“I lost count.” He held up his bucket to show it was more than half full.
“Me too.” She held hers out for him. “Not as much as you though.”
He stared out over the rolling waves. “I wish we could get more.”
“We’ll come again tomorrow,” she assured him. “You can check the tide tables and tell me what time we need to be down here.”
“All right.” He nodded. “Now we gotta take these home and clean ’em.”
“How do we clean them?”
“I read how you’re supposed to rinse the sand out, then dip ’em in a bleach solution, rinse ’em again, and let ’em thoroughly dry.”
“Well, you’re the expert.” She ruffled his hair. “Your grandfather would be proud.”
Back at the house, they spent about an hour cleaning a grand total of eighty-seven sand dollars. Wendy could hardly believe it as she looked at row after row of gleaming white sand dollars covering every available surface in the kitchen. What would her grandparents say if they could see this?
“Are they valuable, Mom?” He was placing the last ones out to dry on the old towel she’d laid on the kitchen table.
“I honestly don’t know. But they’re valuable to me.”
“I bet we can find even more tomorrow—if we start sooner. You’re sure you really wanna go again?”
“You bet I do. I wouldn’t miss it. That was so fun.”
“But we shouldn’t tell anyone about our find.” Jackson set the last sand dollar down. “Like when we’re having Thanksgiving dinner with those people.”
“Why not?” She had already imagined telling Caleb about their amazing luck. She could just imagine how impressed he would be.
“Because we don’t want everyone coming out here and looking for our sand dollars.”
She laughed. “So we really are pirates, trying to keep our treasure to ourselves? Keeping it a secret?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Of course!”
Wendy felt nervous as she rang the doorbell. It was the address Caleb had given her, but the house was large and fancy—one of those big beach houses that probably cost a couple million dollars ... maybe more. Was Caleb really rich? As they waited, she remembered he’d mentioned they’d be eating with his family—and this certainly looked like a family home. Although they’d never discussed their marital status, she’d assumed he was single.
“Is this the right place?” Jackson asked.
“The name Colton was on the mailbox,” she explained. “Caleb Colton is who invited us—” She paused as the tall front door opened and a pretty redhead smiled warmly. “You must be Wendy and Jackson. Just the two of you?”
“Yes.” Wendy nodded. “That’s all.”
“I’m Ashley Colton.” She shook Wendy’s hand and guided them into the foyer. “I’m so glad you could join us. We believe in ‘the more the merrier’theory.” She took their coats, then led them into a large room where about a dozen other people of varying ages were mingling about. Some appeared to be watching a football game on a big-screen TV while others were just visiting. “Hey, Caleb,” Ashley called out. “Why don’t you introduce your friends to everyone?”
“Hey, Wendy.” Caleb’s face broke into a wide smile as he greeted them. “Welcome!” He reached for Jackson’s hand, introducing himself.
“I need to get back to the kitchen.” Ashley shook her finger at Caleb. “And next time the doorbell rings, you can get it, Mr. Colton.”
“Do you need help in the kitchen?” Wendy offered.
“That’s okay. I’ve got Crystal and Beth already helping.”
Wendy suspected that was the Crystal from the shell shop—and not eager to cross paths with her again, she just nodded.
“I hope you like to play football,” Caleb said to Jackson.
Jackson shrugged. “I used to play soccer.”
