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“Let’s do it!”
They took off their outer clothing, applied sunscreen, and ran into the water. After swimming and playing around for thirty minutes, they retreated to the edge of the water and sat to watch as the water ebbed and flowed.
“Are these your only tattoos?” Evie asked as she gently touched the three sets of dates on his chest.
“They are,” he answered.
“I’m guessing each date has a meaning.”
“They do. This one,” Matt pointed to the first one, “Is when my mom died.”
“Oh!” She gently rubbed her fingers over the date. His mom died on September sixth.
“The next one is when I graduated from the academy.” He graduated on March eleventh.
“And the last one?” she asked pensively looking at the date… October fifteenth.
“Someone really close to me died. I’m still trying to deal with it.”
“Oh, Matt. I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help you ease the pain.”
“Actually, you’ve already helped me. You’ve reminded me of something I have that I forgot all about.”
“Really? What is it?”
“I can’t say here, but I’ll tell you next week.”
Evie furrowed her brow. What was it she reminded him of that he couldn’t talk about? It must have been very personal, and she wanted to ask another question, but their attention was drawn to a noise that was music to Evie’s ears. The noise of horses neighing.
She leaped to her feet and jumped up and down. Coming towards them were two horses on leads, being pulled by a gentleman in a cowboy hat, and a teenage boy holding an American Flag and a large box.
She looked at Matt and then returned to look at the horses.
“Is this for real? Or is this an accident?”
“Oh… it’s for real, my sweet Evie.”
She started to run toward the horses but stopped and redirected her path toward the umbrella. She brushed the sand off her feet, put on her socks, and then slipped on her boots. Matt had just joined her and laughed.
“I almost worried that you were going to forget to put on your boots.”
“Most people only have to forget once!” she laughed “I don’t intend to get my toes crushed today!” she hollered as she was off again, running straight to the horses. By the time Matt joined her, she was running her hands along the mare’s neck, across her back, and down her thigh and hock.
“She is beautiful!” Evie declared.
“Do you want these?” Matt asked as he held up her shorts.
“Do we get to ride?”
“This is my surprise for you, but…”
Evie turned from rubbing the horse to stare at Matt. “But, what?”
Matt took a large box the teenager was carrying and handed it to Evie. “You have to wear this!”
“What is this?” she asked.
“Open it and you’ll see.”
