“I’m sure we will. You will let me know when it’s done.”
“I will. See you tomorrow, probably,” Adam said as he closed his flip phone.
Adam heard Marti open the garage door so he waited by the door from the garage into the living room. He gave her a hug and a passionate kiss and led her to the kitchen where her supper waited. “I picked our supper up about a half-hour ago so it should still be warm. But, if not, there’s always the microwave.”
“Looks good. You know how I love shrimp from the Mason Jar. Now, what do you need to tell me?”
“After supper,” was all he said other than the small talk while they ate.
After they finished, he thought he’d have a little fun before they got totally serious. “I’ve changed my mind,” he said knowing she would jump to the wrong conclusion.
Her face fell while her eyes grew wide. “You…you mean…you don’t want to marry me?” she stuttered.
He smiled. “Of course I want to marry you, and I’m sorry if you thought that. But I’m talking about something else.”
She frowned and slapped his arm. “That was mean. You knew that’s what I’d think. Now get on with it.”
“Okay. As I said, I’m sorry. And you’re right. It was mean.” He realized maybe he shouldn’t have done that right before he wanted to ask her permission to begin helping the FBI. She needed to be in the proper frame of mind, not already angry at him.
“Because you’re going to be my wife…You are still going to marry me aren’t you.”
“Only if you don’t do something like that again. Now out with it.
“Okay. I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past few weeks about the abilities I have and how they can help people. Helping Robert find Mary Beth and helping the FBI bring Donati to justice has made me realize I should be utilizing my gifts more than I am by only helping Sheriff Stibbens every once in a while. So, because you’re going to be my wife I thought you should have a say in what I do in the future.”
She instantly understood. “I think I get the drift. You want to become a finder again.”
“No. Not exactly. I love my life here, and I’m sure I’m going to love my life with you, so I want to continue to live my anonymous life here being a columnist and being in charge of my foundation just as I have been. However, I would like to offer my services to the FBI should they need me. I talked to the FBI agent I was working with on the California kidnapping, Special Agent Ken Jackson, and conveyed to him that I will only work with him and that I reserve the right to turn down any case that seems overly dangerous or might get in the way of something else in which I’m involved.” She hadn’t said anything, so he kept going. “I discussed it with Ken, and he’s agreed to my terms, but I did tell him I had to ask you first. So, I’m asking. Are you okay with what I’ve proposed?”
“I’d be lying if I said I don’t have any reservations about you working for the FBI. That said, I’m going to be your wife, not your boss, so if occasionally working with the FBI is what you feel you must do, what kind of a wife would I be if I denied you the privilege of helping people. I only ask two things.”
“And what are those?”
“I would like to know what your assignments are before you accept them. After all, I know how foolhardy you can be when it comes to your safety.” She paused, and he thought she was waiting for him to agree to her first stipulation. She was.
“I was going to propose the same thing. I promise to let you read through each and every assignment or talk to Ken before I agree to anything. By the way, I object to the term foolhardy.” Though he knew her comment was on the mark. “And the second?”
“That you’ll stick to what you said about accepting assignments only occasionally.”
“I would imagine that will be difficult at first, but after I turn down a few assignments, I think they’ll get the idea and won’t bring all their problems to me. So yes, I agree with that term as well.”
“Okay, now that we’ve got that settled, I have a question for you.”
“Oh?” He gazed at her, his curiosity aroused.
“When are we getting married?”
“When do you want to get married? And do you want a simple ceremony or a huge wing-ding?”
“Both of those should be your choice. Remember, I’ve already been married once and it was a large wing-ding though I don’t think I would classify it as a huge one.”
Adam looked at Bagel sleeping peacefully beside Butter while the puppies wrestled and played amongst themselves. “Maybe we should ask Bagel. He seems to always have the right answer,” Adam said with a smirk.
THE END
Table of Contents
PART 1 - 1985
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
PART 2 - 2005
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter – 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock Page 46