This story follows Wednesday’s post, here is a link, in case you missed it. Surprise at Sea
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Tanya arrived back at her cottage and her mind was whirling. What had she just agreed to do? Why did she agree to meet Patrick for lunch? She did love seafood, but she is sure that he will expect to engage in conversation during the meal! Is she supposed to just keep her mouth stuffed with food the whole time?
She had nothing against Patrick, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but what if he asked questions about where she was from and her life before she moved here ? So far she had been pretty good at managing to avoid people and those possible questions, but today she may have to come with up something.
What should she wear? Nothing fancy, but she did want to look nice. Not that she was trying to impress Patrick at all, though he was kind of cute, but …. no, she couldn’t complicate her life with a romance right now!
Her eyes fell on her coral sundress hanging in her closet. That would be fine. She had some cute seashell earrings that would go perfectly with it and a pair of white sandals. It didn’t take her very long to get ready. Taking a look in the mirror she took a deep breath, she may look put together on the outside, but her stomach was all in knots.
She wouldn’t have agreed to lunch if he wouldn’t have mentioned about finding gold in the cave! That is what made her turn her head and change her mind! Gold! Like the gold that Luke had shared with his friends. The gold that he had given to the “Chicken Man” ? Tanya’s thoughts began to drift back to that night.
No, she couldn’t let herself go there, the past was in the past. She had to start thinking about what she was going to tell Patrick if he wanted to know about her. She grabbed her purse and got into her boat, deciding she would think as she rowed.
Patrick was standing at the entrance to the cafe when she arrived. He smiled when he saw her and she felt a warm feeling shoot through her.
“HI! I like the dress. ”
“Thank you” Tanya replied, at the same time wondering to herself if she should turn around and go back to her cottage.
She followed him to a little table for two out on the deck near the water.
She busied herself with looking at the menu.
When the waitress came, Tanya ordered some oyster stew with a crab sandwich and Patrick ordered fried oysters.
Once the waitress left Tanya asked Patrick a question, not giving him a chance to ask her one first.
“So please do tell me more about this cave? ”
“Well, legend has it that a very long, long time ago there was a young, rich ruler. He had lots of gold, but was very greedy and scared that people would steal from him. In order to protect his gold he found this heart shaped cave and thought it would be the perfect place to hide his riches.”
Tanya leaned forward, with her interest growing. “Has anyone ever found the gold?”
Patrick smiled, “No one really knows. People have explored it the cave, but no one will tell if they found gold or not. Do you want to give it at try? It is a very big cave.”
Tanya was thinking of how nice it would be to have more gold. Oh she definitely had to check out this cave.
“My cousin and I explored the cave once several years ago.” Patrick said smiling.
Tanya felt like he was wanting her to ask if they found gold. She was very curious, but she wasn’t going to let him have that satisfaction.
“Sounds like a great adventure, I am up to it, when do we go?” Tanya replied with a coy smile as she raised her eyebrows.
Patrick’s cell phone started buzzing. He briefly looked at it and then back at Tanya.
“Sorry about that, I thought I had it on silent. It was a text from my cousin Luke. He is a farmer, just came in from milking his favorite cow, Betsy, and wanted to chat. I tell ya, she is one strange cow, but my cousin really likes her. I just have never quite met a cow like her. He also has a chicken that he says talks, have you ever heard of such a thing. I think my cousin may be a little cuckoo…” he said, as he was laughing.
“Oh my, here I am gabbing away and you are sitting there not looking too good. Are you okay? You are looking a little pale.”
Tanya was shaking as she replied, “Umm…sorry.. can you excuse me for a moment?”
Patrick’s eyes followed her as she walked quickly to the restroom. He sat still for a moment and then picked up his phone and texted back his cousin Luke.
I think her cover has been blown. Patrick knows that Tanya is really Anna. Or Annie. I can never keep those two straight. He’s not just texting Luke, he’s also sending a picture of her that he surreptitiously took with his smartphone. The gig is up. Anna/Annie had better run back to her boat and start rowing to a different island.
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Its Anna! Ann with an A, not Ann with an ie! 🙂
A picture? Its good she dressed nicely. Maybe he really doesn’t know anything though, perhaps he really is naive to who she is
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Okay, so he took a picture of her so he could brag to his cousin Luke about the beautiful lady he took on a date. But as soon as Luke sees the picture, the gig will be up for Ann with an A.
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LOL! There you go!
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But wait a minute…..don’t you think that since she changed her identity that she would have changed her looks too? Dyed her hair, cut it, maybe got a wig???
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No. After all, she didn’t bother to create a cover story prior to rowing to this island. Before her date she was practically frantic trying to figure out what to tell Patrick if he asked her some nosy questions about her past. This lady obviously doesn’t do much pre-planning.
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Ummm…yeah, you have a point there, .aren’t you clever! Yes, she may be a little impulsive.
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Luke isn’t his cousin and that text was from the FBI … the facial recognition data just came back with a positive match … and they contacted Luke and found out about Betsy et al. But, I was relieved she wore clothes to this little rendevous, for last I heard, she was going naked! And … “more gold” … so she has some gold? Where did she get it … was it Luke’s gold she stole? Hmmmmm … the plot thickens!
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Oooh you are funnny! Yes, she is dressed smartie! What if Patrick is just a regular guy and has no clue about Tanya?
“more gold” hmm…you picked up that detail I see, good job! The “chicken man” had gold, didn’t he??
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Hmmmm … I somehow think there must be more to Patrick than meets the eye … I don’t believe in coincidence. And yeah … so, are you saying that … well, just what ARE you saying about the Chicken Man and his gold??? 😊
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I suspect Patrick is a bounty hunter, planning to trade Tanya for a reward in gold. Or bitcoin or whatever, he probably isn’t that picky. She had better climb out the restroom window and start running.
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Poor Patrick, everyone thinks he is up to something, but yes that may be a good advice for Tanya!
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You think charming Patrick is hiding something?
Well….why do you think Anna killed the poor “chicken man?”
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I picked up on this too…and the details about Betsy the cow, maybe it was the cow after all! 😂
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🙂
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😊
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gold is so 19th century; I’d rather go exploring for original shares of Microsoft or some bitcoins…
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Oh such picky people! Haha! I hope that you at least noticed that Tanya wore clothes to the cafe!
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I was happy to see that she had clothing on! 🙂
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“Is she supposed to just keep her mouth stuffed with food the whole time?” Are you implying that this is not how normal people eat?
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Oh gosh! Wellll…..you do need to take a drink sometimes you know!
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Luke is obviously in league with Betsy and covering for her while she is on the island trying to keep Tanya from discovering the gold and secrets buried with it. Anna is getting too close to the secret and must be dealt with.
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Oh, so Betsy is still on the island after trying to hit Tanya in her boat? What is she going to do now?
Wait…you can’t confuse me with my own characters! I was like what does he mean by Anna, she’s back at the farm with Luke and Julia. Oops no, thats Annie!
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So now Anna has become Anna, Annie, and Tanya. I may have accidentally written Tonya so there is her too. This is a lot for Betsy to keep up with.
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…mmm…! No there is no Tonya!
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Just planting the seed for a future typo in your story.
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LOL! Oooh….how nice of you!
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And here I used to think that you were just an innocent, friendly guy that I knew from Tippy’s blog. Oh what I didn’t know! LOL! 🙂
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I’m friendly at least. Even if I got carried away with Bitsy, we I mean Betsy.
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Haha!
Yes, I was right about the friendly part, just not the innocent part! 😄
But that’s OK, I mean if not, i wouldn’t be able to give you a hard time about drinking bitter coffee
and about the adorable singing chipmunks, what are their names again?
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Gavin, Silas, and Belvedere
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Oh gosh! Ummm…..I think you may be confused! That coffee messed you up! 🙂
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And how can Anna become Anna? Yes, Betsy will def get them confused, being that she is just a simple cow aftet all! 🙂
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Betsy’s twin sister Bessie May need to help.
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Well at least now if I make typos in my next story I will sooo know who to blame! Betsy doesn’t have a twin, I can’t handle 2 cows!
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Oh my, I definitely enjoyed all the playful banter! 😂🤣…I think Betsy the cow is suspicious! 😜
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LOL! You can always count on the banter!
Hmmm…..poor sweet Betsy! 😉
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Lol…it’s always the one you least suspect 😉
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She’s barfing, now.
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Haha! Yup!
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