Chapter 34
Five months later
Rad strode into McDunna’s office with a cup of hot coffee and sat down with a loud sigh. “Where’s McDunna?”
“Out.” An aide named Ace didn’t even look up from his work. He was a brawny, barrel-chested man with tattoos on both meaty forearms and a closely shaved head, reminding Rad of a human version of Popeye.
“He told me to stop by… about my re-enlistment.”
Ace continued writing, and then raised his head as if just realizing who he was talking to. “Oh, hey dude. McDunna said he’d be right back.”
He started writing again, and then seemed to remember something else. “By the way, someone’s been trying to get hold of you, bro.”
“Oh yeah?” Rad assumed he was joking. “Not the police, I hope.”
“No, seriously.” Ace stopped writing and started paging through a stack of notes. “A woman.”
Rad’s breath caught in his throat and he leaned forward. “Who? What’s her name?”
“Here it is.” He grabbed a crumpled looking piece of paper and unfolded it, his meaty fingers fumbling at the job so terribly that Rad was practically on the edge of his seat by the time he said the name. “Elsie.”
Rad took the scribbled note out of his extended hand and leaned back against the chair again, disappointment spreading through him like a fast-moving poison. He had told himself he was not going to get his hopes up again. The pain of the roller coaster ride was getting to be too much for him.
He stuck the note absently in his pocket. “What’s her last name?”
“She didn’t say.”
“She leave a number?”
“No. Said you’d know where to find her.”
Rad’s brows narrowed. “What?”
“Yeah. She called last week and again this morning. Figured it was some chick you laid but didn’t want to give your number to, so I didn’t bother calling you. You know how that is.”
Rad ignored the comment. “And her name was Elsie. You’re sure?”
“It’s right there on the paper, dude.” Ace cocked his head. “You don’t remember waking up with someone named Elsie?”
Rad frowned. “Not so much.”
“Your loss. She sounded nice.”
Ace went back to work and Rad leaned back in the chair. He took the note back out of his pocket and studied it. Tell Radcliff — Elsie called.
“I don’t know any Elsie’s,” Rad said as if to himself, and then glanced up at Ace. “You’re absolutely sure that was the name?”
Ace put down his pen and took a deep breath. “Dude. Read my lips. She said her name was, EL-SIE.” He shook his head, picked his pen back up, and bent over his work again.
Rad stared out the window a minute, and then his heart banged against his chest again. He rose to his feet and walked over to the desk.
“Wait. Do you mean—L.C.?”
Ace closed his eyes and raised his head slowly before opening them again. “Are you fucking deaf? I said, Elsie.”
“No. I know.” Rad talked fast. “But did she say it like, E-l-l C-e-e.”
“Read my fucking lips. That’s what I’ve been fucking telling you. El–sie.”
“Did she spell it for you?”
“Are you insinuating I don’t know how to spell something so goddam simple as Elsie?”
“Okay. Okay.” Rad held his hands up in the air to calm Ace down. “What did she say again?”
Ace angrily put his pen down again and stood. “Like I told you at least three mother-fucking times. All’s she said was, you’d know where to find her.”
Rad strode around the desk, grasped Ace in a big bear hug, and kissed him on the top of his shaved head. “Thank you, man. I love you.” Then he turned and sprinted toward the door.
“Sorry, dude. I’m taken,” he heard Ace yell just as he slammed the door shut.
Rad sat down on a bench with a hot cup of coffee while Tara lay at his feet. It was a foggy morning in Ocean City so no one was around except the older lady knitting next to him. There were any number of other benches available, but he had to sit on this one. Their bench. The bench he had found Lauren sitting on that sunny summer day.
“If you came to watch the sunrise, you didn’t pick a very good mornin’,” the woman said with a noticeable Irish accent, her needles clanking together.
Rad looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah, I noticed that.”
“Don’t see the need for it myself,” the woman said. “If it weren’t for that one wantin’ to come out every mornin’, I’d still be under the covers.” The woman nodded toward the beach, and Rad noticed two chairs sitting in the sand, barely discernible in the haze. One of them was occupied.
“Well, there’s nothing like dawn at the beach—even if you can’t see the sun,” Rad responded, thinking back to the one sunrise he would never forget as long as he lived.
“That one says the same thing, though I don’t share the feelin’.”
Rad squinted his eyes toward the figure but still could not make much out through the haze and fog. He saw a walker leaning beside the chair that was occupied and an umbrella pole already in place behind it, apparently in anticipation of the sun making an appearance. The scene reminded him of his own grandfather, who loved going to the beach even when his advanced age made walking on the sand impractical. There was something about the sand and the surf—even on old bones. The memorial plaques on the backs of all the benches on the Boardwalk attested to the fact that beachgoers continued to be drawn to this place until the day they died.
Finishing his coffee, he stood to put the cup in a trash can. “Nice talking to you, ma’am.”
She nodded, but the clicking of her needles never slowed.
Deciding to take a stroll down the Boardwalk, Rad let his mind wander. If Lauren were here, where should he even begin looking? It had seemed like it would be easy when he’d loaded Tara into his truck and headed north. Now he realized it was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Strolling as if in a daze, Rad found himself standing in front of Ripley’s Museum, just staring at the sign as he replayed every minute of that memorable summer day. The museum was quiet and empty now, but that’s not what he was seeing. He was seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, and feeling the sensation of her hand in his.
Feeling a nudge on his leg, he looked down at Tara, who stared up at him with her head cocked to the side as if wandering why they had stopped.
He stared in silence for a few more moments, allowing the memories to rekindle. It seemed only natural his thoughts should linger upon what had been such a remarkable experience. He lifted his gaze to the Ferris wheel towering behind and pictured the two of them at the top. He could almost hear the music and see the flashing lights as the scene unfolded before his eyes. His heart throbbed and swelled with the feelings the visions inspired.
Another nudge from Tara and a loud bark of impatience interrupted his musings.
“Okay, girl. I guess I did promise you a walk on the beach.”
Unhooking her from the leash, he headed out toward the water. A gentle breeze had begun to wipe away the fog, but it was still too hazy to see very far in the distance. Tara ran ahead, disappearing into the mist, but Rad knew she wouldn’t go too far ahead. After losing sight of her for a few minutes, he gave a quick whistle. She soon came loping back out of the fog, carrying something in her mouth.
“Tara, here.” Rad patted his leg and called her over. “What do you have?”
He pulled the ball cap out of her mouth and took off at a dead run down the beach.
“Lauren?”
Rad slowed down as he approached the figure in the chair, not believing his eyes.
“Hey, stranger.” Her words were slightly slurred from her serious injuries, but he could hear the relief in her tone. “What took you so long?”
Lauren pulled herself up out of the chair as he stepped closer, and then she was in his arms, laughing and sobbing, then laughing again. “Couldn’t remember your number… and the base wouldn’t tell me anything…”
“It doesn’t matter.” Rad buried his face in her hair. “I found you.”
The woman he’d been talking to on the Boardwalk suddenly appeared, watching with her arms crossed as if she were both body guard and nurse, and was beginning to grasp what was happening. “So this is the one you’ve been pining for,” she said, looking at Lauren before she turned an appraising eye to Rad. “And why didn’t you tell me you were looking for a lass not the sunrise?”
Lauren pulled away from his arms. “You two know each other?”
“We talked on the bench earlier, lass.”
Rad thought how close he had been to her and yet how close he had been to leaving without seeing her. Lauren must have been reading his mind.
“Fate has caused our paths to cross three times.” She looked up at Rad. “What do you think that means?”
Rad pulled her back into his arms. “It means I’m not taking a chance relying on fate any more. I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
Lauren’s nurse threw her hands in the air and mentioned she had some errands to run. Rad helped Lauren sit down, and then pulled the empty chair closer.
“I’m not that fragile,” Lauren said, looking over at him. “I’ll be racing you on the beach before you know it.”
Rad smiled, but his brows were creased as he thought about all she had been through, and all that had happened since they’d last seen each other. Her once vigorous body appeared small and delicate. Her eyes were sunken, and her smile uneven.
“I guess I missed the wedding.” Lauren interrupted his thoughts.
“What wedding?”
“Heather and Wynn’s.”
Rad paused a moment. “No, actually you didn’t. It was postponed. Wynn was wounded.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.” Lauren reached out and touched his hand. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He is now.” Rad gazed over her head a moment, thinking about the seriousness of his injuries. Though he still had months, maybe years, of rehab to do, Wynn could walk and would not need a wheelchair. “It was pretty dicey there for a while.”
“Poor Heather.”
“Poor Heather?”
“Yeah, she must have been through a lot.”
Rad studied her with his head cocked to the side. “She’s not the only one.”
“I know.” Lauren squeezed his arm. “You’ve been through a lot too.”
“Not me, silly. You.”
Lauren sat back and closed her eyes. “Oh, no. It wasn’t bad on my side. I hit my head somewhere along the line and don’t remember much of anything.”
Rad contemplated her words for a moment, at the way she’d put it so lightly, and made the decision not to tell her he’d seen the video. There’d be time for that. Anyway, he could tell she was only saying that to make him feel better. She hadn’t forgotten her time in captivity. She’d only chosen not to remember.
“I thought Heather and Wynn would be married with a baby by now,” Lauren mused.
“Well, they did everything a little backwards.”
Lauren looked over at him, her brows creased. “You mean? They have a baby?”
“A boy. Just a few weeks old.”
“Oh my goodness.” Lauren’s eyes sparkled. “That’s such wonderful news.”
Rad moved his chair even closer. “So anyway, want to go to the wedding with me? It’s next week.”
“Do you think they’d mind?”
“Are you kidding me? They’d be ecstatic.”
“Then I’d love to.”
Rad was quiet for a moment. “Want to make it a double?”
Lauren looked at him questioningly, and then apparently understood he meant a double wedding. “No, I want my own.” She kind of smiled and stared into the distance. “I mean, if anyone would ask or anything.”
Rad got down on one knee beside her chair and held her hand. “Lauren Cantrell, will you marry me.”
Lauren frowned, but her eyes were warm and tender. “That’s not my name anymore. I had to change it and get a new identity.”
“Okay, whatever-your-name-is, will you marry me?”
That made Lauren put her head back and gurgle with amusement. “Seriously? You’re making the biggest commitment of your life to a girl whose name you don’t even know?”
“I don’t know the name.” He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. “But I know the girl.”
“Barely.” Lauren’s expression and her tone turned serious. “You may not know what you’re getting into.”
“I know what I’m getting into.” He leaned forward and looked deep into her eyes. “And I know whatever-her-name-is well enough to want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
When she still hesitated, he reached into his back pocket and pulled a well-worn piece of paper from his wallet. “Remember this?”
He watched her eyes grow wide as she read the words: When you pull a card and draw a heart, you and your beloved will never part.
She raised her gaze to meet his. “You kept that?”
“Of course. I kinda thought ‘ol Zoltar might know something we didn’t.”
“I guess he kind of did,” Lauren said as if to herself. “It’s like it was all meant to be.”
“Is that a yes?”
She wrapped her hands around his neck, and he pulled her to her feet. “That’s a yes,” she murmured. “That’s an absolute yes.”
When Rad at last released her, Lauren stood staring toward the ocean with a pained expression on her face, blinking repeatedly. Rad lifted a finger to her cheek and wiped away a tear. “Thinking about your parents?”
Lauren nodded, her chin trembling. “They’d be very happy.”
“They’d be very proud, too.”
At that moment the sun broke the fog and clouds, sending a shaft of dazzling light over the water. They both gazed at the spectacle in amazement and then at each other. No words were necessary to express the sparkling light in Lauren’s eyes.
Rad took her hand in his as the sun dipped back behind a cloud. “I think I’m the happiest man in the world right now.”
Lauren nodded and sighed as if she were now completely at peace with her past and could accept and embrace her future. “And I’m the happiest woman.” She turned to face him. “…Unless you’re going to be deployed soon.”
Rad took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Funny thing about that,” he said, his voice grave. “I only have one more day.”
She looked up at him, her eyes full of alarm. “One day?”
He smiled. “I mean one day to make a decision. I’ve been thinking about calling it quits on active duty. They want me to instruct.”
Lauren leaned into him, resting her cheek on his chest. “You think you’ll be happy? That’s a big change.”
“Before, I wasn’t sure. Now, I’m thinking I will be.” Rad paused a moment, listening to the sound of the waves hitting the sand and feeling her heart beat against his. He’d always told himself he was going to find her, but now, even with her in his arms, he couldn’t believe it.
“What about you?” He finally relinquished his tight hold and held her at arm’s length. “You’re back in the States to stay?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.” Lauren’s gaze drifted to somewhere over his shoulder. “I’m still getting used to this new pace.” She glanced down at the walker beside the chair with an expression so agonizing Rad pulled her into him again. He could only imagine the pain that still coursed through her body. For the most part she showed no outward sign of it.
“You have me to lean on now.” He tightened his grasp even more as he thought about how hard it had been for both him and Wynn to recover, even when surrounded by family and friends. What she must have gone through, alone, was unfathomable. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you sooner.”
“I knew you’d come,” she said, obviously making an effort to sound upbeat. “The worst is behind me.”
She pulled away then, seeming not to want to think any more about the past. “When do we leave?”
Rad laughed. “We make a great team. I don’t know you’re name, and you don’t know where we’re going.”
“I know it’s in Virginia somewhere.”
“Pretty much due south. Virginia Beach.”
Lauren looked up at him. “Near the beach? The water?”
“Not too far away. It’s small though. Made for a bachelor. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“But you’ll be there every night, right?”
“Yeah. If I don’t re-enlist.”
“Then I love it already.” She leaned over and patted Tara on the head. “Think she’ll accept another woman in your life?”
“Appears she already has.” Rad stared at his dog sitting dutifully on her left instead of his. “Looks like it was love at first sight.”
“Funny how that works.” Lauren wrapped her arms around his neck again, and they were both silent, enjoying the closeness of the moment.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Lauren finally murmured. She wrapped her arms around Rad even tighter. “I’m afraid I’ll wake up and you won’t be here.”
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. Except home. With you.”
Lauren nodded against his chest. “Somehow it feels like we’re already there.”
The End