Flash Drive

by Jacqueline DeGroot

  When clouds covered the sky and a steady drizzle of rain cloaked everything outside her windows and sent the golfers running for their carts, she called Tess and told her she wasn’t up for going out. She promised she’d eat some soup and make a grilled cheese and ham sandwich.

  Then she went out in the rain and potted her new bulbs and planted her new plants, getting soaked to the skin but having a resurgence of life as sensation starting coming back to her in the form of the stinging rain.

  Chapter Seventy-three

  Garrett was sitting at the table checking his email when he heard three doors slam. He walked over to the window and stared down. His head jerked as he recognized Matt, Roman, and Philip. All three were bent over the trunk of a Lexus. They were taking things out, but from his angle, he couldn’t see what. He remembered their warnings about not hurting their little girl under pain of death. He had to admit, he was a little unnerved as he tuned back to get his cell phone to tuck into his pocket.

  He heard them clomping up the steps, then the

  bell rang.

  He opened the door to three frowning men.

  “Ya fucked up man,” Philip said as he pushed his way inside. He was carrying a big pizza box.

  “Big time,” added Matt, as he strolled in behind Philip, nearly pushing Garrett aside. He swung a big bottle of Jack Daniels by the neck.

  “Bloody royally,” Roman muttered as he followed the first two, a case of Guinness gripped by his fingers in the cardboard slot.

  Garrett shut the door behind them and shook his head. He knew he was in for it, but damned if he was going to go down without a fight. “What the hell was I supposed to say? I read your kink? That I wanted to play with you? And don’t tell me that any one of you would have let the opportunity pass.”

  Roman let out a big sigh. “No, you’ve a point there. But I might h’ found a way while she was screaming with the big ‘O’ ta mention what ya found.”

  Matt plopped himself down on an oversized leather ottoman. “So how’d this happen? How’d you get yourself in this fix?”

  Garrett rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and took the shot of Jack Philip handed him with the other. He slid onto one end of the sofa with a big sigh. “You ever read any of her stories?” he asked the group in general.

  Each man, in turn shook his head.

  “Didn’t know she wrote any,” Roman said with a grin, “but I’m happy to oblige and read a few.”

  “Oh, that would get me in her good graces for sure,” Garrett said with a fair amount of sarcasm. “Let’s just say they had me on edge for weeks, until I finally tracked her down. And I admit, I was in no small hurry to bed the woman. But honestly, I wasn’t in this just for the sex. I like the woman, liked her from the start.”

  He stood and paced the room. “Hell, who am I kidding? I love the woman. And I want her back.”

  Roman smiled and lifted his glass to him, “Well, curiously, that’s why we’re here. With the blessing of our wives, I might add.”

  “Hell, I just wanted to meet her and let her gradually get to know me the way I knew her. I just ran out of time,” Garrett said.

  “And was it worth it, doin’ it that way?”

  “God yes. To hear her . . . never mind. Let’s just say it’s never been better.”

  “Then you probably want more?” This from Philip.

  “Lots more.”

  “How much more?” Matt chimed in.

  “What do you mean by that? How much more is there?” Garrett said as he thrust long fingers into his hair.

  All three raised their left hands and pointed to their wedding bands.

  “Yeah, there is that,” he said with a snort. “And you really think she’ll listen to me long enough for me to ask?”

  “We have an idea. Go put your running shoes on.”

  Twenty-five minutes later he was bent over, hands on knees puffing into the wind. The Kindred Spirit Mailbox stood before him, stalwart and comforting as he gathered his breath and his thoughts.

  Dear K.S.

  While not meaning to, I managed to screw up the best thing that ever happened to me. Long story short . . . I found something, tried to return it, but then didn’t when I finally managed to discover who it belonged to.

  People meet in unconventional ways. We all run in different circles so I doubt I would have met her if not for her lost flash drive. I’m sorry I stalked her, but she unbalanced me, and I thought I needed the special edge I had to guarantee my suit. I couldn’t take the chance that I wouldn’t win her. So like any good gambler I used the advantage I had.

  I think I fell a little in love with her long before I met her in Southport, and was desperately in love with her before the day was through.

  She was meant for me. I know that more than I know my name. It wasn’t an accident she lost her flash drive, and it wasn’t a coincidence that I was the one to find it. It was God, smiling down on both of us and giving us the miracle we were both waiting for. I love her and I want her for all time.

  If she could find it in her heart to forgive me, I would like to ask her to become my wife. To marry me—here on this beautiful beach.

  Chapter Seventy-four

  With tears in her eyes, Laurel got off the bench and went back to the mailbox. She replaced the notebook, knowing full well she’d be back tomorrow to copy Garrett’s beautiful message to the Kindred Spirit.

  “We hung around . . . in case you needed us,” mumbled Cat.

  “You okay?” this from Viv. Tess looked anxious; she was fidgeting with the long sash of her dress. “Are things better now?”

  They all looked so disappointed that she wanted to burst out laughing.

  She addressed each woman’s comment, giving each one a stern look in turn. “I’ll always need you. And yes, I’m okay.” She let out a big breath and met Tessa’s eyes, “And things are much better. This is the second letter I read from him today.”

  Tess looked at her quizzically, “I know he sent flowers, I didn’t know about a letter arriving.”

  Laurel shrugged. “It came in the mail yesterday, I just read it today.” She shrugged sheepishly, “I forgot to check the box until this morning.”

  They all stared at her then Cat said, “So, what did he write?”

  Laurel took in a huge breath and beamed at them. “He wants me to marry him.”

  “And . . .” Viv asked.

  “I think I might like to do that.”

  All three women clasped a hand to their throats and as one, ran to hug her.

  When the tears had died down again, Laurel said, “I suppose I should try to find him.”

  “He’s gone. He told the guys that he needed some space, that he wanted to have some time to believe that you were still his. We don’t know where he is.”

  “Then I’ll just have to leave him a message in the notebook and hope he comes back to see if I answered him.”

  She turned back to the mailbox, dug out the notebook and found a pen. She had just written “Garrett . . . ” and was collecting her thoughts, when she heard Cat whistle a loud catcall through her teeth. She looked up and saw the girls looking down the beach.

  Three tall men in black suits with crisp white shirts were walking down the beach toward them. The breeze was fluttering their jackets open and rifling their hair. They were walking in sync, taking the same even strides, and she was immediately reminded of the way Il Divo came on stage, their commanding presence captivating everyone. Roman, Philip and Matt were smiling, their eyes on their brides.

  “It seems your husbands are making their way down the beach.”

  All three women turned to face her, eyes glowing.

  “Must have finished golfing,” Tessa said innocently.

  “Maybe th
ey found Garrett,” Cat murmured, clearly pleased about something.

  “Why are they so dressed up?” Laurel asked.

  As they neared, Laurel called to Roman, “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re best men.”

  “Best men?” Laurel asked, confused.

  “Yeah, for the wedding.”

  “Wedding?” Laurel asked. She looked over at Tess, Cat and Viv. And noticed that they were all wearing filmy, long summer dresses.

  “Don’t tell me you were gonna say no?” said Roman. “After all your caterwauling, I thought for sure you’d accept Garrett’s proposal.”

  “I haven’t seen him. I thought he went off someplace after writing this.”

  “Look at the date.”

  She looked down at the notebook at Garrett’s entry and noted the date. “This was written yesterday,” she breathed out. “But I just read it, just now.”

  “You were supposed to come here yesterday to read this,” Matt said.

  Tessa spoke up. “It rained yesterday, so we couldn’t bring her. We,” she waved her hand at Viv and Cat, “decided to skip the first part and just bring her here today. We knew she’d say yes.”

  Laurel gasped. “What?”

  “Well, you just said you wanted to marry him.”

  “Not today!”

  “Why not today?”

  “Uh, no reason I guess.” Then her eyes lit with humor as she met Philip’s, and pointed her finger at him. “Except you said I couldn’t marry anyone without a pre-nup.”

  Philip tapped the inside pocket of his suit coat.

  “Got it.”

  Laurel jerked back in surprise. “You all were in on this?”

  “Well, somebody had to get you two back together. The two of you were doing an abysmal job of ironing this out on your own.”

  “So, you ready to get married?” Roman asked as he came over and hugged her around the shoulders.

  She looked down at her clothes, “I’m not really dressed for it.”

  “At least we managed to convince her to wear capris instead of the cut-offs she had on,” Viv said, adding, “it was the best we could do.”

  “Judging by the way Garrett looked last time I saw him, I’m pretty sure he’d marry you if you were dressed as Ronald McDonald,” Matt said.

  “Look, here he comes!” Philip said, and pointed out toward the horizon.

  They watched as a helicopter flew low across the water toward them, settling in the sand close to the jetty.

  As the blades slowed, two men jumped out—Garrett and a man with a clerical collar. They walked, their arms swinging and looking stately and unassailable, striding up the beach.

  As they approached, Garrett’s wide smile faltered as he saw the way she was dressed. The disappointment in his eyes was palpable. She saw him square his shoulders and brace himself as if expecting a hard blow.

  He stopped when he stood three feet away. “But you came back,” he whispered.

  “Actually, I never left. It seems I was supposed to have read this yesterday,” she lifted the notebook and waved her hand at the page it was open to. “It was raining in the afternoon so we didn’t make it here. I just now read your message.”

  “Oh . . . hmmmm. Awkward. So . . . would you have come back?”

  She looked up into his beautiful face, a face that was now frowning and registering fear.

  She saw panic cross his features and quickly allayed his worries. “Yes, I would have come back. But I’m only doing this once, so I want to hear the words . . . you have to ask me in person.”

  Garrett slid to his knee so fast she had to blink.

  And as if he’d done this a thousand times, he one handedly snapped open a small black box and took her hand in his. “Laurel, I love you. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she smiled down at him. “Yes!”

  He took the ring from the box and placed it on her finger, then kissed it.

  The most beautiful brilliant cut diamond winked back at her. Marquis-cut diamonds formed petals around the impressive center. She knew instantly that the flower setting had been created especially for her, as baguette-shaped rubies with details etched and set in gold to resemble her flash drive were inset into the band. It was stunning.

  He stood, wrapped his arms around her, and brought her close for a lingering kiss. As he broke away, she thought she saw his eyes glistening.

  “I was so afraid I’d lost you,” he said. “So afraid you’d never even see me again.”

  “Well, I was angry. But then I realized, you were right, this was the way we were destined to meet, and I know that you would have told me eventually about my flash drive. I love you so much that I can’t stay mad.”

  “Thank God,” he breathed into her hair. “And speaking of God, this is Pastor McKeran. He’s ready to marry us.”

  “But I look like a beach bum!”

  “I’d marry you if you wore yoga pants, clam diggers, overalls, a wet suit, or absolutely nothing at all . . .” he said as he kissed her on the lips and enjoyed her deepening blush.

  “I favor the last one,” Roman said, and everyone laughed.

  “C’mon,” Garrett said, pulling some papers from his inside coat pocket. “I have the license, the reverend,” he said, indicating the pastor, “the best men. You’ve got your best women . . . what more do we need?”

  She smiled and took his hand. He led her down the beach toward the water and everyone followed.

  “I don’t have any vows prepared,” she said.

  “Just say you love me and that you’ll always be mine. That’s all I need to hear.”

  “We haven’t talked about a lot of things . . . like children.”

  “Do you want some?”

  She nodded.

  “Then I’ll have a fine time gettin’ you with them. Lord knows we already have the godparents to spoil them.”

  “How about your mother, wouldn’t she want to be here?”

  “You give her a grandchild and I think I’ll be forgiven. Anything else?”

  “Where will we live?”

  “I think between the two of us we can afford any place on the planet. So you choose, but I’d prefer not to have to learn a new language, or eat bugs.”

  “You really do love me.”

  “Oh, yes. I really do love you.” He took her arm and turned her to face the pastor. “Come, be my bride. In front of our friends and the Kindred Spirit, become my wife.”

  They were married on the beach as the three couples stood behind them, each husband gripping his wife around the waist. When it was time to kiss the bride, each man kissed his bride. After many hugs, Garrett swooped Laurel up into his arms and carried her to the helicopter.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to a place where we can play and I can show you how much I love you.”

  After he settled her into her seat and buckled himself in, he signaled the pilot, and they lifted up into the air. She waved to her friends on the beach, and thought of her parents, and how happy they’d be for her. She’d married the man of her dreams. And the man of her fantasies.

  They landed at the Ocean Isle Airport, and he told her she had two hours to get her passport and pack before they would be returning to get on a private jet to head for their honeymoon destination.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, as he walked her to his truck, “I need to know what to pack.”

  He stood with her by the passenger door, holding it open for her. “Were going to Zihuatanejo. And don’t bother packing very much. The idea is for us spend a lot of time naked.”

  “Zihuatanejo?”

  “The final scene, Shawshank Redempt
ion, remember?”

  “Oh, isn’t that in Mexico?”

  “Southern Mexico, on the Pacific side, on a half-moon bay. Zihuatanejo’s an Indian word, meaning place of beautiful women. With you there, the name will be more fact than legend. I wanted to take you to a secluded paradise. This one came to mind.”

  “I sure wasn’t when it happened, but now I am so happy that I lost that flash drive.”

  “We had to have missed each other by only a few minutes. I tried so hard to find you. I practically memorized every entry in Quicken. Every Sunday, I sat in my car in front of Seaside United Methodist Church trying to figure out if you’d be there that week, and at which service.”

  “I don’t go as regularly as I should.”

  “I figured that out from the frequency of the checks. I took the time I spent sitting there thanking God that I was the one who found your flash drive. Had someone else found it, we would probably never have met.” He kissed the tip of her nose and saw her eyes close at the thought. “And somebody else would be stocking up on olive oil.”

  They laughed and he kissed her passionately, before helping her inside the truck.

  “So why was it in a baggie?” he asked as he started the truck and drove down Four-Mile Road.

  “We live in an area that’s all marshes and swamps, and there are bridges everywhere. I thought if I ran off the road, at least it would be in something that was waterproof. So . . . why didn’t you just bring it to me when you figured out it was mine?”