One Year Later
“Are you sure this is the right spot?” I asked, passing Todd a shovel.
“This morning I was surfing the beach break thinking about the clue you found last year at the Boot Camp, that Tennyson poem, Crossing the Bar. You guys thought the treasure had to be hidden somewhere in the Sunset Sandbar Restaurant, right?”
“It was the best idea we came up with.”
“Well, what if the treasure isn’t hidden in the Sunset Sandbar Restaurant? What if the treasure is buried in the actual sandbar?” he said pointing to the large area of beach rising above the ocean’s surface.
I scanned down the long stretch. “But it could be anywhere along the sand? How would we possibly know where to dig?”
“The last stanza of the poem says, ‘For tho from out our bourne of time and place, the flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face-to-face when I have crost the bar.’ Now, if I were going to cross a sandbar, I’d do it at the highest point, which is right over there,” Todd said pointing to the center of the mound.
“So, you’re saying we should dig the hole in that spot?”
Todd shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t hurt, right?”
“I guess not.” I sank the shovel into the sand and began tossing sand up and up and over our heads. Nothing. I dug a little deeper, but still no treasure. “It was a good theory, but I think we’ve struck out again,” I said, passing Todd back the shovel.
“Maybe it’s the gold hole and we have to dig a little deeper.”
“Or the fools gold hole and we should give up on this completely.”
“Oh ye of little faith. Let me give it a go.”
Todd plunged the shovel into the hole lifting out several large heaps of sand. On his third thrust we both heard a loud thump as the shovel made contact with a hard object.
“You see,” he shouted.
Todd and I dropped down onto our knees, using our hands to dig out the wooden box jammed deeply into the ground. Finally, when we uncovered the chest completely, Todd was able to use the shovel to pry it out of the sand.
I stood back and away from our prize. “I can’t believe you were right. Maybe you should do the honors of opening it?”
“You’re the one who found all the clues, you open it.”
“Are you sure?”
He stood up off the ground. “Jo, I’m dying from the suspense, just open the damn thing.”
I kneeled back down and brushed sand off the top and sides of the chest before lifting the lid and peeking inside.
“The suspense is killing me. What’s in there?” he asked.
I looked up at him. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but all that’s in here are everyday items. Tea. Soap. That sort of thing.”
“One man’s trash…” he teased.
Suddenly, the conversation Todd and I had about Blackbeard the Pirate one of the last mornings of the Boot Camp came rushing back to me. “Todd…did you?”
“Maybe?” he said with a wicked grin. “Take a second look through the chest.”
I pushed the items around and there, wedged underneath a stack of candles, was a black velvet ring box.
I stood up and turned around to face him. “Todd Aldrich, is this what I think it is?”
He held his hands open, and I passed him the ring box. He cracked the case open to reveal a platinum band with a button-shaped lustrous pearl surrounded by pave diamonds before getting down on one knee.
“Remember, when sand injures the oyster, the oyster responds by becoming a strong, resilient, beautiful pearl. Joanna Kitt, my strong, resilient, beautiful girl, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
As colorful kites and parasails trailed the skies and rolling dunes gave way to large waves crashing down on the endless stretch of golden sand of Topsail Beach, I threw my arms around his neck. I didn’t need the iron clad provisions of any contract to give my answer. All I needed was to look into his loving face — a man who saw the real me for better or worse, a man who appreciated my flaws as well as my strengths, and a man who I knew would love me through it all.
“Yes… yes.”