Griffin,
That’s the problem. I can’t find a loophole to get out in order to get an honorable discharge. I’ve got eight years left and I don’t think I want to wait it out. Could use any help or suggestions you could offer, buddy… and thank you for the link. I filled it out.
Watson
Fill out this one, too – trust me.
Griffin
Ben stared at the email, a little stunned at the link.
It was an application for higher education. He’d taken online classes for quite some time and had earned his Bachelor of Science while in the military. His time working on disarming bombs and experience with compounds gave him some credits online.
Filling out the application, he smiled in relief and admiration at the sneaky reason behind it. John was brilliant when he put his mind to a certain task. There was a clause that could get you honorably discharged and it wasn’t utilized very often, at all. Trying it was certainly worth a shot.
Continuing his education would only help further his career, making their futures a little easier. Ben would be really busy if he got accepted to the university and began working fulltime… but he would be home with his Marigold.
It would be all worth it.
Marigold stared at Daisy’s photo on her cellphone screen in alarm and tried to hide her emotions. She’d just postponed the entire floral order for the wedding for another month.
“Are you sure?” Marigold asked, picking up the phone off speaker quickly and holding it to her ear.
“Yes. I hope it’s not too much of an imposition on you, but we want to make sure Ethan’s parents can come and Colin’s family. The two of them grew up together and are very close. Plus, Tobin and Watson talked about coming out for the wedding. Tobin wasn’t able to get leave approved for the dates we had set. I need to push it back so our whole family, both immediate and extended, can be here for this moment. Ethan and I have waited for a few years – what’s another few weeks, right?”
“No, of course. I understand.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course not, anything for the client, right?”
“You are so good, Marigold – I wouldn’t trust anyone else with the flowers for my wedding. I appreciate it so much.”
“Certainly.”
“See you Saturday at John and Lily’s house.”
“I’ll see you then.”
Marigold hung up the phone and groaned aloud. She’d already fed the bright red roses with food to make sure that they bloomed heavily over the next two weeks. She was going to have a plethora of roses and be unable to use them… plus when the time actually came, she might be short unless she could force another bloom on the productive flowers.
Glancing down, she swiped through her photos and admired the shots that Ben had sent her over the last few weeks. There was one of him proudly standing there in the t-shirt she’d sent him. Another had him sitting in front of a tiled fountain.
There were so many photos that he’d sent to her over the last few months that made her smile and her heart ache at the same time. She missed him terribly and the thought of Daisy delaying her wedding again, meant she wouldn’t see Ben for another month.
She retreated outside to her gardens for comfort. Taking a photo, she glanced down to see several bright buds on the little rosebush she had nurtured from seed. She took a photo of it and happily sent it to Ben.
Our bush is finally in bloom!
I love you and wish you were here!
Her phone rang again and Marigold slid open the phone as she stared at the little plant before her. Lily was calling.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mari – I need a huge favor.”
“Tell me it has something to do with roses…” Marigold uttered and slapped her hand over her mouth in dismay. She had just uttered her thoughts aloud and hoped it didn’t get back to Daisy.
“Actually, it does. How’d you know?”
“I’m a florist. It was a lucky guess,” she beamed cheerfully, wincing at how eager and fake she sounded at that moment.
“I was wondering about that… but yes! I am wanting to surprise a friend with an extraordinary little something. I want it easy to carry, yet breathtaking. Maybe something feminine and lovely? Oh, with ribbons streaming from the bow and …I don’t know… it would be cool if you could just pick it up out of the vase and hold it.”
“Like a bouquet?” Marigold said flatly.
“A bouquet! That’s perfect!”
“This isn’t for Daisy, is it?”
“No? Didn’t she just postpone the wedding again? This is for… John’s mother! Yes, John’s mother. She’s a good friend to me. She’s coming into town for a vacation and will be staying with us. We wanted to treat her to something pretty while she’s here.”
“How big of a bouquet would you like? Small and delicate or quite large?” Marigold grabbed a pad of paper to scratch some notes on there, realizing that Lily was acting weird and if both of them were distracted, it would be a mess of an order.
“What do you think would be appropriate?”
“Probably something in-between. You want to make her feel welcome, but not overwhelm her.”
“You are so good. Do you have a preference on colors?” Lily asked.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Marigold quipped, laughing.
“You are the professional. I’m in your capable hands.”
“I’ll make something really pretty for you – do you have a time frame?”
“Friday night? She’s flying in that morning and will need to get things settled… uh… yeah. So, we’ll need the bouquet for her Friday night and no later. Please and thank you.”
“Sounds good. I can drop it off to you on my way home.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”
Chapter 15
Marigold stepped out to run a few errands before returning to her little shop on the square. Her closed sign was on the door and untouched, but she was surprised to see the envelope on the counter.
Hadn’t she locked the front door?
Popping open the till, she saw the money was still there and looked around to see if anything else was missing. Maybe she was imaging things? Sliding out the vellum paper, she hesitated.
This was odd.
If it hadn’t been written in calligraphy, she might have simply tossed it to the side. It was the bold scrawl across the aged paper that caught her eye.
A long time ago… from a land far away…
It was the beautiful start to something, Marigold mused, smiling.
This had to be a prank.
A lovely, but captivating prank.
Maybe this was part of a game someone was playing in town… one where they had to find missing items? She replaced the vellum into the envelope and kept waiting for someone to burst through her door to claim it.
She kept staring at it, and pulled it out again, re-reading the words. It sounded like the start to a fairytale or a story. She folded the note in half and yawned, absolutely worn out. Whoever was supposed to be collecting the note from her had better hurry; she was about to lock up for the night.
Marigold had one last delivery to make and it was by far the prettiest thing she’d ever seen or had made. Lily had asked her to make a bouquet as a surprise for her mother-in-law. She was very specific that it had to be roses, but would let her select the colors. Thankfully, she had a plethora to choose from and selected the red ones that were just opening up. The large, velvet buds were stunning, making the bouquet extremely full.
On a whim, she’d taken clippings from the seedling that Ben had sent her, starting her own private rose to cross with her other hybrid teas. It was a private experiment she’d played with and knew she was going to be pleased at the combination that would come out of it.
The little seed that Ben had smuggled to her resulted in a bright, ruddy rose with six wide petals and a broad center that reminded her of the old Tudor style rose that w
as once on the royal family banner and shield ages ago. It was lovely, old-world like, and reminded her of Ben.
The scent was faint but fragrant and the rosehips were large, looking almost like rust-colored grapes. It was a beautiful plant, and perfect accent, for the bouquet. She selected several different reds and blended them with several stalks of the unnamed rose.
Wrapping the stems with floral tape, she tried to decide what ribbon to wind around them, unsure what the colors were… besides the red. She loved red roses and always had. They were the color of love and a true favorite of hers.
Grabbing a bright yellow ribbon, she braided it with the red, using it as an accent color, before twining it around the stems and tying it into a large bow. It was beautiful and simple. Holding it up, she took a photo of the bouquet to put on her website for the shop. Placing it carefully in a box, she walked out to her car and stopped.
There was another note under the windshield wiper.
Curious, she put the bouquet in the passenger seat. Marigold looked around and quickly plucked the note off the glass before hopping into her vehicle and locking the doors for good measure. Opening it, she gasped.
A lonely, patient princess waited for her knight…
It was the same scrawling calligraphy as before and now she knew something was going on. Hands shaking, heart racing, she drove over to Lily’s house to deliver the bouquet. Another sheet of paper was on the door to the house along with a box on the steps.
Walking up to the door, she saw there was a tag on the box that said boldly DO NOT OPEN. Marigold pulled the paper off the glass door and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears sprang to her eyes as she read the words.
The knight struggled and fought to be
the man the princess needed…
Marigold looked around, confused.
She was supposed to deliver the bouquet to Lily, but no one was home. Picking up her phone, she called Lily, John, Dylan, Ava, Daisy… yet no one was answering.
Frustrated, she picked up the box and set it in the backseat of her vehicle, heading home. She needed to get the roses into a fridge so they didn’t wilt right away. As she drove, she tried calling Colin and Abigail, both times the call went directly to voicemail after one ring. Was something wrong with her phone or were they ignoring her? Pulling into her driveway, she saw the rows of cars that lined the dead-end street.
John stood in the middle of her driveway with an unfathomable look to his face. Swallowing hard, Marigold pulled up and tried to avoid hitting the man that was blocking the entire thing.
“Did you bring the box?” John asked simply. No ‘hello’ and no explanation as to why he was standing in the middle of her driveway. She stared at him, a little alarmed and curious as to what was going on. It wasn’t her birthday and if there was a surprise party going on, she should have been told about it- right? Her birthday was three weeks ago!
“How did you know?” she asked, getting out of the car.
“I put the box there under specific instructions from my wife.”
“Lily?” Marigold gasped. “Is she okay?”
“She’s perfectly fine, but we have some work to do quickly. Where’s the bouquet?”
“In the passenger seat. John, what’s going on? Is your mother okay?”
“Mom’s fine. Why?”
He shook his head. Frowning at her, he angled it slightly to the side as if he was trying to figure out what was going on with her. The man looked just as confused as she felt.
“And the box?” John asked pointedly, reminding her to remove it from the back seat. Marigold opened the rear door of her car as John stepped forward to help her.
“Lily, I’m going to need you out here, honey! Now!” John called out suddenly and everything went dark for Marigold. What in the world? she thought wildly, slapping at him blindly.
John had slipped a hood over her head.
“Hey!” Marigold went to remove it and strong hands grasped her wrists. “This isn’t funny anymore!”
“John, don’t bruise her. Mari, you need to trust me on this – trust us, my friend. Listen to my voice and please don’t ask any more questions. Just raise your arms over your head for me and let me put something on you.”
“What is the world is going on?” Marigold said in a near panic, her heart hammering in her chest at the weirdness of the entire situation.
It was like everything was designed to throw her completely off kilter. She could hear movement around her, the crinkle of paper, as well as someone clapping happily nearby.
“Something very special,” Lily whispered, really closely to her left ear, making her turn her head immediately in the direction of her voice.
“Special? Like what?”
“Lily!” John barked out angrily. “That’s enough, honey!”
“Yes, sir.”
Marigold felt the fabric being slipped over her arms and yanked into place. It was almost comical that they were trying to hide the fact that she was being obviously garbed in something. It felt like a potato sack and was awfully baggy.
“John, hold this.”
“Oh, this is weird.”
“Pull it down.”
“You sure she can’t see anything?”
“Shhh!”
“John, hurry!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Abigail? Ava?”
“Shhhhh!”
“No names!”
“I’m trying but you are ignoring me.”
“Because I’m trying to hurry?!”
Marigold heard Cora’s voice, Daisy, and two others that she kept trying to place. She sucked in her breath as a zipper was dragged up her back, taking back anything that she had thought about the material having once been baggy.
“Seriously. What is going on? I love a good skit, costume, or surprise just like any other woman. Can we remove the hood, though? It’s getting a little stuffy under here… WHOOAAA!” Marigold burst out as she was suddenly picked up off her feet and tossed bodily over a man’s shoulder.
“Lily, let’s go,” John said quickly.
Marigold felt every step against her ribs and stomach of the man’s firm shoulder. She’d never been tossed across someone’s shoulder like a feed sack, and it was almost laughable, if it wasn’t so odd. If she didn’t trust the Griffin’s completely, she would be screaming bloody murder at this very moment.
“Am I being kidnapped?” Marigold yelped.
“Lily, do you have it?”
“I’ve got it. Be careful and watch your step.”
“Let’s move everyone! Move it! Move it!”
“Places!”
“Shh! Put that back. No, like this.”
“Fluff it.”
“It needs to look poofy.”
“Is this right?”
“It will be wonderful.”
“Are you listening to me?”
“Let it fall gently… like so.”
“Perfect. Yes, just like that.”
“What in tarnation is going on?” Marigold said hotly, smacking at John’s back and realizing that she swatted him directly on the behind. The poor man jumped nervously, almost dropping her.
“Hey now! That belongs to me!” Lily bit out hotly from nearby.
John laughed.
Marigold blushed fiercely, thankful for the hood at this point. She was abruptly stood on her feet and several sets of hands steadied her. Those same hands got busy yanking on the fabric of the skirt, smoothing her shoulders, and thrusting stuff into her hands.
“Keep your eyes shut, please.”
“No peeking.”
“Just a minute longer.”
“Are we ready?”
“Who wants to do the honors?”
“John, you go ahead, but give us a minute.”
“Marigold, keep your eyes shut for a moment longer – okay?”
The hood was pulled gently from her head moments later and a gust of cool air made her take a deep breath. She pinched her eyes clo
sed, unwilling to let all the effort that someone had put into a late surprise party go to waste. Marigold felt a hairbrush touch her head before something was set on it.
“Places everyone,” John ordered. “Mari, you can open your eyes now.”
Blinking, Marigold fought the urge to rub her eyes into focus as she tried to acclimate her eyes to the darkness surrounding her that was pierced by the flicker of light all around her.
John stood there in front of the wooden gate to her backyard. He was wearing a roughhewn shirt over the T-shirt he’d been wearing when she first saw him in the driveway, not moments ago. Lily, and whomever else had been standing there with her, were now missing or hiding somewhere.
Marigold looked down to see she was dressed in a strangely fashioned gown that looked almost medieval…?
Bright blues and greens cascaded in a tulle-like material that flowed around her. She felt like Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was almost like she was a fairy princess.
What was going on?
This didn’t feel like a birthday party… she mused, utterly confused.
Just as she was getting ready to ask, she saw John shake his head at her, holding his finger in front of his mouth. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. She realized John was in on whatever this was and had been playing stupid earlier.
“We have a surprise for you,” John said tenderly, holding out his arm towards her. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest as she stared, unbelieving, at her friend’s husband.
“No more questions,” John interjected quietly before she could speak, pointing at her heart. “Trust what is in here, because it will never steer you wrong.”
When she didn’t move a muscle, he smiled and methodically picked up her hand, setting it onto his arm. Stepping forward, he tugged her along and opened the gate to her massive yard.
Sheets hung suspended from the arbor archway that led into the grounds of her massive garden, blocking her view. As they stepped forward, Marigold gasped as she surveyed the world before her.
Remember Dreams Page 12