"'Winsome' Whitaker!" Lee rolled his eyes as he all but sneered the nick name, thinking it sounded completely ridiculous. "Probably gave it to himself," he muttered, echoing the words he had tossed at Amanda the last time the man, known as the dashing darling of the Indianapolis Colts, had been in town. Lee felt nothing but absolute loathing for the guy, who seemed to think that life was one big joke, with himself being the head joker.

Lee had disliked the other man from the first moment he had met him. The fact that he had ended up playing the patsy for the guy's warped sense of humor had only cemented the feeling. He, for one, was glad that the Colts had been moved to Indianapolis, although he was careful to keep that fact to himself. The majority of people harbored rather strong feelings of bitterness regarding the middle of the night move. Not Lee. He figured the greater the distance, the better.

Fortunately for his own ego, very few people knew the full extent of his run in with the football star. Unfortunately, Billy wasn't among that group. The mere mention of the team still tended to cause Billy to break out laughing in riotous amusement. For some vague reason known only to himself, the remembrance of Lee, flapping in the proverbial breeze seemed to appeal to his sense of humor.

Ten minutes later, Lee was still trying to decide what to do, when he heard the sound of male laughter and boyish squeals of delight filling the air. Turning, he watched as the boys came bounding out of the house whooping and yelling in excitement. Philip turned a cartwheel as he came down the front lawn, and Jamie not to be outdone, quickly followed suit. Amanda and Mr. Football stood on the front steps chatting away, both obviously enjoying the boys antics.

As she stood there, casually leaning against the door jamb, she happened to glance down the street and spot him sitting there. She flashed him a shy apologetic smile, and then as if she knew his intentions of moments before, her eyes narrowed and her head tilted in stern rebuke. Lifting her hand, she pointed a finger first at him and then at the ground, telling him to stay put.

Noticing her hand movements, the man beside her followed her gaze, until he too spotted Lee. Even from that distance, Lee could see the twinkle of devilry that entered the man's eyes, as he rubbed his hands together gleefully. Flashing a roguish smile he then turned to say something to Amanda. Lee watched as Amanda closed her eyes briefly and shook her head at the guy. Flashing him a stern look, she said something that looked like 'Behave yourself!' Tossing Lee a rueful smile, she then shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, as if to say, 'What do I do with this guy?'. Lee knew what he'd like to do with the jerk, but was fairly certain that Amanda would object.

A moment later, Dotty appeared in the doorway, giving Amanda a hug. Lee watched as everyone except Amanda piled into the rental car. "Have a great time, fellas!" she called, as the car pulled away from the curb. "And don't give your grandmother any trouble!" she added the warning. She stood there and watched the car until it turned the corner, before letting her gaze seek out Lee. She made a quick motion with her hand, letting him know that he was welcome to join her in the house as she finished getting ready.

When he entered the house a few moments later, she was busily picking up several puzzle pieces from off the floor. A partially completed jigsaw puzzle was spread out on the coffee table. She glanced up to flash him a smile of welcome, tossing the last few pieces into the box sitting beside the puzzle. "I just need to set these glasses in the sink, and get a jacket," she informed him as she began gathering up several empty glasses from the coffee table, and one that had been left on the floor beside a chair.

"And, before you ask," she tossed back over her shoulder, as she headed toward the kitchen. "I had no idea that Barry was going to show up just now. He's in town for some sort of promotional thing, and thought the boys might get a kick out of spending some time with him and the other players. Mother decided to go along to ensure that they stay out of trouble." She paused slightly after the last statement, before flashing him an amused grin, "The players that is, not the boys."

"Hear, hear," Lee muttered in complete agreement with her mother.

Amanda just flashed him a smile, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Now, how did I know you were gonna feel that way?" she asked as she quickly began rinsing the glasses out. "By the way, where are we going tonight? Or is that privileged information?" she asked, referring to the many times he had refused to tell her the details of an assignment, until it was too late to back out.

Lee found himself smiling at how quickly she had always been able to put him at ease. Just being in her presence tended to calm his frazzled nerves. He could almost forget how nervous he had been just a short while earlier. He walked across the den to join her in the kitchen, leaning casually against the counter as he watched her. He loved watching her. Every movement she made was so fluid and graceful. Being in her presence filled him with peace and contentment. "I thought we'd go to the grille room at the Morrison House," he informed her. "They have great steaks and their wine list is one of the best around. They also have a really nice piano bar there."

Drying her hands, she turned to smile up at him. "Good choice."

"Oh, you've been there then?" he inquired, unable to keep himself from wondering if she had gone there with a date.

"Once or twice," she acknowledged, choosing to skirt around his question rather than give him a direct answer. "I love Old Towne Alexandria," she continued. "You can just feel the history surrounding you. I went there with Philip's class on a field trip about a year ago. It was so interesting and there was so much to see, that Mother and I ended up taking the boys back several times."

Watching the reminiscent look in her eyes, Lee knew she was just warming up and that he was in for a real history lesson, not that he minded. He loved hearing her voice and the way she sometimes phrased things was rather endearing, now that he had gotten used to her verbal stamina. She probably would have launched into a full scale rundown of Alexandria history, had the ringing of the phone not cut her off at that moment.

With an apologetic smile to Lee, she went to answer it. "This should only take a moment," she assured him. "Hello? Alan!" She smiled warmly into the phone. Lee scowled at the contraption. "Yes, Mother did tell me that you called. Yes, she did mention that you were going to be in town next weekend. In fact, she would love it if you could join us for dinner on Saturday evening." She paused, listening to the man on the other end of the line. "That would be really nice. No, we don't already have any plans for Sunday."

Listening to her side of the conversation, Lee groaned inside, being careful to keep his expression pleasant should Amanda glance his way. This just couldn't be happening. 'At least,' he told himself, trying to look at the bright side, 'the evening can't get any worse.'

To be cont.