Page 79 of Little Gray Dress

A knock on the door makes me jump nearly out of my skin. Why am I so nervous?

“Jack?” I answer the door, but it isn’t Jack. A man in a suit and tie is standing there holding a card.

“This was left for you at the front desk, Miss Harrison.”

I glance at the envelope with my name elegantly written across it.

“Thank you.” I act like I was expecting it and close the door before tearing open the envelope.

Ems,

I know you’re shocked to be here. I never imagined how things would turn out for us, but I always hoped I’d be able to give you everything we wanted in life. I failed at that for a while and I want to apologize for that, once again.

Please follow the clues I’ve left. I can’t wait to see you.

Jack

“Follow the clues?” I say out loud, looking around the room for anything that stands out to me as a clue. “Does he not remember that I suck at being Nancy Drew?”

“Miss Harrison?” Another knock at the door I didn’t quite get closed behind me startles me yet again.

“Yes?” I walk over to it, almost afraid of who stands there, but it’s another man dressed in a suit, holding a small bag and a garment bag. “I’ve been asked to deliver these to you, instructions are in the bag.”

“Thank you.” I bite my lip and take the items from him nervously. The dress bag has a note pinned to it that says Open me first. I put the bag on the table near the door and open the card.

You gave me the best 5 years of my life,

then a two-year nightmare I couldn’t wake from each night.

You once revealed to me a secret as I slept on the beach.

Wear this dress and the next clue will be within your reach.

“Sweet Mother of Moses.” I unzip the bag to find the little gray dress that Jack always loved. The same dress that I altered specifically to wear this week in an attempt to drive him mad. In the small bag are the sparkly heels he bought me to go with the dress, and jewelry to match. “How did he get all this stuff?” I ask the empty room.

This is much more maddening than I anticipated. I had this whole speech planned, and now I have to try and remember it through the tension building in my buzzing brain. Even my hands are shaking as I try to get ready to see him.

When I pull the dress over my head something pokes me in the face, and when I look it’s another note marked Clue Two pinned to the inside of the dress. Thank God it was the corner of the envelope poking me and not a needle in the eye. I toss the envelope onto the counter. I’ve never got dressed and ready so fast in my life before tearing open the next clue.

In loungers, we slept under the moon,

because when I walked I tripped into the dunes.

In that spot you will find clue number three.

Try not to fall, but if you do, fall for me.

Fall for him… The way my heart is suddenly galloping in my chest tells me that I fell for Jack a long time ago. I may have been more than stubborn over the last couple of years, but if I’m finally facing the truth, I never really let him go.

When I get down to the beach it’s completely empty. I pull my shoes off so I can walk across the sand to the loungers we lay in that night that I babysit Jack during his first drinking binge. I remember it like it was yesterday, and it makes my heart hurt just a tiny bit. It was when things were so innocent between us; there was no fighting, no supposed cheating, no wedding plans, just us in love. It was simple.

As I get closer I see the flickering light of torches stuck into the sand ahead of me. If I wasn’t afraid he was watching me I’d run there. I’m trying to keep my cool though. When I finally walk down the path now created between the glowing torches, I see the envelope of the next clue sticking out of the sand. Clue Three is written across the front. This must be the last clue. The torches block me from walking further than this. I tear open the envelope.

Turn Around

“Turn around?” I say, as I look hesitantly past the flames. I hear a shuffle behind me and turn to see Jack standing just a few feet away. He looks better than he did yesterday, if that’s even possible.

“Jack…”

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