Chapter 11

The days of summer were going by quickly. Before Ron knew it the football season would be starting and all his weekends would be spent officiating football games till the New Year. Ron wasn't sure how long he would be doing this but thought he would stop when he hit sixty years of age.

When he phoned Kelly to see if she wanted to do dinner with him her response was a little bit of a shock. Kelly told him that she couldn't go out with Ron because she had been talking to and seeing her ex-husband. It seemed that he knew he had made a mistake when he asked her for a divorce. The loss of their only child was something that was very difficult to get over and while it had affected their marriage he said that it shouldn't have. He asked Kelly if she would give him another chance and he would like to see if they could work out their problems.

Kelly said that she knew she once loved him or she wouldn't have married him. She thought that maybe she still loved him and was giving him another chance.

Ron with much sincerity wished her well and said he hopes it works out for her. He told her it was a pleasure in knowing her and if he ever could do anything for her to let him know.

After ending the call Ron thought about the dates he had with her. She was a good person both in and out of bed. He hoped her ex-husband now realized what the fine woman she was and appreciated her.

In checking his email he saw one from his son Kyle. In the email Kyle said he was going to take some leave and would be stopping by Ron's condo with a good friend to visit. He was planning on being here only three days and then he was going to head on down to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Why he was going to Tulsa Ron didn't know as he was unaware of the Marines having a base or depot there.

That question was answered when Ron opened his door and was surprised to find Kyle standing there with a female marine. Kyle introduced Ron to his new daughter-in-law, the former Amy Kramer now Amy Zizzler.

Ron gave Amy a big hug of welcome and congratulated her as well as Kyle.

Over an open bottle of champagne Ron toasted them and asked them to bring him up to date. He learned that Amy was like Kyle an MP with a rank E-5 in the Marine Corp. She was from Tulsa which explained why they were headed there next before reporting to Camp Pendleton.

To Ron it seemed like they were in love and Kyle had made a good choice in marrying Amy. Ron couldn't help but think that he saw a little bit of Laura in Amy.

Taking a few days off from work, Ron spent that time showing the newlyweds the city. They visited the observation deck at the Willis Tower and then had lunch at the restaurant on its sixty seventh floor. They visited Navy Pier, took in a Cub's game, a sightseeing cruise on the Chicago River as well as doing some other sightseeing. The more Ron got to know Amy, the more he thought Kyle had made the right decision in marrying her.

Just before they left for Tulsa where Amy's parents lived, Ron had a talk with Kyle. He told him that the brokerage account he had opened just before he joined the Marines in both Kyle and Ron's names was Kyle's to use. He could write a check on the account for any large amount and it would be honored. If he wanted to write a check to purchase a house or take care of Amy he should do it. Since Kyle was his only heir, barring some grandchildren, he was going to be the beneficiary of his estate. Ron told him if he needed the money now he should take it.

Kyle thanked him and said while the military pay had improved there were things in the future that he thought he would need to write a few checks for but not now. He also said that he and Amy had talked about having three children. His last remark of Ron being a potential grandpa was something Ron hoped would happen.

Ron knew that he could be playing a little fast and loose with the gift tax law in having this stock fund with Kyle, but until the government got their fiscal house in order and stopped their wasteful spending he was going to continue to fund this account. The present balance in the account was in the high seven figures.

All too soon Kyle and Amy had to leave. Ron was a little sad when they left to go to Tulsa and he made them promise to keep in touch and let him know what was happening in their lives. They made him give them the same promise.

Things were pretty normal at work. Ron knew that stocks go up and stocks come down. Which ones to buy, hold, or sell made the time at work go by quickly.

Ron had made an effort during the summer to take Beth and her children out. Ron liked her kids and felt that the children needed a father figure was one reason why he was taking them out. The other reason was that this gave him an opportunity to be with Beth. They did Sox's and Cub's baseball games as well as going on sightseeing boats and visited other attractions and sporting events. The children seemed to enjoy Great America the most. Ron told them that after the football season he would take them to some Bulls and Blackhawk games. He just enjoyed doing these things with them and they thanked him for doing it.

Seeing and talking with Beth was always a bright spot in his day. To him it seemed like she enjoyed being with him. When he told her was going to go on a Rhine River cruise next week, to her credit she never asked if anyone was going with him.

Lee was excited about taking the river cruise as she had said this was something she had always wanted to do but for some reason had never gotten around to doing it. When he asked her if she was going to pack her bikini she told him only the bottoms as she had heard that topless was the in-thing in Europe. The look she gave Ron when she said that caused him to think that when he tried to tease her she could handle what he said quite easily and always had a comeback.

Overall, the flight and the cruise he would rate as being very good. The only thing that caused Ron not to rate it higher was that it appeared there was something constantly on Lee's mind. When he asked her about it she said it was nothing but she was spending considerable time on her cell phone in talking to work.

Now if he was just rating how good of a lover she was, that would be off the charts. Her looks and the clothes she wore during the day and at dinner in the evening just were winding him up. He couldn't wait till he had her back in the cabin and could make love to her. Just to be prepared for their lovemaking he was taking a Cialis pill as he wanted to be ready as it was said "when the time was right." He would say that during the cruise the time was right quite often. Thinking about that just brought a smile to his face.

The cruise ship itself with its food, service, and ambiance was first-rate. The ports of call all involved walking tours which Ron didn't mind doing as it was getting his legs in shape for the coming football season. The surprising thing for him was the number of cruise ships that were on the river. It wasn't like the commercials you would see on television where there was only one ship on the river. Sometimes for the cruise ship to dock at a location it had to tie up to other cruise ships that were already docked there and he needed to walk through three or four of them before he was able to get to the pier.

The days of the cruise went by rapidly and Ron was a tired but a very satisfied man when it ended. It also seemed to him that the same could be said about Lee. He had gotten to know her better and he could sense that there was something on her mind but after she said there wasn't he knew it wouldn't do any good to keep asking her about it.