happy ending

On Friday, Ralph let me know that a delivery would be arriving late and asked if I could take care of it because he had already made plans. To be honest, I was so exhausted that all I really wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed, but Ralph has been my rock these last few weeks so I told him to have a great time and locked the door behind him.

The sky had turned gray and I could hear thunder...there was going to be a storm on top of a late night. Sigh.
When the rain came pouring down Benson started scratching, jumping, and barking at the door. There was no way I was going for a leisurely stroll with him in this weather, so I did something that I've never done before. I opened the shop door and told him to go out and do his business.
He gave me a strange look... and he bolted. He ran down the sidewalk and I couldn't see him with the rain coming down so hard. I ran outside and started to call for him and then I started to panic. I was cold, soaked with rain, and couldn't see a thing . Why didn't I put him on a leash? How could I have just let him go?!I frantically ran back inside to find an umbrella and some sort of raincoat. By this time I'm crazed. I'm imagining the worst and then I heard a familiar voice.
"Excuse me, Miss? Are you looking for something?"
I'm not sure if I can even come close to describe the intense emotion I was feeling or if this is a moment that I should even share with everyone. It's so personal. Surreal. It's a moment that will be with me for as long as I live. It's Jack.
A flood of emotions hit me. I'm relieved to see that Benson is with Jack; filled with questions on why Jack is here at this hour; and trying my very best to stay calm and cool because Jack is here and I haven't seen him in so long. So very long and I've missed him.
We dry off and open a bottle of wine that he had brought and I hear the story. There is no late night delivery. Ralph had set all this up with Jack last week.
It's too long to go into, but Jack and Lily found out about my Uncle and his dirty little secrets about the same time I did but felt it was important for me to discover all of the lies and deceit on my own. I'm glad they did. I had time to work through the drama in my heart and in my head and come out of all this a stronger person. Jack. We talked until the early hours. We laughed. I was floating. He's wonderful and I am beyond happy...joyful.
If you happen to see a girl with a goofy smile and stars in her eyes, be sure to say "hello" and let her know you believe that dreams come true. They do. They really do.