The Resurrection Wager

Chapter 3

Chapter 3Michelle and Paul walked out the side door of the house and into the two and a half car connected garage. They were both dressed in denim shorts and had sandals on their feet. Michelle's blouse was all white, and she was carrying a large bag over her shoulder. Her long brown hair was pulled back and held in place with a clip.

Paul was wearing a red and black striped polo shirt and was pulling a large wheeled blue cooler.

They both were already wearing their wrap-around sunglasses, and Michelle assumed, based on the way her head still felt that she would probably have them on until she got into bed tonight.

They climbed into the navy blue Ford Expedition, and Paul headed out of the driveway and turned to the left.

“How are you feeling?” Paul asked.

Michelle looked at him with an expression of disgust. “I feel terrible. I haven't felt like this in a couple of months. I need some more coffee. Do you mind stopping?”

“No problem. I could use one too. Do you have any more Motrin in your bag or should I get some?”

“Don't bother, I brought the whole bottle with me; you can have all you need.”

“Good,” Paul said with a nod of approval.

After several blocks, they pulled into a Mobil gas station, and Paul went inside to get the drinks. After paying, Paul was walking back to his vehicle when he saw Tom Wallace walking confidently toward him.

Tom worked for Paul and served as the assistant director at The Kingsman Research Institute. Over the last few years, they had become good friends.

Having studied together at the University of Washington, Paul was very impressed with Tom and his ability to beat problems down in the lab. Tom would work an issue for as long as it took until he finally had it licked. He often came up with things that Paul had never considered and more often than not, he was right.

Unlike Paul, Tom did not have his Ph.D. Instead, after completing his Master's degree, Tom choose to concentrate his efforts more on working and the family that he and his wife had started. Paul reluctantly had to agree that Tom had made a better choice. Tom had three amazing kids, and Linda Wallace was a beautiful person, and not just physically.

Tom indeed seemed to have the perfect family and marriage.

Paul was at times jealous when he thought about Tom's family situation. If he had made better choices, he could have had the same thing. Instead, he had an ex-wife and two children that he only got to see about every other month.

When Paul founded the institute, he hunted Tom down and found him working at a government-run research facility in central California.

Paul offered to double his salary if Tom agreed to come and work at the Kingsman Institute. When Tom finally accepted, Paul moved him and his family across the country.

Now almost three years later, Paul was glad he had gone to the expense and effort to bring Tom on board. Their research would never have progressed to the point where it had without Tom's involvement. Also, they were close friends.

“Hey, Tom. What are you up to this morning?” Paul asked.

As soon as he had asked it, Paul knew he had made a mistake. He knew where Tom was heading, Tom was dressed better today than he ever did at work, and it was Sunday.

“How are you doing Paul? We are on our way to church, but I needed to get some gas first.”

Paul nodded, “We're headed to the marina. We're going to spend the day on the boat. You should join us. We had a great time last month with you guys.”

Tom replied, “The weather is perfect for that, I suspect you'll have a great day. But, we can't go today. By the way, are you feeling ok? You don't look good?”

Paul grinned, “We did a little too much partying last night, and now we are paying for it.”

Tom nodded his understanding, “Why don't you and Michelle come with us? The marina and the nice weather will still be there in two hours.”

Paul chuckled, “You never give up. Do you?”

When Tom did not reply right away, Paul added: “Today is too nice a day to go sit in a church, I think we will stick with the boat.”

“Too bad, but make sure you don't get too much sun. Tomorrow is too big a day, and I don't want you to be unable to enjoy it because of a sunburn.”

“Agreed, buddy. See ya tomorrow,” Paul said as he climbed back into the Expedition and handed Michelle the coffee, which she eagerly accepted.

Paul put the large SUV in gear and pulled out of the service station, waving to Tom's family as he passed their Durango sitting at the pump.

Michelle looked over at Paul and smiled, “Was that Tom you were talking to? I heard something about going to church.”

“Yeah, they are on their way there, and he invited us.”

“Some people never give up. I know you've turned him down dozens of times,” Michelle commented.

“True, but he isn't too annoying about it. He makes it clear where he stands and invites people to go. If you say no he backs off. He's a good guy, and he means well.”

“That's true; I like him too. If I had realized it was him, I would have gone and said hi to Linda. What was he saying about tomorrow being a big day? I know I can't understand the details about what you do at the institute, but Tom made it sound like tomorrow is something special.”

“It is,” Paul explained. “Tomorrow we are going to try again to see if we can move something across the time barrier.”

“That's amazing. Why didn't you tell me before?”

“I know most of the lab stuff isn't too interesting to you, and I try to leave work at work. But you're right, this I should have at least mentioned.”

As Paul said this, he pulled into the parking lot at the marina, and the conversation stopped.

They unloaded the SUV and climbed on Paul's red and white power boat, named The Time Machine. Within a few minutes, they had cast off and were gliding out of the slip and headed into the bay.