Mango Lucky (15 page)

I nodded. "Sounds good to me. What do you want me to do?"

She pointed to the wine, "I'll do the cooking. You open the wine."

Grabbing the bag of charcoal we'd purchased earlier, Anna headed outside to the grill. I was pretty sure she was humming a happy tune.

Opening the bottle of wine, I poured us both a glass, and followed her outside.

I watched as she built a small pyramid of charcoal in the campground grill. She stuffed a crumbled up paper towel at the bottom as kindling for her fire.

Lighting a match to the paper, she soon had flames under the charcoal.

Anna nursed the fire for a few minutes, blowing on the flames trying to get the charcoal briquettes to light up. It took only a few minutes before the charcoal was glowing.

After she was satisfied with her fire, she turned to me and said, "Okay. It looks like we'll be grilling in about twenty minutes. In the meantime, we can drink a little wine, and you can tell me more about why you're living in a motorhome."

We sipped our wine as I told my story.

I had been the head of computer operations for a large manufacturing plant. The company that owned the plant decided to move it to Mexico. They announced they were closing the plant, laying off all the people who worked there, including me.

The day they announced the plant closing, my wife unexpectedly filed for divorce.

It was a friendly divorce. We split everything we owned right down the middle. It wasn't a lot, but we both ended up with a little money in the bank. I also got to keep my last paycheck and severance pay.

Using that little bit of money, I traded my pickup truck for the motorhome and had been living in it ever since.

Anna smiled, "Quite a story. So what's it like living in a motorhome? And where do you stay when you're not in a campground like this one."

I laughed. "Before I got the motorhome, I lived in a tent for two weeks. Compared to that, the motorhome is a palace. It's got everything I need, and I can take it anywhere."

"Until recently I've been parking in the backyard of the girl I mentioned before. She hasn't been charging me rent. So other than buying food, it hasn't cost me much."

Anna took a sip of her wine. "What if the girl decides you need to move? What will you do then?"

Until just a few days ago, I hadn't even thought about this possibility. Would Sarah soon ask me to park my motorhome somewhere else?

My gut was saying 'yes'. Eventually, maybe soon, she'd want me to find some other place to live.

I sighed, "When that happens, I guess I'll have to find another friend to stay with. Or maybe buy a vacant lot where I can park the motorhome."

Anna nodded, then said, "Maybe you could buy a RV park. That way, you'd always have a place to stay, and you could invite your friends who have motorhomes and trailers to stay at your park.

"If you did that, I could come visit you."

I smiled. She was right, owning a small RV park might be fun.

Anna got up and tended to her fire, then went inside the motorhome to get the steaks.

Back outside she put the steaks on the grill, then said, "I'm going back in to make a salad. You stay out here and make sure the fire doesn't flare up."

She placed a large steak fork on the table in front of me, and went back inside the motorhome.

A few minutes later she came back out with a large bowl of salad, two plates, and eating utensils.

She checked the steaks, and being satisfied with their progress, sat at the table facing me. "You're not smiling. We're supposed to be celebrating. Something wrong?"

49

Yes, there was something wrong. I'd called Sarah and a man answered.

Instead of sharing this bit of information with Anna, I said, "Just thinking about my living arrangements back in Englewood. And how I might need to find another place."

Anna reached out and touched my hand, "You can worry about that some other time. Right now we're going to eat and start our celebration. So pour some more wine and let's celebrate today's good fortune."

I poured and we drank and ate and drank some more. The meal was excellent, and the steak was just what we needed after eating microwave meals for so many days in a row.

After we'd finished, I cleaned away the plates and asked, "How about we take a walk?"

Anna said, "Sure. A walk sounds good."

I locked the motorhome and we headed out. Anna's campsite was right next to mine, and as we passed it, she pointed at her tent and said, "That's where I'm sleeping tonight."

"What about our celebration?" I asked. "You should sleep in the motorhome tonight. You know the couch will be more comfortable than sleeping on the ground in your tent."

Anna smiled, "We'll see."

We continued our walk through the park, and eventually made it to the fishing pier that stretched out over the Atlantic ocean.

The conditions were far different than when I had first walked on the pier. The weather was calm, the decking was dry. It no longer felt dangerous.

Hard to imagine the fury of the rain and lightning just a few days earlier.

As the sun began to drop in the western sky, we walked back to camp, swatting at the tiny no-seeums that seemed to be coming out with the setting sun.

Anna swatted the back of her neck, "Damn, that one hurt. These bugs are hungry tonight."

I looked to see where the bug had bitten her and could see a red welt starting to rise. Beside it, I noticed a jagged scar at the base of her head, running up into her scalp.

Back at the motorhome Anna said, "Too many bugs out here. Let's go inside and continue the party."

Inside, she opened the second bottle of wine, and I got a deck of cards out of the kitchen drawer.

She looked at the cards and laughed. "So this is how you entertain a woman? No wonder you're still single."

I laughed, "You're right. I don't have much experience at this. Why don't you decide what we'll do."

Anna nodded, "Okay. First, we put away the cards. Then you slide over here closer to me. That way we both can see the sun set."

I did as I was told. I slid over by Anna and she pulled my arm over her shoulder.

"Now, isn't this better?" Anna asked.

"Yes, this is nice. Now what?"

Anna sighed, "Just do nothing. Enjoy the sunset. Enjoy my company. Enjoy the wine."

And that's what we did.

We talked about the day, about the treasures we'd both found, and about Jake the treasure finding wonder dog.

"Do you really believe Jake can sniff out treasure?" Anna asked.

"I don't know. But he led me right to it. He sat on the spot. Even started digging the hole."

Anna shook her head, "I'd give anything to have my own Jake the wonder dog."

"Me too. Speaking of finding treasure, are we going back out tomorrow?"

Anna nodded, "You bet. Same schedule as today. We'll get up early, then head to my secret beach. Hopefully, no one has beat us to it."

I smiled, "Sounds good. Maybe tomorrow will be as lucky as today."

"I hope so," said Anna. "I still can't believe we found all that treasure. And I have twenty five thousand dollars in my gym bag!"

Then she asked, "What are you going to do with all the stuff you found? Are you going to take it to Ken and sell it?"

"I'm not sure. I'm thinking of holding on to it for a while. As a souvenir of our first treasure hunting adventure. If I ever need the money, I can always sell it later."

Anna nodded, then said, "Well, it's getting late. Time for me to head over to my tent. We've got an early morning tomorrow."

"Anna, please stay here tonight. The couch is a lot softer than the ground. And Bob will miss you."

She said, "Nope, I've already been over here too long. It might be dangerous if I stay. I've had too much to drink, and I'm too happy. If I stay, I might let you have your way with me."

She wagged her finger at me, "And we both know that would create problems."

She then leaned over and kissed me on the lips.

Standing she said, "Not bad. Maybe we should do that again sometime." She smiled and said, "Gotta go."

As she walked to the door I said, "Anna, I'm leaving the door unlocked and the bed set up. If you change your mind, come back over."

She waved, and walked out the door.

50

The next morning, I awoke disoriented.

Next to a warm body.

Had Anna returned during the night?

Then I heard snoring.

It was Bob. He had curled up beside me during the night.

Somewhat disappointed, I started thinking about the previous evening's celebration with Anna. It had gone well. Just wished she had stayed the night.

Then I realized I could smell bacon cooking. And I could hear noises from the kitchen. Someone was cooking breakfast. Inside the motorhome.

Pulling on my pants, I stumbled out of bed, and walked up front to find Anna in the kitchen, cracking eggs into a skillet.

She smiled, "Morning, sleepy head. Glad to see you're finally awake."

I ran a hand through my hair, "How long you been up?"

"Oh, about an hour. I couldn't sleep, and finally gave up trying. At daylight I came over here and started breakfast. Figured you might need something to eat before we headed out."

Anna pointed to an empty wine bottle on the counter, "So how's your head this morning? Got a hangover?"

I nodded, "Yes, and it's your fault." Then I asked, "Do I have time to take a quick shower before we eat?"

"Sure, as long as you don't mind eating cold eggs. Because they're ready now."

I passed on the shower. Instead, I pulled on a shirt, washed my hands, and headed to the table to eat breakfast.

As we were eating, Anna pulled a packet of Goody's Headache Powders from her shirt pocket.

"Take one of these. You'll feel better."

Downing the powder with a glass of orange juice, I had high hopes the caffeine and aspirin ingredients would soon clear the remnants of my hangover.

"So what are the plans for today?" I asked.

Anna smiled, "As soon as you get your act together, we'll head out to the beach.

"Then around one, high tide comes rolling in, so we'll come back here. Then I've got to go into town, take care of some business."

I nodded, "Sounds like you've got the day planned. Give me five minutes and I'll be ready."

I took a quick shower, shaved, and brushed my teeth. After checking Bob's food supply and refilling his water bowl, I was ready to go.

Anna was waiting for me at the door. "Walker, anybody ever tell you that you take longer than a girl to get ready?"

I smiled.

51

We put our detecting gear in the back of Anna's Land Cruiser and headed out.

As we passed the McLarty Treasure museum on A1A, we noticed several cars and trucks parked in the same place we had parked the previous morning.

Pointing at them, Anna said, "Looks like the treasure hunters are out in force today. Sure glad we were out here yesterday before it got crowded."

"Me too," I agreed, "Just wish we had Jake the wonder dog with us today. He was a lot of help yesterday."

Anna nodded, then said, "We're going to the secret beach I told you about. Hopefully, we'll be the only ones there."

After another ten minutes of driving, Anna slowed and turned left onto a short driveway blocked by a elaborate wrought iron gate.

At the gate, Anna rolled down her window and punched a few numbers on a metal keypad affixed to a pole on the left side of the drive.

The gate immediately opened, and Anna drove through, pulling into a parking space under a Key West style home built up on concrete piers.

She turned to me, "The people who own this place are away this time of the year. They won't mind if we park here."

"They're friends of yours?" I asked.

"Not really. When I was working as a meter reader for the power company, this house was on my route. The owners gave me their gate code so I could come on the grounds to read the meter.

"I checked earlier this week, and saw that they were away. So I figure they won't mind if we park here."

Anna got out and went to the back of the Cruiser and got her detecting gear and suited up. I did the same.

As she locked up the Cruiser I asked, "Are you sure it'll be okay for us to park here?"