Nerd and the Marine Read Free

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]
    From:
[email protected]
    Subject: Bentley the root
beer tosser!
    Attachment
    Hello Mitch,
    Bentley would say hello,
but you totally called it. He's having so much fun with the