We continued down the wooded road until we came to the spot that was Washington’s headquarters. We got out of the truck again and looked around.
Leigh Ann snuggled in close to me and I put my arm around her.
“I was kidding before about the ghosts here but you can almost feel them can’t you? You just know something special happened here. Do you believe in ghosts?”
I replied, “Sort of, but I also believe in spirits.”
“What’s the difference?” She asked.
“Supposedly ghosts are more or less physical apparitions. Spirits are all around us, and although they are more difficult to see they communicate with us better than ghosts which are more of the “Boo!” variety. The Bible talks about one of the Holy Trinity and it is called the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit interchangeably.”
Leigh Ann looked up and me and said, “Don, you are a surprising man. You seem to know so much about so many things. I have never met a man like you. You keep me entertained, informed and you make me feel safe. You constantly impress me.”
“Um, thank you? I’m nothing special. I am just me. I read a lot, I like trivia.”
“But the stuff you tell me is more than trivia. It is interesting and informative. You actually communicate with me. My ex-husband would talk at me. You carry me along when you talk. You make me feel important. It’s like we are communicating on the same level. Does that make sense to you?”
We stood there in the woods surrounded by the spirits of George Washington, General Lafayette and who knows how many soldiers. I felt them watching over me and I could “hear” them telling me to be strong and do the right thing. In my mind’s eye I could See General Washington nod his head at me and I knew what I had to do.
I took my arm off of Leigh Ann’s shoulders, turned to face her, bent down on one knee and looked up at her face. At first she seemed puzzled and then the mist cleared and she understood what I was doing. Her eyes widened and her hands tightened around mine.
“Don,” she said.
I shook my head and said, “Let me do this. Please.”
She nodded her head.
“Leigh Ann, I have never met a woman like you. You make me feel complete. You fill me up. You are my guardian angel. I love you. Will you marry me?”
She dropped to her knees still holding my hands. A car drove by and slowed up. I looked at it as a family of four stared at us.
“Don, I love you too. But…”
But? Oh god no. If she turned me down I would feel like a fool and it would be a hell of a long ride back to her house. I don’t think I could take that.
“Don, I love too. But, are you sure about this? Just hours ago you said you wanted to take this slowly. What changed your mind? Tell me that before I answer you.”
“Nothing’s changed, “I said. “I’ve just now been able to realize what we have and to understand it. I admit I wasn’t ready to accept it but now I know I was a fool. It’s been right here in front of me the whole time. You are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. If you’ll have me. I promise to protect you, to respect you and to love you with all of my being.”
She smiled a tense smile.
“Ask me again then.”
“Leigh Ann, will you marry me?”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered into my ear, “Yes, of course. Just one question, what took you so long?”
We laughed kneeling there on the ground in front of the General and his troops. I could hear them cheering. Suddenly I realized that a vehicle had pulled up and there was someone standing behind us. I looked up and it was a park ranger.
“Hi folks. How’s your day?”
We stood up and Leigh Ann turned towards him. “We’re doing wonderful, we just got engaged!”
“Really?” He said. “Right here in front of General Washington’s headquarters?” He arched his eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s all that was going on?”
“Yes sir,” I said.
He looked at us a moment and then said, “Can I see some ID please?”
“Sure,” I replied. “Let me get them out of the truck.”
He stepped back and nodded.
I stepped over to the Tahoe and opened the door. I turned to Leigh Ann and said, “Where’s yours?”
“In my wallet, baby. Get it out.”
I found hers and took out my government ID and badge and handed them to him.
He looked at Leigh Ann’s first and then at mine. His eyes widened a little.
“Okay, um, sergeant, thank you.” He handed the IDs back to me, touched the brim of his campaign hat and said, “Oh, and congratulations.” He nodded his head and walked back to his pick-up truck and drove away.
We erupted into hysterical laughter!
Leigh Ann said, “I didn’t know you were a sergeant. I thought you were an investigator?”
“Yep, that’s me Sergeant Don, super investigator.”
“Hey!” Said Leigh Ann, “We never kissed!”
So we did. This time with no interruption by rangers or families driving by. Just Leigh Ann and I and the Allied forces of the Revolutionary War.
Chapter 19
We went back to her place and had the leftover barbeque from the previous night. We sat on the loveseat and talked about what kind of wedding we wanted while to TV played softly in the background. I couldn’t tell you what was on if I had to.
I told her she could have any kind of wedding she wanted but if it was up to me it’d be small and we’d spend the money on a really nice honeymoon. She agreed. She didn’t have any friends outside of work just like me.
We decided on a very small ceremony with two witnesses, my dad and her secretary from work. We also decided to wait until after my mom’s funeral which was the next Saturday.
I didn’t want to leave but we both had to work the next day. It was almost midnight before we walked to the front door to say our goodbyes. We hugged and kissed.
Leigh Ann said, “You have made me the happiest woman in the world tonight, Don. I love you so much. I cannot wait to see where this takes us. It is going to be an unbelievable journey I bet. I don’t think anything bad is going to happen to us. It’s just going to be a perfect world for us!”
I looked into her green eyes and took in her face. I wanted to burn that image into my mind. She was so damn pretty. Her red hair was full and thick, she had pale skin that was covered with light colored freckles. She was beautiful and she was mine!
“Oh, crap!” I said.
She looked alarmed and said, “What Don?”
“Rings! I have to get you an engagement ring. I didn’t even think about it until now.”
“Hold on,” she said. “I’ll be right back.” And she took off down the hall.
She came back with a ring box in her hand and opened it to show me a set of rings.
“This was my grandmothers. She willed it to me and I decided I’d wear them if I ever got married again. That is if you don’t mind.”
“Whatever you want. Whatever makes you happy.”
She took the engagement ring out of the box and handed it to me. I held it in my right hand and slipped in onto the ring finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly.
We looked at the ring on her finger. The diamond sparkled in the light.
“This really makes it official doesn’t it?” She asked.
“Yes. I guess it does. So you don’t want me to get you a ring?”
She said, “Maybe someday you can get me one for another finger. But for now this one suits me fine.”
We hugged for a long time. I kissed her and then said, “I love you, Leigh Ann.”
“I love you too, Don. Call me when you get ready for bed. I want your voice to be the last thing I hear before I go to sleep. I want that every night for the rest of our lives.”
I nodded me head, “Anything you want, baby girl.”
We kissed once more and I was out the door and driving back to my place. I started thinking about a
ll kinds of things; would I still work in Norfolk? Where would we live? Her place, my place or a new place? I’d have to ask her that later. I needed to call my dad and tell him. I wasn’t going to tell my sister though. She’d find out when she found out.
Then I thought of something else. Resnick. Should I tell Leigh Ann about what I had done? Would she understand? Would she turn away from me? Break our engagement and never want to see me again? Would she call the police and turn me in? I didn’t know. Let’s face it; even though we were in love we didn’t know each other very well. Hell, she’d probably have some hidden secrets too. I doubt she had killed someone kind of secret in her closet though.
I think this is a secret I’d just have to live with. Suddenly the old thoughts about Heaven and Hell came back into my mind. I recall thinking whether I’d be with Miranda or not. And now I was getting married again. I didn’t even know if Leigh Ann was religious or not or if she attended church. In the end would we be in Heaven together. Two wives in Heaven? How did that work?
This was all so confusing! And I had so much to learn about my future wife. It was only then that I began to have doubts about what I had done. Well, maybe not doubts exactly. Maybe uncertainties would be a better word. That was understandable wasn’t it? I think anyone that had done what I had just done with the same circumstances would have to stop and think about it. I mean, I knew I wanted to be with her. I knew I loved her but what I had done was impetuous and deserved some careful thinking.
I mean… What the hell did I mean? Either I loved her or I didn’t.
I was certain beyond any doubt that I loved her. Sure, we had a lot to learn about one another. There were going to be adjustments, big and small. All of that would fall into place sooner or later. I knew Miranda much better than I know Leigh Ann but there were still things we didn’t know about one another and it all worked out okay.
I guess I was just having pre-wedding jitters. Didn’t that come with a lot of questions and certain doubts? Of course it did and they’d fade into the background eventually and someday I’d look back at this and laugh.
I finally got home and undressed for bed. I dialed Leigh Ann’s number.
“Hello, baby.” She said.
“Hi yourself. Are you in bed?”
“Yes. And missing you. I’ve been thinking about when we’ll be in the same bed together. You know, that’s allowed now.”
I smiled. “So you’re inviting me into your bed? Are you saying you want me to come back over there?”
“I would love that. But no, not tonight. I want our first time being intimate to be special. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, it makes perfect sense to me. And I agree with you. Can I be open with you?”
She said, “Of course you can. Tell me anything you like. I want to have an open relationship. I don’t want any secrets between us.”
‘No you don’t’ I thought to myself. ‘There is one big thing in my past that you don’t want to know, I guarantee it.’
“I agree. I want our marriage to be built on trust. Anyway, I want to be intimate with you. I ache to be with you. But like you I want our first time to be romantic and special. I guess we’ll know when that time will be.”
“Thank you for saying that, Don. You make me feel so special.”
I grinned to myself, “You are special, Leigh Ann.”
“Well, let’s get some sleep. Call me tomorrow.”
“I will, unless you call me first. Who do you think will hold out the longest?”
We laughed, said ‘I love you’ and went to sleep.
Chapter 20
We talked several times that Monday and after work we met for dinner. It was hard to part ways afterwards. I couldn’t wait for the day when we wouldn’t have to go our separate ways but go home together.
I checked the mail when I got home and found a letter from the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office asking me to contact them about the Marcus Garvey case to determine if they needed me as a witness or not.
Oh, I didn’t want to do that. I had finally distanced myself from that situation and now it seemed as if I was being dragged back into it. But if I needed to testify against that bastard to get him in jail I’d do it. If he got the death penalty that’d be even better!
I called Leigh Ann and told her about the letter. She asked if I wanted her to go with me to see them. I told her, no, I thought I could handle it. Then she asked me if I wanted her to go to court with me and I told her I’d really like that.
We talked about this and that, nothing in particular though. She told me about her day and I told her about mine.
Is this the way it was going to be from now on? Just us talking about our days and whatever thoughts were going through our minds at the time? I hoped so. It felt comfortable to me.
That night before I got into bed I took Miranda’s picture down and put it in the spare bedroom with her ashes. I didn’t talk to her. I guess our talking days were over. I finally had let go of her. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’d always love her. But our days together were over. I was with Leigh Ann now and we were going to build a new life together. Hopefully a long and happy life.
As had become our habit we talked in the dark after we had gotten into bed. We ended our conversations with each of us saying, ‘I love you.’
I called the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office the next day from work and set up an appointment to meet with them one day after work.
I told Danny about the call and wondered what to expect. He said he was sure they’d tell me everything I needed to know and to not worry about it. He asked what kind of wedding we were going to have and I told him it was just going to be four of us and a justice of the peace. He seemed kind of disappointed and wanted to know when he and Bonnie were going to meet Leigh Ann. I told him that I’d talk to her about it and let him know.
Two days later I was in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office and they asked me a lot of questions. I told them I didn’t know how I could help and he said he’d probably have me testify finding Garvey’s belongings in my house. He said it would go a long way in proving his guilt for the breaking and entering and he’d try somehow to tie that in with Miranda’s rape and murder. He said he’d get together with me once more closer to the trial date so we could work out exactly what I’d say.
I was fine with that and really kind of looked forward to sitting up there in front of the court, looking him right in the eyes and seeing his fear when the judge pronounced him guilty and they dragged him out of the courtroom.
I guess I had read and watched too many murder mysteries over the years. I just imagine him yelling out, “I didn’t do it! I’m innocent I tell ya!” I hoped he’d cry on his way to “the big house.”
I laughed at my silly thoughts as I drove to Leigh Ann’s for dinner. She said she’d fix lasagna, salad and garlic bread.
Garlic bread? Ooh, garlic breath. I laughed again. I didn’t think even garlic breath could keep us from kissing!
My mother’s funeral was the next Saturday. Leigh Ann accompanied me. She wasn’t just a date now, she was my fiancée and I was proud to have her by my side. She was dressed in a black suit with the same lace collared shirt she had worn the day I proposed to her. She was, in a word, beautiful.
I was surprised at the amount of people that turned out for Mom’s funeral but I guess I shouldn’t have been. She and Dad had been the cornerstone of that church for almost fifty years. I was also surprised at family and friends that showed up from all over the US. People I hadn’t seen for years. Cousins I hadn’t seen since we were kids and an alcoholic uncle who came in sober.
Many wanted to speak about Mom. Stories of the wonderful things she had done over the years. Of course she was the “favorite aunt” to all my cousins. The preacher asked me if I wanted to say something but I declined. I think he thought that was a little strange but I didn’t share the love all these people had for my mother. They didn’t know her like I had. I was just glad it was
over and I looked forward to my new life with Leigh Ann.
After the service we asked Dad if he wanted to go out with us to get something to eat but he said he just wanted to go home. I had picked him up and he sat there holding the urn with her ashes and cried all the way back to the house. I offered to carry it in for him but he didn’t want to let go of ‘her.’ So I let him go. He had always been stubborn and gotten his own way.
Leigh Ann asked why he didn’t want to go with us and why I hadn’t insisted. I told her about his stubbornness and that no matter what I said it wouldn’t make any difference. My sister had told me she’d go over and check on him.
She never even asked who Leigh Ann was. I wasn’t really surprised. She was wrapped up her own little world. I realized when she had stood up to say something about Mom that she was stoned. Her pupils were huge and her eyes darted around the room. Well, if that’s what it took for her to get through it then that was her business.
“So, your sister,” Leigh Ann said.
“Yep. She’s something isn’t she?”
She shook her head and said, “Everything you said was true. I really thought you were exaggerating but you hit the nail right on the head. I hope this won’t offend you but if we were going to have a big wedding I wouldn’t want her there.”
“I’m right with you, baby. After Miranda died she and my mom cleaned Miranda’s things out of the house for me. I told them explicitly that they could not keep anything of Miranda’s but of course my sister had to keep some of Miranda’s clothes. Mom told me that Reagan just wanted something to remember Miranda by. But that wasn’t the truth; she just wanted something for nothing. She tried to hide the fact that she took them from me by telling Mom she’d never wear them around me. They were nice clothes and I can almost bet she sold them. Did you know she didn’t even show up for Miranda’s funeral?”
“Are you kidding me? That’s terrible! To change the subject I have a question, do you carry that stubborn streak?”
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