Chapter 31

There was a big surprise waiting for me on the porch when I got home. The FedEx folks had been by and two very large boxes were sitting against the front door.

"That's my stuff from Camp Gonsalvez," Cooper said.

I drove the bike into the garage and parked it, but took the two helmets and the two beers in with me, dropping the first two on the breakfast bar. I opened one of the beers and put the other in the fridge. I took a long, refreshing pull from my open beer and immediately began wondering if two were going to be enough. I put the beer on the coffee table in the living room and opened the front door to stare down at the two boxes.

"They're not going to move themselves," Cooper laughed.

"I know," I laughed in return, "but I do still have moments where I forget I'm not a nonagenarian any more. I was standing here wondering how heavy those boxes were like I was still old and decrepit."

The boxes were heavy, but not so much that I couldn't manage them. The were more awkward than anything as I tried to get them through the front door – after checking the bottoms for dirt. No sense getting Edwina mad at me right off the bat.

Before I got too carried away with unpacking, I called Kelli.

"Hi Cooper," she said as soon as she answered. I may have been a nonagenarian, but I still knew about caller id and programmable ring tones. Granted, my experience was mostly second and third hand.

"Hi Kelli, what are you doing for the Fourth of July?"

"You're calling to ask for a date a month in advance? This isn't what I expected when you said you'd call later in the week," she said with 'tease' dripping from every syllable.

"No, I'll probably give you a call tomorrow afternoon to ask about the coming weekend, or next week, but in the meantime I just need to know what your plans are for the Fourth. Do you spend it with family? Do you usually go somewhere for the weekend, or do you participate in the local activities?"

"The family usually gets together at my Aunt's house and we usually do the local things. Fireworks, parades, that sort of thing. Why?"

"I've got an opportunity to do something on the Fourth that I thought we might have fun doing together, but I don't want an answer right away. I just wanted to be sure that you would be here for the holiday before I started making plans."

"Well I will be in town, and I look forward to finding out exactly what it is you plan on getting me involved in. We can talk about it when you call me tomorrow," she stressed, laughing as she did.

"You have my guarantee," I promised. " ... unless?"

"Unless what?"

"You are working tomorrow?"

"I am."

"How about lunch? Could we meet somewhere for lunch? I could pick you up at the inn if that would work better for you and we could go somewhere nearby so you don't feel rushed."

"Oh that sounds good, and I know just the place. Were you thinking noon for lunch?"

"I was. Where's the place? Do I need to make a reservation?"

"No, its a nice little cafe and bakery very close to the inn called Michelle's Patisserie. Their desserts are to die for, but the lunches are awesome too. You'll love the food and the owner is a friend of the family. You can come pick me up? In a car, not a motorcycle?"

"Yes, I can," I laughed.

"Great, its a date then,"

"It is, I'll see you tomorrow," there was an awkward moment then as we both hesitated before hanging up. Reluctance on my part, as I hoped it was on hers.

The two boxes, once we got our head cleared of the phone call to Kelli, were divided into military and civilian. Though Cooper had been the Marine, I recognized the three uniform variations that were in the box, though I could hear his silent description as we pulled the pieces out of the box. Their was a set of dress blues, a khaki service uniform and a utility uniform in the modern Marine camouflage. There were hard and soft caps for the first two, and the utility cover and a boonie hat for the utility uniform. Actually there were three and two respectively of those last types.