Treasure in Paradise

by Kathi Daley

  “Lame.” Ashley rolled her eyes at my attempt at a joke.

  A rush of cool air greeted us as we opened the front door. I was still getting used to the fact that most of the buildings on the island had been outfitted with air conditioners that I imagined ran continuously throughout the summer. Having grown up in the mountains, with a much cooler climate, the centrally cooled air was something I would have to get used to.

  In the lobby we were greeted by a woman who looked to be around my age. She had dark hair that she wore in a long braid over one shoulder. Like me, she had a smattering of freckles across her nose and, also like me, she was petite and totally devoid of makeup.

  “Welcome. My name is Willow. I’m the director of the Gull Island Kids’ Camp. How can I help you?”

  “This is Ashley and Gracie. We’re going to be spending the summer on the island, and Gertie, from the diner, suggested we check out your program.”

  “You must be the wonderful friend who has given up her summer to help Garret with his renovations.”

  I nodded. Did everyone know Garrett had asked me to help out? “My name is Tj, and this is Kyle.”

  “So very happy to meet you, Kyle.”

  Willow’s eyes seemed to dance with delight when she spoke. Of course, Kyle tended to receive enthusiastic greetings from all the women he was introduced to. Although if you asked me, he never seemed to notice the stir he created with his exceptional good looks.

  “Do you know Garrett well?” I wondered.

  “We’re friends. We share a common love of old black and white movies, turtle rescue, and sappy novels.”

  Sappy novels? This was something I didn’t know about my father’s longtime friend. “You have a beautiful facility. It’s very inviting, and I love the view of the ocean just outside the windows.”

  “Thank you. We consider ourselves to be very fortunate. Our land was donated for use as a recreational facility by one of our oldest families, and the entire island pitched in to raise the funds we needed for the building.” Willow came out from behind the counter and turned her attention to the girls. “So, how old are the two of you?”

  “Eleven,” Ashley answered.

  “Eight,” Gracie answered in turn.

  “That’s perfect. We cater to both island residents and visitors between the ages of six and sixteen. Our campers are grouped by age: six through nine, ten through twelve, and thirteen through sixteen. The older group is more often than not engaged in activities off-site such as sailing or scuba diving, while the two younger groups spend the majority of the time at the facility. We do, however, have a wonderful surfing program that anyone who can pass the swim test can sign up for, and we also have craft rooms, an exercise room, and a computer lab inside, although our computer lab is down at the moment. Seems our system crashed and I haven’t had a chance to have it looked at yet.”

  “You have a centralized server with work stations?” Kyle verified.

  “We do.”

  “I can take a look at it, if you’d like.”

  “Kyle is a whiz with computers,” I assured the friendly woman.

  “Really? That would be great. I’ve been trying to get someone out to look at it since last Friday.”

  Kyle turned to look at me. “Why don’t you go ahead and take Ben into town as planned? I’ll look at the server and then just hang out here with the girls for a few hours. You can pick us up later in the day, if that’s okay with Willow.”

  “That’s more than okay.” Willow grinned. “If Ashley and Gracie decide to continue with the program we’ll need to have you fill out information packets,” she informed me. “They’re mainly to ensure we have medical information and emergency contacts. I’ll send them home with the girls and you can look them over this evening.”

  “I’ll do that. By the way, can you tell me where I can find a pharmacy in town?”

  “There’s only one. It’s in the same building as the barbershop on Cove Street, which is where you’ll find most of the services you’d need as a resident, such as the dry cleaners, the medical building, and the hair salon. It’s the next street up from Bayview.”

  “Do you have all the information you’ll need?” I asked Grandpa as we headed out the front door of the house at the resort toward my car.

  “I do. I called and spoke to my doctor as well. He’s going to send my prescription to the pharmacy once we get a phone number to send it to.”

  “That’s good. It should speed things up a bit.”

  “How’d the girls like the camp?”

  “They were a little unsure about it at first, but they agreed to stay when they found out Kyle would be staying as well.”

  “That’s good. I think Gracie is having a hard time with the changes. I heard her on the phone with your dad this morning.”

  “She called Dad? When?”

  “It was around eight o’clock.”

  I grimaced. If it was eight o’clock here it would have been five a.m. at home. I’d need to go over the time change again with the girls so my dad’s sleep wasn’t disturbed on a regular basis. “Did you happen to overhear what they were talking about?”

  “Gracie wanted to be sure your dad remembered to water your mom’s tree.”

  I felt my heart break. Poor Gracie. Shortly after my mom was killed in a car accident along with her third husband, Ashley and Gracie had come to live with me. After we’d settled in at Maggie’s Hideaway, my dad’s resort, we’d planted a tree in memory of our mother. Ashley had cried a few tears at the time, but hadn’t seemed overly moved by the tribute. Gracie had visited the tree every day for months afterward. In fact, visiting the tree was one of the last things she’d done prior to our leaving on this trip.

  “I think you need to turn left on this next street,” Grandpa instructed.

  “Yeah, I see it.”

  The Gull Island Pharmacy and Barber Shop was quaint and old-fashioned and one of the few places other than Gertie’s place that I actually remembered from my previous trip to the island. I’d been having one of my tantrums and had locked myself in the attic, but the temperature had really climbed and Garrett wasn’t comfortable letting me hide out where there was no air conditioning. Somehow he’d talked me into coming out for a double-decker ice cream cone. I remembered how welcoming the place felt. Not only was there a red-and-white barber pole out in front, but when you walked inside you were greeted by a shop from the past, with two barber chairs to the right and an old-fashioned ice cream counter to the left. If you continued on into the cozy shop you found several aisles of merchandise before arriving at the pharmacy counter in the very back of the store.

  “Mr. Brolin,” I greeted.

  “Can I help you?” a pleasantly plump man with white hair and a neatly trimmed white beard inquired.

  “I’m Tj Jensen. My dad is a friend of Garrett’s. We met a very long time ago when I came to stay with Garrett while my dad was at a conference.”

  “I remember you. You wanted to stay in the attic until it was time for you to go home.”

  “Yeah.” I laughed. “Not my finest moment. I do remember that your ice cream got me out of the attic on several occasions though.”

  “Folks do tend to like my ice cream. I make it fresh, you know.”

  “I remember.”

  “So what can I do for you today?”

  I stepped aside so that Grandpa could step up to the counter to speak to the man whose eyes, while faded with age, were still bright and welcoming.

  “I’m new to Gull Island. I plan to be here for several months, so I’d like to see about having my prescriptions transferred from my regular pharmacy in Nevada.” Grandpa took a piece of paper from his pocket on which he’d written down all his medications and handed it to the man behind the counter. “My current address and telephone number
as well as the telephone number of my doctor back home are listed on the bottom.”

  The pharmacist looked at the paper Grandpa handed him and then handed Grandpa a one-page form and a pen. “I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork, but we should be able to make the transfer without any problem.”

  “I’m going to have to bring my sisters in for a cone,” I commented as I waited for Grandpa to fill out the form. “I forgot how much I loved this place until I walked in the door and all sorts of happy memories came flooding back. You know, if you had asked me a week ago I’d have told you I didn’t have any happy memories of that summer, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “That’s the way with memories. They aren’t always reliable.”

  “Until you revisit them,” I added.

  “Gull Island is a special place. There can be challenges inherent in living on an island, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  “I understand that there’s a man in town trying to get everyone to pressure Garrett into selling his land to a development company. What do you think?”

  The pharmacist frowned. “The man has been a thorn in my side since he’s been here. Things are fine the way they are. Don’t know why everyone is so intent on changing things.”

  “I was hoping to speak to Mr. Norton before the town meeting on Thursday. I don’t suppose you know where I can find him?”

  George shook his head. “Sorry. Once I convinced the man I wasn’t on board with his proposal and never would be, he quit coming around. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s busy working on the undecideds.”

  I supposed that made sense. There would be those who supported the project and those, like George Brolin and Hallie, who were firmly against. It was those in the middle who had the most potential to affect the overall strength of the petition. “Do you know who these undecided businesses are?”

  “The doughnut shop down the street, the sandwich shop next door, and the t-shirt shop on Cove are a start. If you want to have a chance to have your side heard, you’d best come to the town meeting on Thursday.”

  “I can assure you I intend to.”

  Grandpa handed George the filled-out form. The pharmacist looked it over and assured us the transfer could be completed by the end of the day. “I suppose if you really want to track Norton down you can try Sully’s,” George informed us. “It’s a local bar a few blocks over. Norton has been known to pop in for a cold one at this time of day.”

  “Thanks. I’ll check it out.”

  Grandpa and I said our goodbyes after another customer walked in, and George promised to call when the prescriptions were ready to be picked up.

  “Do you think Garrett knows anything about this petition?” Grandpa asked.

  I’d been asking myself that same question ever since Gertie had told me what Greg Norton was up to. “I don’t know for certain, but he hasn’t mentioned it so I’m thinking no. I’m trying to decide if I should fill him in. On one hand I feel like he has the right to know, but on the other I don’t want to add any more stress to his life.”

  Grandpa opened the passenger door to the car and slid inside. “Maybe you should go to the meeting on Thursday and then decide.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking. I met a woman this morning at Gertie’s who said that Norton has been seen loitering around the resort. She told me that Norton is known for buying distressed properties, and it was her impression that he and his company might be responsible for the properties being distressed in the first place.”

  “Seem like something you might want to have our resident computer genius to look in to.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to Kyle about it. He really is good at digging around on the web. I’m sure if there is something to find he’ll find it.” I started the car and adjusted my mirrors before pulling into traffic. “Mr. Brolin said we might find Norton at Sully’s. Do you mind if we stop by? I’ll buy you a beer.”

  “Make it a soda and you have a deal.”

  Chapter 6

  Sully’s was an old-fashioned tavern with a scuffed-up wooden floor, oak-paneled walls, and hardwood tables and chairs. The bar itself looked like something you’d see in an old Western. The place was empty except for two men talking to the bartender, who looked to be in his early twenties.

  “Can I help you folks?” the bartender asked when we’d taken stools at the bar.

  “Just a couple of colas,” I answered.

  “You folks from out of town?” he asked as he set the sodas in front of us.

  “We’re staying out at the Turtle Cove Resort for the summer.”

  “You must be Garrett’s friends. Sure is a nice thing you’re doing for him. Drinks are on me.”

  Apparently, Garrett had told pretty much everyone on the island that we were helping him. Odd, I thought, because Garrett had left the island due to his medical issues long before I agreed to help with the project. I mentioned that to the bartender, whose name was Frank, and he informed me that Garrett was a sociable guy who kept in touch with his island family.

  I guess I’d never stopped to think how hard this whole thing must have been on Garrett. I assumed he would have preferred to remain on the island for the remainder of his life, but until I got a glimpse of how integrated he was with his neighbors, I hadn’t stopped to consider the fact that his leaving the island because of his stroke must be a lot harder on him than my own changing circumstance had been on me.

  “Mr. Brolin from the pharmacy told me that I might be able to find Greg Norton here.”

  “Haven’t seen him. He comes in for a cold one now and then, but usually later in the day.”

  “I don’t suppose you know where he might be this morning. I wanted to speak to him about the town meeting on Thursday.”

  “Sorry, I have no idea where he is. But I can tell you one thing: the meeting is gonna be a doozy. Folks have been talkin’ about it all week.”

  “Do you think Norton has a chance of accomplishing what he’s trying to do?”

  Frank paused as he dried a stack of glasses with a white bar towel. “I’d say he has a good chance. There are a lot of business owners on the island who are looking for a way to improve their bottom line. A big, fancy megaresort would make all the difference and everyone knows it.”

  “It sounds like you support Norton’s campaign to try to force Garrett to sell to Destination Properties.”

  Frank shrugged. “I’m just an employee, and I really only plan to be on the island for a short time, so it won’t affect me all that much one way or another, but I know Sully supports it. Change isn’t always bad, you know. Times are changing and Gull Island needs to get on the bandwagon if it’s going to continue to be a viable vacation spot.”

  I finished off the last of my cola. “Garrett doesn’t want to sell.”

  “Norton seems to think he’ll change his mind if enough folks support the idea and I tend to agree. Garrett’s not going to be around anyway. I’m not sure why he even cares. Seems to me if he’s in a position to help his neighbors who are struggling financially by selling his land to an organization that can make a difference, he ought to at least consider it.”

  “But besides Garrett’s desire to keep the resort intact, there are environmental issues to consider.”

  “I’m not saying the environment isn’t an important consideration, but at the end of the day, the human residents of the island and the economic development they depend on to thrive will find a way.”

  “Yes, well, I guess we’ll see how it all works out. Thank you for the soda. Can you tell me the easiest way to get to the museum?”

  “Just take a left when you leave the bar and then another left at the second intersection you come to. You can’t miss it.”

  “Great, thanks. It was nice meeting you.”

  “So what
now?” Grandpa asked as soon as we got to the car.

  “I’d like to stop by the museum. Garrett recommended that we speak to a woman named Meg about the turtles as well as the history of the island. Meg was also the one to mention to the woman I met at Gertie’s this morning that Norton was seen hanging around Garrett’s property. I can take you back to the resort first if you’d like.”

  Grandpa Ben adjusted the visor above the passenger seat in an attempt to block the sun, which had shifted so that it was shining in through the windshield. “I’m game to go along. I really have nothing better to do and I’ve been wanting to get a look at the museum.”

  I started the car and pulled into traffic. The sun was high in the sky and the seagulls squawked in the distance. There was something about the smell of saltwater that filled me with a sense of contentment in spite of the turmoil rolling around in my mind.

  I wanted to think that once Norton realized that Garrett had very firm plans for the resort that did not include tearing it down and building a skyscraper, he’d accept defeat and go away, but the more people I spoke to the more certain I became that that wasn’t going to be the case.

  “Looks like this is the place,” I said as I pulled up to the curb in front of a gray stone building.

  “Will you look at that view?” Grandpa Ben said as he stepped out onto the lawn.

  The museum had been built on a hill, which provided an unobstructed view of the ocean in the distance. Coupled with colorful flower gardens and well-maintained walkways, the grounds provided a pleasant place to gaze out at the sea or share a snack on one of the many picnic tables.

  “Welcome to the Gull Island Museum,” a woman, whose nametag read MEG COLLINS, greeted us as soon as we walked in. She looked to be in her mid-sixties and had neatly styled hair in a natural silver-gray color that almost matched the lightweight blouse she wore with darker gray slacks. “How can I help you today?”

  I explained who we were and what information we were interested in obtaining. Meg seemed delighted by our questions about the history of both the island and the treasure. We were the only visitors in the building, so she urged us to take seats at a table that was littered with several large photo albums and yellowed books. Once we were seated she began a narrative that was rehearsed yet informative.