This could be the start of something beautiful, too, she thought silently. A friend she could talk to, share, and confide in. Someone that might need someone on their side, too.
“What are you thinking?” Lily asked quietly.
Marigold stared at her cup. She felt like her life was at a fork in the road, a pivotal point that had been coming all this time. Everything you did in your life was put there for one reason or another and she firmly believed that. It was either a test, a lesson, or a treasure.
What would writing a stranger bring her?
What could she give to a soldier stuck in the middle of nowhere?
Everything – or nothing, she realized silently.
She wasn’t going to find love hiding away in Tyler, where she’d lived her entire life. She needed to expand her horizons, take chances, and grasp at the camaraderie that was being offered to her. If nothing else, doing something good for someone would bring her a measure of satisfaction deep down inside. There was something wonderful to be found in every moment, if you looked hard enough.
“What’s his name?” Marigold asked, looking up at Lily.
A smile burst onto Lily’s face as joy lit her from inside. This was the right thing to do, if for nothing else, this moment alone. She’d made her friend happy – and she was going to discover another person who could become a friend.
“His name is Ben. Why don’t you join us for dinner and John can tell you more about him? Plus, you can see where we put the rose bushes and take a look at one of my other plants. I think there’s either grubworms or something eating my irises.”
Marigold chewed thoughtfully on the end of her pen, staring at the piece of paper before her. Brooding, noble, enigmatic, and kind had been the adjectives John used to describe the mysterious Ben Watson.
She liked the fact that he was being called noble and kind… but brooding? Maybe Ben just needed some happiness and laughter in his life. People weren’t born as the brooding sort, no… something happened to make them that way.
The term brooding made her curious.
Curious meant excitement and intrigue.
She wanted to send a letter saying hello, and follow it up with a box of treats, after hearing about how wonderfully the Twinkies that Lily had sent John were received by the troop of soldiers. She wanted to give and give, knowing it would bring a rainbow to someone’s gloomy day… but what did you get a brooding person?
Apparently the man had a bomb dog, too, just like Radar. A feisty German Shephard named Paladin. Marigold couldn’t help but sigh at the name. It was a heroic name and brought forth so many emotions to think that someone out there was wonderful enough to dub a bomb dog after the legendary templar that went into battle.
It was swoon worthy!
Epic!
The stuff dreams were made of!
The term Paladin made her think of knights, chivalry, and poetic romance from long ago. Maybe her brooding soldier was like Robin Hood, wrongly labeled but truly a man for the people? Perhaps he was the black knight, fighting and pillaging in the name of the king? What if her soldier turned out to be like Lancelot… waiting, hurting, alone, and wanting to love someone he couldn’t have?
This time, Marigold sighed aloud, resting her chin on her fist as she stared off into space. The idea of a noble soldier just waiting for someone to swoop in and grow a friendship between them sounded too good to be true.
Putting her pen to paper, Marigold began to write, pouring out her innermost thoughts. If it struck her mind, she jotted it down. Therapeutic, Lily called it.
She sprayed the paper faintly with perfume, because the idea of writing to someone, a guy, made her feel special and feminine. She slipped it into the envelope and sealed it, smiling the entire time.
Oh yes, having a pen pal might be the best thing for her.
She couldn’t wait to put together a box for Ben and Paladin. Grabbing her car keys, she left the house to mail the envelope immediately and begin her search for things to surprise her soldier.
October 2017
“Hody! You got a package!” Ben hollered over his shoulder as the men of their barracks surrounded the soldier holding several boxes. His dog, Paladin, barked excitedly several times as the soldiers crowded the man.
Tossing the box over his shoulder, he lobbed it into the air, aiming it directly at Hody, who quickly caught the box, giving a mock salute. The man was annoying sometimes! That wide grin grated on his nerves as he found a reason to cut up with everything they did.
Ben glared at him, rolling his eyes and turning away, as he received his own box in the mail. He disappeared further into the barracks with Paladin close on his heels, the dog’s tail wagging happily.
Lost in thought, Ben stared at the two pieces of mail for him. He’d received a box and an envelope from the same address – an address he didn’t recognize. The only people he knew back in Texas were his friends and none of them had the last name of Riley.
“Someone hurry and slap him on the back,” Parker joked sarcastically, causing Ben to look up quickly and see the grimace on Hody’s face. Something wasn’t sitting well with the man who had all sorts of candies sprawled in front of him.
“So, his face stays just like that,” Parker crowed on, laughing.
Watson simply gave a loud grunt of approval from his bunk, as he opened his own box, handing a chew toy to Paladin. The dog flopped down and began working the toy noisily with several sloppy whuffs of happiness.
“Who’s assigned to the computer tonight?” Jason Hody asked suddenly, glancing up and looking at the men lounging nearby in the heat, in all sorts of disarray. It was sweltering in the building and the air conditioning just couldn’t keep up with the extreme temperatures of the desert landscape around them.
“It’s mine,” Ben muttered quietly, glaring at Hody, as his voice broke the silence. He’d like a chance to open his own mail and enjoy it, like Paladin was attacking the chew toy, at some point without being interrupted every few minutes.
Why did he smell roses?
The box was full of things that were neatly wrapped in bright, colorful papers. In fact, every single thing seemed to be wrapped… and he still smelled flowers. Weird.
Ben heard the guys begin to cut up around him, goading them on, as they knew that the two tolerated each other. Tempers were flaring and too much had happened to their military brothers over the last year to deal with more stress.
The envelope… was scented?
There was a second note card in the box, too. Why on earth was everything meticulously wrapped? Each box was tied with ribbon, making him wonder if it was his birthday or something else that happened to slip his mind. Checking his watch, he frowned. Nope. His birthday was still a month away.
This was just… odd.
Odd meant puzzling – and Ben liked puzzles.
They made his brain think and he had to figure them out. Part of the reason he’d gone into the field he was in now. Wires and schematics were his thing.
“Can I buy your hour at the computer in exchange for a box of Whoppers?” Hody asked, causing Ben to hold back his temper at the fact that he had yet to open any of the envelopes or boxes before him. He’d given Paladin a toy – and that was it. Hody’s enthusiasm was holding back his thought processes in figuring out the puzzle before him. The man wouldn’t stop until he agreed, apparently!
“Yep.”
“Thanks, Watson.”
Ben caught the flung box of candy in the air and quickly set it down into his own package that was on his lap. He loved Whoppers and adored anything covered in chocolatey goodness. His weakness as a teen was to take Erica out for a frozen chocolate banana. He’d been so young and stupid, which was part of the reason this was all his fault and he would never live it down.
Picking up the card from inside the box, Ben began to read.
Mr. Watson,
I hope my letter finds you well and that you enjoy the contents of this box. Each package inside is a
little something special to bring joy to your life. You should have a bit of happiness every single day and something to look forward to. Think of it as a bunch of friendly advent gifts, but for normal life, instead of just at Christmas time.
I hope Paladin likes the chew toy. I’ve heard some dogs like them and others don’t. I hope he likes it, as I bought another to mail out to him in a few weeks.
I’m guessing you are really busy. I just hope you are staying safe out there. You don’t have to write, because I’m enjoying the fact that I know deep, down inside, someone in the world is reading this and knows that they have a friend out there.
Be safe and enjoy the gifts!
(Remember - one at a time!)
Marigold
Crunching on a handful of Whoppers, Ben glared at the door that Hody had just disappeared through not a few moments before. Her email was at the bottom of the letter and now it would be another week before he got a chance to write back.
He knew some of the guys snuck in to use the computer outside of their assigned time frames, but Ben refused to do it. He wasn’t a rulebreaker. If everyone broke the rules, there would be anarchy and he preferred structure. No matter, this would give him time to open a few of the boxes and compose his thoughts.
Selecting a box, Ben slid the rest of them under his bunk for safe keeping. He’d follow her instructions and open one per day. Tearing open the envelope, he took a deep breath of the sweet, floral fragrance that assaulted his senses. Mercy! He might tuck the letter under his pillow tonight just so he could breathe in that sweet scent from home.
Post claimed there were gardens in the city, but Ben was not about to borrow Hody’s junkheap of a car and end up stranded somewhere. Besides, what fun were gardens if you were alone.
As a boy, he remembered his parents walking hand-in-hand around their vegetable garden and he would pick the things they said were ripe. It had been a long time since he’d returned to Longview where he grew up. His parents were about forty-five minutes from where the letter originated in Tyler.
Ben’s eyes scanned the page, reading the stranger’s words. This wasn’t just a letter from some random student like they normally got at Christmastime. This was another tender, expressive letter that surprised him and touched something deep inside.
Mr. Watson,
I got your name and information from some friends of mine, John and Lily Griffin. They’ve asked me to take up the pen and write to a noble, heroic soldier such as yourself. I think its brilliant and inspiring what you do for our country… a knight protecting the realm!
This may seem strange, but I wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Marigold Riley, gardener-at-large. The joke loses something on paper, doesn’t it?
I’m a small business owner. I don’t do anything as special as you do, but my florist shop and roses I breed are important to me. I like to bring beauty into people’s lives – including my own. I sometimes walk my land, the sweet, perfumed scent tickling my nose, and imagine a world in the mists, a time long past.
But then I hear a horn honk, or phone ring, and it kinda ruins the illusion. LOL. I guess I’m a bit of a dreamer going on and on like this.
I fancy the idea of having a friend to communicate with, by sending a box of things for you and your dog, Paladin (love the name!). Please write back, tell me a bit about yourself so we can continue our correspondence.
Sincerely,
Marigold (or Mari - for short)
Stunned, Ben read and re-read the letter several times. There was such innocence to her words, an idealism that was humbling. He was no knight of the realm, no hero, and she was obviously living in a fantasy world made up in her mind, romanticizing what and who he was.
It was like being eviscerated from the cold shell he’d wrapped around himself. He wasn’t worth it; this isn’t who he was. He was that stupid teenager that had gotten his girlfriend pregnant long ago. That boy who drove recklessly around like a know it all until he’d wrecked the car, wrapping it around a tree. That accident had utterly destroyed him.
What kind of world allowed him to live and took Erica? She’d been so strong, so pushy, and aggressive, a take charge leader.
He had been a fool.
Now he spent his days trying to be more like the woman he’d killed when he wrapped his father’s car around a tree, speeding. This woman, Marigold, who didn’t even know him or who he was, had already set it in her mind that he was a hero? Someone to be looked up to?
Who put that idea in her head?
John Griffin?
He thought the man barely acknowledged he was there. He never really talked with him much or gave him instruction; rather leaving him there to flounder as his replacement. Ben thought about writing John over the last few months, but doubt kept him from doing so. He wanted to ask his opinions, get his input, but he didn’t want to bother the man who’d earned his time and his second chance at life. He hoped John was happy with his new bride, Lily… and a little jealous of him.
What would it be like to have someone that cared for him once again? That actually thought he was a good guy? A decent guy? He had a feeling the mental scars would never leave him… no matter what this Marigold-lady said. He had a week to think of what to say in response to her letter.
Unwrapping the small box he’d selected, Ben smiled. Inside was a Rubik’s cube. He hadn’t played with one of these in ages. He twirled the little block, listening to the faint clicks that it gave as it spun around, jostling the puzzle block.
“Whatcha got, Watson?” Tobin asked easily, walking past him in nothing but his boxers. Thank goodness he was dressed, at least. The heat got to all of them but Tobin and Hody seemed to be utterly shameless.
“A puzzle.”
“It’s a Rubik’s cube, dude,” Tobin corrected. “Did ya buy it for yourself or was it in that big box you got today?”
“It was one of the things,” Ben said evasively, twirling the segmented blocks with ease. He loved these things and figuring them out. He’d actually solved the puzzle several times, easily able to discern how best to move the squares how he needed them. He wished he could understand people as easily as he did puzzles.
“I always hated those things. I used to peel the stickers off to beat it.”
“Why?”
“Cause I wanted to win, duh?”
“You know you were only cheating yourself when you did that,” Ben said, feeling lighthearted. One side was complete already. He could sit here and fiddle with the thing for hours on end. Why hadn’t he thought of something like this before? He found such enjoyment in games. They were easy, made his brain shut off as he ran on instinct, and gave his nerves a break.
“You are already down to two sides?”
“I really like these things,” he admitted, looking down at the block and spinning it faster and faster. Oh yeah, this was a piece of cake. He found himself grinning as he finished the cube and held it up for Tobin to see.
“Done.”
“You are scary, dude. Scaaarry.”
“It’s all a mental puzzle to figure out.”
“Like I said. Scary. So, what else did you get in that big box?”
“I’ll find out tomorrow,” Ben said easily, spinning the block again in order to start the puzzle over. This was probably one of the best things he could have received from his new pen pal and he couldn’t thank her enough for the simple present. She’d given him a way to unwind that he hadn’t realized he missed.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yep. One present a day,” Ben said easily, patting the end of his bunk and allowing Paladin up to sleep. The dog jumped up and sprawled across the foot of the bed, gnawing noisily on the chew toy. Slobber was getting on his bedding, but instead of being disgusted by it, it felt more like he was home. He felt more relaxed than he had in weeks or months.
“That sounds like an awful idea. One a day? You know, whoever sent them wouldn’t know if you went ahead and opened them up. It’s like Christma
s, if you wrap the presents back, it’s not hurting anything or anyone.”
“Tobin! That’s seriously messed up and beyond tacky,” Ben chastised, laughing at the man. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. There is something special in the waiting – it makes the gift that much more precious.”
“Hmph. Whatever. It’s your stuff.”
Ben grinned and sat back against the headboard, happily spinning the block again . Yep, he liked the way Miss Marigold thought and how her brain obviously worked. He might actually enjoy this new pen pal of his and maybe he would find her something special to send in return.
Chapter 4
Marigold,
Thank you for reaching out. It’s a lovely name and quite unusual! I will admit I was a little surprised to hear that John and Lily passed along my information, but after reading your letters and opening the gifts (as instructed, just one per day) that I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
I hope you haven’t given up on me yet. I know it’s been almost a month since you mailed your letter. I actually received the box and your letter on the same day. The mail is unbelievably slow here at times, so thank you for including your email. I get access to the computer once a week in order to make sure everyone on base has a chance to write their loved ones. It’s trying sometimes, but it gives me time to put my thoughts together .
I’m not much for words, so forgive me if this is short. I was really taken aback by your letter and touched. You have a dreamer’s heart and it shows. That isn’t a bad thing, by the way. It was a compliment. I really don’t think of myself as heroic in the slightest. I have scars and flaws just like everyone.
Paladin is my buddy and my coworker. He’s an amazing dog and could have nothing less than a memorable, regal name. He is the honorable one out of the two of us.
Tell me about yourself, oh gardener extraordinaire.
I remember picking vegetables with my parents, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been around any greenery or anything outdoorsy that doesn’t have to do with sand. What is your favorite rose that you like to grow? Do you grow other plants? My mother used to have blackberry thickets and I remember the thorns… oh how I remember them! Ouch!
Remember Dreams Page 3
