"[garble, giggle, Yelp!] iz sinkin' dat we's needing to finish dat!" yells Uncle Hank to a very tipsy Aunt Nancy as we pull our boat into the dock.
"Hanky Poo Poo!" she yells from the boat, "Don't get your knickers in a knot, ok? I'm not here to get all stressed out about what still needs to be done. That's why we have staff!" She reminds him as he gives her a hand stepping out of the boat.
"Hey, Uncle Hank!" I say as I carefully step onto the dock. "How much time do we have left?" I yell to them as they both head towards the resort to take care of some sort of emergency. The staff hustles to finish setting all the tables, and hang the outdoor lanterns.
A makeshift dance floor is being laid in the middle of the lawn.
"Less than two hours!" Aunt Nancy yells back to me.
I grab my bag from the boat, and quickly head back to the cottage to shower and get ready.
When I walk through the sliding glass door, into the living room, I'm met with Benny, who is in the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" I say to him as he riffles through the drawers looking for something.
I walk over to him, put my bag on the counter, and place my sunglasses on top of my head.
"My wife is convinced that she left one of her rings over here. We used to stay here before you guys came up," he says.
"Sorry," I say. I feel kinda bad that I'm encroaching on Benny and his wife's accommodations.
"No, we have a great suite over at the resort. One of the Cabana houses. You should come over for dinner sometime," he says.
"Is that why you were here the other day?" I ask, referring to when I saw him on the top deck.
"Uh...no, I had to come back and get some files that your Uncle had left here by accident." he says as he rummages around in the drawers.
"So, you left...flew back, got the file, and went back to the city?" I said. That would explain why both Aunt Nancy and I had it wrong.
"Huh?" he says, and stops what he's doing.
"Did you leave, come back, and leave again?" I say.
"Yeah -- it's only a two hour trip. So I didn't mind, and well, I didn't really have a choice." he says and gives up.
"What does it look like?" I ask him. I figure it can't hurt to keep my eyes open as well.
"It's not expensive. It just has sentimental value. Her grandmother gave it to her. She thinks she must have taken it off while she was cooking...and maybe one of the maids put it in a drawer. It's silver with a black stone. Definitely let me know if you find it," he says and jogs back to the door to head back to the resort.
"I will," I say.
"You coming tonight?" he asks as he grabs his jacket from the bench near the front door and starts to head out.
"Absolutely!" I say, "I'm looking forward to it."
A moment later he is gone. I go to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. I want to dilute some of my buzz so I can shower and get ready properly.
"Mia," says Consuela who is lazily flopped on the couch in the living room reading some sort of trashy Spanish magazine dedicated to her precious South American soap stars.
"What?" I snap at her. I don't really have time for this.
"I iz seeing dat ring dat he iz looking fer," she says as she yawns and flips the page. I walk over to her and give her a look that tells her that I'm not in the mood for a cryptic conversation.
"Where?" I ask.
"It wuz in dat nice basroom upstairs. Da one wis da skylights," she says all the while engrossed in her magazine.
"Really?" I say as I start to head towards the stairs to go and shower.
"Yer don't remember?" she asks.
I shrug, but then head upstairs and into the bathroom -- and sure enough, mixed in with a dish on decorative pebbles is Benny's wife's ring.
I'll make sure I bring it to the party tonight. It's probably time that we should meet, anyhow.
A moment later I step into the shower and let the warm rain-like water wash all my stickiness from the day away. Tonight is going to be good.
I can feel it.
