The Treasure Hunt Club

by Michael Scott Clifton

  “After a year in McKinney, Rob moved his office to a brand new medical complex in Frisco, an area north of Dallas that was booming with new houses, strip malls, and subdivisions. He actually had to start turning down new patients, and he hired a dental hygienist to clean teeth. I no longer had to work, so I began to make plans to go back to college. I thought it also a good time to try and begin to start a family, but Rob wouldn’t even discuss it with me! I thought that odd, since he had told me repeatedly while were dating and after we were married that he loved kids and wanted a family as soon as we could afford it. At any rate, his hours became longer and longer, and he was getting home later and later.”

  Nick rubbed his eyes, and remembering his parents’ divorce, he thought he had a good idea of where this was going.

  “One evening, Rob was working late, and I thought I would surprise him by going to his office so we could go out to dinner after he had finished. The duplex we were renting was close by, and it only took me ten minutes to reach the medical plaza. It was almost seven o’clock by then, and instead of just Rob’s car, there were two cars parked in front of his office! As I parked and got out of my car, I noticed all the lights were out. Puzzled, I used my key to unlock the front door and went straight to Rob’s office, which was adjacent to his dental suite. The door was shut, but I could see light coming from the crack at the bottom of the door and heard voices coming from behind the door. When … when I opened the door, he was on his couch with the dental hygienist. Her … her blouse was off, and he … he was ….” Unable to continue, Abby’s voice trailed off, her eyes brimming with tears.

  “That’s all right. I don’t need to hear anymore,” Nick said quickly.

  Abby took a napkin from the table and dabbed her eyes as she tried to compose herself. Putting it down, she patted Nick’s hand.

  “Thank you, Nick. But I want to tell you all of it, if you don’t mind. It’s … it’s kind of like therapy,” Abby said, laughing nervously.

  “Of course, I don’t mind. But don’t feel you have to tell me everything, especially if it brings back memories you would just as soon forget.” With that, Nick gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

  Taking a deep breath, Abby continued, “It turned out he had been having an affair with the dental hygienist—Tiffany, I think her name was—for the past several months. That was why he was always ‘working late.’ I … I didn’t know what to do at first; I didn’t know what to think. I know I didn’t scream, I didn’t shout, I didn’t even cry. All I can remember is closing the door and walking back to my car, like I was in a trance. I kept thinking I must be dreaming and having a nightmare and that I would wake up and everything would be all right. I was numb, so literally numb, that I don’t remember getting in my car or even driving home. Somehow, I made it back to the duplex, and when Rob came home later that night, I wouldn’t let him in the bedroom. He told me through the locked door that he was moving out, and I found out later he had moved in with Tiffany. He never told me he was sorry, and he never even tried to explain why.”

  Abby’s voice cracked, and the tears returned to her eyes. “You know the worst part?” she whispered. “He was the one who had the affair! He was the one who moved out and left me! But I was convinced that somehow it was my fault and I was the one to blame! For the next month, I never left the duplex except to buy food, which wasn’t often since I never felt like eating. I had no energy, and I slept all the time, and when I wasn’t sleeping, I was crying. Sleep and cry, cry and sleep, that’s all I did for weeks. I was so ashamed that I kept Rob’s affair and our separation a secret from my parents, my brothers, and even Patti. Then one day, barely four weeks after Rob moved out, someone knocked at the door. When I opened it, a skinny, pimply-faced process server handed me divorce papers from Rob. I couldn’t believe it! The bastard didn’t even have the decency to call me and let me know he was filing for divorce!

  “Something inside me snapped, and I snatched the papers from the kid and slammed the door in his face! I started throwing anything within reach as hard as I could until I was too exhausted to throw anymore. The inside of the duplex was a wreck, with shattered dishes, broken lamps, and holes in the wall. But it served to finally clear my head, and for the first time, I realized I had done nothing wrong and that my life could and would go on! I spent the rest of the day packing and renting a U-Haul. I left that evening, but not until I had taken a hammer and put a lot more holes in the walls.”

  “Why would you do that?” Nick asked, puzzled.

  A faint smile crept across Abby’s lips. “Because the lease was in Rob’s name.”

  Nick couldn’t help himself and laughed, with Abby joining him. The sadness of Abby’s story and the somber atmosphere it had created was soon dispelled as they continued to laugh together. When the laughter finally died away, Abby glanced at Nick with an abashed look on her face.

  “Thanks for listening, Nick. I … I don’t normally unload those kinds of details about my personal life to … well, to just anyone. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

  “Forget about it!” Nick said as he waved his hand dismissively. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Besides, it was me, remember, who asked you!”

  “I guess you’re right,” Abby said with a relieved look.

  “Anyway, you know what I think?”

  “No, what do you think, Nick Hollister?” Abby asked as a hint of playfulness returned to her voice.

  “I think your ex-husband must be the biggest fool on earth! Anybody who’s been around you for even a short period of time knows … well … knows what a special person you are!”

  Turning his chair so that he faced Abby, Nick gazed at her and slowly said, “I mean, if you had been mine, I never would have let you go.”

  Abby stared at Nick, her eyes softening at what he had said. Hesitating for a brief moment, she then leaned toward him until her face was just inches from his. Her breath, warm on his cheek, smelled of wine as she kissed him. Nick pulled Abby toward him and returned her kiss with an urgency that surprised and exhilarated him. They kissed for a few moments longer before finally pulling apart.

  Abruptly standing, Abby caught hold of Nick’s hand.

  “Let’s go.”

  Surprised, Nick managed to ask, “Where to?”

  Abby gazed at Nick as if an internal struggle was raging inside her. Finally, she smiled and said, “Let’s go to your place.”

  Chapter 20

  Nick lay in the bed loft of his darkened trailer with Abby’s head on his chest. He listened to her breathing, her breath tickling his bare skin. Tiny as it was, they had both managed to fit into the bed loft, although it had made things interesting at times. Jammed together, Abby laid snuggly against him out of necessity, and he reveled in the feel of her soft skin against his.

  Staring at the ceiling not two feet above his head, Nick thought of the remarkable sequence of events, the roller-coaster ride that had occurred in his life over the past couple of weeks. He had once heard a talking head on television, a so-called “expert,” say that everyone had “markers” in their life, or events that profoundly and permanently changed the course of their lives. If so, over the course of the past couple of weeks, Nick had picked up a pocketful of these so-called markers. He had gone from having no job, no girlfriend, no money, and no prospects to discovering The Book of Lost Treasures and having Abby enter his life with the suddenness of an exploding bottle rocket.

  Thinking of Abby caused Nick to unconsciously pull her closer to him, despite the already tight confines of the bed loft. Since he had met her, everything he knew or thought he knew about love and relationships had been cast into doubt. He thought he had been in love with Lisa—no, make that convinced—and yet, what he was feeling now for Abby was so far removed from that of Lisa, he found it laughable he could have ever believed he was in love with her!

  As if sensing his thoughts, Abby stirred against him and began lazily tracing her finger in circles across the skin of
his chest.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping?” she purred. “I thought that’s what men were supposed to do after making love?”

  Grinning in the darkness, Nick replied, “That’s a vicious rumor probably started by women who watch too much Dr. Phil.”

  Abby giggled and propped herself up on one elbow, her soft breasts brushing against his arm as she did so. A security light mounted on the utility pole outside the trailer caused a small amount of light to leak through the curtained windows of the bed loft. The muted light provided just enough illumination for Nick to make out the contours of Abby’s face and body, and the thought flashed through his mind of what it would be like to wake up to that vision every morning.

  Tracing circles on his chest again, Abby said, “I know this sounds like a cliché, but I’m not the kind of girl who falls in bed with someone after the first date. In fact, you’re … you’re only the second man I’ve … well, I’ve ever been with.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment!” Nick said, grinning even wider. Pinching Nick hard until she elicited a loud “Ow!” from him, Abby said, “I’m serious, Nick! I just don’t do something like this! I … I can’t unless …” Her voice trailed off, and Nick, sensing an emotional change about Abby, strained to see her face in the darkness.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Abby asked softly. Seeing Nick nod his head, she continued, “Do you believe two people fall in love, or … or do you believe they grow into love?”

  The question was simple. although Abby had attempted to ask it whimsically, Nick suspected his answer was very important to her. Taking his time, he closed his eyes and thought of how to reply. His parents, his mother and father, had been happily married until his father had met the young bimbo, and suddenly… he was gone! Abby had thought she was happily married; then suddenly, she discovers her husband’s affair. He had thought he was in love with Lisa, and then she shacked up with a waiter! The concept of love, at least in the traditional sense, seemed to be a disposable commodity with too many people these days, often stretching a mile wide but only an inch deep. The realization struck him that he was just as guilty, just as much to blame, for treating love in such a way. That he had met Abby, someone who truly knew and believed in love, made him a lucky man indeed!

  “I … I guess it’s a little of both,” Nick finally said. “You fall in love … then that love grows deeper over time. At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work, isn’t it? But then, what do I know? I never believed in love at first sight; at least, not until tonight.”

  Nick heard Abby’s breath catch in her throat. Then, still propped on her elbow, she leaned over and started kissing Nick slowly but with a passion that left him breathless.

  Stopping, Abby gazed at him, their eyes only inches apart. “I love you, Nick. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t help myself,” she breathed.

  Pulling her tightly against him, Nick whispered, “Then I guess we’re both crazy, because I love you too!”

  “Promise me one thing.”

  Gently stroking Abby’s cheek with his fingertips, Nick said “Anything!”

  Brushing her lips up against Nick’s ear, Abby murmured, “Promise me … promise me that, no matter what, I will always be the most important thing in your life.”

  Nick placed both hands on Abby’s face and gently pulled her toward him. “You already are.”

  The morning came much too quickly, and Abby was the first to rise, climbing down out of the bed loft over Nick. Nick turned and watched as Abby dressed, unable to keep his eyes off of her. Noticing his scrutiny of her, Abby tiptoed around their jumble of clothes lying on the floor and kissed him.

  “Got anything that passes for coffee in here?”

  Yawning, Nick pointed toward a cabinet directly above a small automatic coffeemaker. Ten minutes later, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the inside of the trailer. Reluctantly, Nick swung his legs out of the loft and began to get dressed. Abby handed him a cup of coffee, and they sat together at the tiny kitchen table.

  Glancing at his watch, Nick saw it was almost seven o’clock. The Treasure Hunt Club was due to meet at Mark and Patti’s at eight to begin their first search for lost treasure.

  “Are you worried?” Abby abruptly asked him.

  Taking a sip of coffee, Nick glanced at Abby. “A little,” he admitted. “The Book of Lost Treasures has worked for me three times now, but you never know. When it produced the map to Colonel Buckley’s hidden strongbox, I substituted an ‘e’ instead of a ‘u,’ which misspelled his first name. It wasn’t until I corrected the spelling that something appeared in the book. It’s quirky things like that, things we don’t yet understand about the book, that concern me.” “But I thought the rules of the book’s usage were clearly stated.”

  “They are, but it’s the interpretations of the rules that can cause us to make a mistake. That’s why we have to be careful.”

  “Everything will be fine, you’ll see,” Abby assured him.

  Leaning over and kissing him on the cheek, Abby said, “We’d better go. I’m already way past my ‘curfew.’”

  Grinning, Nick said, “I just hope you’re not grounded!”

  Laughing together, they walked out of the trailer, got into Abby’s car, and drove back to Pleasant Mountain.

  Arriving at Mark and Patti’s, Nick and Abby walked hand in hand to the front door. It was unlocked, and they let themselves in. Immediately, their senses were assaulted by the rich aroma of biscuits baking and sausage frying. Following the smell, they came to the kitchen, where Patti stood over a stove, and Mark was sit- ting at the kitchen table sipping coffee and studying something he had written on a legal pad. Several large books lay on the table, and on closer inspection, Nick saw they were reference books on antiques.

  Dressed in khaki shorts, brown Sketchers loafers, and a bright blue Hawaiian shirt with white palm trees printed on it, Mark looked more like a tourist just off a cruise ship than someone pre- pared to do battle at garage sales and flea markets. Looking up, he smiled as he saw Nick and Abby enter the room.

  “Lucy, you got some ‘splaining to do,” he said jokingly to Abby in his best Ricky Ricardo imitation. Blushing, Abby turned to Patti, who had looked over her shoulder when she heard Mark talking. One look passed between the two women as if it were a silent communication that spoke volumes. Wiping her hands on a dishrag, Patti hugged Abby, tears forming in her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Mark asked, concerned.

  Swiping at her eyes, Patti gave Mark a withering look. “Oh, Mark, I love you, but you are so dense at times!” she scolded him. “What?” Mark said, looking at Nick for support. Nick, feeling his own cheeks start to grow warm, quickly looked away from his friend. Then, as if scales had been lifted from his eyes, it suddenly became clear to Mark that something extraordinary had occurred between Nick and Abby, and his lips formed a silent, “Oh.” During the momentary silence that followed, Abby took the opportunity to escape from the kitchen and go to her room to change. Nick hastily sat down at the table as Patti brought him a cup of coffee.

  Eager to deflect the attention from Abby and himself, Nick gestured toward the reference books resting on the table. “I see you have been busy.”

  “Actually, Patti bought these at the bookstore yesterday, and we’ve been trying to study them to get a sense of what we are looking for.”

  “They’ll come in handy when we try to identify whatever antique the book leads us to,” Nick agreed. All conversation stopped at that point, as Patti set a platter stacked high with homemade sausage biscuits before them. The aroma made Nick’s mouth water, and he immediately helped himself to one. Taking a huge bite, the sausage and warm, flaky biscuit practically melted in his mouth. Quickly finishing the sausage biscuit, he grabbed another one.

  Mark watched Nick wolf down the sausage biscuits with a wry look of amusement on his face. “Your metabolism has always been on speed dial, Nick. If I ate like you did, I would weigh over three hundre
d pounds!”

  “What can I say? It’s a gift!” Nick replied, grinning.

  A commotion came from the direction of the front door, and moments later, Steve and Kenneth trooped into the kitchen. They spied the platter of food, quickly sat down and began helping themselves as Nick had done earlier.

  “Mark, can you save Abby and me a few of those hot sausage biscuits?” Patti called out over her shoulder as she was rinsing the skillet in the sink. “I’m afraid if I reach in there myself, I might pull back missing an appendage!”

  Mark put several on a napkin as Nick, Steve, and Kenneth engaged in a fierce contest to see who could eat the most in the shortest amount of time. The platter was soon empty, much to the disappointment of those seated around the table.

  “Patti, you make the best sausage biscuits in the county!” Nick said as he unsuccessfully tried to stifle a belch, which was quickly seconded by both Kenneth and Steve.

  Studying his friends, Nick saw a look of excitement, He knew they were eager to test the book and get the day’s proceedings started. Kenneth had changed for the occasion, and instead of the usual checkered buttoned shirt he usually wore, he now sported a plaid buttoned shirt of a green color. Peering closer, Nick saw even his plastic pocket protector looked new! Steve, on the other hand was, well, Steve. A black sleeveless Aerosmith T-shirt adorned his frame, and although Nick was sure he had entered the kitchen empty-handed, Steve had somehow produced a can of beer, which he opened and began to sip.

  Abby reentered the kitchen, having changed into navy blue shorts, a white crewneck T-shirt, and tennis shoes. She had pulled her hair back into a long ponytail, and her face had a pink glow from the cold water she had scrubbed it with. Sitting down next to Nick, she nibbled on one of the sausage biscuits Mark had saved as they waited for Patti to join them.

  “Well, I guess the moment of truth has arrived!” Mark said half in jest as Patti finally took a seat at the crowded table.