Lee arrived in the small town that his information had led him to, and was amazed at the size of it. Living in D.C., he forgot that towns like this existed. But as he looked around he knew that Amanda would belong to this community in some way, and that part of this community belonged to her. With a smile he went in search of a hotel. He had to gather his thoughts before he went to talk to her.

Lee looked around at his surroundings and noticed a sign down the street that said 'Bed and Breakfast,' and headed towards it. As he opened the door, Lee was immediately greeted by a woman behind the desk.

"Afternoon, what can I do for you?" She asked.

"I am looking for a room." Lee said plainly.

"Well for how long?"

“I don’t know a few days I would imagine.”

“Well we have one room left, it’s on the top floor over looking the scenery behind it.” The woman paused and looked at him, “It’s a little more expensive than the rest of the rooms, but it’s all I have.” “That’s okay.” She reached behind her and gave him the key, “Can I ask, what brings you here?” “My heart.” “Ah, a woman, well good luck Sir.” With that she smiled and turned away. Once he was settled in the room, he sat on the foot of the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was feeling unsure, confused, and confident all at the same time. After an hour, he grew restless. He needed to get out, do some searching, on his own, so he grabbed his car keys and headed out the door. Around four o’clock that afternoon he found himself roaming through the park. There was defiantly something about this place, a serenity and a calmness. Slowly he sat down on a bench over looking a playground. Mom’s and dad’s were there with their children playing, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company and love. Lee smiled at this; somewhere in the back of his mind he wanted that, he wanted the nine to five job, steady income, the safety of the workplace. He was just unsure of where to begin. Amanda had gotten back to the cabin in record time. Her conservation with Mrs. Weatherfield was fresh in her mind; she has a distinct feeling it wasn’t going to be easily forgotten. She made her dinner in solitude of the cabin with only the crickets chirping and the soft classical music she had playing in the background. She had decided to light some candles in the dining room and living room. The rooms ere illuminated by candlelight, it made it soft and romantic.. Her mind trailed off to Lee once more, how she would for love for him to be here with her right now. But he did not return her feelings. She sighed and her eyes began to water. To get him off her mind, she quickly put the dishes in the dishwasher. She took a glass of wine and went out to sit on the dock to watch the sun set. It was the most peaceful moment she had in a long time. As she looked out over the pond, she watched a gorgeous sunset over the mountains. Amanda replayed the events of the past week in her mind. Where had everything gone wrong? She couldn’t remember. She never remembered Lee being so angry at her, pushing her away like this before. It wasn’t like him. She reached up and wiped away the tears that caressed her cheeks and she had another sip of wine. The sun slowly set and put the land to sleep. She remained on the dock. The mid summer weather made it still warm even after the sun had fully set. She reached over and lit the bug candles and laid back against the hard wood to look at the stars. An hour later, Amanda found herself wrapping her arms around her middle and silently wishing for something to change in her life, for Lee to come back into her life and love her. Things had to change either way. Around eight o’clock she got up and went inside. Amanda set her glass on the counter and headed towards the stairs that lead to the bedroom. Finding her pajamas, she wandered back downstairs to sit in front of the fireplace on the couch and read her book. Amanda fell asleep there next to the fire reading her book. About two a.m. she woke up startled. She did not know where was she was. As soon as she took in her surroundings, it came back to her and she gently set her book on the coffee table and headed upstairs to the bedroom. ‘Thank god there aren’t many hours left till sunrise’ Amanda murmured to herself as she lay down, only to stare out the French doors of the balcony over the pond. Her mind drifted to a time when Lee had crept up her trellis and into her bedroom. She smiled at the memory. Why couldn’t things be that easy now? She missed him terribly, not only because of her feelings for him, but because he was her best friend. Things have been going downhill for a while now. He had become angry, depressed; he had started to ditch her on cases, and ignoring her most of the time. With the recollection of those thoughts she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Was the world really that cold? Much of the next morning she spent absorbed in her thoughts. Amanda made a small breakfast and then took her coffee out to sit on the dock. The morning sun had already risen, and the fog was beginning to lift. ‘Was this supposed to have a certain meaning? The fog beginning to lift? Clearing in ones body and soul?’ She asked her self. Amanda’s mind slipped back to certain events in the past, events that made her think that Lee was interested, that he wanted more than just a working relationship, that he wanted to take their personal relationship that extra step. She remembered the time when she and Lee would flirt with each other about different thing, and when she would go to the ends of the earth to protect him. She still would do that for him, no mater what happened in the past. She still was deeply in love with him, it did not matter what happened, and that single thing would not change. She undid her shoes and set them next to her. Her thoughts ran wild as each foot entered the water. ‘When we had dinner together, he wanted to kiss me, and lord knows I wanted it as well.’ As she moved her feet around in the water she suddenly got very cold, tears slowly making their way down her face. ‘If I only knew what was going on, what was hurting him so. I could help, I would help.’ She said to herself. Lee had arrived earlier that morning. He parked his car off the dirt road leading to the cabin and locked it. As he began to walk away he turned around and looked back at it, shrugging his shoulders when he realized he wasn’t sure what caused him to look back, he kept on walking. Lee came upon the cabin about thirty minutes later and he wandered around to the back. From where he was standing he could see Amanda standing out on the balcony. His mind flashed to an earlier time when he had climbed up her terrace and into her bedroom, it felt like something from a fairy tail. He was right, his whole relationship with Amanda was something like a fairy tail, and he had never experienced anything like it before. As he watched her from where he was, he noticed the saddened expression on her face, the fact that she was crying made him all the more concerned and guilty. He had done that to her. His heart sank, for some reason he knew that she come out here to forget him. He was going to have to change that. For the both of them. Amanda then turned and walked inside, and he went to see if he could tell where she was going. Lee watched as she appeared to get dressed and go downstairs to make breakfast. By this time he could feel the morning sun warming the world around him and he stepped back and looked up at the sky. ‘To new beginnings’ He said to the sky above and went to Amanda. He watched, gathering up his courage to approach Amanda, Lee knew that she had been crying, that she was upset. He could see it in her posture as she sat there alone on the dock. But this was something that had to be done. His soft foot tails went unnoticed as Lee made his way to her. “Amanda?” Lee questioned softly as he reached down and softly and rested a hand on her shoulder. She jumped at his touch. Amanda was not expecting him to be here, she wasn’t expecting anyone. She tried to cover up her tears, and she cleared her throat. “Amanda, please..I didn’t..” Lee started to say, but he was at a loss for words. As Amanda turned around she wiped her eyes with her hands and looked up at him. “What are you doing here?” She asked coldly. “Looking for you, you know what Amanda, you are a very hard person to find.” Lee responded trying to lighten the mood. “Who says I wanted to be found?” Lee sat down next to her on the edge of the dock. “No one said you wanted to be found, but me.” “You? Why Lee? I didn’t even think you knew I was around unless you needed something, that is.” “You know that’s not true Amanda, even if the last week has been a little rough.” “A little rough Lee?” Amanda shot back and got up and walked back towards the cabin. “Amanda, wait we need to talk.” Lee said as he followed her. He had to run to catch up. She made it to the cabin first and walked through the patio doors. As she shut them, she saw Lee coming up to them. “Look Lee I am not sure what we have to talk about.. I mean everything was evident last week. Sorry I messed things up for you, I will have to try and change things.” Amanda replied as she walked by him into the living room. “Amanda, I don’t want you to change, I lo..” He let his sentence trail off, afraid he would reveal something neither one was ready to admit to, yet. “Look, last week, it had nothing to do with you.” Lee said flatly. “Oh really Lee, it seemed to have everything to do with me. You did nothing but ignore me,” She paused, as she got angrier she moved in front of him to talk, to get his attention, like it could be anywhere else but her. “You pushed me away when I asked you what was wrong, Lee, that’s not like you, and and it hurt me.” There she said it, Amanda sighed and looked at Lee once more. “I know, I am truly sorry Amanda, I never meant to hurt you.” Lee finished as he rested his hands over top of hers. This time she didn’t pull away. “You may not of meant it Lee, but you did.” Amanda said reminding him that she was still upset, Amanda moved away from him and looked out the window. “Why did you come here Amanda?” Lee asked, his voice quite. “Why do you want to know? Why did you bother to look for me?” “I asked first.” Lee responded first. “You really want to know?” Amanda paused and looked back at him. Lee was standing there in the living room, he didn’t know what to do, stand, sit, look at her? Amanda saw that there were tears in his eyes, in her heart she knew he was sorry, but she needed to know he was, she needed the words. “Yes, Amanda, I do.” Lee said coming to stand next to her. “I really want to know.” “I came here, “ Amanda points to the cabin, “To forget, to find myself again, to get over you.” She said the last part in a whisper, not daring to look up at him. Lee was saddened at this admission, but it was the truth, her truth; and the last week had finally crashed upon him. He reached out for her, to touch her, to hold her. Any contact, any feeling of her skin and touch against him, was what he needed, wanted. “But you know what Lee, even after everything, I can’t.” Amanda finally looked up at him, “ I am not saying that I am not hurt, because I am, a lot. How you treated me, the way you acted, it was as if you didn’t trust me, didn’t respect me, and didn’t love me, Lee. That hurt and still does.” “Amanda all I can say is that I am sorry.” Lee paused, “I have a lot of things I need to talk to you about Amanda, things I have never told anyone before.”