Mango Bob (26 page)

“Walker, if it were me, I'd get a safety deposit box at a local bank and put the coin in there. Then when I needed money, I'd sell it to one of the local coin shops.”

“Sounds good to me. Jack, I appreciate your advice. Tell Jean I said hello. Looking forward to dinner together. And thanks again for your help at Walmart. You saved the day.”

“Walker, as always, good to talk to you. Let's get together soon.”

I ended the call.

Thinking about what Jack had said, tomorrow might be a good day to get a safety deposit box at the bank.

66

With the toolbox and coins safely back under the bed, I carried on with the dirty task of dumping the holding tanks.

It wasn't something I wanted to do, but it had to be done. Either that or no shower and no using the bathroom for a while.

After successfully dumping the tanks and cleaning up after, it was well past dinner time.

I had expected to see Sarah. But she hadn't been back out in the yard since getting Bob, and had made no mention of eating dinner together when I'd last talked to her.

I called her phone, but no answer. And the lights in her apartment were off.

Maybe she had other dinner plans.

My stomach was telling me it was time to eat. Not wanting to leave the motorhome and the half million in gold under the bed, I took the last TV dinner out of the freezer and heated it in the microwave.

Then ate dinner alone. No Bob. No Sarah.

Just me and ten tubes of gold coins no one else knew about.

An hour later, my phone chimed. It was Molly.

“Hi Molly. Guess you heard about our big adventure today.”

“I did, and Sarah's really mad at you!”

“She's mad at me? What'd I do?”

“For starter's, you flirted with some senior citizen in a bikini during Sarah's training this morning. Then you didn't thank her for taking you clothes shopping.

“Then you were responsible for someone breaking into her boat yard, stealing your motorhome and taking Mango Bob.

“And then you made Sarah drive across the county chasing down the thief. And then you almost got yourself killed confronting the guy in the Walmart parking lot.

“And even worse, you didn't offer to take Sarah to dinner after all she did for you today!.”

“Molly, in my defense, I didn't flirt with swimsuit gal. She was coming on to me.

“And I did thank Sarah for taking me shopping. I even bought her lunch.

“And I did recover Bob. No one got hurt.

“And I would have asked Sarah for dinner, but she took Bob and left without inviting me in or speaking to me. And she didn't answer her phone when I called her.

“So I ate alone.”

“Walker, you've got a lot to learn about women.

“After a day like today, Sarah needed someone to talk to. It should have been you. You should have knocked on her door, asked her to dinner. Treated her nicely after the rough day she's had.”

“You're right. I should have done all those things. So is it too late? Should I call her now, see if she wants to eat?”

“No, it's too late. She ate alone. Just her and Bob.

“But you'll get another chance tomorrow. Start out by being nice to her. Don't flirt with other women. Ask her to dinner.

“Walker, you're camping in her backyard. That means you're a part of her life now. So be nice.”

“Molly, I promise I'll do better.”

“Good. Now tell me what the repo guy told you about Tucker.”

I told Molly the story. Leaving out the part about the gold coins I'd found.

“Well it sounds like you guys had a busy day. I can see why Sarah might be mad at you. You could have gotten hurt.”

“Molly, it ended well. We got Bob back. Got the motorhome back.

“But I'm sorry about upsetting Sarah. I'll try to fix it tomorrow.”

We said our goodbyes and ended the call.

67

I didn't sleep much that night. Thinking about the events of the day. The coins, Sarah, Bob.

My phone chimed me awake at six thirty. Time for my morning walk.

Sarah's lights weren't on. She was still asleep.

I slipped out the gate and locked it behind me. Then headed down Dearborn toward the corner market.

I wanted to pick up some supplies and get a local paper, see if we made the news.

Unlike yesterday morning, Dearborn street was packed with cars this morning. All heading toward the market.

A news truck with satellite dish was parked in the street. A long line of people waited to get into the market.

As I got closer, a young man walking my way said, “Are you the one?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn't you hear? The winning ticket from last night's Florida lottery was sold here yesterday morning. Someone won nine million dollars!”

I had bought a ticket there yesterday morning, And given it to Sarah. Maybe she had the winner.

I turned around and walked back to Sarah's place. Her lights were still off.

It didn't matter. I was going to wake her.

I knocked on her door. No response. I knocked louder. Lights came on.

A few moments later, Sarah opened the door a few inches, “What?”

She was wearing a long tee-shirt, nothing else.

She asked again, “What?”

I smiled, “Get dressed, I've got something to show you. You're going to love it.

Today just might be your lucky day.”

The adventure is just beginning . . .

Follow the further adventures of Mango Bob, John Walker and Sarah Burke at:

www.mangobob.com

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