Chapter 28: Valentine's Surprises
Sue takes her two shopping bags with Jack’s gift with her. Lucy drives
Sue over to Jack’s place with Levi in the backseat. Lucy drops Sue off and reminds Sue to wake her up the moment Sue
gets home tonight. Sue promises to do that and thanks Lucy for taking care of Levi. Then Lucy and Levi drive away, Sue walks
to the front door, puts her two gift bags on the stoop, and rings the doorbell.
Expecting Jack to come and open the door, she waits a few more minutes. Sue
is getting worried and then she notices the note with an arrow pointing down taped to the front door.
She reads the note; “Sorry
I missed you, the dinner that I made for us got burnt so I’m on my way to La Bergerie Restaurant to pick up our new fabulous dinner”. “It won’t be long now, there’s a key under
the welcome mat, use it to open the door and make yourself at home”. “My house is your house; there are more notes
inside. Be sure to read them all and do exactly what it says”. “One more thing, I love you and I’ll see
you real soon”. The note ends; “With love, Jack Hudson”.
Sue: This is strange. But I guess I should go inside and find a place to put all my gifts for him. I don’t
want to be dragging around the shopping bags all night long. I bet Jack is on the way home right now.
(curious smile)
Sue opens
the front door, walks inside and locks the door. As she enters the living room, on the coffee table there is a huge heart
shape Valentine’s Day candy box filled with Godiva chocolates with a note attached on top of the box. The note
says; Go into the kitchen and get something to drink. You’ll notice my first gift to you waiting on the table”.
Sue thinking; Jack is definitely up to something. I am going to find out what that something is.
Sue walks into the kitchen and there
on the table are two dozen long stem red roses in two crystal vases. Four Valentine balloon hearts are hanging from the ceiling.
She goes to the fridge to take a bottle of water. There’s a note on the fridge door with the words; my
second gift to you is upstairs in the guest bathroom. Go take a look and see if you like it. Sue walks upstairs to the guest bathroom, opens the door and sees a red & white spa retreat
basket with a short note. The basket is filled with cru de province milk body lotion, shower gel, bubble bath, hand cream,
massage oil, bath salt, bath tea, rose scented soap, thick bath foaming sponge, back scrubber, wooden shower brush, pumice
stone and nail brush for hands and feet, a wooden massager for sore muscles, comfy slippers, and two vanilla scented candles. The
note
as follows: “This spa basket full of indulgence can be used to relieve stress from the daily grind. It also creates
a lovely ambiance to share with someone you love (that’s me)”.
Sue
thinking: I love my spa basket. I can’t wait to try all these things out.
On the bathroom
mirror is another note.
It says; “Tonight I want to make all your wishes come true. Go down to the basement to find more gifts waiting for you”. By now, Sue realizes that Jack is playing a game with her and
she loves this game. Sue goes down to the basement; there are two big boxes with red bows.
When Sue opens the first box, she sees a talking
teddy bear, with a handwritten note that says; Squeeze me to hear a message
from someone special. Here is a copy of my poem.
This is what the message says; Hi! I’m Romeo the
talking bear. Then Jack voice comes on and his message to Sue: Dear Valentine. You capture my heart, from the very start. I think of you each morning.
And dream of you each night. You are the better half of my soul, Sue. You are the one that makes me whole. I want you to know
that nothing in this world is more precious to me than you are. Nothing can ever take your place in my life. There’s
nobody as wonderful as you. With every beat of my heart, I give you all that I am. I’ll never get tire of saying “I
love you”. Will you be my forever Valentine?
Sue opens the second box with
more boxes inside with a note saying, “open if you dare and follow the directions, heart and smiling face”. Sue
laughs; opens the box to find a pair of hockey jerseys and on the back of the jersey are the words; “Hudson
#1 Team” imprinted on it. After that, Sue opens another box, inside is a glass heart keepsake with
a red rose etched in the corner. With the engraved words: Love
is patient, love is kind. Love bears all things, believes all things. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the
truth. Love always protects, love always trusts. Love always hopes and always endures. Love never fails, love never ends.
Now our love begins a new journey into the sunset. Jack & Sue. February 14, 2005.
Then Sue opens yet another box, inside she finds two journal
books with storage cases so it does not get dust on them, entitled “When We First Met”. She flips open the book with her
name on it and reads the dedication;
To: Sue, You are the love
of my life. Two lives, two hearts, joined together in friendship, united forever in love. From: Yours truly, Jack Hudson.
Sue peruses the book and reads a
few entries like the meaning behind their first names and the astrological compatibility chart and report based on the year
both Jack and Sue was born, just for fun. There is section entitled “Our Memories”.
In Jack’s handwriting, Sue reads his thoughts
as he recalls the day they first met at the bureau, their trips to Paris and Wisconsin, their romantic New Year’s together,
Valentine’s Day wishes for him and her, his spectacular birthday surprise, hockey games they went to, a list of their
favorite songs, TV shows, and movies are included as well. Sue turns to the next few pages and discovers some things she didn’t
know about Jack, as she reads a short story about Jack’s very first car, him working for Judge Kendall, when he bought
this house, and other memorable events that happened to him before he met her. In
addition, there are pictures with captions below to freeze each moment in time.
Their names are printed at the top of each page with the date when
they met; August
12, 2002. On
the last page, there is a love poem entitled “The Gift You Give Me”.
Sometimes I close my eyes and smile. Because I never dreamed my life could be like this. And it’s all because
of you. All that you have been to me cannot be fully expressed in mere words. It is something that only my heart can explain.
Throughout all our days together, you should know that you will always be my best friend. And my one true love. One thing that remains steadfast is that I will always keep falling in love with
you as time goes by. It’s the little things that you do that makes loving you so easy. My heart overflows with the love
we share.
Our love is like a river that will never
end. Every moment we spend together is like a dream come true. And I never want to know life, without you by my side. You
are with me always for you are the beat inside my heart.
I do believe that God above, created
you for me to love for eternity. No one else in the world can ever compare. And in your eyes I see our past, our present,
and our future. And I know we will last forever.
I dream of the day when we become husband
and wife. That is the greatest gift you could ever give me! My first love, you will always be the gift that I treasure more
than life itself. To my darling, Sue…I love you truly, madly, deeply, now and always!
