I went to the QT Banking and Trust Kent Island office to see if the paperwork had arrived from Jake. I had to wait for Mr. Rustone to finish a meeting with another customer. At last I was seated and going over the papers – sign here and there.

Take this to the court house, this to MVA, fill out this form. After half an hour he said “OK, we are done.”

“Wait a minute, we haven’t discussed anything about mortgage payments or truck payments,” I said.

“There are no payments – Jake sent checks to pay them off in the folder he returned. I would like to take this opportunity offer our full banking and investment services to you. We also have safety deposit boxes you can keep your important papers in such as titles and deeds,” he said.

I thanked him saying that I would indeed be using his bank and I would open an account there with my next paycheck.

I couldn’t believe it. Jake had paid it off, that’s not what we had talked about at all. I wanted to buy it; I had a good job that didn’t require me to kill people on a daily basis. Yes, I was thankful and I was going to call him as soon as I had everything I wanted to say thought out.

I headed down to Kurt, the wood worker, to pick up my new house sign. The next question was where to put it up, for the time being I would leave it on the counter as a conversation piece.

I had plenty of time left. It was time that I took care of other things that had been on the back burner too long. I needed to get a sidearm of my own; I had kept Jason’s long enough. Not only that, I missed the shooting range. I enjoyed the challenge that being proficient presented. Now that I had a permanent place of my own I could get a big gun safe and stock up on ammunition and today was a good day to do just that. I knew it was going to be expensive but a good gun properly taken care of would last a lifetime.

I would get the gun safe today. Lawman’s Supply had one that I saw the last time that I was over there. I called over to see if they still had in stock. They did and after I gave my name the owner remembered me plus his daughter was going to KCC. She kept him up to speed on the happenings at the college. He informed me that from now on I was to get a 50% discount on anything purchased from them.

I asked about a Glock gen 4-23 in 40 cal and 6 extra clips – they had one. They also had a Mossberg 500 three in one kit with 18.5 and 28 inch barrel, and both a pistol grip and standard stock.

They had them in stock. I also asked about a 700 Remington BDL sniper rifle in 223 with a real good scope, they had one, and a Bushmaster 15, they had it. I asked for a price on all of it together and with a case of ammo of all three calibers. With my discount it was a great price.

He said that they would need a copy of my background check and they could deliver it today as they were making a delivery to the local sheriff’s office.

I told him I had the original and would copy it for him. I gave him my card number; they were going to deliver it at 4 PM this afternoon.

There was a very large deep closet in the office that was mostly empty. I would put the safe in there; with the door closed no-one would know it was there. All I needed to do was move a few things and the delivery people could set it in place. While I was waiting for the delivery I would box Jake’s things that were in there and put them in the attic for safe keeping. I spent the rest of the day packing and carrying things to the attic. I wouldn’t need to hit the gym tonight.

The delivery truck was twenty minutes early and it was sitting in the driveway when the girls came home. The safe was neatly tucked into the closet; the ammunition was stacked in it. I was in the process inspecting the guns before signing the paperwork when they came in the kitchen. I had them all laid out in the table, they looked good and felt good in my hands. I signed the paperwork and sent the delivery people on their way.

The girls looked concerned. Vicky asked “Are we going to war or something?”

I laughed and said “I was a marine; we are always prepared for the worst. There is something beautiful about a good gun that feels just right in my hands.”

Now was a good time for a quick gun safety talk. I showed each of them how to safely check to see if a gun was loaded. Then I showed them how to load the gun, work a round into the chamber and how to eject it from the chamber. I also showed them what the safety did and how to work it. Then I had each of then to go through the process with each gun. I showed them where the gun safe was and told them that the guns would be in there.

Jenny came in about that time and looked the guns over. She smiled and said, “Now we can go to the range and do some serious shooting.”

“There a couple of trap ranges not to far away. I want to do that, too,” I said.

“Daddy carried me a couple of times; it’s very challenging and a lot of fun. Sounds like a great idea,” she said.

“Daddy rents a farm outside of C-ville for hunting that we can use to sight that rifle in, plus shoot up some tin cans. I’m sure he would like to go as well. He even has a sporting clay machine. I think it might be a good idea to take all the girls if they are interested. He has several single shot 20 gauge shotguns that are just right for beginners,” she said.

The girls and I were still in the office having a more detailed discussion about the guns when Jen walked back in, with a big smile on her face, carrying the sign “The Harem’s Nest”.

“I like it! Now, where are you going to put it?” she asked.

“Out by the door – it implies no men allowed,“ I said laughing. “After all this is a clothes optional house hold.”

Edit by Alfmeister