William wanted a poem written by a soldier to be read at his burial. This poem—‘Final Inspection’—was written by Sergeant Joshua Helterbran.
The soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as brightly as his brass.
Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?
The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
No, Lord, I guess I ain’t
Because those of us who carry guns
Can’t always be a saint.
I’ve had to work most Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I’ve been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn’t mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I’ve wept unmanly tears.
I know I don’t deserve a place
Among the people here,
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you’ve a place for me here, Lord,
It needn’t be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don’t, I’ll understand.
There was a silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God,
Step forward now, you soldier,
You’ve borne your burdens well,
Walk peacefully on Heaven’s streets,
You’ve done your time in Hell.
After a brief prayer, the crowd began to disperse. Carrie James approached Rawley. “My condolences, Rawley. I have a couple of platters and a casserole for you. I could bring them by your house or you could take them now. I have them in the van.”
He lifted his brows. “You know I did all the meals for my dad, right? He was infirm.”
“I know. But you might not feel like it right now. And it’s important you eat.”
Cooper could tell he was speechless. It took a while but finally Rawley said, “I could make coffee.”
Carrie smiled and said, “That would be nice, Rawley. We’ll follow you home.”
* * *
It was a very brief open house at Rawley’s place—the folks had to return to work. But there were twenty of them including Cliff from Cliffhanger’s and his wife, Aunt Lou, Ray Anne, Stu from the diner and his wife, Belinda. Landon got a pass from school to represent Sarah, who had to work. A few of Rawley’s neighbors showed up. Carrie and Gina brought a couple of big trays of cold cuts, cheeses, olives, pickles, sliced tomatoes, lettuce and red onion. Some of Carrie’s small sandwich loaves and condiments were placed on the table. There were seven covered dishes that could be frozen—each one bearing the name of the contributor so the dishes could be returned. “If you just bring them by the diner whenever it’s convenient, Gina will see they get back where they belong,” Carrie suggested.
Rawley showed up at the beach bar first thing the next morning and his whole face looked different. He had not expected this kind of outpouring from folks he felt he knew only in passing. “Ain’t this place something?” he asked Cooper.
Cooper shook his head in wonder. “It really is something,” he agreed. “You okay on your own for a while? Like a few hours?”
“Take a day off if you want,” Rawley said. “I got things covered.”
Five
Another April day had dawned bright and clear. Four days after the funeral, Sarah finally had a day off. Leaving Rawley in charge, Cooper got out the Harley and took it to Highway 101 and drove the five miles to the exit to Thunder Point and to Sarah’s house. When she opened the door, she was just drying her hair, fresh out of the shower. She wore jeans and a T-shirt and her feet were bare—she was barely dressed and that made him smile.
“Well, Mr. Cooper, this is a surprise,” she said. “I don’t usually see you this early unless I walk across the beach with Hamlet.”
“I thought I’d take you into the hills to see the wildflowers—all that rain was good for something. I thought we’d just get out of town. But, seeing you, I’m having some second thoughts....”
“Are you now?” she asked with a laugh.
Cooper stepped inside, slipped his hand around to the back of her neck and pulled her lips onto his. She parted her lips for him, embraced him and he gave the inside of her mouth a healthy taste. “We haven’t made love in a while,” he pointed out to her.
“It’s been a few days,” she admitted. “But I want to see the flowers.”
“You will. You will. But first I want to strip you naked, kiss every inch of your body, turn you on, stir you up, make you scream my name...at least twice.”
“Only twice?” she whispered, breathless already.
“Then I’m going to put you on the back of that Harley and take you to see the flowers on the hillsides. And vibrate all your tender lady parts so you’ll want me again.”
She laughed at him. “Cooper, you are such a sweet talker.”
“Let’s not talk right now,” he said. “Let’s talk after.”
She took his hand to lead him to her bedroom. The bed hadn’t even been made yet. She stood beside the bed and said, “If you’re going to seduce me, you have to undress me.” Then she slid a hand over the crotch of his jeans and said, “Quickly.”
“Maybe we don’t have to be quick today,” he said. “Maybe we can be slow and easy and—”
And she laughed. He loved the sound of her laughter and hadn’t heard enough of it lately. “We’ve tried that,” she said. He lifted the T-shirt over her head and her hands went to the snap on his jeans. “It takes about three minutes for me to start begging and you to start delivering.”
“I have to admit, I do like that part.”
Lately he’d been concerned; Sarah had been quiet. Too many times he’d looked at her and found her staring off at nothing, distracted by some deep thought. Or he might say something and she’d miss it, her mind wandering. He knew something had been bothering her and now he knew it was not the inspection at the Coast Guard station.
And yet, when they were like this, falling into each other, she was entirely his, there was no question about it. You don’t fake this. Her body responded and her thoughts only wandered to him.
She shoved down her jeans, kicked them off, flopped back on the bed and waited for him to dispense with boots, socks, jeans, shirt. And then he just