Page 64 of Faking it with the Green Beret

Wren breezed through the room with a gift bag. “We’re going to do gifts now.” She summoned them with a wave of her hand.

“You all didn’t need to do gifts,” Elizabeth insisted.

“We knew you’d say that.” Neecy smiled adoringly at Elizabeth.

“I didn’t get to go shopping. But you can hold your namesake when she wakes up,” Rhonda said.

“That’s a perfect gift.” One by one, Elizabeth opened small gifts: scented lotion, a new hummingbird feeder, a pair of silver bracelets with something written on it that made her emotional.

“It’s almost the same as yours that you gave me. Plus, a spare for the next time you give it away,” Valerie said as Elizabeth slipped it on.

Elizabeth laughed when Wren handed her the post with a ribbon.

“What’s that for?” Elizabeth’s co-worker, Paula, asked.

“I’m building a deck on Hope Harbor,” John explained.

“Considering I nearly broke my ankle more than once because of that step, it’s a fantastic idea,” a petite woman with streaks of royal blue in her jet-black hair said.

“Your presence here and seeing you all happy is the only gift I need,” Elizabeth said. “And getting to hold the baby later.”

“Along those lines, we need everybody to get together so we can take a group picture,” Ariana requested.

“I can take it for you,” Jillian volunteered.

“You should all be in it. I’ll take it,” John offered.

“You both need to be in it too.” Ariana nudged Jillian and John toward the group. “Matthew, can you take the picture?”

“Of course.”

“Come on. I’m not part of this group that way,” John protested.

“You need to be in at least one. You’ll see why in a minute,” Ariana implored softly, batting her eyelashes.

“Fine. One. Don’t be posting it on social media, though.”

“I promise.”

After Matthew took numerous shots, Wren handed Elizabeth the large gift bag, from which she pulled a binder with roses decorating the cover.

“Look inside,” Wren urged. “We’ll put one of the pictures we just took on that first page.”

Elizabeth turned the blank page. From what John could see, there was a letter mounted on colorful, printed paper. Elizabeth’s head shifted as she scanned the words. Her hand went to her mouth.

“There are letters from all of us and some of the women who couldn’t make it here today,” Wren said.

“I’m going to read them later, because I can already tell they’re going to make me cry—in a good way. This is a gift I’ll treasure,” Elizabeth’s voice cracked.

“You can thank John for the inspiration,” Wren admitted.

“Really?” Elizabeth’s gaze shifted to John.

“I tasked him with getting gift ideas. He mentioned something about words of affirmation from a book you liked. I used to scrapbook, so I came up with the idea of a book thanking you for what you’ve done for us.”

“You read theFive Love Languagesbook?” Elizabeth stared at him with an impressed, yet slightly bewildered, smile that made him feel ten feet tall.

“I had a mission to complete. It was insightful.”

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