Josie and Henry had only been together a few months when Valentine’s Day rolled around. You’d think new love would make for the best Valentine’s Day. Not necessarily, as the couple was soon to find out.
Henry had just stepped out of a tumultuous relationship with a psycho chick and was enjoying the normalcy and calm of Josie’s persona. Today, he was out shopping for a gift for Josie for the special lover’s holiday. He knew it was a little too early on in the relationship to present her with anything too special, yet he did want her to know he cared. He supposed also, that maybe it wasn’t such a hot idea to be thinking about another serious relationship after the nightmarish entanglement with his ex Nora. However, Josie breezed into his life with such a breath of fresh air and charm that he couldn’t resist being drawn to her.
Henry shrugged off any nagging thoughts of Nora and continued down Main Street, browsing in and out of the shops. He was thinking of a gift that would remind her of the day they first met. So much for not rushing the relationship! Oh well, Henry told himself; if I’m thinking this way, I may as well jump in with both feet and never look back! Maybe he and Josie together is fate. Oh brother, how corny and mushy can he get? In any case, Lord knows he didn’t want to look back on the craziness with Nora. Her jealousy and manic behavior would be easy to leave in the past. (Or so he thought.)
Dismissing disturbing memories of Nora, yet again, Henry’s thoughts shifted to Josie and the day they met. He had taken a shortcut through the park on his way home from work and was lost in his thoughts. His job at a local bank wasn’t what he expected and though he was making decent money, it was mundane and unrewarding. Henry loved kids, especially elementary-aged kids, and decided he would return to school for a teaching degree. As he was contemplating the enormity of such a radical change in his life, along comes Josie. He didn’t see her at first; instead he collides with her giant tricolor collie dog and was totally knocked off his feet as the dog leapt in the air to retrieve a Frisbee thrown by the cutest pint-sized brunette he had ever seen. He got a face-to-face look when Josie, trying to rescue him from her dog, tripped over her untied shoe-laces and fell on top of him before he was able to climb to his feet. Josie, her dog Stella, and Henry have been romping together ever since.
Henry was about to give up on the shopping for the day when he spotted the perfect gift. It was a statuette of a collie dog that looked remarkably like Stella, with nearly the exact same markings! The dog was posed as if in flight which made it even better. What a coup! Josie could put it on her desk at the vet’s office where she worked. She looked forward to the day that she could actually work with the animals rather than working the front desk. For now, she was also going to school for her vet’s degree, as well as Henry, as he had made the decision nearly immediately the day he met Josie, to get his teaching credentials. Delighted with his purchase, Henry made his way home with his prize.
Valentine’s Day found Henry up early as he was excited and looking forward to the day with Josie, and couldn’t wait to see her face as she opened his gift. However, he realized that he neglected to get a card, so he made a quick trip out to get one. When he returned home, it no longer resembled one. Who would have thought one could do so much damage in the space of forty five minutes. Someone had broken in and slashed all the paintings on the walls, his sofa and chair cushions and all his bedding and drapes! When he entered the kitchen, he saw his gift to Josie smashed to smithereens on the floor, as though special effort was made to destroy it completely.
NORA! She’d been stalking him! It didn’t take Henry long to put two and two together. He immediately realized she must have been the culprit. He also realized that he neglected to get his house key from Nora when they parted ways. Henry walked outside and paced up and down in front of his apartment building wondering how he could be such an idiot. Then, he stopped pacing, straightened up to his full height, and decided he wasn’t going to let Nora ruin this day for him and Josie. Clean up and police business could wait. He had to salvage Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day, five years later,
Henry and Josie sat in their family room in front of the fireplace with Stella at their feet. Josie had her hand placed over her bulging belly as she gazed at her Valentine’s Day present given to her 5 years earlier; a beautiful 2-carat diamond engagement ring which now shared space with the matching wedding band. As they sipped on their sparkling cider, they giggled as Henry remembered how he finally realized that he was head over heels in love with Josie!