Ken called Brianna the next day and told her that Kathy had come by last night and agreed to buy the house. He purposely did not tell her about the encounter that happened on her arrival. Ken couldn't see what good it would do for him to tell her about the incident, and it might only make things worse. And right now he needed things to go as smoothly as possible so that he could once again be with Brianna.
"Hey Bri, why don't you come down this weekend and let's go car shopping? I spoke with the agent this morning and they have decided to total the car. He said that the insurance company would pay for the rental car for the rest of the week. So I need to get me a car by Saturday. Since you will be riding in it too, I want to have your input on what I do pick out."
"Ken, I would love to come down there. I haven't been shopping for a car in a long time. The last one I bought was with Paul, and that was quite some time ago. I will drive down after work this Friday and then we can get up early on Saturday morning and start looking. Do you know what kind of car you are thinking about getting yet?"
"Well, since we like to take trips I was thinking about getting a new Lincoln Town Car. That way we can be comfortable on long trips, and have plenty of room for our belongings. I do not like SUV's, and the Lincoln will ride smoother than any SUV anyway."
"Sounds like a plan to me then. I'll see you Friday night. And Ken, don't forget, I love you, and I want you to be with me soon."
"Brianna, I love you too. I will see you Friday night."
They each hung up their phones and smiled at the thought of being together once again in each others arms.
Ken told his boss that he was giving a two week notice and the reason why. The boss thanked him for giving the notice, and told him that if it didn't work out, that Ken always had a job waiting for him at the company. Ken thanked him and went back to doing his job the rest of the week.
Brianna got up Friday morning and packed her suitcase before she left for work. She planned to leave from work and drive straight down to Ken's house. She loaded the suitcase in the car and drove to work. Time seemed to fly by as Craig had her doing a lot of typing and filing of reports that the IRS required of their company. Finally it was quitting time and Brianna got in her car and started on the trip. She realized that it would soon be Christmas and that she should start getting all of the decorations out. She would wait until Thanksgiving weekend to start decorating. By the time Ken would be living there, and they could also go and pick out a fresh tree. She had an artificial one that Paul had brought home one year, but she decided it was time to put that one away and start out with a new one. And nothing smelled better than a newly cut tree.
It wasn't long until she pulled into the driveway of Ken's house and parked the car. As she was walking up the sidewalk, she noticed a few large boxes sitting on the porch just to the right side of the door. Brianna wondered what Ken would have ordered, but figured that it wasn't any of her business. Ken wasn't home yet, so she sat down on the porch swing, knowing that he should be home soon.
Ken pulled into the driveway shortly thereafter and smiled when he saw Brianna's car in the driveway and her in the swing that was on the porch. Brianna saw the car pull in and ran out to greet Ken. She threw her arms around him and gave him a big kiss. Ken returned the kiss and then Brianna turned around and they started on their way up to the porch.
"Brianna, are those your boxes by the door?"
"No, they have your name on them. Why? Didn't you order something?" Brianna asked.
"No, I really need to get rid of some of this stuff before I start packing. I certainly do not want to add to the pile."
Ken looked at the boxes and realized they were from Michelle. He opened one of the boxes and there were several sacks inside containing the items from their shopping trip in the mountains.
"Oh wow, I almost had forgotten about these things. She said they would send them, and she was true to her word." Ken opened up the rest of the boxes and they realized that all of their items were in good condition. Even the Coca-Cola sign was intact, and unscratched.
"I guess the shopkeeper really did do a bang up job, pardon the pun, at wrapping the sign" Brianna commented.
"Yes, I guess he did. I was truthfully kind of jealous that it would be at your house instead of hanging on one of my walls here at the house."
"Well Ken, let's take it inside and it can hang until we get ready to move all of your belongings."
"Oh wow" Ken replied. "I guess there really was one good thing that came out of having the car stolen and wrecked."
Brianna chuckled. "Yes, I guess you could say that."
Ken and Brianna picked up the packages and took them inside the house and put them in the corner of the living room. Ken went and got a nail and claw hammer from the tool shed and found the spot where he wanted to hang the sign. He drove in the nail and hung up the sign, then stepped back to inspect his work.
