Mango Lucky (21 page)

I raised my glass in a toast, "Another hot meal, and not from the microwave. Anna, you're spoiling me."

She smiled mischievously. "You're not spoiled just yet. But it could happen."

I put my hand over my heart, "Anna, you're scaring me."

And I meant it.

67

After dinner, I put the plates in the sink, while Anna cut a chunk of chicken breast into small pieces. After putting the small pieces of chicken on a paper plate, she set it on the floor.

She called out, "Bob. I've got something for you."

I could hear Bob's little feet trotting from the bedroom where he'd been sleeping. He quickly located the plate, cautiously sniffed the morsel of chicken, then looked up at Anna.

"That's right, Bob. It's all for you."

He looked at the plate, and using his front paw reached out and touched the chicken. Withdrawing his paw, he licked it.

That's all it took. Bob hunkered down over the plate and began eating the chicken. Soon after, he began to purr loudly.

Anna turned to me and smiled, "Bob likes roasted chicken."

I nodded, "Yes, and it looks like you're spoiling him, just like you're trying to spoil me!"

Anna smiled. Then she turned serious.

"Remember last night when I said I needed to tell you some things? "

"Yes, I remember."

"Well," she continued, "before I could tell you everything, we were interrupted by Walt. And there's one more thing you need to know. And it may change the way you think about me."

I took a deep breath, "Okay. Tell me."

Anna hesitated, then said, "Remember last Saturday, when I rescued you in the rain storm?"

I nodded, "Of course, how could I forget?"

"Well," she continued, "it wasn't an accident that I found you.

"See, your Sarah had called me. She told me you were going to be camping here, and she asked me to check up on you and Bob."

"Wait a minute," I said, "You know Sarah?"

"Yes, I know Sarah. She and I were roommates when she lived in Bradenton and worked on the charter fishing boat.

"I was working for the power company as a meter reader, and we just hit it off. To save money, we became roomies.

"When the power company transferred me to Vero, I moved out. But she and I have stayed in touch over the years.

"Sarah knew one of my hobbies was metal detecting and she figured that with the storm coming, I'd probably be heading to Vero Beach.

"So she called and asked me to check up on you and Bob. She wanted to be sure you both were safe."

I shook my head, "If Sarah wanted to know if Bob and I were safe, why didn't she call or text me herself? And why did she want me to come over here in the first place?

"And why when I called, did a guy answer her phone?"

Anna took a sip of her wine.

"Walker, Sarah wanted to tell you this herself, but she was embarrassed. She said I could tell you, as long as I waited until Friday.

"Since it's almost Friday, I guess it will be okay to tell you the full story.

"As you know, Sarah's kayak business wasn't doing too well. With all the new cut-rate competitors coming into town, she wasn't getting many customers.

"She still had bills to pay and was afraid of running out of money. So she started looking for a job. And she didn't want you to know about it."

I interrupted, "What about the lottery money?"

Anna smiled, "The lottery money helped out a lot. She used most of it to pay off her truck and credit card bills. She got out of debt, but didn't have much money left.

"So when she told you she was going into town for doctor appointments, she was actually going for job interviews.

"Two weeks ago, the yacht club offered her a job as the dock master. And this was exactly what she was hoping for, a chance to work around boats again.

"But there was one little problem. The dock master was a 24/7 job, and they wanted Sarah to move into a small on-site apartment at the club. The apartment would be rent free, and allow her to be close to the dock in case of emergencies.

"Sarah couldn't pass this opportunity up, so she accepted the offer and the job starts Monday.

"She didn't know how to break this to you. Especially the part about her moving and you losing your free camping spot in the boat yard.

"So she figured the best way was to get you out of town while she moved, and then when you got back, she'd break the news to you."

I interrupted. "Anna, if Sarah needed money, she could have asked me. I would have helped her out."

"She said you'd say that. And that's what she was worried about. She was afraid she'd either become dependent on you, or you'd try to talk her out of taking the job.

"Either way, she'd be losing control of her life. And she didn't want that. She didn't want to hurt you either. But she could tell you were getting emotionally attached to her, and that didn't fit in with her plans.

"So she asked me to come over and check on you and report back to her. And I've been doing just that. I've talked to her several times this week.

"There is some good news though."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Sarah said the rent is paid up on the boatyard for the next eight weeks. So at least you won't need to move right away.

"And there is something else you need to know."

68

"Is it good news or bad?"

Smiling, Anna replied, "I guess it depends on how you feel about Bob.

"See, the reason Sarah wanted you to take Bob this past week is she didn't want him to get hurt or lost during the move to her new apartment.

"And now that she's in the apartment, she has to convince her new boss to allow Bob to live there, because they have a 'no pets' rule.

"So until Sarah can get her boss's approval, she needs you to take care of Bob.

"Will that be a problem?"

I shook my head, "No, no problem. I can take care of Bob for a while. He's pretty easy to live with."

Smiling, Anna said, "Good, I'll let Sarah know. She'll be relieved. And happy that Bob can stay with you."

Bob heard us talking about him, and he came up and nudged Anna. She began stroking his back.

We were both silent while I thought about all she had just revealed.

My initial reaction was shock and just a twinge of anger. Sarah planned this whole thing, and she and Anna had been talking behind my back all week.

But as I thought it through, I realized there was nothing for me to be angry about. It was a little embarrassing that I was so easy to fool. But all in all, the week had gone well for me. And it had gone well for them, too.

Anna was still petting Bob, when I changed the subject by asking, "So, what are you planning for tomorrow?"

Anna looked up, relief obvious on her face. "So you're not mad at me?"

"No," I replied. "No reason to be. You and I had a good week together, and nothing that you and Sarah did changes that. So everything is cool."

Anna smiled, "Good. That's how I was hoping you'd see it."

She paused, then said, "To answer your question, I'm thinking of going back to Ken's Coins tomorrow and selling the gold ring I found yesterday. You want to come with me?"

I nodded, "Maybe."

She smiled, "Even if you don't want to sell any of your finds, you should bring your coins and get Ken to issue certificates of authenticity for them.

"That'll make them a lot easier to sell later on."

Nodding in agreement, I said, "You're right. I should get them authenticated. Maybe even find out what they're worth while I'm there."

Anna stood, "I plan to leave around nine in the morning. Be ready then." She turned and headed for the door.

"Wait," I said, "where are you going? It's still early. I figured we'd hang out here for a while. Maybe talk a bit more about what's happened this week."

Sarah shook her head, "No can do. I've got some things I need to take care of over in my camper."

She turned, gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "See you in the morning." Then she walked out the door.

I looked at Bob. "Well buddy, it looks like it's going to be just you and me tonight."

69

The next morning Bob woke me at dawn. The birds had returned to the tree outside his window, and he wanted me to be aware of the possibilities they presented.

When he jumped up on the bed, then sat on my chest, I ignored him, hoping he'd go away. But he didn't. Instead, he reached out with his paw and tapped me on the cheek.

"Okay Bob. You win. I'll get up."

Bob said, "Murrph," then jumped down from the bed and ran into the bathroom to inspect his food.

Seeing that his bowl was still full from the night before, he strutted to the couch, jumped up on the back and found a comfortable spot where he could lay against the screen and spy on the birds outside.

His small bump of a tail twitched and he made a clicking sound in his throat as small birds jumped from limb to limb just out of his reach.

Bob was happy.

Me? I would have rather slept in for another hour. But now that I was awake, I pulled on my shoes, ran a hand through my hair, grabbed my keys, and headed out for an early morning walk.

As I had done the first day at the park, I headed east toward the Sebastian Inlet fishing pier, a brisk ten minute walk from my campsite.

Upon reaching the pier, I could see that even at this early hour, there were several people with fishing poles extended out over the pier's railing, hoping to catch a big one with the incoming tide.

As I passed one of the men at the rail, he turned and said, "Hey, it's Mr. Lucky. Stop and talk for a minute."

It was the same fisherman I had talked to six days earlier.

I smiled. "Good morning. How's the fishing?"

The man nodded at the three fishing rods he was tending, "Not so good. Water's still stirred up from the storm. But at least the weather's a lot better today than it was the last time I saw you."

"You're right about that."

I nodded toward one of his rods, "Looks like you might have something on that line."

He turned and saw that the line was twitching and the rod bent toward the water.

Smiling, he said, "Yep, you're still my good luck charm." He then picked up the rod and started reeling in his catch.

I waved and walked off. Time to head back to the motorhome.

After a quick shower, I had a breakfast of cold cereal. Then I emptied the remaining cereal into the trash, and set the empty box on the dinette table.

Back in the bedroom, I lifted the bed platform, and unlocked the storage compartment under the bed.

Gathering up the gold and silver coins and the ring, I took them up front and laid them out on the dinette table. There I carefully placed each item, wrapped in a paper towel, into the empty cereal box.

I figured carrying my treasures in a cereal box was a lot safer than carrying them in a money bag while out in public.

Around nine, Anna knocked on the door.

"Walker, you up?"

I opened the door, "Yep, I'm up and ready to go."

She pointed to the cereal box I was holding. "You plan to eat in the car?"

"No. I've got my coins in the box."

She nodded, "Not a bad idea. But walking around carrying a cereal box? You can do better than that."

She walked to the kitchen counter and picked up one of the empty Publix grocery bags from our shopping trip the day before.

Handing me the bag, she said, "Put the box in this. It won't look so strange that way."

She was right. Walking around with a grocery bag wouldn't attract nearly as much attention as walking around holding a box of cereal. I did as she suggested, and we headed out.

It took us about twenty five minutes to get to Ken's coin shop. And as before, the door was locked when we arrived.

Anna pressed the buzzer, and a moment later we heard Ken's voice on the intercom.

"Anna, did you bring me some more goodies?"

"Maybe. Buzz us in and find out."

The door buzzed and we heard the bolt unlock.

Before entering, Anna looked around to make sure no one was behind us. Satisfied we weren't be followed, we went in.

Inside, Ken was waiting for us sitting on the stool on his side of the counter.