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“The questions stack up,” Magnus mutters.
“Do you think it could have anything to do with the will? The treasure? The crown?”
He knocks on the box.
We listen.
“Sounds hollow.”
Magnus puts the box under his arm and after locking up the empty metal box, we leave the bank.
Pausing in the town square, I perch on the edge of the manatee fountain with a sea cow perched like a mermaid at the top, squirting water from her pursed lips, fins outstretched. Every once in a while, someone sneaks a coconut bra on her. My bet is on Ryan.
Magnus’s lips quirk. “I forgot that Chip had this fountain installed as a dedication to Coco Key at the same time he did the ones at the resort.”
“Lola’s grandma is forever memorialized as the town’s original sea cow.”
We chuckle, then I look over my shoulder in case she’s by the docks, but we’re safely out of the splash zone.
“If only she pointed toward a treasure chest containing a pearl like the one Isla and Royal found.” His brows pull together.
“Are you looking for more pearls that go to the crown?” I ask.
“I don’t believe so. The Coroa de Lágrimas is gold and supposedly each of the three lágrimas, the tears, are different. One a pearl, as we now know, and the others could be anything—precious stones, diamonds, rubies, emeralds.”
Magnus meets my eyes, uncertainty flickering in his.
“The crown is missing along with the stones that belong to it? Could they be hidden inside the box? You could cut into the wood with the knife or smash it.”
“A saw is more like. But I’d risk destroying what’s inside if there is anything.”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s kind of the opposite of his wish for you tosoften.”
Magnus grunts.
I open my purse and pull out two coins. “Let’s each make a wish.”
He tosses the coin up and catches it in his palm. “Haven’t done this since I was a kid, but I always thought that it wasn’t so much about expecting that your wish would magically come true. Rather, identifying what you want. What you long for.”
I throw my coin into the water beneath the statute of the manatee. My wish isn’t for me. No, my longtime wish, my prayer has been granted. I just hope he feels the same way.
We head back to the cottages where Magnus has a meeting with an electrical contractor. I set the dogs loose to play on the beach.
Magnus meets me a short time later. Seems he has a hard time staying away. I’m not mad about that.
“It’s hard to believe all the progress you’ve made in the last month or so,” I say, surveying the rustic meets modern cottages.
“They’re coming along, but the guy Royal recommended to check the wiring is late.” He looks at his dive watch for the third time.
“Island time.”
Magnus grunts.
“You have to admit, it beats Atlanta,” I say even though there have been countless occasions when I’d have liked people to have been more punctual, especially when I had a few projects done at the bungalow.
“I know why you left Atlanta, but what brought you here to Coco Key?” Magnus asks.
I lean against the porch rail beside Magnus who hulks in his impatience.
