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“And Kathy might come by later. To see you.”
“Well, thanks for the heads-up. I’ll shower for the first time this week.”
Laughing out loud, she knew the drill. The previous summer she’d based her hygiene on her work schedule. This year, she’d have to keep a calendar or something so she didn’t go for days without bathing. “If I had a boyfriend, I’d bathe more often.”
They screamed laughing over the phone.
“I’d better get off and get ready for the colonel. I bought so much junk you and Kathy had better eat dinner here tonight.”
“Okay, that’s so nice,” Billy said. “If she comes, we’ll do that.”
They hung up, and she quickly sent Kathy a text that Billy was excited to see her and that if she came to visit, they would have dinner at Emily’s house.
She texted back,I’ll be there in an hour. Turn the pool heater on.
Twenty minutes later, the sound of her father’s Lexus coming up her steep driveway got her attention. He’d brought the dog, an old Boston Terrier named Rex, who had the personality of a much bigger dog, and the minute the door opened, Rex flew over Colonel Porter’s shoulder, knocking his glasses off, and dove into Emily’s arms, licking her face like a maniac.
“Jesus, Rex, what the hell was that all about?”
“Ah, Colonel, don’t get mad at him. Look, he loves me.”
“Honey, click the garage door open for me. I’m getting on the tractor.”
Holding on to the dog, she reached in the house and pushed a button, and the door slid open.
“Oh, here, I almost forgot. Your mother doesn’t want this lying around the house.”
“A pie? Do I look like I need a pie? So she gives it to me, and next time I see her, she’ll make a crack about my weight.”
“There’s roast beef and mashed pots in the other container. She made enough for an army, and I can’t look roast beef in the eye again anytime soon.”
“I got your favorite fried chicken and potatoes from the grocery store.”
It was the same one her mother had shopped at when they lived on base, and the colonel had his preferred items.
“Oh, thank God, I was dreaming about that stuff.”
He kissed her cheek and headed toward the garage. She closed her eyes, knowing that he’d glance over the canyon on the way in, and sure enough.
“What the hell, Emily! You never said a thing. When did this happen?”
“Last night, Colonel,” she answered, cringing. “A young Marine lost control of his car, and the crash caused a fire.”
After hearing the somber news, he walked out into the yard, and she followed him to a dry creek bed that separated her property from the ranch beyond, and it was completely charred right to her property line. Evidence of the trenching done all night by the firefighters, fresh dirt turned over in a line a half mile long, snaked up the mountainside.
“I don’t see any retardant.”
“They don’t drop that at night so close to houses. It’s too dangerous. That stuff weighs a ton and can crush a house.”
He scratched his head and put his baseball cap back on. “The good thing is there’s nothing left to burn back there.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Emily replied.
“I’m getting on the tractor,” Rob said dismissively, trudging off.
She nodded, letting him go. He was upset, but he’d soon get over it. Driving the tractor, even though the grass didn’t really need cutting, would relax him. In the meantime, Kathy arrived for her swim.
“It would be cheaper to go to a hotel in town and use their pool than make you heat yours, so I do really appreciate it.”
