Chapter Fifteen – Brighter Days to Come

 

Stetson Residence – Late Saturday Night

 

Pulling the “Huntington Farms” van into the Stetsons’ driveway, Frank Duffy shifted into neutral and put on the parking brake. He looked over at Lee and said,  “Hey. . .it’s great having you back, Scarecrow!”

 

Lee smiled at his old comrade-in-arms and shook his hand. “Thanks, Frank, but I wouldn’t exactly say I’m back.”

 

“Could’ve fooled me!”

 

“Well, thank you,” Lee acknowledged, “but the truth is, I kinda jumped the gun on this case, health-wise, so don’t look for me in the office for a few more weeks.” He stepped down and out of the van, waving goodbye as he said, “Thanks for the lift! See you later!”

********

‘Worn-out’ didn’t begin to describe the exhaustion Lee felt as he trudged up the steps to the front porch and let himself in. He padded back to the empty family room, where Amanda had evidently been reading. . .an open book lay face-down on the coffee table. He kept his voice low as he called out, “Amanda?”

 

Just then, she came out of the kitchen with a steaming cup of tea. She set the cup down on the table and came to greet him with a smile and a warm embrace. “Sweetheart! You’re home!”

 

“Yeah. . .and none too soon,” he rasped, as he rested his chin on her shoulder. He pulled back slightly and kissed her lips tenderly, then glanced away for a moment, as if lost in thought.

 

Amanda examined his care-worn face and stroked his back gently, waiting ten interminable seconds before whispering his name. “Lee? What’s the matter?”

 

He returned his weary gaze to her and said, “Oh. . .sorry. . .I was just thinking about the case. I don’t know, Amanda. . .was it worth it? Did we do enough?”

 

She searched his eyes and shook her head in disbelief. “What do you mean, Lee? We saved at least three lives tonight, and probably quite a few more, by keeping the Firefly plans safe!”

 

“Yeah. . .” he nodded, “but that seems like such a small thing.”

 

She slipped out of his embrace and tugged at his hand, leading him to come and sit with her on the couch. “What—you mean the micro-UAV’s?” she questioned. “Okay. . .it's true, they may not mean much all by themselves, but in the grand scheme of things. . ." she said, then hesitated, resting her chin in her palm and searching for a memory, the just-right analogy that would break through his cloud of discontent. Suddenly, her eyes brightened and she turned in her seat to face him. She touched his arm as she went on, "Lee? Remember that case we worked on for that General over at the Potomac Weapons and Armaments Center, ages ago?”

 

“The Alan Squires case. . .yeah,” he remembered bitterly. “So?”

 

“So. . .d'you remember what Alan stole from them?” she prompted. “The three sheets of plia-film that contained the MAB air-defense plans?”

 

“Right. . .you had to overlay them, one over the other, to see the whole plan. And?”

 

“And. . ." she stretched out with a hint of irritation in her voice, "each one was just a piece of the puzzle, Lee. . .just like the micro-UAV’s and the global Hawk and the stealth fighters. Every piece is important, right?”

 

“Yeah. . .I guess you’re right, there,” he admitted. “I just wish that sometime, we could stop these guys once and for all, you know?”

 

“Mm-hm!” she agreed. She grinned and tilted her head to the side slightly as she murmured, “It’s good to have goals and dreams!”

 

“Right,” he said with a wistful smile. "I guess Rome wasn't built in a day." He wrapped his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze, whispering, “So. . .coming up to bed soon?”

 

“Sure, Sweetheart. You go on. . .I’ll just finish my tea here and be right up,” she whispered, leaning in for a kiss before Lee pushed himself up off the couch and dragged his tired body toward the stairs.

 

When she approached their bedroom door less than ten minutes later, Amanda heard the sounds of his slow, even breathing. In the moonlit room, she stood beside the bed and studied his over-tired features, now resting peacefully, and a small smile came to her lips. ‘Sleep well, Sweeheart,’ she wished, as she considered all he’d been through over the last several weeks. . .the brain surgery, the radiation treatments. . .and all their miserable side effects. And to top it all off, these last two days on the case had been too much, too soon. She brushed away silent tears as she shrugged out of her robe and slipped beneath the covers, reminding herself not to set the alarm.

********

Stetson Residence – Three Weeks Later

Early Saturday Morning

 

While he’d endured the last weeks of his radiation treatments, Lee had set up shop in their home office and was already spending twenty to thirty hours a week going over case files and conferring with Alberta Kingston and the agents under his command. He was reasonably sure he was ready to go back to the office the following Monday, as long as he felt well enough. He was reading through several emails when he heard Amanda rapping on the office door and calling to him.

 

“Lee? Are you in there? Would you like a cup of coffee?”

 

“Yeah. . .sure, come on in!” he called back as she pushed the door open and brought him the  steaming mug. “Thanks,” he said with a bright smile. “Hey. . .what’s Jenny up to this morning?”

 

“Mother and Kurt already came to pick her up Lee. . .don’t you remember? They’re taking her to the amusement park in Baltimore, and then they’re gonna stop in and see Phillip later.”

 

“Oh yeah, I remember,” he said absently, his eyes glued to the computer screen once again. “Amanda, look! I just got a message from Senator Winston. He wanted us to know how much they appreciated our help. . .Katie and Anne are both doing fine, and the three of them are just getting back from a trip to Hawaii.”

 

“Oh that’s great, Sweetheart, I’m glad for them!” she exclaimed cheerily, reading the message from the screen as she placed her hands on his shoulders. “It’s too bad Kristin has such a long way to go. . .two more oral surgeries, after they take the wires out of her jaws. But you know what, Lee? She’s already back working at Applegate Farm, in the office, at least.”

 

Lee turned the chair around and grinned up at Amanda. “Good for her! You know. . .” he drew it out, fixing her with a penetrating gaze as he stood face to face with her, “she reminds me of this beautiful brunette I know. . .she’s a lot stronger than she looks,” he finished with a wink.

 

“Mm-hm?” Amanda purred, sliding her hands up his chest to his shoulders. “And just who is this ‘beautiful brunette’?”

 

He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her so close, their lips almost touched as he hummed his reply, “I’ll never tell. . .you see, she’s married, and. . .”

 

“Oh? And her husband. . .is he the jealous type?” she teased, as her fingers lightly caressed the sides of his face.

 

“The worst,” he whispered, pressing his lips to hers. He deepened the kiss, and his hands began to wander into recently-unfamiliar territory.

 

“Mmm. . .Mr. Stetson!” Amanda shouted in a whispered tone, not moving away by so much as a millimeter. “Are you sure about this? I mean. . .”

 

“Mm-hm. . .positive,” he murmured, as he trailed kisses across her jawline. His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered, “Some of the best exercise I can get. . .I looked it up!”

 

THE END

********

Author’s Note: In case you were wondering, so far as I know, no one in my family has ever had a brain tumor. Most of the realism in this story regarding diagnosis, treatment and patient experiences came from the National Cancer Institute website. If, God forbid, you ever need information about cancer and cancer treatments, I’d highly recommend you check out this site: www.cancer.gov

 

Additional background information came from the websites for the U. S. Senate and the Department of Defense (they really do refer to themselves as DoD). Strangely enough, the part of the story that sounds as though it was made up out of whole cloth really did happen to a family member who manages a stable complex in Virginia, although we never did learn what it was that spooked the horse.

 

Reader poll: Would you like to see more of the Stormy Weather universe? Please let me know. And thanks for reading!   matahari2 :)