Chapter 63

Saturday morning, Matt had mixed feelings about loading his luggage into his truck and checking out of the hotel, but he reminded himself that if Summer threw him out, he could find another place to stay until Monday.
As he loaded his briefcase, he picked up a small velvet box and flipped it open. The round diamond solitaire in a gold flower setting winked up at him. He'd bought it in Switzerland a year ago, when he'd been on leave from a posting in Germany. The moment he'd seen it, something about it had just said, "Summer". He'd been carrying it around like a talisman ever since.
Wishing himself luck, he stashed it at the bottom of his laptop bag.
On the way out to her rental house, he picked up several boxes of condoms, a six-pack of his favorite beer, a big bunch of bright gerbera daisies, and the chicken he'd promised her for lunch. He even bought her coleslaw, along with a green salad for him.
Trying not to look too anxious, he drove slowly, not pulling into her driveway until quarter to twelve.
Summer came running out the front door to meet him. She had on a yellow halter top and white shorts, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, making her look like a college kid. Her smile though, was all woman. Especially when he handed her the flowers and the bag of food.
"This is called sucking up, you know."
"You want me to throw them out?" He arched an eyebrow as he pulled the grocery store bag and his smallest suitcase out of the space behind the driver's seat.
She clutched the flowers to her chest. "Don't even think about it."
"I stopped by the store and ordered a mattress," he told her once they'd gone inside. She found a vase for the flowers while he took the food out to the deck.
"Good. Now how about sheets, pots and pans, that sort of thing?" Carrying a pitcher of sweet tea and two glasses, she joined him on the porch.
Matt shrugged. "Not yet." Honestly, he figured she already had most of that stuff. Since he hoped she'd move in with him soon, it didn't make much sense for him to buy new.
Summer shook her head. "I guess tomorrow it's off to the mall."
"We'll see." His plan was to keep her too busy to shop. "Today I want to fly kites and swim." And maybe make love to Summer in a real bed.

Summer didn't know what to make of Matt's playful mood, but as soon as they had lunch cleaned up, he grabbed her hand and the two kites and tugged her down the steps to the shore.
She'd really expected him to just try to take her to bed. She'd even decided she'd let him. So she honestly didn't know if his insistence on kite flying was a good thing or not. One thing she was pretty sure of, though, was that Matt hadn't had a lot of time for fun in his adult life. That, at least, was something she could give him. Considering how little time she took away from work, some silliness and laughter wouldn't do her any harm either.
First they assembled her kite - Matt's had come fully put together, but hers was in a box. Then, using the instructions the man at the toy store had given Matt, they attempted to get them to fly.
For the first time, Summer saw the competitive streak in her dream lover. He was determined to get his dragon in the air before she mastered her much smaller hummingbird kite.
"Ha, it's flying, look," she called, sticking her tongue out. He might as well learn that she was no pushover either.
Of course her kite chose that moment to nosedive back to earth. She ran down the beach to retrieve it, relieved to see it wasn't broken.
Meanwhile, Matt had gotten his golden dragon up in the air. He whistled happily when she returned.
"It's gorgeous," she said. "He certainly looks like he belongs up there."
"I used to think I did too," Matt said softly. "But maybe the old man was right. Maybe there is more than one way to fly."
Tears stung her eyelids. She hadn't thought about how hard it would be for him not to be able to fly anymore. Could he get a private plane one day, or were his injuries too much for even that? Losing that must hurt as much as his damaged hip.
She watched the dragon soar for a few minutes while she untangled her string. Eventually, she got the hummingbird back up in the sky, though not as high as Matt's. They experimented and laughed for quite a while, until the wind died down. Then there wasn't much point in trying to fly kites.
"Well, now that we're hot and sweaty, how about a swim?" She carefully wrapped up her string.
"Sounds good." When they'd both packed up their kites, he held out a hand to help her to her feet. "Let's go change."
Since he'd worn khaki shorts and a USAF T-shirt, she figured he didn't have a swimsuit on underneath. For that matter, neither did she. For some reason, she hadn't wanted to take anything for granted today. She did leave her hand in his as they climbed the steps to the house.
"So where should I change?" Matt stood in the kitchen and lifted his small suitcase. "For that matter, where do you want me to put this?"