Derek watched Sandra as she took a slow deep breath. Sandra sat up in her chair a little straighter. “Fine. But if you pull any cowboy stunts, I will hold Derek here directly accountable and I will personally see that all four of you go before a Senate hearing.”
Pete glanced at Derek, Charlie and then DeMario. “Agreed. When can we get started with the briefing? We need to go down to the dock area to scout out the area before and after it gets dark.”
Agent Young motioned to them. “Come with me. Although I know that you already know a lot, we should start at the beginning.” DeMario, Pete, and Charlie all followed the agent to another room for the briefing.
Elise made yet another fine dinner for her family. Joe Junior and Cathy teased each other as usual. Joe made some bad jokes that made everyone groan and then secretly giggle. After dinner Elise asked Joe Junior and Cathy to clean up. “Honey, it is a fine late summer evening. Why don’t we go for a walk through the vineyards?”
“Yes dear, it is a beautiful evening. The smoke from those forest fires in the Sierras is making the sky yellow. It should be an awesome sun set.”
Joe and Elise did not say much as they walked into the vineyard. Joe habitually picked a couple of grapes and popped them into his mouth. “Next week, definitely. This will be an early crop.”
Elise reached out and clasped Joe’s hand as they walked. “It was that early summer heat wave. It sped everything up. How are you feeling?”
Joe knew what Elise was really asking about. “The dreams have faded quite a bit. The threads of the future have grown pretty dim.”
“Doesn’t it scare you? I don’t understand how you can remain so calm about all of this. I never took all of the paranormal stuff very seriously when I was growing up, although we did use to have séances when I was in junior high and levitate tables and such. Ouija boards used to really creep me out.”
“It sounds scarier than it really is, although I wish I could be better at actually preventing things that are foretold. I still feel badly about not stopping Teresa’s Mom from going to Juniper Lake. Perhaps the worst part is that, especially with both wines combined, I become pretty useless at tasks that require my focused attention.”
“It scares me. What if this is something really evil? Is this some kind of sin? Or is this some kind of divine gift? I really love you, Joe Gambero and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
Joe leaned over and kissed Elise deeply. “I can’t picture where my life would have gone if I had not met you at that school dance so many years ago. You and the kids are everything to me. You keep me rooted in reality. You are my best friend, my lover, and life partner. You are my soul mate.”
It was Elise’s turn to initiate a deep kiss. They stood in the vineyard, very much in love, as the sky
turned blood red from the setting sun illuminating the smoke in the air. Continued ...