Mango Lucky (20 page)

Frances continued, "Oh, but you are. So many women look up to you. You did exactly what should of been done."

Then she said, "Come up here and let's talk. We can watch while Walker plants the tomatoes."

Anna stepped up onto the deck with Frances, then nodded toward me, "Walker, you need to go back to the car and get the digging tools.

"And bring the metal detector."

"Why's he need a metal detector?" asked Frances.

Anna smiled, "There might be water or power lines under the garden. He can use the detector to make sure he doesn't accidentally dig them up."

I knew this wasn't the real reason Anna wanted me to get the detector. She too wanted to see what led Jake to the hole he had dug.

64

Frances Ford and Anna stood on the wooden deck above me as I began the work in the garden.

The hole that Jake had dug was about three feet wide and two feet deep. Dirt from the hole was piled on just one side, indicating Jake had dug with his front paws, kicking the dirt up behind him.

Before I filled the hole back in, I was determined to use my detector to see if Jake had sensed something in the ground where he'd dug.

Swinging the detector in the bottom of the hole, it immediately produced a low volume beep, indicating a metal object below.

Using the sand scoop, I dug down six inches and dumped the dirt outside the hole. I checked the newly removed dirt with the detector. Nothing.

This meant the object was still in the hole. To confirm this, I put the detector back in, and again got a tone. This time much stronger.

The display screen on the detector indicated an object not much larger than a nickle, about four inches below the bottom of the hole.

Placing the detector aside, I got down on my knees and started removing dirt one handful at a time.

On the third try, I felt something solid.

I retrieved the object, then turned to Anna and Frances and said, "Look what I found. A ring."

I stood, walked over to the deck, and handed the ring to Anna, then went back to the hole to see if there was anything else in it.

This time, swinging the detector resulted in no tones. I repeated the swing several times, with the same results. Nothing there.

Leaving the hole, I swung the detector through the entire garden plot, being careful not to disturb the remaining plants.

No tones. The ring was the only target to be found.

From behind me, I heard crying.

I turned to see Frances Ford softly sobbing. Anna was comforting the older woman, an arm around her shoulders.

Anna looked at me and held a finger to her mouth, the universal sign to keep quiet. Honoring her request, I said nothing as I walked closer.

Frances Ford was holding the ring in her hand and smiling through her tears.

Anna explained, "It's her Grandmother's wedding ring. Frances had worn that ring for almost fifty years. Then one day she noticed it was gone. She searched for it for months without any luck. She thought it was gone forever.

"And today, you found it."

Frances beckoned me toward her and said, "I owe you an apology. I should have never held that gun on you. Instead I should be giving you a reward. You found my ring."

I smiled, "I didn't find your ring. Jake did. He's special that way.

"Speaking of Jake, can we let him out now? I think he's earned his freedom."

Frances pointed to the basement door. "It's unlocked, just open the door and he'll come out."

I did, and Jake bounded out. He ran directly to Frances and stopped in front of her and sat.

Then he ran to the hole in the garden, inspected it, and then returned to sit in front of Frances.

I smiled, "He looks healthy. And he seems to like you Frances."

She nodded, "I've been taking good care of him. Feeding him, giving him water. I even read him a story last night when he started crying."

The bell on the gate announced the arrival of Walt. Jake seemed to know who it was. He stood, wagging his tail, waiting in anticipation.

Frances pressed the button that opened the gate, and I walked around to meet Walt and tell him the story.

"Jake was rescued by this very nice lady. She and you have a lot in common, and you should take a few minutes to talk with her before you leave with Jake."

I led Walt around to the deck where Anna and Frances were seated. Jake jumped up and ran to him, tail swinging wildly.

Walt bent down and hugged Jake, and it was obvious they had missed each other immensely.

After Jake settled down, Walt went over and spoke with Frances. She invited him to sit for a moment, and then went inside to get iced tea for all of us.

After taking a sip of tea, I resumed my task of planting the new tomato plants while Anna, Frances, and Walt watched and gave me advice.

A half hour later, the plants were in the ground and watered to everyone's satisfaction. Frances and Walt were still talking about their lives and loves and they seemed to be hitting it off quite well.

Anna stood and walked over to me.

"Walker, you've done it again. Good things happen to people around you. You are like a lucky charm or something."

I shook my head, "No, it wasn't me this time. It was Jake."

Anna smiled, "That might be true, but it was you who found Jake. It was you who found the ring. And it was you who put Walt and Francis together.

"Their meeting like this might be the luckiest thing that ever happened to both of them."

Anna walked over to Frances and said that if she was satisfied with my planting job, we needed to get going.

Frances offered to pay us a reward for finding her ring. And Walt said we earned the reward he was offering for the return of Jake.

Without hesitation, Anna said, "We don't want a reward. Keep it. Or donate it to the local animal shelters. They need it more than we do."

Frances then whispered something in Anna's ear. They both laughed, then looked at me.

Anna shook her head, blushed and walked over to me. "Time to go."

We waved to Frances and Walt as we got into the Cruiser and drove away.

65

As we headed south on A1A, Anna turned and handed me a small card.

"What's this?"

"It's from Frances. It's her business card.

"While you were planting the tomatoes, she and I had a long talk. Apparently, she is very well off.

"Her family owns several luxury hotels in south Florida, and she is the major share holder in the company.

"She said if you ever needed a place to stay, or a a job, or anything else, call her."

I took the card and looked at it. Printed neatly in the center was 'Frances Ford.'

At the bottom right corner was her phone number, and underneath that, her email address.

"Nice of her to make the offer. I'll keep the card. Never know when it might come it handy.

"So what else did you and Frances Ford talk about? And what was that she whispered to you when you were leaving? When you both looked at me and giggled."

Anna reached over and touched my arm, "Walker, that was just girl talk. Nothing for you to worry about.

"And just in case you wondered, Frances Ford thinks you're a hottie. Says if she were a few years younger, she might have tried to hook up with you."

I laughed, "She said that? Hook up? What's the world coming to?"

Anna laughed, "Frances was really happy about what you did for her. Finding that ring is something she won't forget.

"And look what you did for Walt. You found his beloved Jake. That means you did at least two good deeds today."

I nodded, and then said, "You helped. Don't forget that. Frances Ford was about to shoot me until I mentioned your name. You're like a celebrity to her.

"Do you get that reaction a lot?"

Anna nodded, "Sometimes it works out that way. Sometimes not. Personally I'd prefer people just forget about the whole thing."

We rode in silence for a few moments, then I asked, "Where are we going? The campground is the other way."

"Yeah, I know. I just thought that since it was so late, you might want to grab lunch at the Vero Island Deli. "

I nodded, "Sounds good to me."

66

It was after two when we arrived at the Deli. There wasn't a crowd, so we didn't have to wait. Anna ordered our sandwiches to go and I paid.

Ten minutes later, our order was ready and Anna drove us to the nearby Jaycee Park where we found a table under the trees.

As we ate our sandwiches, Anna said, "You mentioned earlier that you planned to leave on Saturday. Maybe even Friday. Has that changed?"

"No, I'm still thinking about leaving Saturday morning. How about you? When are you planning on leaving?"

"Probably Saturday morning. But it depends on when you leave."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you leave tomorrow, I'll probably pack up and go too. We've already found treasure, and with the weekend crowds, I'm not sure I want to be out on the beach alone."

I nodded.

"But if you're staying until Saturday, I'll stay as well. We could spend Friday doing something together."

"Sounds good to me. As long as you don't make me plant more tomatoes or rescue more cars, people, or dogs."

Anna smiled, "I promise there'll be none of that. We'll do something fun."

After we finished our lunch, Anna asked if I'd like to go across the bridge to the mainland to get some supplies for dinner.

"Yeah, sounds good. Who's cooking tonight? Me or you?"

She laughed, "Since your cooking skills seem to be limited to gourmet frozen dinners, I think I better be the cook tonight."

I grinned, "That's what I was hoping you'd say."

As we crossed the bridge to the mainland, Anna pointed to the digital clock on her dash. "It's a little early for dinner. Do you mind if we stop at Target so I can pick up some supplies for my new camper?"

"No problem," I said. "I'm just happy to be along for the ride."

Anna followed Route 60 through Vero to the intersection of Kings highway, and pulled into the Target parking lot.

Inside, she headed for the housewares department where she picked out pillows, pillow cases, sheets, and towels. Then she headed to the kitchen department, where she picked up a silverware set, cooking utensils, plastic glasses, and plates.

Pointing to the cart she said, "This should do." And she headed to the checkout area.

After paying, we headed to the Cruiser and loaded Anna's purchases into the back seat. From Target, we went east on 60 until we reached 21
^st
Street, where we turned left into the Publix grocery store lot.

Inside, Anna picked up a bagged Caesar salad, a hot rotisserie chicken, a key lime pie, and two bottles of white wine.

She looked at me, "Can you think of anything else we need?"

I shook my head, "No, it looks like you've got everything."

Noticing the fully cooked chicken, I asked, "How soon until we eat?"

"As soon as we get back," Anna replied.

Leaving Publix, we headed back onto the island. It took about twenty minutes to get back to the campsite.

When we arrived, I asked, "Will we be eating at your place or mine?"

Anna smiled, "Let's eat at your place. That way Bob won't feel left out. You go ahead and take the food inside. I need to take care of a few things in my camper. I'll be over in a few minutes."

I did as instructed.

Inside the motorhome, Bob was still perched on top of the couch keeping a watchful eye on the birds in the nearby trees.

He looked up at me and said, "Murrfph." He didn't seem too overly excited that I was back.

But when I removed the freshly cooked rotisserie chicken from the shopping bag, it got Bob's attention. He was soon on the floor, purring and rubbing his whiskers against my leg. I was now his best friend in the world.

I said, "Bob, I can see you love me now that I have something you might want to eat."

Bob said, "Murrph."

Anna was at the door a few moments later.

Pointing at the counter, she said, "You take care of the wine. I'll do the rest."

Soon we were at the table eating. Fresh Caesar salad, with roasted chicken breast on the side.