Chapter 35

I was thinking about calling Kelli the next morning to ask her if she liked golf. I'd liked the game when I was younger but had never picked it back up once I was back from Europe following VE Day. Cooper had played but had never been all that taken with it, but was game to give it another try. I had thought an afternoon of golf, followed by an upscale dinner someplace near the golf course.

My plan to call Kelli were interrupted by my phone ringing.

"Cooper James," I answered.

"Cooper! How you doing?" Came Darius Booker's distinctive voice.

"Darius? I'm fine man, what's up?" Cooper guided my speech patterns from very near the surface of our thoughts. My phone skills were still a little too stuck in the 1930s for this kind of call.

"You busy this weekend?"

"Well, I've been trying to line up a date, but nothing's set in stone yet, why?"

"Ah, well that's good. Do you think your potential date might like to go water skiing?"

I laughed out loud. "What?" Darius asked, puzzled.

"That was one of the first things I thought of for a date, but rejected it because I didn't see it as a two person activity."

"Yeah, its more fun when there's a group, so that's why I'm calling, actually. I've got a houseboat and ski boat Saturday and was wondering if you wanted to come try some water skiing."

"When to when, and what would we need?"

"We were going to leave about 9 Saturday morning. We should be on the water before noon. We can lunch on the lake, ski all afternoon and then stop somewhere for dinner on the way back."

"Wow, that sounds perfect," I said, wondering silently how I managed to again have things just seem to come together perfectly. "What's my share of the boat rental?"

"It's not a rental. One of the mid-level partners at the firm owns both boats and keeps them on Lake Berryessa. We buy the fuel and the food, that's it. It'll be Tina and I, our friends Ken and Gloria Reynolds and hopefully, you and your date."

"It sounds awesome, but I'll have to call you back after I talk to her," I glanced at the clock. "I'll call you back sometime before lunch?"

"Sounds good. Listen, Tina's planning on making burgers for lunch and Ken and Gloria will be bringing potato salad. Bringing anything else is not required, but feel free, if you'd like. Also, since we're going to be on the water and we're all driving, no alcohol."

"I think we can handle that," I agreed, silently glad for the alcohol prohibition.

A very few seconds after hanging up with Darius, I was dialing Kelli's number.

"Hi Cooper."

"Hi Kelli. Am I catching you at work?"

"No, I don't go in until noon today. What's up?"

"Would you like to go water skiing this weekend? It would be us and two other couples."

"Water skiing? That sounds like fun. Who are we going with?"

"My lawyer Darius Booker and his wife Tina and their friends Ken and Gloria Reynolds. Darius is the only one of them I've actually met, but he's a good guy."

"Where are we going, and how are we getting there?"

"Lake Berryessa, and we're driving. We're supposed to leave about 9am. Darius has a houseboat and a ski boat for the day, so we can eat lunch and relax on the water when we're not skiing. The plan is to stop for dinner on the way back from the lake."

"So pack something nice to wear for dinner? Does the houseboat have a shower? Do we need to bring anything? What about drinks?"

"I'm not sure about the dress, I'll ask Darius when I call back to confirm," I began mentally ticking off her questions as I answered them. "Same for the shower, I'll ask. Tina is making hamburgers for lunch and the Reynolds are bringing potato salad. Darius says we don't have to bring anything, but can if we want. Drinks should be non-alcoholic, since we're boating. I imagine those of us not driving could have drinks with dinner when the time comes."

"Are we all driving up together then?"

"I think so. I saved a lot of questions until I'd talked to you first," which was pretty much the end of the conversation, except for a few hems and haws as once again we seemed reluctant to let each other go. I called Darius back immediately and got the information we would need. Yes, there were bathrooms on the houseboat. Yes, something nice to wear for dinner would be good, but don't go all out. Transportation was indeed a planned convoy leaving from some point, yet to be determined, where we would meet up before heading east where we would take either the Calistoga road or the St. Helena road. From there we would follow highway 128 to Lake Berryessa.