July 4, 1983

The Fourth of July began dreary and wet. Amanda had high hopes of it becoming sunny because her new boyfriend, Dean, who worked for the Weather Bureau, had predicted warm weather and sunny skies. Dean had offered to take her, her mother, and the boys to see the fireworks at the Capitol that evening, and she thought it would be a terrific way to spend the holiday. She just knew that today was going to be better than last year's Fourth.

The last year had been a little rocky for the boys as they adjusted to the fact that their parents were no longer married, although they had been used to not seeing their dad for several years. Amanda had waited six months before she even tried to go out on a date. The boys didn't seem to like it at first, but now seemed to be OK.

A few weeks ago, right before school let out, she had met Dean at a school function. Dean's niece just happened to be in the same class as Jamie, and he had come to a career day event. Amanda had been volunteering that day, and, after spending some time visiting, Dean had asked her out. The boys seemed to like Dean. They had been on several dates since then, and Amanda now felt comfortable letting him spend some time with the family.

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Lee awoke in an unfamiliar room. His head was pounding and his eyes felt like they'd been glued shut. ‘What exactly happened last night?' he thought to himself. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly sat up in the bed. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, the night before started to come back to him. He glanced at the lithe form next to him. He dimly remembered meeting a blond at Nedlinger's and striking up a conversation. He gave her one of his usual lines, this time pretending to be an astronaut. Boy, he sure could get them with that cover!

As he glanced at the sleeping woman next to him, he saw that she really didn't have any remaining appeal for him. So far, he'd never really met anyone who could hold his attention span for longer than a week or so at most. The only exceptions were either dead, married, or Elisa Danton. Elisa...he barely remembered the last time he'd made plans with her. It was....a year ago... Lee immediately turned that line of thinking off. Lee never dwelt on the painful images of the past, and last Fourth of July was one he was not going to remember.

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"Mom, is the rain ever gonna stop?" Jamie whined. The day was not going the way Amanda had planned, but it still wasn't a total loss. She and the boys had played board games all day, with stops whenever the rain let up to go ride their bikes. They boys were restless, and she had to admit they'd behaved pretty well for being shut up inside. Dean was supposed to be arriving any minute now, and Amanda was a little nervous. The boys had met Dean briefly, but this would be the first time they would be doing something with him. Dotty was beside herself. She seemed more excited about the date than Amanda felt.

"Amanda! I think I see Dean's car! Oh, darling, I am so glad that you finally met a nice young man. I know that this was a big step for you, but I've got such a good feeling about Dean! I think he's just what you need!" Dotty gushed.

"Mother, I've only been divorced for a few months. I'm not ready for..." Amanda tried to calm her mother down to no avail. The doorbell rang and Dotty rushed to answer it.

"Dean! I'm so glad you suggested this today! We are all so excited about tonight's fireworks!" Amanda could hear her mother welcoming Dean into the house, and she couldn't help but smile. Her mother was such a character. Who could stay down with that bundle of energy around? Amanda went to the front door to welcome Dean.

"Dean! How are you?" Amanda smiled at her date. Dean really was a nice looking man. He was dressed in a plaid short-sleeved shirt and jeans. He smiled back at her, then grinned when he saw the boys. Amanda was so glad that he didn't mind dating a woman with kids. In fact, he seemed downright excited about it. As he walked into the house, she had a good feeling about the evening.

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Lee sauntered into his living room with a bottle of German beer in one hand and a bowl of chips in the other. He had seen the weather and figured the day was a wash- the rain wasn't going away. So, instead of getting out on the wet streets, he was going to spend the day in front of the TV, watching a game. As he sat down, he grabbed the paper and looked at the listings- looked like the Yankees would be playing the Red Sox later on. "That'll work," he muttered to himself.

As he settled in and began channel surfing, the phone rang. With a sigh, Lee got up to answer it. It was Paul Barnes, his old mentor. "Hey, Paul! It's been awhile! What's up?" Lee asked, happy to hear from him.

"Hey, Lee, I just got into town and thought I'd give you a ring. Got any plans?" Paul asked.

"Nah...just thought I'd watch the ball game. You have a better idea?"       

"Well...I've got some other guys meeting me at Ned's to hang out, watch the Yankees. Wanna come?"

"Ned's? Who's coming?"

"Jim...Leatherneck...Casey...maybe a few others. I heard Francine might drop by, unless she finds ‘something better'...her words," Paul laughed. Everyone knew that Francine always had high hopes of meeting up with a rich Congressman. Lee joined in his laughter. It would be good to catch up with Paul. It'd been awhile since they'd talked, and it would sure beat hanging out by himself.

"Sure, Paul. I'll be there." Today was looking up.

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It was midnight and the house was still. Amanda was sitting in her bed, flipping through a magazine, but not really reading it. She thought about the evening and smiled to herself. It really was too bad that thunderstorms had kept them from going outside, but Dean had been a good sport. They'd ordered pizza and turned on the television, finally finding a channel showing some fireworks. The boys played Monopoly with Dean, who seemed to have a great time. Around ten, Dotty hustled the boys up to bed and stayed up there herself.  Amanda figured Dotty wanted to give them some "alone time".

As they sat on the couch, Dean took hold of Amanda's hand. "Amanda, I, uh, I really had a great time tonight. Your boys are...well...they're just great," Dean stammered. Amanda looked at him. He really was a very sweet man...so different from Joe in many ways, but similar in others.

"Dean, I had a nice time, too. Thanks for playing that game with the boys. I know they can be a handful sometimes," she replied with a smile.

"Oh, I had so much fun with them! I mean, they are great kids. You know, I've always wanted kids, but just never seemed to meet the right lady," he smiled. Amanda thought to herself that he really was a handsome man, though not in an obvious way. He really wasn't the type of guy she would normally have picked out for herself, but he just seemed so stable and...safe.

Dean had left not long after, giving her a sweet little kiss at the door. He was such a gentleman, she thought to herself. Now, lying in bed, she thought about what it would be like to be with Dean. He was a good, kind man, who obviously liked her kids. Her mother thought he hung the moon. He had a stable job and didn't seem to want anything beyond where he was. He really seemed to care about her.

‘How do I feel?' Amanda wondered. She didn't really feel any sparks around him. "Stop that!" she admonished herself. "You are a grown woman with two kids. You can't believe in fairy tales or movie romance any more. It just doesn't work like that."

She would have a good life with Dean, if she just got over her fantasies and accepted reality. This was as good as life was going to get, and she was going to be happy with it.

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It was midnight and Lee was just arriving home, a little worse for wear. It had been a fun evening overall. Seeing Paul again was just what he had needed. Ned's had been hopping with activity and the gang had had a blast watching the Yankees win in a 4-0 no-hitter, the first for the Yankees in almost 50 years. It had been great catching up with Paul.

"So, Paul, how are things in London?" Lee asked while they drank a pitcher of beer. They were surrounded by friends and cronies. "I hear that you have quite a little harem going." The gang laughed and nudged each other.

"Well, I hear I've got nothing on the great Scarecrow. How many black books are up to now? 2? 3?" The gang continued to laugh and Lee nodded, replying, "I'm about halfway through my third. What can I say?"

Paul grinned at him. "So, no plans on settling down, Lee? No white picket fence in your future?"

Lee glanced around the room, seeing the faces of his friends and colleagues. "Come on, Paul, now why would I want to do that? There are too many beautiful women out there for me to settle for just one. I mean...I can't even imagine anyone like that existing!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought- same old Lee," Paul smirked at him. They continued to banter back and forth for a couple of hours, trading war stories and commiserating on petty losses, never talking about anything that hit too close to home.

Lee thought back on the evening. He was glad that he had spent some time with Paul. Now that Paul was in London, they really never got around to talking that often anymore. It brought back memories, both good and bad, but Lee only thought about the good.

He really did have a great life, he thought to himself. He might get lonely sometimes, but there were always women available to make him forget. This was as good as life could possibly get, and he was definitely happy with it.