Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida (4 page)

Amanda dropped some pens into the holder by the cash register and removed her night-deposit pouch. Lacy had called and asked her to pick up some sandwiches on the way home.

She’d phoned in her order so it would be ready when she arrived. The instant she walked out the door, she spotted an elderly couple on one of her bicycles—the tandem bike. The one Jerry had picked up that morning.

Amanda stood on the sidewalk for a few seconds as the elderly couple rounded the corner, the woman on the front obviously controlling their course while the man on the back pedaled as though his life depended on it.

From where she stood, they appeared to be an attractive couple, but they weren’t the ones who’d rented the bike. She’d never even seen them before. Jerry hadn’t mentioned anyone else. She hesitated, thinking about getting their attention and saying something—but what?
Who are you, and why are you on this bicycle?
No, that wouldn’t be right. After all, she didn’t have any rules about not letting other people use the equipment.

She turned and quickly walked toward the sub shop, where she knew her order would be waiting. Before going inside, she cast another glance over her shoulder at the elderly couple.

After they rounded the corner, out of sight, she turned and shoved open the door to the sub shop. The guy at the counter grinned. “How’s the bicycle business?”

“Good,” she said. “Enjoying a little breather after a crazy tourist season.”

He laughed. “I know what you mean. I had to get help this year, and you know how hard that is.”

“Oh yeah.”

He finished wrapping her sandwiches and shoved them into a plastic bag before placing it on the counter. “Here ya go, Amanda. Want chips with that?”

“Sure.” After paying, she dropped the bags of chips into the sack and headed for the exit. Soon she was right back out on the sidewalk, heading for home, which was a block and a half away.

As she stepped off the curb to cross the street, she heard the ringing of a bicycle bell behind her. “Hey, bicycle lady!”

The sound of a man’s raspy voice caught her attention, so she spun around—just in time to see her tandem bicycle heading straight for her. The woman on the front grinned as she applied the brakes to slow down.

Spurred by curiosity, she took a step toward them. “Did you call me?”

Both the man and the woman extended their legs and planted their feet on the road. The woman loosened her chin strap, removed the helmet, and exposed a thick mane of solid white, wavy hair. “Yes, that was my husband. Sorry he sounded so rude.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“My wife doesn’t like me very much anymore,” the man interrupted Amanda. “She’s always correcting me like I’m a child.”

The woman shot her husband a glance. “I do not.”

The man chuckled. “See? There ya go again. So what did you want to talk to the bicycle lady about? We just about broke our necks trying to catch up with her.”

Amanda smiled, in spite of the man’s tone of annoyance. “Is everything okay with the bicycle?”

“Yes, it’s wonderful,” the woman said as she leaned forward and extended her right hand. “I just wanted to introduce myself. My name’s Rosemary Simpson, and this is my husband, Harold.”

That explained it.
These must be Jerry’s parents,
she thought. “I’m Amanda Burns. It’s nice to meet you.” Amanda shook Mrs. Simpson’s hand.

“Our son never lets us go with him when he picks up the bicycle,” Mr. Simpson said, “but we’ve seen you through the window when we passed by your shop. Jerry said you’re the owner.” He grinned and belted out a belly laugh. “You’re even prettier up close.”

Amanda had no idea what to say to that, so she shifted the sub sack to the other hand. Now that they had their helmets off and they were only a feet away, she saw the resemblance between them and Jerry.

“If you ever need anything, let me know, okay?” Amanda finally said. “In the meantime, I’d better get dinner home.”

“You married?” Mr. Simpson said.

“Stop it, Harold,” his wife scolded. “That is none of your business.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Amanda glanced back and forth between the couple. She finally settled her gaze on Mr. Simpson. “No, I’m not married.” The heat of embarrassment crept up her cheeks.

“Jerry isn’t married either,” Mr. Simpson blurted. “He’s our only unmarried child. He hasn’t found the right girl yet.” He paused and narrowed his eyes for a moment. “I think it’s about time he settled down. He’s forty-five years old and not getting any younger.”

His wife jabbed him in the ribs. “I’m sure she doesn’t care.”

He scowled back at her and refocused on Amanda. “So you’re eating alone?”

She had to hand it to him for his persistence. “Um…no.”

“For heaven’s sake,” his wife said as she plopped her helmet back on her head and hooked the strap. “Let’s go and let this sweet girl get back to her business. We’re probably making her late for a date.”

Mr. Simpson snorted. “So do you have a date?”

“No,” Amanda replied. “I don’t have a date. I’m bringing food home for my sister and me.”

“You live with your sister?” A quick smile spread across Mrs. Simpson’s face.

“Well, it’s more like my sister lives with me, until she can find a place closer to the school where she teaches.”
Too much information, but oh well.

“Come on, Harold,” Mrs. Simpson said, as she helped her husband with his helmet. “Let’s leave this young lady alone so she can get home and eat. Besides, Jerry’s expecting us back for dinner soon.” She turned back to Amanda. “He’s cooking tonight. Isn’t that great? Our son knows how to cook.”

“Back when we first met, my wife here did all the cooking,” Mr. Simpson said. “But times are changing. Maybe you can come over sometime and Jerry can cook for you.”

Mrs. Simpson shook her head. “Please forgive my husband.” She gave him a look of displeasure. “But like I was saying, Jerry took a cooking class so we wouldn’t have to eat out all the time.”

Amanda couldn’t help but giggle. “That’s wonderful.”

“I like eating out,” Mr. Simpson said.

“Come on, Harold; let’s go.”

Mr. and Mrs. Simpson grinned and waved as they took off down the street, while Amanda stood and stared after them. What a nice couple. The man was a little crotchety and the woman was on the bossy side, but she found them rather charming.

Amanda started to turn toward home when she noticed a thin black wallet lying on the ground a few feet away. She picked it up and hesitated for a moment before opening it. Even though it was obviously lost and the only way to find the rightful owner was to look inside, she still felt like a voyeur.

Smack dab in front, in a window compartment, was a picture. She turned it so she could see the faces of what appeared to be a family of five with a younger version of the elderly couple she’d just met sitting in the midst of two young boys and a girl. The ground seemed to shift beneath her a little as she thumbed through more pictures showing a progression of time until present-day. When she got to what looked like a current picture of Jerry Simpson’s smiling face, she experienced a quickness of breath. This was clearly Mrs. Simpson’s wallet, and she needed to return it—after dinner.

As she closed the distance between herself and her small house facing the side street, she realized that knowing that Jerry had brought his parents on vacation made her like him even more. Well, she didn’t exactly know him well enough to like him
that
much, but he’d always been very polite…and of course, very good-looking. And the way he looked at her was…well, heart-stopping. She scurried home and was met at the door by her sister, who snatched the bag from her.

“Who were those people on the bike?” Lacy said, as she rummaged through the sack and pulled out her sandwich and chips. “Mm, my favorite—cheese-flavored Sun Chips.”

“Jerry Simpson’s parents. Apparently he’s been renting the tandem bicycle for them.”

Lacy lifted an eyebrow. “I wonder if he’s married.”

“He’s not.” Amanda found a plate and put her sandwich on it as she thought of a different, more comfortable subject. She didn’t want to mention the wallet, since she planned to return it without making a fuss. “So, did you figure out what to do about Timmy?”

“You don’t wanna hear about that now,” Lacy replied.

“Sure I do. I told you we’d figure out something together.”
Anything to change the subject
. Amanda took a bite of her sandwich and pointed to the spot on the table adjacent to where she was sitting. After she swallowed, she used her most authoritative glare and nodded toward the chair. “You know it’s not good for your digestion to eat over the sink.”

“Okay, okay.” Lacy pulled a plate from the cupboard and joined her sister.

Amanda bowed her head and hoped Lacy would take the hint and do the same. She’d tried to talk to her little sister about faith issues, but Lacy usually accused her of preaching. As it was, Lacy at least went to church occasionally. She’d threatened to stop going altogether if Amanda pressured her.

When Amanda opened her eyes after the blessing, she couldn’t tell if Lacy had just sat there and waited or if she had also bowed her head. Lacy had both hands in her lap, so Amanda could only hope—and continue praying.

“Okay, so tell me about school,” Amanda prompted.

Lacy contorted her mouth. “All the kids were great today, except Timmy. I don’t think there’s anything I can do. That boy still causes more trouble than the rest of the class combined.”

“What, exactly, did he do today?” At least that would keep the subject off Jerry. “There has to be more than the lunch incident.”

“Well…” Lacy pursed her lips and frowned for a couple of seconds. “He didn’t listen to a thing I said all day. When I told them to put everything away, he didn’t budge.”

“Was he disruptive?”

Lacy lifted her hands. “He’s always disruptive. When I tell the kids to sit down, he runs around and makes stupid noises. When I tell them it’s time to go outside, he puts his head down and says he doesn’t feel like it.”

“A kid who doesn’t want to go outside?” Amanda said with a chuckle. “I’d be worried.” Then she paused for a moment. “Do you think he might be sick or something?”

Lacy’s cheek bulged with food as she shook her head. “He’s not sick.”

“But you said he didn’t want to go outside, and he sounds like such an active child. I thought maybe…”

“Oh, he always wants to go outside. Just not when I tell him to. He does that to make my life difficult. When I tell them it’s time to go back in, he wastes another fifteen minutes of my time by ignoring me.”

“Did you ever find out why he doesn’t have both parents at home?”

Lacy shrugged. “Not yet, but what should that matter? Most of the kids in my class only have one parent.”

Amanda knew that it did matter, but Lacy wouldn’t understand since Amanda had made it her job to protect her. “That’s really sad.”

“Not really.” Lacy stood and leaned on the chair. “It’s a reality they have to face. Very few kids have the old-fashioned kind of family with a working dad, a stay-at-home mom, and a house with a yard.” She bobbed her head. “We only had one parent, remember?”

Unfortunately, that was true, but it still didn’t make it right. Amanda found herself angry at Timmy’s parents for whatever they were doing to disrupt him and cause him to come across as a problem child. She bit her lip to keep from commenting any further, because Lacy never understood family problems. She’d never had to deal with the problems as long as her big sister was there. Amanda had thought she was doing the right thing at the time, but now she knew better. She regretted protecting Lacy from life’s dirty details.

“I guess I’ll probably send a note home to Timmy’s father and ask him to come in.” She lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “He’s probably too busy, but I’ll give it a shot. Timmy’s said his father works all the time and doesn’t have much time for him.”

“Who takes care of Timmy when his dad’s not there?”

“Some teenager who lives down the street from them.”

That put a whole new light on things. “No wonder he’s acting out.”