“Ya, I could,” Troy said, “but you and I both know how that would go. And besides that, you’ll be back at school, right?”
Mindy had decided to go back and finish her degree, but she’d enrolled in the University of Miami so she could stay close to her dad.
“Yeah,” she said, “that’s right.”
Gino delivered the beers and set a napkin between them with four orange slices on it.
“What will you do?” she asked Troy.
Troy took a long sip of his beer. “I got a line on something up in Georgia,” he said. “It ain’t much, but I’ve never needed much.”
“Will you be working on the beach again?” she asked.
Troy laughed. “Heck no, but I’ll be close enough to the water to get a little fishin’ in from time to time.”
“Good,” she said, and sipped her beer.
“I’m truly sorry about your sister,” he said. “I wish things had worked out differently.”
Mindy nodded, her eyes glistening. “I loved her so much,” she said. “I just wish I could’ve told her that one last time.”
Troy cleared his throat and thought about calling his brother. He would do that once he got on the bus.
“Hey, hey, Amigo,” Gino said, and pointed at the door.
Another Sonesta employee was waving to Troy.
“It looks like your taxi is here,” Gino said.
Troy took a deep breath. He reached for his wallet, but Gino held up his hand.
“This one is on me, friend,” he said.
Troy took his hand and shook it. “Thanks, amigo.”
“Don’t be a stranger, okay?” Gino said, and laughed.
Troy laughed too. “You got it.”
He turned to Mindy and shouldered his bag. “Be sure to tell your dad thanks for the bus ticket,” he said.
“He tried to give you some extra money to help out,” she said, shaking her head. “Why wouldn’t you take it?”
“Sweetie,” Troy said as he pecked her on the cheek, “money can’t buy you happiness.”
“But it can buy you a yacht to pull up alongside it,” she said, smiling.
Troy laughed. “I’ll see you around, kiddo.”
“Yeah,” Mindy said, and smiled a sad smile.
They both knew he’d never be back this way again. And that was okay.
Troy trotted through the lobby of the Sonesta and slumped down in the taxi. They drove onto the causeway and off the island. Two streets over, they stopped at the bus station. Troy reached for his wallet again.
The cabbie held up his hand. “It’s already been paid for, sir. A young woman called in to pay earlier.”
Troy nodded. Mindy.
He stretched his arms over his head as the cab drove away. Several passengers were throwing bags into a pile beside the bus to be loaded underneath. Troy added his bag to the pile and walked up to the open door.
“Savannah?” the bus driver asked.
Troy tipped his hat and said. “Yup.”
He handed his ticket to the man and walked back to the back of the bus. He found an empty seat and waited.
As the bus finally lurched forward out of the station, Troy had drifted off to sleep while humming the words to Lola in his head.
Also by David Berens
And don’t forget to check out all of the Troy Bodean Tropical Thriller Series on Amazon:
Back Roads - A Short Story Collection starring various characters from the Troy Bodean Series
Knuckle Bones - A Troy Bodean Prequel Short
And the Full Length Troy Bodean Tropical Thrillers
#1 Rogue Wave
#2 Deep Wave
#3 Blood Wave
#4 Dark Wave
#5 Skull Wave
And if you have kids that might like a mystery story:
Zed Mozart - Virtual Kid Detective 1-3
The Troy Bodean Tropical Thriller Series Boxset Page 63