Page 28 of Only Time Will Tell

“Honestly, I say we donate them. They don’t go with the motif I have in mind,” he said, snapping away.

“Motif?” I laughed, thoroughly enjoying his word choice. From artifact photographer to interior designer.

Even sitting on the floor he managed a cocky attitude, hand on his hip and all. “Yes, motif. I’m thinking light and airy, earth tones with a hint of Under the Tuscan Sun.”

“Under the Tuscan Sun? Does that include the five million empty water bottles she unearthed?” His sassy side was truly its own work of art.

“No, smartass. Now, are you gonna help me or not?”

“Down, boy. We can load them up in the truck tomorrow afternoon and take them to the donation center. It’ll be nice to not feel so boxed in here anymore.” Wall to wall shelves of creepy shit I’d had enough of. “Are we taking all these boxes with us in the morning to see Nolan, or just the watch?” I was hoping for the first option but expecting the second but either way that damn watch was gone.

“Let’s wait until he sees the pictures first. That way if he doesn’t want them, I can start submitting them to other museums.” He shuffled through the papers he had, matching what he’d found in his dad’s mess with its item.

A thought suddenly occurred to me, having temporarily forgotten our earlier conversation. “Hey, did you call Mom?”

“Yes, and she’s ecstatic about having the reception at their house. I told her she could even pick the food and reminded her we’d only have around fifty attendees, if even that. I promised her we’d sit down this weekend and go over the guest list as well as choose what colors we wanted for decorations, the cake and our tuxes.” He was beaming from ear to ear. That smile alone made whatever bridezilla craziness this turned into worthwhile.

“Ugh, the wedding cake.” Due to recent events, that thought left a very, very bad taste in my mouth.

Charlie laughed so hard he grabbed his sides. “Bite me, smart-ass,” he managed to say between giggles. “And no, I did not learn how to bake during my time there.”

The doorbell rang, and I carefully extricated myself from the tomb of wrapping I was buried under to answer the door. The living room was still a mess and there was no way we could eat in here. “Um, Charlie, we’re gonna have to eat in the kitchen.”

He nodded and followed me into the kitchen, grabbing two beers from the fridge, along with the paper plates and napkins. “Well, after dinner let’s give it a couple of hours then call it a night.”

My mouth was full of pizza, so I gave him a thumbs-up. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until that first bite of cheesy, pepperoni madness hit my tongue.

Charlie shook his head, “Neanderthal.”

“Ha,” I said with a mouthful of food, “bot um yor Neandahfal.”

“Yes, and I’m so proud.” His disgusted eyeroll had me shoveling more in. “You’re gonna choke.”

“You won’t let me die.” He shook his head, but didn’t deny it, but I did wonder if he knew how to give the Heimlich?

“Alright, smartass, let’s get back to work.”

Four hours, not the two he mentioned at dinner, and five thousand and twelve pictures taken and sent via different emails later, we were done. At least for tonight. The midnight hour chimed on the grandfather clock in the corner of the living room and my brain was fried. Charlie got up, stretched, and started counting the boxes and totes we’d packed.

“Shit, twenty-seven, Alex. It’s a good thing we have a truck. I just hope whoever ends up taking them has a way to transport them because we’re not paying for shipping.”

“I’m down with that.” My back popped as I stood. “Shit, did you hear that?”

“Yeah, getting old sucks.” He laughed.

“I’ll show you old.” Running across the room, I scooped him up, tossed him over my shoulder and literally ran up the stairs with him giggling and swatting at my ass while he hung upside down.

He bounced when I dropped him on the bed, still giggling. “How’s that for old?” I asked, pulling my shirt off and tossing it in the hamper. “Shower time.” Didn’t have the balls to tell him my old ass was worn the hell out. I’d keep that one to myself.

His handsome face in the shower light, water droplets cascading down his body, the graying of his skin long since gone along with the circles under his eyes. My Charlie had fully returned.

We woke up late the next morning for our meeting with Nolan. While Charlie primped, I doctored up a couple mugs of coffee to take with along with granola bars then retrieved the watch from its hiding place. About that time, he came downstairs. His eyes locked on the box I held.

“Don’t even think about it,” I warned him. “In fact, you’re driving today so I can keep control of this.” I shook the box for effect before remembering what type of trigger was in there and quickly stilled it.

“Ha, that’s what you get.” He grabbed his keys and the coffee mugs and headed toward the truck.

Our meeting with Nolan was supposed to be at nine a.m., well before the museum opened at ten. We still ended up running about twenty minutes late. Nolan had rapid fire texted Charlie throughout our drive in. I finally grabbed his phone from the drink holder and replied, letting Nolan know we were on our way so he would hopefully chill out. When we pulled up, we weren’t at all surprised to find him waiting on the front steps for us.