July 4, 1984

The Fourth of July began dreary and wet. Amanda figured it would stay that way, because she heard her ex-boyfriend, Dean, predict sunny skies at his new job on the radio. Where exactly did he get his meteorology degree from, anyway? He never seemed to get the predictions right. She hoped it didn't rain, though, because she was looking forward to some peace and quiet while the boys had a fun day with the Junior Trailblazers. They were going to spend the day at the park, cleaning up litter in order to earn a merit badge, and then later they were going over to a friend's house to watch Richard Petty race in the Firecracker 400. Her mother was visiting Aunt Minnie in Maine for the week, so she would have the entire house to herself.

As the boys gathered their stuff together for the day, Amanda smiled. She was really proud of both her boys. They were both such good kids, although they were as different as night and day. Phillip was her outgoing one, always making friends and coming up with new sports to try. Jamie was her quiet, introspective one, always reading a book and learning about new subjects. Even though they bickered a lot, they really did enjoy doing things together. ‘I am really lucky', she thought to herself. ‘I have a wonderful family...and a little excitement now and then.' She smiled. Her life had changed so much over the past 9 months...in a lot of ways, mostly for the better...all because of that day last October when Lee Stetson entered her life...

At that moment, she saw a head bob up in the kitchen window. ‘Does he have perfect timing or what?' Amanda thought to herself. She glanced into the living room to make sure the boys were still occupied, then walked to the back door.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered as Lee poked his head around the corner.

"Have the boys left yet? Is your mother around?" he demanded. She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. He looked bewildered.

"Can't you even say hello?" she responded. The man had absolutely no manners. Why couldn't he say a simple, "Hi there!" Was that so difficult?

"Hello," Lee smirked. "Now, is your family around? Can you get away?"

"The boys are leaving in a minute and my mother is in Maine for the week. Why? Do you have a mission? Do you need me? I mean, I was planning on heading over to the park after awhile to check on the boys' merit badge progress, and I thought about cleaning out my pantry and maybe washing the porch off but, if you need me, then I guess..." Lee stopped her with a look. How could she possibly get so many words out in a single breath?

"Amanda...I simply need you to go with me to a restaurant as a cover. I'm supposed to be given some information from a new contact," Lee said. "Can you get away in half an hour or so?"

"Sure," Amanda answered. "Do I need to wear anything special? Is this a fancy place? Gee, you go to some really fancy places sometimes..."

"Amanda...just wear something casual. Jeans, whatever...it's just a regular restaurant," Lee exhaled. "Meet me in the Agency parking lot at 11:30." He smiled and strode off.

She watched him walk away, then shrugged. Looked like her day of peace and quiet was not going to happen after all.

SMK SMK

Lee looked at Amanda as she ate her salad. They had been at the restaurant for nearly 30 minutes, and Lee still hadn't seen his contact. They had gone ahead and ordered lunch, in order to maintain their cover, but Lee was beginning to think it was a wash. He glanced again at Amanda. How could she eat right now?

"Lee," Amanda said. "Aren't you going to eat your sandwich?"

He gave her a withering look. "I am not hungry. I am beginning to think he's not going to show! Damn it, this is going to screw everything up!"

"If you don't eat, don't you think that's going to look funny? I mean, we're supposed to be undercover, right? What if someone's watching? Don't you think you'd stand out a little bit?" Amanda whispered. Lee looked at her. She was right. He shook his head, grabbed his sandwich, and took a bite. She smiled at him. "Now, was that so bad?"

"No...I guess I am a little hungry," he replied as he started to take another bite. As he bent over his plate, a movement at the back of the restaurant caught his eye. It was his contact.

"Amanda," he whispered. "Stay here. I'm going to the restroom." Her eyes grew big and she nodded. Lee walked past her and she took another bite of salad.

Ten minutes later, Amanda was growing concerned. Lee hadn't returned and she knew this couldn't be good. She turned around to glance at the restrooms and saw nothing. At that moment, their waitress came to the table.

"How's everything going? Do you need more tea?" the waitress asked.

"I think I need to get the check and a to-go box. My friend isn't feeling well," Amanda said. The waitress smiled.

"I'll go get it for you," the waitress said as she walked away.

Amanda glanced at the restrooms again. It wouldn't hurt to just go back and see if Lee was anywhere around there, would it? She grabbed her purse and walked nonchalantly to the back. She continued glancing around to see if she saw anything to give her a clue as to where Lee went. She looked around her as she reached the men's room, then knocked on the door. "Lee," she called out as quietly as she could. "Lee? Are you in there?" As she did this, a man walked out and gave her a funny look.

"Um, excuse me, sir. Did you happen to see anyone in the restroom?" she asked, her face flushing with embarrassment.

"No, I did not!" the man exclaimed, giving her an even funnier look.

Amanda walked back to her table and found the check. She dug in her purse and found some cash, put it with the check, then grabbed Lee's sandwich and dumped it in the Styrofoam container. As she did, she saw a tiny piece of paper at the bottom. She took it out, put it in her pocket, and left the restaurant. When she got to the parking lot, she pulled out the note.

"Meet me behind the restaurant at the dumpsters. I know where your friend is." Oh, this wasn't good at all.

SMK SMK

Amanda cautiously looked around the back parking lot of the restaurant. She really wasn't sure she should be here. What if this was a trap? Lee was always telling her that she attracted trouble. Maybe this was a really bad idea. Just as she decided to leave, she saw her waitress waving at her surreptitiously from behind the dumpster. Amanda crept over to her, looking over her shoulder as she went.

"Ma'am," the waitress whispered. "I have a message from your friend. He told me to tell you that you should feed the fish. Do you know what he meant?"

"Feed the fish. Feed the fish?" Amanda thought for a moment. "Oh my gosh! Feed the fish!" She began to rush away, then stopped. She turned to the waitress and said, "Thank you so much. Yes, I know what he meant."

Amanda hurried to her car. Lee must mean that she was to go to his apartment. He had to be referring to the time he asked her to feed his fish, when she was mistaken for him. Could this mean the Russians were involved? Was Zinoviev back from Russia? Amanda decided she needed to get to his apartment immediately. Lee could be in real trouble if Zinoviev had returned!

As she drove, she thought back to the last couple of years. Her life had changed so much since she and Joe had decided to divorce. That had been such an awful day. She was glad, though, that they had moved past it and worked through the end of their marriage in such an amicable way. It was important to her that she remain friends with Joe, especially for the boys, although they really never saw Joe anymore. He had immersed himself even more in his work in the last year. Apparently, he had become good friends with the Prime Minister of Estoccia, so he couldn't come back to the States much. The boys really missed him.

They didn't really seem to miss Dean, though. She thought back to last year when she had first introduced Dean to the boys. They had never really attached themselves to him, and seemed to delight in pulling pranks on him...especially Phillip. That sugar trick...well, that was a good one, and it had come in handy, too. She smiled to herself. No, Dean had been a really nice guy, but so...so...boring.

Suddenly, she realized she was at Lee's apartment building. She looked around, but didn't see Lee's Porsche. She got out and went in. She nodded at the doorman, then headed to Lee's apartment. As she reached the door, she took a deep breath. ‘I am prepared for anything,' she thought. She cringed a little as she knocked on the door.

It flew open and Lee grabbed her arm and pulled her in. "Amanda," he said. "What took you so long?" She stared at him. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him. 

"Lee, what happened at the restaurant? I mean, one second you are sitting with me, then you head to the restroom and, poof, you're gone! I looked around and didn't see you, so I headed to the restroom to see if I could find you. Let me tell you, it was a little embarrassing to knock on the..." Amanda started to ramble, until Lee stared at her.

"Amanda...Amanda...will you be quiet?" he demanded. "If you'll be quiet, I'll tell you what happened!" She nodded at him and he led her into his living room. It was slightly cleaner than the last time she'd been there.

"OK, tell me what happened," she invited. She took a seat on the couch and waited.

"Well, first of all, let me tell you that I am...well...um...you did a pretty good job in figuring out my message. I saw my contact at the back of the restaurant, and he was nervous. So, I left with him, but decided to give a message to our waitress for you. I told her to wait until you decided to leave...it would look better that way, in case you were being watched. That's it," Lee said with a smile. He was pretty pleased with himself.

"That's it?" Amanda asked. "The Russians weren't after you? Zinoviev's not back?"

"Zinoviev?" Lee answered. He was quite perplexed. Why did she mention Zinoviev? He had been deported quite a while ago. The last he'd heard was that he'd been sent to a Siberian camp.

"You know...you said ‘feed the fish'. I knew you meant when the Russians thought I was you. So, I figured they must be involved, and that was your way of letting me know."

"Amanda, I mentioned the fish because I knew you would remember feeding my fish at my apartment. That's it. No Russians. I got what I needed and it's all done. I didn't want to give the waitress any unnecessary information."

"Oh." Amanda was a little disappointed. She had kind of been looking forward to working with Lee today. Now, it was all over.

"I really do appreciate your help today," Lee said. He could tell she was let down. "You...well, you're getting pretty good at this stuff."

Amanda smiled. Lee had actually paid her a compliment. She got up from the couch, and said, "Well, Lee, I guess if that's it, I'll head home. The boys will probably be finished at the park, but I think I'll swing by, just in case. I hope you have a Happy Fourth."

He led her to the door. As he opened it, he said, "Uh, thanks for going with me today. Hey, you paid the check...here's $20."

"Oh, Lee, you don't have to."

"I insist. You shouldn't have had to pick up the check," he said, and forced the bill into her hand. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Lee," Amanda said, then left. It had definitely been an interesting afternoon, but it was time to get back to the real world.

SMK SMK

It was eleven o'clock at night. Amanda was curled up on her couch, reading a book. The boys were safely tucked into bed. She took a sip of her hot cocoa and thought back on her day. Yes, today had definitely been different from the last two Fourth of Julys. She didn't have a husband or a boyfriend...but, she definitely had a man in her life. And, what a man... Although he was definitely the best-looking man she'd ever known, Lee certainly had his flaws- he really was very rude a lot of the time. But, with Lee in her life, things were definitely more exciting than they ever had been.

Yes, life was definitely good.

SMK SMK

It was eleven o'clock at night. Lee was sprawled on his couch, flipping channels with his remote. He thought back over his day. It had been fairly routine. He'd gotten some good information from his new contact, Augie, which would be helpful in the future. Augie seemed like a decent guy, though a bit nervous. ‘I hope he calms down,' Lee thought to himself.

Amanda, however, seemed to definitely be improving. She had really impressed him with how quickly she'd arrived at his apartment. He was proud of her. ‘She's really getting to be a good part...a good helper,' he thought to himself. He couldn't believe he'd almost said partner. It had now been two years since Eric's death. He'd heard the other day from Francine that Elizabeth had gotten married. He remembered Eric asking him to be his best man. Life had moved on, but Lee hadn't forgotten his partner. However, Lee felt that he could now remember Eric without that overpowering feeling of guilt. When had that happened? Lee thought about it and realized it was sometime in the past year...when he'd been working with Amanda. He laughed to himself. Amanda definitely kept him on his toes. He never knew when she'd get herself in trouble.

Yes, life was definitely good.