Accidental Texting: Finding Love despite the Spotlight

by Kimberly Montague

I love you for your open heart, and the way a girl almost fifteen years in my past upsets you. But this one was easy. They'll get more difficult from here. 43.609245,-73.177979 Once you get there, you'll need to remember how I got into acting. What got me my big break?

  Back in the Land Rover, I tried to think about the clue. I remembered the story about how his kid's theater teacher discovered him, but I couldn't remember the name of the play he'd been doing. Was it Cinderella?

  Twenty minutes later, we were back in Castleton at the college. It was a long walk from the parking lot as we followed the directions Thing gave us. When we stopped outside the theater, I knew we were in the right place. The doors were, of course, locked. I looked around the doors and the windows on either side of the doors but didn't see any clues. I turned around and looked at the buildings around me: Stevenson, Stinson, Marzana—none of them meant anything to me. I walked around, and found a bulletin board with all kinds of fliers stapled to it. I didn't even know what I was looking for. Scanning the papers, a large, sparkly sticker caught my eye and made me look twice. Recognizing the Beauty and the Beast sticker, I felt relieved. It had been Beauty and the Beast he performed not Cinderella. The paper was labeled: "For My Beauty."

  I love how well you know me and accept me as I am—massive flaws and all. You're doing excellent! The next one is something that stays with me—always. It makes you a very bad girl. 44.558803,-72.577841

  Ten minutes later, we arrived at a supermarket. Surprisingly, it was open, and not surprisingly, we were the only ones in there. I knew right away what made me a bad girl and headed for the toothbrushes looking for one with a drawing on it or something Cinderella. On a bright pink toothbrush the words "Steal Me" were written on the package, and a Cinderella sticker was on the front.

  I turned to Anthony. "You don't really think he wants me to steal this, do you?"

  "Did he tell you to steal it?"

  I held it up to him. "He wrote it on the package."

  "Then you'd better steal it."

  "I can't do that."

  He shook his head and laughed at me. When we got up to the front, I put the toothbrush on the counter, but the clerk smiled at me and leaned close. "He paid for it already."

  I smiled and put the toothbrush in my pocket as Anthony continued to laugh. In the Land Rover, I opened the package. On the inside of the cardboard box, he wrote:

  Bet you tried to pay for it, didn't you? You're so honest. But that's just one of the things I love about you. Hope you dressed warm for the next one. You'll have to think about what you said to Rudy to win him over in less than a minute. I love you. 43.651106,-72.923985

  "This must have taken him days to plan."

  "More than that."

  "Really? How long?"

  He shook his head. "I've said too much already. You'll see." He smiled and chuckled to himself.

  "So how did you and Sean become such good friends? I don't think I've heard that story."

  His smile broadened. "I hit on his girlfriend."

  "You didn't." I was actually surprised to hear it, but knowing Anthony, I really shouldn't have been.

  "I did." He laughed fondly. "In high school, she was the hottest popular girl. Everyone had a crush on her."

  "Is this the girl he took to senior prom?" I didn't like hearing about her, but I wanted to know the story.

  "Yeah. He was nuts about her, and she was crazy for him—wild and crazy. He was pretty normal before her—not much of a partier. I think she brought him out of his shell. Mel had a fit. She nearly tore the girl's hair out a few times for the shit she talked Sean into. There were some bad times there."

  My stomach did somersaults at the thought of this girl. "But how did you two become friends?"

  "Well he beat the shit out of me. I was drunk at a party beginning of senior year and all over Raney. She was pushing me away, but she'd been drinking too, so she was laughing about it. Sean saw it and laid into me like I'd never experienced before. The next day, when I was sober, I decided I could take him. Unfortunately, that meant he was sober too, and he beat the shit out of me again. Even back then, he could fight—Karate mostly, but he knew what he was doing. I decided I wanted to learn that too. I took classes where he did and moved up quickly—I'm a fast learner. At first, I thought he'd kick my ass for following him, but somehow we wound up as friends. He taught me a lot of what I know. We're pretty even in terms of ability to pick it up quickly. He's a little more powerful than I am, but I'm a little faster. What I learn, I teach him and vice versa."

  I smiled. "Who knew getting your ass kicked could lead to a lifelong friendship?"

  I recognized the area we were driving near. I knew the state park we seemed to be heading to, but beyond that, I had no idea what to be looking for.

  He laughed a little. "I should probably send Raney a thank you card or something."

  I wrinkled my nose and stared out the window at that uncomfortable thought. If he saw her today, would he have feelings for her? No. I was being silly. If I saw my first love, Tom, would I have feelings for him? No. That was too long ago and nowhere near as strong as what Sean and I had.

  "You know," Anthony poked me in the arm. "As crazy as he was about Raney, it's about a tenth as crazy as he is about you. He wouldn't even let me meet you until he thought your safety was a real concern. He knows I'd never put a chick before friends, but he still couldn't handle the thought of me even flirting with you. You should have seen him in L.A. after you left. I've never seen him such a wreck before, and I saw him after Raney did her number on him. I wasn't sure he'd bounce back if you didn't give him another shot." He looked down at Thing. "It looks like we're close—time for a hike."

  I thought about what he said. I felt bad for putting Sean through that, but he did his own number on my heart at that time, so I felt that made us even.

  Anthony drove right off the road and parked us off in amongst the trees. "Put your gloves on, the coordinates are in the trees that way." He pointed as he pulled on a pair of black gloves. We trudged into the trees for at least ten minutes before we reached a clearing. "It's within fifty feet of this spot… right here." He stopped.

  I looked around the clearing, but didn't see anything that would relate to Rudy. The snow was about four inches deep, and the clearing was only about a hundred feet wide, so I knew it had to be within the clearing. I walked around, looking for anything that looked like it had been disturbed.

  "You're too far," Anthony called. "Come back toward me more."

  After ten minutes of looking, my toes were getting pretty cold.

  "What was the clue?" he asked.

  "He said I had to think about how I won Rudy over. We just got off the plane in L.A.. Rudy was by the limo waiting for us." I looked around for something in the shape of a limo or an airplane.

  "But how did you win him over? What did you say to him?"

  I folded my arms in front of me. "He said something about if Sean gave me any trouble I should let him know, and he'd beat him up for me. I said I could take him, but Sean's big, so he could come and hold him down while I kick his ass."

  Anthony laughed. "You really said that?"

  I blushed. "Yeah."

  "That'd win me over too. Okay, so think about that. Something related to kicking Sean's ass or holding him down or Sean being big."

  I looked around again. "Holding him down… maybe it's being held down by something. I pointed to the large boulder in the center of the clearing. "You think we could move this?" It looked way too heavy.

  "I don't know. It's pretty big." He looked as doubtful as I was. "Let's give it a shot." We walked over to it, and the second Anthony put his gloved hands on it, it moved. "What the—" He stepped back.

  I nudged it with my hand, and it shifted. "What is this?" I asked.

  "Movie magic, Morgan."

  I smiled. A fake rock. I shoved it easily out of the way and into the snow. A red balloon sprung out of the ground and into the air. There was a large hole tha
t had been dug underneath the fake boulder where the balloon had been placed and tied to a stick shoved into the ground. On the end of the balloon, a sealed plastic bag was attached with a note inside. I grabbed the whole thing—stick and all—and shivered.

  "Let's get back to the truck."

  Anthony nodded but grabbed the fake boulder and brought it with us. I looked at him quizzically, and he laughed. "Souvenir. I love these things."

  Melding

  Back in the Land Rover, Anthony turned the heater up full blast. When my fingers stopped shaking enough to open the envelope, I found a big red heart in the middle. It was lop-sided and looked like he cut it out of red paper himself.

  I love you for the way you don't put up with my friends' crap or mine. I love you for the way you make everyone feel like part of your family. I love you for the way you loved your mom with all your heart and never forget her. I wish I could have met her and thanked her for making you who you are today. Come find me, Morgan. 43.725522, -72.916367

  I couldn't hold back the tears as I read his words. He was amazing. But there was no clue. I flipped the paper over. "There's no clue," I said to Anthony, who was watching me closely.

  "It's in there, you just don't see it yet."

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "You've known these all along?"

  He laughed. "No. I swear. I only know this one. Put on your seatbelt, and give me the coordinates."

  I did as instructed, and we were off again.

  We were only on the road for fifteen minutes when I started recognizing where we were. Anthony reached in the back and grabbed a box of tissue, smiling. "He thought you might need this."

  I looked down and written on the box was a big "I Love You Morgan." It made the tears fall faster. I'd been on this road a hundred times with Mom. It led to a resort up in the mountains that overlooked a small lake. Her best friend Elsie was a manager at the resort, and we'd spend weekend after weekend there. It's what gave Mom the idea to start her own inn. Then when the house fell into our hands, it was only a matter of time before she made the idea a reality. I had a lot of happy memories with Mom at the resort. I had no idea how Sean even knew about it. Cerise must have told him, but I didn't know what made Cerise even think of it. Mom's friend passed away before Mom did, having lost her battle with breast Cancer. I hadn't even been to the resort since then.

  We pulled down the long drive to the large inn. It was stunning with its long porch and classic late 19th century architecture. It always reminded me of a much smaller version of the Grand Hotel from that movie Somewhere in Time. It felt like something from another time from the outside, but inside, I knew it had been remodeled frequently to keep up with modern amenities. When we remodeled our inn, we'd talked extensively with Elsie about the upgrades that needed to be made.

  I checked in the mirror to make sure I hadn't made a complete mess of myself and my makeup as Anthony pulled to a stop in front of the inn. He turned to me with the biggest smile on his face. "You're on your own for the rest of this."

  "You're not coming in?"

  "Nope." He handed me Thing, and I looked down at it in confusion. "You're not at the coordinates yet. Follow the GPS."

  I smiled nervously. "Thanks, Anthony." I leaned across and gave him a hug. The look of surprise on his face was more than worth it. He was a good big brother after all.

  As I climbed out of the Land Rover, I could feel myself shaking with anticipation and excitement and nervousness. I stared down at Thing and followed the directions. When I got inside, no one was there. I expected the staff would greet me, but it was completely empty. Thing directed me left, so I went that way, all the way down the long hallway until I had nowhere else to go and Thing told me I had reached my coordinates. I looked up and noticed the elevator in front of me. A large note read: "Come find me on the third floor." I bit my bottom lip and pulled the note off the elevator button, so I could press it. It was so eerie not to see anyone anywhere. It was a busy inn. Even in winter, they were usually at least a quarter full on occupancy.

  When I stepped out of the elevator, there were red rose petals on the floor leading toward the door I knew belonged to the Presidential Suite. My smile widened as I followed them. I'd never actually been in the Presidential Suite before, but Mom talked about how spectacular it was. I opened the double doors and followed the rose petals inside. There was a large sitting area with two armchairs facing a balcony that overlooked the lake in the distance. It was breathtaking in the snow. The rose petals led to another room to the left, which I found to be the bedroom. They stopped at the edge of the bed where a beautiful, long, black evening gown lay. A small card sat on top: "Put this on and come find me. I'm dying to see you."

  I looked around the room and back out into the sitting room, but I was alone. Still, I closed the door and undressed. A warm fire was burning in a small fireplace in the corner, and I took a moment to warm my hands and toes back up. It helped me stop shaking from nervousness, too. The dress was perfect—strapless and satiny with little sparkling rhinestones around the waist. I felt beautiful. I went into the attached bathroom where a massive bathtub took up most of the space. Looking in the mirror, a familiar pink bag caught my eye as well as a pair of beautiful black heels that sat on the counter beneath the mirror. Shoes and my makeup bag—he was definitely the perfect guy. Straightening up my makeup, I ran my brush through my hair and slipped on the heels.

  When I stepped out of the bathroom, I could hear music coming from the sitting room. I walked to the door and just barely noticed a pink envelope before I stepped on it.

  Straight ahead and to the left until you can go no further, you'll find your Christmas present if you can answer one more question for me.

  I was shaking again as I turned the door handle. I looked around, but still didn't see Sean. I clutched the note firmly in my hand and walked out toward the balcony. Roses were everywhere in the room, and they hadn't been when I walked in. How did I not hear them bring them in? On the balcony, I could see a single pedestal in the center. Tall, silver patio heaters were on either side of the glass doors making it comfortable enough to step out there in the dress I'd put on.

  My whole body started shaking when I stepped outside. In the middle of the pedestal was a small, red, velvet box.

  "You've been in my heart since the moment you said no to my help with the website." I turned to see him walking slowly toward me, looking sexy as hell in a dark gray suit. "Something about your independence and your honesty stuck with me and never let go. Then other things joined in until my whole heart was filled with you. I want to know what you look like when you're frustrated with our kids." His smile was so warm and tender. "I want to know what you'll say on our fiftieth wedding anniversary." He took my hands in his and caressed my cheek. I couldn't help but close my eyes and lean into his warmth. "I want all of you forever." I was still shaking so badly, but the devouring look he was giving me made my heart surge. He rubbed his thumb along my cheek. "So the last clue—the last question you have to answer before you can have your Christmas present is—" He pulled away from me and got down on one knee. Tears were streaming down my face, and his hands were shaking too. "Morgan Edwards, love of my eternity. Will you be mine forever? Will you marry me?"

  I couldn't speak but nodded and whispered, "Yes.' I planted my hands on his face and kissed him so forcefully I couldn't help it.

  He stood up and pulled me into his arms, deepening the kiss. We were both smiling so much though, he had to pull back. He took my hand and guided me closer to the pedestal, picking up the box and placing it in my hand.

  "Go ahead, open it."

  I shook out my hand, trying to get it to calm down, but it was no use. He put his hands underneath mine, offering them a little strength. I managed to flip open the box and my smile completely fell. I'd never seen a diamond so big before. I mean, in movies or on some celebrity's finger, but not in person. I shook my head in disbelief at the large oval diamond in the center with a ring of small, c
lear diamonds around the edge. Even the band had diamonds circling it. It was amazing, and yet the band was so delicate and antique-looking. But it was too much.

  "Sean, I can't—"

  "You can and you will. I spent a lot of time picking this out for you. It's everything you are—strong and delicate, flawless and sparkling from within and you're worth so much more than what little I paid for this."

  "Yeah, I'm sure you just paid a little."

  "Morgan, look at me. You're my fiancé. What's mine is yours now. All that money belongs to you too. And I would have spent every dime I have to show you how much I love you—" I shook my head, but he put his finger to my lips. "But I know money doesn't mean anything to you—not like that. So I did this for me. I did this because I wanted others to know how much I love you, and to most of the world, money equals happiness. You make me happier than anyone in the world, so it had to be big. And it suits you, Morgan. The second I saw it, I knew it was yours. Please, can I put it on your finger and make this official?"

  He looked like such an eager little boy. I was still shaking, but I nodded. "Okay."

  He burst into laughter as he put the ring on my finger. "I can't believe you just used that word—I'm forcing my fiancé to wear a massive diamond ring, and she's barely okay with it. When I begged for a girl who loved me for me and not my money or fame, I really didn't know what I was bargaining for." I laughed with him and kissed him as my shaking calmed down. He pulled away from me a little. "I want some real pictures of this—for us—not the tabloids. I called in a photographer to do it right." I kissed him again before he walked to the phone in the sitting room. "You can come in now."

  Three people came in and set up equipment quickly. A kind-faced older man with a camera and immediately started snapping pictures of us as Sean kissed me and held me close to him. They moved us around in front of the fireplace; in the armchairs holding hands; on the balcony, staring into the distant sunset; kissing a hundred different ways. I had no trouble whatsoever with smiling for each picture, and neither did Sean. I was so happy. Then they were done. They packed up their things and left.