Read Corpsman and the Nerd for Free Online

with a precise row of the contents labeled on the box
itself. Not even her bedroom was exempt from the packer’s efforts.
When she opened her dresser drawers, most of them were empty. There
were enough clothes hanging in her closet for the remainder of the
week, but not much more. All of her shoes were packed away, minus
the few pairs she would need. Her pictures and candles were gone.
Even the stack of magazines and books she kept on the nightstand
were missing. When she looked, however, that box stood open.
Someone had thoughtfully placed the items in the box, but left it
accessible.
    Ryan’s room was much the same as hers.
His toys were in an unsealed box. But he only had enough clothes
for the remaining week, also. The linen closet was nearly empty as
was her tiny home office. A room barely larger than a closet, the
space was fine for her small desk and filing cabinet.
    The place shone with cleanliness, as
well. They had not only packed everything, but also cleaned as they
went, apparently.
    Shaking her head in wonder, KC trailed
back into the kitchen and noticed a note on one of the
counters.
    Hello KC and
Ryan,
    We finished up here and are
going home. This was a very easy job. You don’t have all that much
stuff. We left some of your things unpacked, thinking you might
need the things inside. (And we left some of the more personal
items in your drawers.)  We did take several boxes to Max’s house already,
and imagine he’ll be by later tonight for more. The boys will come
on Saturday to move the big stuff, which shouldn’t take
long.
    We really enjoyed this!
Thank you for the opportunity.
    With love,
    The Packers 
    A lump formed in KC’s throat and she
swallowed to dislodge it. Her own mother wouldn’t have thought to
bring so much as a tea bag, much less come in and pack the entire
apartment. With breakfast treats and cleaning materials and big
smiles and hugs and laughter and fun. Now, all she had to do was
pack her and Ryan’s remaining things, and the job would be done.
She could easily finish on Friday evening.
    The Packers left a roll of tape and
the box with her pots and pans open. They also left the box of dry
goods open. When she opened the refrigerator, she noticed they had
been in there too. The inside sparkled with cleanliness. They left
all the essentials, but took the rarely used items. KC figured
those probably took up space in Max’s fridge right now.
    Something she wouldn’t have even
thought of. Like what to do with the contents of her freezer and
fridge. Opening the freezer, she saw most of those items were
missing too. They left her plenty of selection for the week, but
removed the excess. Max would need those things. It would be
helpful for him to have the ingredients on hand.
    Which set KC to thinking. She tugged
out supper, already made – compliments of the packers – and kept
thinking about it. Her thoughts continued to roil while they ate
and cleaned up. Ryan wasn’t too interested in cooking, but he did
like loading the dishwasher, and was actually pretty good help that
way. He got upset if she wiped the table, so she always set him to
that task too.
    She wondered if Max cooked. If not,
the time he spent with Ryan would be interesting. KC smiled,
thinking about the pair of them eating out every night. Whatever
worked for them, just as long as they ate somewhat healthfully. Max
would learn quickly enough that if Ryan frequented fast food places
too often, he got sick. She planned to make Max an in-depth list of
Ryan’s likes and dislikes in general as well as his allergies. Max
knew the basics, but this should help.
    After supper, she watched Ryan play
and retreated to the couch with her laptop. There, she opened a
word processing document and started typing. Something that would
make Max’s life easier would be a cookbook containing all of Ryan’s
favorite recipes.
    If she didn’t return from this
assignment, something she purposely didn’t think about,