dressing down the boys had received only a moment ago, and not for the first time, Lee marveled at how well Amanda seemed to balance so many aspects of her life and not get frazzled by any of it. At least, that's how it appeared on the outside. The thought that she cared enough to discipline them and also help them right their wrong reminded him of how much he missed that same influence in his own life. Now was not the time to dwell on that, though. Instead, he nodded and grinned. "I'd say that's a safe bet!" Shifting the volcano once again, he sighed. "Well, I don't want to keep you from your recovery after the volcanic eruption, so I'd better head on out of here." He turned to go, but her voice stopped him. "Oh, I almost forgot! How did you figure out it was Tri-County Laundry?" "That wasn't hard at all." He stepped forward and rested the volcano on the table. "When I called Billy to tell him that the rest of the crystals had been stolen, he told me about your phone call and about following Jean. He had run a cross-check on her, and that led to Tri-County. It didn't take me long to figure out that she was Castille's connection, as well as Fletcher." "So, Castille needed Fletcher to get the crystals out of the lab at Bethesda and Jean to get the crystals out." "Right." Lee nodded. "Your neighborhood demonstration helped too, by providing a distraction which allowed Fletcher to place the crystals in the laundry." "A real first-class operation." Amanda looked away. "And Castille told Jean that stealing the crystals was easy," she added, a note of sarcasm in her voice. "Easy only for a man like Castille." "You know, it's a real good thing that Mr. Melrose was able to figure out about Jean's involvement. I was really beginning to wonder how I was going to get out of there." She placed her left hand in her pocket and her right on her hip. Lee shrugged and grinned. "Hey! Don't I always manage to show up in the nick of time?" She smiled. "Most of the time." He shook his head. "Besides, it's not like you were going anywhere." "No, but like Castille said, I had a pressing engagement, one I wasn't too fond of attending," she retorted with a grin. "Amanda?" Dotty's voice once again floated down from upstairs. "Yes, Mother?" "I think I may have just seen that Mr. Sampson drive by. Maybe now would be a good time to pay him a visit and invite him over for dinner!" "I'll think about it, Mother!" Amanda called back. When she faced him again, he raised one eyebrow. "Mr. Sampson?" Amanda ducked her head, and Lee saw two spots of pink appear on her cheeks. "Yes, um ... Mother actually caught a glimpse of you the other day when you were getting your newspaper, and she suggested that I invite you over for dinner, sometime." "Oh, really?" He grinned. "She thought it was a good idea that I get to know our new neighbor. I think she was more interested in your looks than in getting to know you." She shrugged. "But, that's Mother for you." A slight note of alarm sent all of his senses on alert. "You said she saw me the other morning. Do you know how close she was when she did?" "Lee, don't worry about it. Mother said she didn't get a good look at you, but certainly was quick to point out the attributes she found the most appealing." He smiled. "Oh? Care to share some of those?" She grinned. "Not really." There was a time when her evasiveness would have annoyed him, but he had actually come to expect it these days, and tonight was no different. Somehow, and without his knowledge, they had crossed the line of mere business associates and begun a tennis match of flirtation, each of them lobbing the ball into the other one's court to see how and if it would be returned. In a way, this enabled them to have a little fun without any complications. At this stage, he preferred it this way. Besides, Amanda made it very easy for him to give in to his devilish side more often. In many ways, their relationship was starting to resemble the one he shared with Francine, but in other ways, it was distinctly different, and he looked forward to how it would all play out. "Well, you know," he began, finding his voice, "I could always ask around and see who she talked to ... find out what kind of questions she asked about me..." "You wouldn't dare!" "Wouldn't I?" She sighed. "All right, I'll make it easy on you. She remarked that you had a strong profile and good posture ... that's it." He shrugged. "Well, it's a start." "But don't be getting any ideas. If Mother sees you around too often, I won't hear the end of it. She'll pressure me to invite you over for supper, or she'll figure out a way to do it herself!" Lee didn't want to admit how appealing that idea sounded, so he didn't reply. Instead, he glanced at the upstairs windows of the house, then lifted the volcano once again into his arms. With a grin, he turned to go, then glanced back at her. "Well, you never know. Maybe someday," he winked, then added, "partner." With that final word, he walked away, a smile on his face as he imagined what she was thinking. He was certain she was watching him walk away, and a part of him wanted to turn around to see her face. Something stopped him, though, and he continued around the side of her house. He really wasn't sure about everything he was feeling at the moment. Almost against his will, his mind recalled his reaction when Amanda first told him she had seen Castille hanging around the car he was driving, and their almost immediate escape from the car moments before it had exploded. As soon as they had gotten out, they had extended a hand to each other almost out of instinct, and when the explosion occurred, knocking them to ground, Lee had put his arms around her to protect her. However, having her in such close proximity had caused some rather distinct feelings to course through him. Later, in the laundry, when they were about to apprehend Castille, she had touched his knee before circling around behind Castille, and he had again experienced that familiar twinge. In a way, he wanted things to be where she could feel free to invite him to dinner, but on the other hand, he realized where thoughts like that would take him. Nowhere. They weren't ready to change anything in their relationship yet. Not only would it jeopardize her family if anything was ever revealed or discovered about Amanda's involvement, but it would have a major effect on their professional relationship as well. He felt certain the time had not come for that ... not yet. As he reached his car two houses down, he opened up the passenger door and deposited the volcano on the seat, hoping none of the residue from the explosion would damage his upholstery. Not that it couldn't be cleaned, but he didn't want to have to deal with that. He still didn't know what he was going to do with this volcano, but he supposed he could stop by the dumpster on his way back to his apartment in Georgetown. Then, another thought crossed his mind. Maybe he could continue to rent that Cooperman house on the corner. After all, being a little closer to Amanda did have its merits. Even Amanda didn't seem to have an aversion to him moving nearer. In fact, she had suggested that they go out to dinner instead of him having to move. He almost didn't want to admit to himself how much that suggestion had appealed to him when she had made it. Now, he realized that dinner with her might not be a bad idea. Maybe he would suggest it to her. Later. (THE END) |
