Chapter 52
Fifty-Two
There have been two times in my life where I’ve made decisions against my better judgment.
Both of which defied logic and responsibility and long-term stability.
Instances where I’ve taken a page from my mother’s playbook and threw caution to the wind, resulting in me having my heart destroyed in ways I never believed I’d survive while altering the course of my life in ways I’d never change.
The first time was the day Nash walked into Old Vines eight years ago and I all but cut my own heart out of my chest and handed it over to him before I even knew his name. When he left, it left me shattered. But I got Bennie. And I got him back.
The second was two weeks ago when I decided to meet a man I never knew existed and ended up wishing I’d known forever.
Instead of forever, I got thirteen days.
My dad’s gone—the second one I loved and lost in a lifetime.
And even though he left me without us finishing what he started decades ago, I’m better for having known him. My life is.
He was right when he said goodbyes are sad, but too-soon goodbyes are the bitterest of pills to swallow.
Even though my dad spent his life looking for gold he never found—gold I was desperately hoping would be the answer to my problems—I wouldn’t change a thing.
About any of it. Even though Mom needs a surgery I don’t know how I’m going to pay for, and the store will be done the second I call the roofing company and tell them I can’t cover their bill, I found something so much better than I knew to look for.
Pieces of me I didn’t know were missing.
When I called my mom to tell her about Cap, we both cried. She confirmed she knew—Colleen had told her he was terminal when they spoke—but she also knew me well enough to know if she told me, I wouldn’t have wanted to come.
She wasn’t wrong.
I would have doubted the need to meet a dying man in the midst of our life falling apart even if he was my biological father.
For once, I’m glad she lied.
“Why the hell you bringing me down here?” Sunny blasts the snarl on her face with her mister fan. “You know I hate a damn boat. And it’s hot.”
I squint at the worn exterior of The Gypsy, not budging from the dock. “Nash had to work.”
Actually, Nash had a meeting about his new location, but I’m forcing myself not to think about that right now. My broken heart can only handle so much, and the thought of Nash not being next to me every day for the rest of my life might push me off an emotional cliff.
“Plus,” I continue over her muttered swears, “since you hate boats so much, you’ll have good ideas on how to get rid of this thing.”
It might have broken Cap’s exhausted heart if he were here, but I’m not keeping the boat. I’m sure he knew that when he signed the papers leaving it to me.
Only I can’t bring myself to take the step from the dock that will get me onto it. If I stand here long enough, maybe he’ll cough then grunt and hobble out of the hatch the way he did the first day I showed up.
My phone rings from my pocket; it’s Dirk.
“Hey, Dirk,” I answer.
“I did some digging,” he says.
The boat rocks as I climb aboard. I gesture for Sunny to do the same but she refuses.
Dirk continues. “Looks like you’re onto something with that gold.”
I pause at the hatch. “How’s that?”
“Interesting case. There was a reward, but it wasn’t issued by the federal government. It was issued by one of the banks involved. A Richmond, Virginia bank that went on to be bought by what is now US Trust Bank.”
“US Trust?” I blow my bangs. “That’s a huge bank.” If I’m not wrong, it’s the largest bank chain in the country.
“It is,” he says. “And from what I’m seeing, they never terminated the reward.”
“Meaning?” I wipe my already sweaty brow with my forearm.
“Meaning whoever finds this is getting a huge payday.”
I laugh ironically. Good for them. “Okay. Well, not sure it’s going anywhere, but thanks.”
“Happy to help.”
I start to hang up, but my eyes catch on the Danimal’s metal mechanisms. “Hey, Dirk?”
“Yeah?”
“Will these coins be easy to recognize?” I ask. “If they were found, I mean.”
“Oh, you’ll know,” he says with a tone that makes me think I really would. “Majority of it was twenty-dollar double eagles, most minted in Charlotte before the war. One side is Lady Liberty, the other a heraldic eagle.”
“Lady Liberty?” I ask, Sunny shouting for me to hurry the hell up! from the dock.
“Profile of a woman,” he says. “She’s wearing a crown that says liberty. Stars border the perimeter.”
We end the call, but there’s a familiarity in it that I can’t place. It also sounds like every coin that’s ended up in a display case at Old Vines.
Sunny gives me an annoyed look from the dock. “’Bout damn time,” she shouts. “My Black ass about to melt off in this heat.”
I snort a laugh then descend the steps into the boat, an ache forming in my chest at the scene. The place is tidy, the TV off. It’s much smaller without Cap sitting on the chair in the middle of the galley.
From the envelope Cap left in the hospital, I reread the note he scribbled along with the title.
Everything worth a damn is with the engine.
Same thing he told me the first day we met.
Across the floor, there are lines for separate panels.
I push a toe against one and it moves. It must be access to the engine for mechanical work—I’ll need information about it to sell.
Moving the director’s chair, I pry a panel up, leaning it off to the side so I can see the hollowed-out bottom of the boat.
There’s an engine—old, rusted, and with blue paint chipping. I’d be surprised if it runs. Cap might have called it value, but I doubt it has any.
In the open space next to it sits four large plastic tubs.
“What the . . . ?”
I lower myself into the bilge and look around. There’s nothing else down here except the fiberglass walls of the boat and a little bit of water pooled at the bottom. Sunny shouts something as I pry the lid off one of the tubs, slightly terrified of what I’ll find.
But at the sight in front of me, my jaw drops.
At the next tub, it’s the same.
And the next.
And the next.
“Why you laughing in there?” Sunny barks.
When I don’t respond, the boat rocks slightly by her climbing aboard followed by muttered swears about boats and drowning like James.
“I swear to God,” she says as she enters the galley.
“I drown on this boat, Imma come back as a damn kraken and take you dow—the hell?” At the sight of me in the bilge, her eyes nearly pop out of her head.
I already have my phone pressed to my ear, tears once again streaming down my face. “Holy shit, honey child.”
“Hey.” Reese answers on the first ring. “How you holding up? I’m so sorry about Cap. And Mom is just—”
“Do you have enough money to pay the roofer?” I ask, cutting her off. “And I can pay you back.”
She laughs, loud. “Rue, I made over two million dollars last year.” What? “You think I didn’t pay that shit the second I went through the bills and saw the mess you two were in?” She scoffs. “It was past due. And embarrassing.”
I momentarily forget where I’m standing. “You made two million dollars last year? Why the hell didn’t you tell me that? You sent me on a treasure hunt thinking a tumor was going to overtake mom’s brain because we had no money.”
She snorts. “You never asked and this was more fun. Why are you calling anyway? There’s an echo.”
I plummet back to the moment and the scene around me.
“My dad,” I tell her, looking at the tubs filled with gold coins.
There’s more money than the two million Reese made last year and most people will ever spend in a lifetime.
My gaze lands on an envelope with my name scribbled on it next to two empty coffee cans.
“That crazy sonofabitch found the gold.”