The Man Who Ivented Florida (46 page)

Henry Short said gruffly, "You're the one with all the words, Tucker."

Tuck said, "See? That's what we was doin'. Makin' notes for this guy Bambridge."

Ford smiled. What was going on here? "I was asking about the water, why you're going to all the trouble of—"

But before he could finish, the sound of a woman's voice interrupted him; a nice Spanish voice speaking broken English, getting closer and closer as her silhouette moved toward them on the dock. "Tucker? Oh, Tucker? The dinner, I have it ready like you say. The Chino food, not from a box."

The woman stood illuminated by a streetlight now: a pretty woman with olive skin, blue-black hair and young brown eyes. Her eyes moved shyly from Tuck to Henry, then back to Tuck while Ford looked on, amused, at first, but then with a dawning fascination—his mind scanning through remnants of all the old stories his uncle had told him about Cuba—as he watched the woman reach to brush hair from her face, her smooth hand marked by the tattoo of a small blue sea horse. . . .