The next month came and went as quickly as the sunshine on a typical day in Oxford. Robbie had made peace with himself and his plans for retirement. He was looking forward to having his time be his own to spend as he pleased – visits to see his grandson and his daughter and her partner, time with Laura in the evenings and on weekends she wasn't on call. Since their return from Italy, he'd boxed up his things a little at a time and brought it over to Laura's. There was still a fair amount left, but work was throwing him a retirement party tonight, and he had all of next week to pack up and move what was left in his flat. He'd still not figured out what to do with Val's things though. He'd tried to talk to Laura about it more than once, but he just couldn't find the right words. He was running out of time to discuss it with her though, and he'd have to bring it up sooner rather than later. He'd only managed to collect everything from the drawer and added it to the box of Val's things he'd had in the closet. It was now sitting on the floor near the bookshelf in the living area of his flat. He'd done that last night but forgot to put it back into the closet before he'd gone to bed.

Robbie was standing at his kitchen sink rinsing his breakfast dishes when his doorbell rang. He knew it was Laura; she was here to pick him up for work. They normally drove separately, but with his party tonight, they decided to just bring one car figuring Robbie might not be fit for driving at the end of his party.

Robbie let Laura in to the building, and they gave each other a quick good morning kiss.

"Hello, you ready to go?"

"I need just a few more minutes. I've got a box or two in the flat ready to go in the trunk of your car if that's okay."

"Up late last night packing?"

"Yeah, couldn't sleep. I'll be glad when this party is over tonight. I'm looking forward to it, but I wish it could be a much smaller affair." Robbie went off into his bathroom before Laura could reply. He knew what she would say.

She looked around the flat and saw a box on the floor and two boxes on his dining table. She opened the lids of the boxes on the table just to see what he had packed and then turned to look inside the last box on the floor. At first she seemed confused with this box's contents; there were some scarves and an expensive-looking bottle of perfume on top. She put her hand in to move the items and see what else was in there, but as soon as she touched a scarf, she froze. She realized what this box had inside, whose belonging these were. She quickly replaced the lid on the box and moved back to the table to collect one of the boxes and take it out to her car. Her heart was racing, and she didn't want Robbie to see her before she could compose herself.

By the time Laura reached her car and put the box in, she had calmed down some. She was not feeling jealous, rather she realized what she was feeling was sadness. She did not feel threatened by a box of Val's things; she knew that Robbie loved her. What made her sad was the thought that Robbie had probably been struggling with what to do with them, and he'd not felt comfortable enough to talk to her about it. Did he think she didn't expect him to keep mementos from his decades-long marriage to Val? Was he worried what she would think if she knew he still had some of Val's things in a box? How much stuff did Laura have in boxes in her attic that were reminders of her past life, her past relationships? Laura was snapped back into reality by the shutting of the door by Robbie.

"Thanks for bringing that box out. This is the only other box that's ready to go." Laura saw that it was the box from the table and not the one that had been on the floor.

Not wanting to give any idea of the sadness and consternation she was feeling, Laura put a big smile on her face and said, "Alright then, let's get you to work. There won't be many more of those days. I'm looking forward to hot meals on the table when I get home and long, soothing back rubs."

"Ha ha, very funny, Laura." Robbie teased back. On their way to the police station, Robbie noticed a garment bag hanging from a hook in the back of Laura's car.

"Is that my suit for tonight you've got in there?" Robbie said jerking his thumb toward the back seat.

"Yes, and my dress is in a bag back there too."

"Thank you for taking care of that for me."

"No problem. I picked it up from the cleaners yesterday. You can take it into the office so you'll have it ready to go when you're ready to leave for your party tonight."

"And what are you wearing tonight?" Robbie didn't normally ask Laura what she was going to wear, but on this special occasion, he was a little curious.

"Oh, it's just a white dress and a sweater that will complement the colors in your tie. I suspect there will be lots of pictures taken tonight of us together, and I think it would be nice if our outfits didn't clash."

"A white dress?" Robbie asked a little surprised, eyebrows raised. "Surely not your dress from Italy?"

Laura laughed, "Of course not, Robbie. I told you. That dress has too much air conditioning for Oxford." Laura had to turn to her right and look out the car window to hide her knowing grin.

Robbie turned to look out his window and started to think about Laura on the balcony of their room in Italy. He'd not told Laura he'd snapped her picture in that white dress. She'd looked perfect. And she wanted to be with him, to share her future with him. At that moment, he couldn't imagine his life without her, but he still needed to figure out what to do with his box of Val's things.

Without thinking and before he could come up with another reason to delay, Robbie said, "Laura, did you happen to see a third box on the floor in my flat?"

Laura tensed, not sure what to say. She didn't think she should admit that she had opened it, although she didn't think she had done anything wrong. "Yes, I noticed it."

"I'm not sure how to say this, but there are some things in that box from my past that I've hung on to, and I'm not sure what to do with them now." Grateful that she couldn't look at Robbie because she was driving, Laura let him continue. "They're a few things that were Val's. Items I don't feel right throwing away, but I also don't feel right bringing them with me when I move in with you."

"Robbie," Laura started to say something, but Robbie kept on talking.

"I've been trying to talk to you about it, but knew you wouldn't want me to bring them so I just didn't know how to bring it up."

These last few words of Robbie's made Laura feel suddenly irritated. He couldn't have been more wrong about what she would want in the situation, and she didn't like that he was using what he thought she would think as an excuse to not talk to her about it.

"Robbie!" Laura said with more irritation than she felt. "How would you know what I would want when you didn't even ask me?" Entering the station car park, Laura stopped in her reserved parking spot. "Look, I'm sorry if I sound irritated. Can we talk about this later, please? I've got a postmortem scheduled in 15 minutes and do not want to be late." Laura quickly got out of the car and left Robbie sitting in the car, not exactly sure of what just happened.