| |
Sady nudged Harry and whispered, "Look. I think Matt's impressed with Amanda for the first time ever!" Harry looked across the limousine to where Matt sat next to CJ and he smiled.
"I don't think you should tell Amanda," Harry replied. "He still has a hard time accepting the fact that she works for us. He will blow a gasket when he finds out she's scheduled time at the shooting range. I think we'll save that news for later." Sady nodded with a smile. Matt didn't like taking women to the shooting range for training.
"So, Amanda's having us driven to her Bloomfield Hills parent's home for a cookout?" Harry spoke loud enough for Matt and CJ to hear.
"Leave it to Amanda," Matt snorted. "All this way in style for a wienie roast. I hope I'm not overdressed." He wore jeans and a T-shirt.
"I hope you can survive the afternoon," CJ smirked. "Amanda's bound to be more than comfortable on her home turf." Amanda had a reputation for giving Matt a hard time. She also had a reputation for openly and vocally admiring CJ's handsome husband Harry.
"Okay, I'm impressed," Sady admitted as the limo pulled into a drive with the gates open so they could enter. A long circular drive, exquisite landscaping, and the mansion where Amanda was raised had Sady staring.
Matt huffed in disbelief. "I think Amanda's putting one over on us."
"Or not," CJ said as the limo stopped at the front door. Amanda opened it and came out to greet them.
"It's about time," Amanda complained. Turning to Matt she said, "I bet this was your fault, Stubbles. The whole reason we sent a limo was because it's construction season and the driver knows how to avoid it. How many times did you tell him to take a different route?"
Matt glared at Amanda and replied, "None. And if you lived like a normal person, we could have been here sooner."
Sady elbowed Matt. "Stop being rude! They are normal people."
"Maybe the family, but not Amanda," he mumbled as Amanda took them through the house to the backyard.
"Meet Mom and Pops, Patricia and Willie," Amanda said.
Amanda introduced everyone from Knight Investigations. She introduced Harry as "Handsome." Matt was introduced as "Stubbles" and "Blue Eyes."
Patricia raised her brows. "Two nicknames? She must really like you," she told Matt, while Sady snickered.
"It's the Amanda prototype, without the extra serving of mouth," Matt whispered to Sady, after they greeted Amanda's mom. Sady bit her lip to keep from laughing. It was true... Amanda looked like her mother. Short, full figured, and beautiful.
"And that's where she gets the extra portion of mouth," Matt continued as they passed Amanda's dad. He stood over an enormous grill loaded with food. Willie wore an apron that said "Kiss me- I'm Irish!" His chef's hat advertised "Willie's Wienie Wagon." Willie was friendly and smiling, happily welcoming them.
While most of the group chatted, Sady stared at his hat, dumbstruck. She nodded at the introduction, but couldn't tear her eyes from his hat. Matt bumped her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's HIM," Sady squeaked in a voice loud enough to be overheard. "He owns the Wienie Wagons!"
"Yeah, so?" Matt wasn't impressed.
"Are you kidding? Next to my Mustang, driving a Wienie Wagon has always been a dream of mine. Since the first day I saw one..." Sady's brown eyes glazed as she reminisced about that special day. She was no longer impressed with the wealthy neighborhood and the fancy houses. It was a red letter day because she'd met the owner of the Wienie Wagon.
"Dream? More like obsession," Matt joked.
"Amanda, you never told me," Sady accused, while Mr. Keller looked pleased.
"That my daddy owns motorized hot dog stands? What's to tell? I thought you knew he was that Willie." Sady shook her head and smiled at Willie like a teenager meeting a pop star.
"I'm the gourmet hot dog king of the area," Willie announced proudly. "Hot dogs have been good to us," he continued, while his wife rolled her eyes and offered cold drinks. Amanda clearly wasn't impressed with the hot dog business either.
"He's also a lawyer," Patricia told them. Ohhh... he was one of those Kellers, of the prominent law firm.
Willie waved it off like it was no big deal. "Just lucky, that's all. I mean, look at my wife and family... who's gonna tell me that's not good luck?" Before Matt could raise his hand, Sady slapped it.
"You're doing it again," she warned.
"I can't help it. With Amanda it's comes natural. In fact, it seems wrong to not say something! You're killing my fun, Morrow," he accused. Before Sady could respond they were interrupted when a cat ran across the patio. It was followed by a dog, then a flock of children.
"The grandkids," Willie yelled over the noise.
Sady turned when Matt took her arm in a death grip and said in a frightened voice, "It's Amanda two-point-oh!" Sady turned to see one of the girls, about nine years old, had stopped. She was giving Matt the once-over.
"That's Alicia," Patricia called to them.
Alicia glared at Matt with her hands on her hips, and asked, "What's your name?" Matt scowled.
"Does it matter?" he asked sarcastically.
"Uh, huh. I bet you're Matt. My aunt told me you've been double dipping on her best friend. Is that true?"
Matt paled and shook his head. "Why don't you go away now?" he hissed.
"I don't think so," she said, sounding and looking so much like Amanda that Sady couldn't help but smile.
"This orchard is full of fallen apples. Rotten ones!" Matt told Sady in an undertone. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle and he turned to see Alicia giving him an evil eye stare again. He smiled and waved nervously. She narrowed her eyes in response while Sady openly laughed. Alicia smiled at Sady and Matt asked, "How do you rate a smile?"
"Because I'm a nice person," Sady chuckled as she waved her hand.
"I'd argue with that, but I'm afraid to say anything with three of them running loose," Matt replied. "Maybe I should go make friends with the guys. They at least look friendly." He scurried to the relative safety of the BBQ grill where a few of the kids were helping Willie with the food.
Sady followed to watch. At one point she jabbed Matt excitedly. "Did you see the size of that hot dog? Dang, that's a big hot dog!"