I knew the day you showed up at the boat that I didn’t have much gas left in the tank. I wanted a second chance, and I took advantage of your situation to make me feel better about all I missed out on. I don’t know much about being a dad, but I could tell you had a thing or two to learn.
Plus, you and Nash put on a hell of a show.
I made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’d say the way things worked out with you ain’t one of them. Your mom did good. You did. And Nash.
Life don’t last long enough.
Thanks for the fun, kiddo.
Love, Cap (Dad)
Epilogue
One Month Later
My dad spent the first half of his life obsessed with finding a treasure, and the second half obsessed with not losing it.
For only having two weeks with him, he taught me a lot. There was a lot about flounder, but the best lessons were about forgiveness and how sad life would be if we made every decision out of fear of what will happen tomorrow.
I don’t know if I’ll ever know how much he found, but when he died, there was nearly $64,000 in 1865 coins that were stolen in the wagon train robbery hidden in the bilge of his boat.
Even with what Dirk said about the reward, I knew what came next wouldn’t be easy. After I got off the phone with my sister, and while Sunny sat in a chair and fanned herself between muttered swears and Sunnyisms, I filled the two empty coffee cans with coins and called Nash.
Standing onThe Gypsy, Nash laughed harder than I’d ever seen a man laugh then kissed me harder than I’ve ever been kissed. “You struck gold, Rue Conway.”
I really had, in more ways than one.
We debated between calling the police or a government office, but it was Sunny in a moment of lucidity who suggesteda bank. “Them damn fools will do anything to get money. Government ain’t never heard of its own checks and balances. They’ll take that money faster than you can make the phone call with nobody to tell them no. But a bank?” She raised her brows. “They running a business, honey child. They’ll shut you up just to get you out of the way. They got bigger fish to fry with all this damn gold.”
Everything I’d learned from Reese about the world of business backed this theory up.
Nash called the US Trust Bank, the largest bank chain in North America and the one Dirk said absorbed the Richmond bank. The reward offered after the robbery was never cancelled and, by default, never formally expired.
My legal leg to stand on was as weak as Cap’s prosthetic one, but just like Sunny thought, they had bigger fish to fry.
Turns out with a cache of this size and under circumstances this unique, it’s complicated. If it’s valued in a cash dollar-to-dollar calculation, there’s inflation to consider. If it’s valued by the per-ounce price of the gold, the number goes up by millions. Then, lastly, there’s the collector’s appraisal, which at auction could mean even more.
Negotiations were fast—turns out me asking for two million dollars is nothing compared to what they could potentially get. I became one less headache for the bank. The story had barely gotten out before the federal government was claiming spoils of war, just like my dad knew they would.
Only this way, the bank is dealing with that, not me.
With two million dollars, I was able to pay Reese back for the roof, refill the damage caused by Andre the Frenchman on our bank accounts—including the one that will pay for Mom’s surgery—and set up an account for Bennie’s college fund. I can’t predict the future any better than Jeane Dixon’s alleged crystal ball, but I can try to be ready for it.
I sold Dad’s boat and kept his cane.
Penny, of course, went to Danimal.
Danimal the metalsmith who’d been melting down small amounts of coins over the years, one coffee can at a time, and selling it for the market value of gold so Dad had money to get by.Captain Cashflowwas nothing if not resourceful. Especially when it came to protecting his treasure.
Those two coffee cans I filled with gold went to none other than Danimal and Sunny—tokens of my appreciation to the tune of a small fortune. Sunny quit her night jobs; I’ll never know what Danimal did.
And Nash?
Well.
I’m still waiting on that one to play out. We’re still married, and he’s still saying he’ll be here even though he hasn’t said when. As much as I like a reliable plan with a clear-cut endgame, I’m trying hard to lean into a life that comes with a man like him. One filled with a few unknowns and with space for deviation and a little adventure and, most importantly, fun.
I’ll never tell my mom that.
