Nerd and the Marine (2 page)

“
I'm glad I can help.” What
did one say to a Marine? Great, how was she supposed to figure this
out?

“
You know I'd take him in a
heartbeat, but we've already got three dogs.”

“
And four kids, three cats,
two hamsters, a gazillion fish, and a horny lizard. Yes, I know
there's no way you could do it, Melly, and I really don't mind. I'm
happy to help this guy,” Lainy answered. Did she have to write him?
Maybe she could snail mail him. That took a long time.
Not fair
, a warning voice
dinged at her.

“
Actually, we've got eight
hamsters now. Oh, Lainy, I'm so happy you can help. Do you want to
come get Bentley, or would you rather I drop him off?”

“
I can come and get him.
Who knows what he'll find in your van to choke on.” Lainy kept the
smile in her voice so her sister would know she teased.

“
You know, you're not too
far off on that, actually. You're the best, Lainy. Thank you,” her
sister gushed.

“
I'll be by in a few
minutes, okay?” Lainy wistfully glanced at her computer screen. So
much for debugging this latest program, but then again, she'd have
company when she returned. She couldn't imagine life with a dog,
but thought it would be pretty good. Companionship and perhaps even
a protector if she needed one.

She refused to think about the e-mail
she’d have to write to some unknown man. That would clench her
stomach into further knots.

Chapter Two

Captain Mitchel Monahan sat wearily
down at his computer, trying to brush the sand off the desk and the
computer and his face. It was hot and sandy outside. Hot and sandy
inside – a desolate, alien place.

He hadn't checked e-mail since he'd
arrived, and figured he'd better. There was no telling how many
messages from work he'd have, and since his computer was old, he
hated to clog it. The laptop had been threatening to die on him, so
he tried to handle the machine with care.

Neilson had done him a huge favor by
hooking him up so he’d be able to check e-mail with his own
computer. Technically, they were supposed to use the military
provided computers, however, since they were always in use,
Neilson, who worked with him at home, had managed to finagle wires
and routers to make it work that he could use his own
equipment.

Signing onto the server he waited for
the messages to download. When they did after some time, he clicked
through them until he reached a name he didn't recognize. Except
for the subject heading. Intrigued, but uneasy at the news this
particular e-mail brought, he clicked on the message and began to
read, dreading that he was about to meet Bentley's new
owner.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: I've got
Bentley!

Dear Captain
Monahan,

My name is Lainy Morrison
and I'm a sister of Melly Lytle, the woman who you gave Bentley to
today at the animal shelter. She hated that you had to give up your
dog and I'm afraid we can't fathom someone not having family.
(We've got 800 relatives - and that's only here in town.) She also
couldn't let Bentley go to another home when he's all you
have.

So, she asked me to take
him in while you're overseas. I'm happy to keep him until you
return. I'm grateful I can do this for you. When was the last time
someone thanked you for what you do for us? I hope this makes your
service time a little more bearable. I'm happy to offer this small
gesture of appreciation.

Bentley would like you to
know he's checked out every corner of my house and is disappointed
you're not here, but he did find an old cookie I must have dropped
and made do with that. He seems easily appeased. ☺

We are doing well
together. May I send you pictures? If this would be difficult for
you, I won't. On the other hand, if it would help to ease you, I'm
happy to do so. (I have a new digital camera I've been itching to
try out and Bentley is quite photogenic, and terribly patient -
thank goodness.)

Please return
safely.

Sincerely,

Lainy Morrison

Mitch leaned back in his seat and
appreciated how the weight on his shoulders magically lifted.
Bentley was safe and with a woman who was willing to share the time
they spent apart. With the first grin he'd worn in weeks, he set
about replying to this most welcome e-mail.

Chapter Three

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: THANK
YOU

Dear Ms.
Morrison,

How can I express my
thanks and gratitude for your very precious gift? I don't know any
other way than to simply say, “Thank you! From the very bottom of
my heart.” Bentley is very important to me and the hardest thing
I've ever done in my life was to take him to that
shelter.

Only, a wonderful woman,
well two wonderful women, stepped in and made it such that I
wouldn't lose my best pal. I would very much appreciate if you
would send pictures. Most of my friends are also here, so we will
not be exchanging pictures. There is nothing here any of us would
want to capture on film, anyway. Just sand and heat. And there's no
water anywhere near the sand, so it's not the fun kind.

Please, send pictures. I
don't even mind if you send pictures of all 800 of your relatives.
I like pictures. Especially with captions.

As to your question of
whether I've been thanked for my service, yes, actually I have.
When one wears a United States of America military uniform,
especially since the September 11th attacks, there is much respect
and gratitude given to us. The American people aren't as likely to
take their freedom and safety for granted now, and they are far
more appreciative of those of us who serve our country. But I thank
you for your contribution. Wholeheartedly. (is that a
word?)

Thank you so much for
taking Bentley for me. Words can't express my thanks. I know I
already said that, but you've lifted a great burden from my
shoulders and I'm very grateful to you.

Yours,

Sincerely,

Capt. Mitch
Monahan

P.S. Bentley will tackle
anyone who has root beer, so you might want to be careful about
that.

P.S.S. Thank
you!

*****

Lainy finished reading the e-mail from
Bentley's dad and smiled as she took in yet another thank you.
Sending the first e-mail hadn’t been as bad as she’d thought. That
was good. Looking down at the faithful friend lying silently at her
feet she said, “I think your dad misses you, buddy.”

Bentley raised his head and tapped his
tail a few times before slumping back onto the floor. Lainy smiled
and patted him for the effort, which elicited her a few more tail
taps.

She clicked through her pictures file
and selected a few she thought Mitch Monahan might like. There were
a couple of shots of Bentley that looked like he was laughing, and
she wanted to send them. There was also one where his whole face
seemed to droop, and he looked sad and lonely. She had already
captioned it, “Miss you, Dad.” She had every intention of sending
that one, too.

With a few clicks of the mouse, she
zipped the pictures and then attached them. In the end she only
sent two, since she didn't know how much memory his computer had.
Lainy figured he'd probably be able to use a military computer, but
somehow believed he used his own.

After attaching the pictures, she
began hitting keys, trying to remember everything she had attempted
to store in her brain to tell him. Bentley did so many funny
things, and she wanted to remember them all so she could tell
Mitchel.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Bentley, the
squirrel chaser

Attachments

Dear Captain
Monahan,

Did you know Bentley has
this thing about chasing squirrels? My yard is now squirrel free.
Bentley takes squirrel chasing very seriously and I believe is
contemplating securing the neighbors’ yards as well. (Which is okay
because they're all related to me anyhow.) He has also taken an
intense dislike to my Great-Aunt Tilly's cat. Now, don't get me
wrong, I'm doubtful even my aunt likes this cat, and definitely no
one else does. And we're all animal lovers. Perhaps more on The
Terror, which is his name because he's obnoxious, later. Just let
it be known that the Terror no longer comes calling at my house,
and I have Bentley to thank.

My family has a vacation
planned for this weekend. A bunch of us own several cabins (well,
800 people dictates this, of course, but fortunately, only about
30-60 people show at a time) along a lake near here and we all go
up during the summer. Does Bentley swim? Being a Marine rather than
a Navy dog, I wasn't certain, and if he doesn't I probably need to
know this in advance.

That way when we get
thrown into the lake, (and trust me, we will! - HEY does Bentley
bite?! This could be good, VERY good! Brothers are awful....) I
need to know whether I'll have to bail a sodden dog out of the lake
along with myself. I'm telling you, brothers are wicked and none of
us four girls escape their demonic teasing. One of my sisters,
Dory, was pregnant last year, and still ended up in the lake. They
were gentle about it, but she got the requisite dunking. And of
course, her useless husband thought it was funny. (He's useless
because he threw me in last year, first thing. I had barely arrived
and in I went, glasses, purse, and all. Man I hope Bentley bites!)
☺

Well, we're both yawning.
Bentley keeps us on a tight schedule. There are squirrels out
there, you know. We have thus avoided the root beer thing, but I
bought a case of the stuff to take to the lake with us. I'm so
handing root beer out when the boys are near the water! (Hee
hee!)

Goodnight.

Bentley sent some of his
favorite pictures, hope you enjoy them.

Lainy M.

Still chuckling over her
root beer comment, Mitch clicked on her attachments and opened a
picture of Bentley. His dog looked awfully sad, droopy-like, and
his heart clenched when he read the caption.
Miss you, Dad
. Smiling at the caption
and the picture together, Mitch sent up yet another thankful prayer
for this woman who had unselfishly opened her home to his dog. And
who was willing to share his only family member’s life with
him.

The next picture showed
Bentley looking just like he remembered his pet. Happy and goofy,
and like he smiled at the camera, or maybe the person behind the
camera. The caption on this one read,
Got
root beer?

Laughing out loud, Mitch hit the
command to print the pictures. So he only had regular paper, and
not photo paper. These were better than what he currently had.
Which was nothing. He caught himself caressing his dog on paper and
stopped but as he stared down at Bentley, he was very, very
grateful for a selfless, unknown woman far away.

Chapter Four

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Thanks for the
pictures

Attachment

Dear Lainy,

I got the pictures you
sent. Actually printed them out. Bentley brightens my tent. (You
laugh, but there's just enough room for a cot and a footlocker. I
share this tent with ten other officers and there’s another one due
in at any time. Where we’ll put him, I don’t know. And I can't even
complain because most of the guys are in open walled barracks, with
many more beds.)

How many brothers and
sisters do you have? You mentioned four girls, and the boys, so
that makes how many in your immediate family? I'm assuming your
parents contributed to the 800 relatives number.
I've sent you a picture of my company. Can you guess which one is
me? And no fair asking Bentley to help. Or your sister!

They're calling for
another sand storm, so I need to protect the computer. This thing
wasn't working right before I landed, but sand in the drives isn't
helping, of course.

Goodnight and have fun at
the lake. Oh, Bentley does know how to swim, and he doesn’t bite as
far as I know. He really enjoys the water, so you may have more
trouble coaxing him OUT of the water than into it. And he really
likes kids, too, so if you've got a herd of nieces and nephews,
that's where he'll hang out. And if you feel the need to throw your
brothers in the lake, Bentley will help, for root beer.

Yours,

Mitch (Bentley's Dad - I'd
never thought of that before, but it's exactly how I
feel.)

*****

To:
[email protected]