by John Gray
She looked at the cover and then flipped it over, saying, “I knew it. I knew I’d heard of this.”
Chase took a seat on the chair next to the desk, then explained what she meant.
“When I was a little girl my mom loved a romance movie with Christopher Reeve, you know, the guy who was the original Superman.”
Gavin nodded, “Okay.”
Chase continued, holding up the book now. “It’s a story about a guy who was so in love with a woman’s photo that he figured out a way to travel back in time to be with her. The movie had a terrible ending, but it was a beautiful love story. This must be the book it was based on.”
Gavin replied, “Stonewall Jackson said the answer to your question about the buried watches was in this book. Are you supposed to read it?”
Chase cracked open the novel, and out fell a small white envelope that landed on the floor.
Gavin spoke: “Ah, when she said the answer was inside the book, she meant literally.”
Chase opened the envelope, finding a short, handwritten note that read,
Hello stranger,
If you are reading this note, one of two things has happened. You were going through my books and found it by accident, or someone told you to look in this specific book. If I was right on the first part, I strongly encourage you to put it back on the shelf and forget about it.
If someone sent you here, well then, that’s a whole other kettle of fish. It means you found my watches. Let me end the mystery for you.
Many years ago, when I started to amass my fortune, I spent every waking hour at work wanting more. More money, more deals, more things to buy.
On my forty-second birthday, my wife Vida gave me a very expensive Cartier watch and had me try it on. I loved it. She then told me to take it off and she took it out into the front yard and buried it under the maple tree.
She told me my business had become more important than her or our marriage, so I wouldn’t need a watch ever again. I could just stay at work and not worry about coming home. Can you imagine hearing those words from someone you love?
Seeing the hurt in her eyes broke my heart. That moment and every moment after, I told her I would put her first, and no matter what was happening at work, I was home for supper every night by six.
I probably missed out on some big financial deals, but I never regretted putting my sweetheart first.
In the years that followed, Vida would give me a new watch on my birthday, and we’d bury it together, with the promise to always put each other first.
I don’t know how many watches you found, but if you dig around that old tree, I imagine you’d come up with quite a few. I can’t tell you what to do with all those watches, but I’d leave them in the ground as a reminder of a man who lost his way and learned the true value of time.
I hope you’re enjoying my home. It’s a special place. Love grew here.
Sincerely,
Sebastian Winthrop
Chase was moved by the letter and sat still a moment, thinking about the old man’s words.
She let out a large breath, as if all the emotion were running out of her, causing Gavin to say, “You okay?”
Chase didn’t answer, instead walking toward the front door, opening it, and letting the cool December air wash over her face.
Gavin joined her, looked out into the yard, then asked gently, “You want me to bury the watches again?”
Chase turned and gave him a deep kiss, pulled back from their embrace, and replied, “I do. And I need a favor.”
Without hesitation, Gavin responded, “Anything.”
Chase smiled and looked down at Gavin’s left wrist and the old Casio timepiece that rested there.
She looked up and said with a wink, “Give me your watch.”
As Gavin knelt under the maple tree returning the watches to the exact spot where Scooter had found them, Chase was fifty feet away, near a small pear tree, with Gavin’s watch in one hand and a small garden tool in the other.
Gavin, realizing what she was about to do, called out, “Why?”
Chase turned, and as the late-day sun glimmered off her auburn hair, she shouted back, “Because love grows here.”
CHAPTER 23
Serendipity
Penny for your thoughts?” Gavin asked, as he pushed his foot, which was keeping warm in a red wool sock, against Chase’s feet on the other side of the couch. Neither one could tell you why, but they loved sitting on the opposite sides of the furniture and pressing their feet together. It was one of those silly little things that made them a couple.
For ten minutes, Chase was staring off into nothing while Gavin was scanning the channels on the television with the remote, looking for a movie to watch.
“Just a penny? My thoughts should be at least worth a nickel,” Chase teased.
As Gavin continued channel surfing, Chase added, “I guess I’m thinking about love.”
Gavin looked over with a smile in his eyes as he said, “Ours? Yes, it is the classic American love story. Boy meets girl. Boy chases girl. Girl sees strange things in windows and game pieces and starts predicting the future and then moves into a big mansion, where they bury watches and play midnight florist.”
Chase laughed out loud. “We are ridiculous, aren’t we?”
Gavin reached over as far as he could to take her hand firmly. “I like our flavor of ridiculous.”
Chase replied, “Me too. OH, WAIT, go back.”
In Gavin’s haste changing channels, he passed a movie Chase loved.
“Cusack, John Cusack. You know the rules,” she added firmly.
Gavin let out a sigh. “I know the rules: we always stop and watch a film if John Cusack is in it. What did you see?”
He clicked back three channels and she yelled, “THERE.” It was a romantic comedy called Serendipity.
Gavin looked at the screen for a moment and said, “Ah, isn’t this the one set in Manhattan where he loses her and in the end she shows up at an ice rink with a missing scarf?”
Chase nodded. “It’s a glove, actually, but good memory. Keep it on.”
As the familiar movie played out to a perfect happy ending, Chase said, without taking her eyes off the screen, “When I said I was thinking about love, I didn’t mean just us. I was thinking about Raylan and Bonnie.”
Gavin hit the mute button and shifted his body to face Chase. “I thought they both told you to butt out.”
Chase shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, technically they did, but I have a nose for this stuff, and I can tell they both like each other. A LOT. So …”
Gavin interrupted. “So you’re not going to listen and stick your nose into it anyway.”
Chase moaned, then replied, “Geez, when you say it that way …”
Gavin knew Chase well enough to know he couldn’t stop her, so he asked, “So what’s the plan, cupid?”
Chase replied, “If we’re being honest, I think the problem is Raylan’s scar on his face. He won’t pursue anyone because he thinks all they can see is the scar. And I think if Bonnie could look past that imperfection, if she could see him how he used to be and really still is …”
Chase stopped talking and disappeared in her head again.
Gavin interjected, “Chase? You were saying.”
Chase jumped up and snapped her finger. “Where’s my phone? I have an idea.”
She darted across the room to grab her phone off the charger, punched in a name, and said to Gavin, “You’ll think I’m crazy but just don’t say a—Matthew, hi, it’s me.”
She had her driver on the phone. The two hadn’t talked much since the elevator dropped. She thought it wise to let that day’s drama process a bit with Matthew.
Chase continued. “Matthew, you’re a retired NYPD detective. I have an odd question. Do you still have access to DMV records?”
Gavin stood up now, confused over where this was going.
Matthew, on the other end of the phone, replied, “I have friends who
do. Why? Did someone hit your truck or something? You need to run a plate number?”
Chase hesitated, then said, “No, nothing like that. What I’m wondering is, can you access an old driver’s license photo of someone from years ago. Not the one they use now, I mean one when they were younger?”
Matthew thought a moment and replied, “I’m sure old photos still live somewhere in the system. But Chase, I have to ask why.”
Chase walked out of the room so Gavin wouldn’t hear, raising her hand like a stop sign, so he wouldn’t follow.
A minute later she came back into the room and found Gavin sitting upright on a chair with his arms folded, and asking, “What are you up to?”
Chase replied, “Rather than me tell you, let me do my match-making, and if all goes well you can come along for the big moment. Okay?”
Gavin let out a deep breath and said, “Whatever you say, my love, I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
Chase looked down at her phone and said, “Me too. But it’s worth a shot. I have three calls to make. One to Raylan, one to Bonnie, and one to Serendipity.”
Gavin looked confused, “The movie we just watched?”
Chase replied, “No, goofball, the place. Serendipity is an actual restaurant only a few blocks from Raylan’s café in Manhattan. Home of the famous frozen hot chocolate. Anyway, I want to book a table for two for tomorrow night.”
Gavin was more confused than ever, but with Chase he knew sometimes he just needed to trust her.
Because Bonnie was the head of the Lonely Hearts Book Club, Deb at the café had her number tacked up behind the counter. She gave it to Chase without hesitation and then put Raylan on the phone, as instructed.
Chase’s conversation with Raylan was simple and direct, “I’ve never asked you for a favor, but I need you to do something for me, please.”
He just nodded and agreed. Chase’s call to Bonnie went exactly the same way.
The next evening at seven o’clock sharp, Raylan arrived at Serendipity on East 60th Street and was led to a table where Bonnie was already seated. He approached with a surprised look, and after an exchange of “hello’s,” it was clear both had no clue why they were there.
“Are you here to meet me?” Raylan asked cautiously.
Bonnie looked down at her hands resting on the table and said shyly, “I don’t know. Chase, who used to live above the café, asked me to come here and said it was important.”
Raylan, uncertain whether to even take a seat at the small table, looked to his right and saw a photo of actors John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, neatly framed and on the wall next to Bonnie’s chair.
Then a voice said, “This is where they sat, John and Kate, when they shot the movie here.”
It was Chase, standing with Gavin near a door that led to the kitchen. “I phoned the owner and explained what I wanted to do, and she told me she’d reserve this table for the two of you. Raylan, please sit and I’ll explain.”
Raylan looked uncomfortable as he slid into the chair, and his eyes met Bonnie’s, saying, “So you had no idea?”
She shook her head no. Both then looked up at Chase with expressions that said Well? Explain yourself!
Chase looked at Gavin, regretting this whole escapade already, then pressed on. “You’re both wondering why you’re here. Well, I think you two like each other and neither one will admit it, so I wanted to put you together on a date.”
Both squirmed in their chairs uncomfortably as Raylan said, “I asked you nicely, Chase, to stay out of it.”
As Bonnie looked away with embarrassment, Chase produced a small white envelope from the back pocket of her jeans and decided to finish what she started.
“I’m just gonna say it. I think Raylan’s scar, which he got saving a life and defending this country, by the way, is the only thing that’s keeping you two apart.”
She then handed the envelope to Bonnie adding, “I wanted you to see Raylan as he was, before the injury, so maybe you could see him, more clearly, as he is.”
Raylan looked at Chase, confused, wondering how she could have gotten a photo of him from before the war. Bonnie opened the envelope slowly, slid out the 3 × 5 image, and it was Raylan, a good ten years younger, with his perfect, unscarred face. He reminded her of Mel Gibson when he was young. Everyone held their breath a moment, watching Bonnie’s eyes. Even customers at other tables nearby had stopped their conversations and were looking over to see what would happen next.
Bonnie gently placed the photo back in the envelope, slid it across the table to Raylan, and said, “This is not what I want.”
Bonnie got up, pulled the strap of her red Brighton bag off the back of her chair, slid it over her shoulder and said, “I’m sorry. If you’ll all excuse me.”
No one spoke as Bonnie quietly left Serendipity, her eyes on the floor filling up with tears with each step. Raylan took the photo out of the envelope and was looking at the man he used to be.
Without looking up, and in a surprisingly timid voice, he said to Chase, “I asked you to stay out of it. Maybe now …” He didn’t finish that thought. He didn’t need to.
Gavin stood there, dumbstruck, uncertain what to do or say, so he gently put his arm around Chase and said, “Let’s go.”
Chase turned to leave and whispered, “I’m so sorry. I should have listened.”
As the two of them left and Raylan tucked the old photograph into his jacket pocket, everyone in the restaurant thought for certain the man with the scar on his face had just been rejected. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
CHAPTER 24
Mirror, Mirror
Nick Hargraves, the groundskeeper at Briarcliff Manor, found Chase sitting on the rock wall behind the house, looking as if her best friend had died. She had the yellow rose in her hand, the one she’d place on the wall each night, only to find it gone with the sunrise.
“You okay, young lady?” he asked softly, sensing, by the look of her, any loud noise might make Chase crack into pieces.
“Yeah, I’m just the fart at church today,” Chase replied.
The expression made the old man laugh out loud, as he replied, “Excuse me?”
Chase continued. “You know the expression, something went over like a fart in church?”
Nick scratched his favorite red baseball cap. “Can’t say I know that one. It doesn’t sound good, though.” He sat down on the rock wall next to her.
Chase put the rose down beside her and said, “I was trying to play matchmaker for a friend last night, and it blew up in my face.”
Nick paused a moment, thinking, then asked, “Not a good match then?”
Chase: “Nope. And I think both people are pretty mad at me now.”
Nick asked, “So they told you they don’t like each other and wondered why you tried to put them together?”
Chase thought a moment and responded, “No, not exactly. He, the guy, said he didn’t want me helping his love life, and the woman said it was not what she wanted.”
Nick continued, “So, she did say she didn’t want the man, whatever his name is?”
Chase corrected him, “No. She never actually said that. She said she didn’t want this, while holding a photo of what the man used to look like. Raylan, his name is Raylan.”
Nick then asked, still a bit confused, “And he doesn’t look the photo anymore, this Raylan? Did he get old or fat or something?”
“Hmm,” Chase replied. “More or something. He got hurt in the war, so he looks different now. Different but the same, it’s hard to explain. All I know is I meant well, and I screwed it up.”
Nick smiled. “Like a fart in church?”
As Chase stood up to go, Nick added, “Did I never tell you about my eyes?”
Chase shrugged her shoulders, “Nope. I think I’d remember that.”
Nick patted the stone and motioned for her to sit, so Chase rested back on the rock wall again.
Nick began, “About five years ago I was havi
ng trouble seeing, so I went into the city to get Lasik eye surgery to fix it. It was going to be expensive, about five thousand bucks.”
Chase was curious where this story was going, so she added, “Okay, and?”
“And so, the doctor does all these tests, and I can tell, by his reaction, something is really wrong. He says, ‘Mr. Hargraves, you have a tear on your retina and cataracts in both eyes. That’s why you can’t see right.’”
Chase replied, “Oh my, I’m so sorry. How awful.”
“That’s what I thought, Chase,” Nick continued. “Until I saw a specialist and he said he could do a surgery on both eyes and fix me good as new.”
Chase nodded, “And did he?”
Nick, “He did, but here’s the kicker. Lasik surgery was considered optional, almost cosmetic, so my insurance wouldn’t pay a dime. But, because my eyes were so messed up, it was a required medical procedure, and it was covered by my insurance. So, it cost me nothing.”
“Oh, so you saved that five grand you would have spent?” Chase asked.
“That’s exactly right. My point is, sometimes what you think is bad news is good news.”
Chase just paused, and both were silent a moment, when Nick added, “You said your lady friend looked at an old photo of this Raylan guy, who was hurt and looks different now, and she said it wasn’t what she wanted. Maybe she wants him the way he is now.”
Chase considered the old man’s words and replied, “You’re saying she loves the broken version of the man? Scars and all?”
Nick stood up and retrieved a shovel that was leaning against the rock wall, adding. “Nothing wrong with scars, young lady. Show’s you’ve done some livin’.”
As Nick walked away to go back to his work, Chase called after him, “Can I tell you something, Nick? You’re pretty smart for a groundskeeper.”
He turned with that half-crooked smile and shouted back, “And you’re not so bad for a fart in church.”
Chase left the rose on the wall and returned to the patio where Gavin was waiting outside with Scooter. She could see he was talking to Mary, the neighbor, and young Charlie.
