Margaret heard her front door open and went to investigate. Looking at the ragged appearance of her son and Beth, she swallowed her first question of ‘where have you two been all night!?’ Beth looked exhausted and Adam looked like he had gone swimming in his clothes—his pirate clothes? She bit back her second question.

“Dad here?” Adam looked toward the back of the house and ignored the questions he could see in his mom’s eyes.

Margaret shook her head. “No, he’s on the Anderson job. A couple of the subcontractors are starting today.” She expected some spark of interest, but he looked too preoccupied, too tired. “You okay, honey?” She turned her attention to Beth. That question was safe enough.

Beth had slumped on the sofa. She could see Margaret eyeing her puffy pirate shirt that matched Adam’s. Explanations would come later. As tired as she felt, it would be a lot later. “We didn’t get any sleep last night.” Okay, probably not the best thing to say, as Margaret’s eyebrows shot up. “We were at the Park.”

That didn’t help either. “All night? Some kind of private pirate party?” Margaret smiled as she threw up her hands. “Don’t mind me. Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower and get some rest. We’ll have something to eat once you’re back downstairs.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Adam turned on his heels and headed for the stairs with Beth right behind him.

Margaret wondered about the black backpack sagging between Adam’s shoulders. It looked very heavy.

Adam paused at the door of the bedroom Beth was using. “Shower, nap, or open the pack?”

“Yes,” she answered with a tired smile.

Adam rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess the adrenaline wore off on the drive over here. I’m exhausted.” He dropped the backpack next to her bed. “Go ahead with your shower, take a nap, and I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“You’re leaving?!” Adam’s announcement surprised Beth. She figured he’d want to see the treasure he had worked so long and hard to get.

Adam looked away from the backpack. He had waited this long. It would be here when he got back. “Yes, Captain.” He gave her a small smile, “I want to check our places just to make sure everything’s all right. Can I have your key?”

Finding it in her purse, she knew not to argue. “What if Lance is there?”

Adam doubted it. “I’ll have to deal with him if and when it happens. But, I think it’ll be all right. Go take a shower before you fall down.”

Beth knew he didn’t want her along in case Lance did show up, but she was too tired to disagree. Going into his arms for a hug, he had the familiar smell of Pirates hanging on him. “You smell like a bottle of Clorox!” Beth pulled a little away but still kept her arms around Adam. “I think you should take a shower.”

“Is that an invitation? My, you’ve been giving me lots of them lately.”

Beth kissed his neck and pulled away to sit heavily on the bed. “Men.” She chuckled as she shook her head. “Get out of here so I can get some sleep.” As he lifted a hand for a quick wave, she added quietly, “You be careful, all right?”

“Yes, dear.”

“And, Adam?”

“Hmmm?”

“Change your shirt.”

Beth rolled over and snuggled into her pillow. Adam looked down. “Shirt? Oh.” He went to his room and pulled off his wrinkled, puffy pirate shirt.

Beth was still asleep when Adam returned. Slipping her keys into her purse, he contemplated lying down next to her. She had been so worn out from both their exertions and the strain that he decided to let her be. As he turned to leave, he was surprised to hear her sleepy voice. “Everything okay?”

He looked back at Beth and saw her big brown eyes were open and watching him. “Thought you were asleep.”

“I was, but you came stomping into the room rattling my keys around. Who can sleep through that?”

He kneeled next to the bed and stroked her hair. “Sorry. I tried to be quiet.”

She closed her eyes at the soft touch. She would fall asleep again if he kept that up. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Both our places look just the same. I didn’t see any signs of anyone being there.”

A sad look came over her sleepy eyes. “Where do you think he is?”

Adam didn’t have to ask who ‘he’ was as he sat next to her on the bed. “I’ve been thinking about him, too. If he planned this trip like he usually did—and there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t—he’s probably still in Idaho. I guess he’ll be there at least until tomorrow or Saturday. But, I have no way of knowing.”

“You think he’ll figure out the clue and come looking for us?”

Adam’s heart lurched as she voiced her fear. How could he protect her from a distraught, desperate man with a gun? “Come here,” he offered, holding out his hand.

Beth sat up and went into his arms for the comfort he offered. In spite of his confident words, she could feel his heart pounding. Adam took a deep breath before answering her. “I don’t know what he’ll do. You know how intelligent Lance is. I was surprised he fell for your trick in the first place. But, yes, I think he’ll eventually figure out the clue and go check the hidden cave. If he still works for Security, he’ll have easier access than we did, that’s for sure.”

“You think?” She gave a quick laugh to try and lighten the dark mood she had inadvertently set.

“We’ll just have to play it by ear. I miss him too.” Adam’s words were quiet as he rested his chin on top of her head.

“What about your parents?”

Not wanting to think about Lance and enjoying having Beth in his lap, Adam started to kiss her neck. “I don’t miss them at all.…”

She laughed and tried to push him away—even though his kiss felt really good. “No! That’s not what I meant and you know it!... Adam, you’re going to have to stop kissing me if we’re going to have any type of intelligent conversation.”

“The art of conversation is highly overrated.… And besides, I have five years to make up for.” He wouldn’t let her get off his lap.

Beth settled back in his arms when she realized she wasn’t going anywhere. In-between his kisses, she asked again, “So, what do we tell your parents?”

“That I’m making up for lost years very well.”

“You’re impossible!” She gave him a not-so-gentle poke in the ribs, knowing how ticklish he was.

“Okay, okay!” he conceded, “You win. Get up.”

Beth wasn’t sure she just won a victory since she had been enjoying his kisses. He felt her hesitancy and gave her a knowing smile. As she plopped down on the floor next to the backpack, she mumbled, “You are just plain evil, Adam Michaels!”

He slid down next to her. “And, you, Beth Roberts, are just plain adorable.”

“Riffraff.” The muttered word could barely be heard.

Adam was surprised. She had never played that game with him. Only Lance. “Touchy.” Warming to the game, the name was shot back at her with a grin.

“Carouser.”

“Shorty.”

“Tease.”

“So, how come you never did this with me before, Beth?”

“You aren’t very good at it.”

“What?!”

“Oh, come on. Touchy and Shorty? Sheesh.” To hide the laughter in her eyes, she pulled the backpack between them.

Defensive, Adam folded his arms over his chest. “What’s wrong with Touchy and Shorty? What did you want? Frigid?”

Her head shot up. “Excuse me?” she demanded, her eyes narrowed.

Oops, rats. Back pedal, Adam, back pedal. “I…I was just trying something Lance would have said. Sorry…I…oh, shoot. Just open the pack.”

Beth bent her head and reached for the backpack’s zipper. She could barely keep from laughing. Oh, Adam! You are adorable! “Gosh, this is heavy.”

“Tell me about it. I had to jump into the boat with that on my back! Almost landed like an overturned turtle.”

“Still can’t believe we did that.” Her words were distracted as she pulled out some black jewelry boxes, nine-by-twelve manila envelopes that felt like they were stiffened with cardboard inserts, and yellowed legal size envelopes. There was also some kind of heavy gray metal box in the bottom of the pack. She pushed the pack back over to Adam to let him lift that out. As he did, she started opening the black boxes.

Seeing the first one, she gave a little cry and quickly opened the matching second one. “Oh, look, Adam! Matching his and hers Mickey Mouse watches! They are stamped Walt Disney Enterprises! They have to be from the 1930’s! How cute! Look at the old design of Mickey. Gosh, they look brand new.”

The first yellowed envelope contained four unused admission tickets for the opening day of Disneyland, dated July 17, 1955. There was a handwritten note from Walt that said: “I know it’s too late to use these, but thought you would like to see what the real ones looked like! See you at the Park. Walt”. Beth knew Walt referred to all the counterfeit entry tickets that had been printed and the thousands of extra people who had flooded into Disneyland on Opening Day. It had been a disaster from everybody’s standpoint.

The second envelope contained a cancelled $5000 check filled out and signed by Walt himself. The memo on the bottom read ‘first payment for Disneyland.’

Inside the first manila envelope Beth opened were two documents. Her eyes widened as she read. She had always wanted one of these but figured she would never be able to afford it: Two Honorary Lifetime Memberships to Club 33—the exclusive club located over the Pirates of the Caribbean that had a limited membership. This membership would include automatic entry into the Park, free parking, and, as she read the wordage, included the cost of all the meals for up to six guests. Holding back a squeal of delight, she wasn’t sure how all this was going to be divided. But, she was definitely getting a dinner there and soon!

Smiling to herself, she opened the other large yellow envelope. Inside were four matching documents. Printed on the top was a picture of the Mark Twain that looked like an etching. There was fancy scrollwork and cursive lettering covering the page. Having never seen documents like this before, she wasn’t sure what they were. “Adam? What are these?” She handed them to Adam, not noticing his blanched face, and turned her attention back to the Club 33 memberships.

Adam licked his dry lips and looked over the paperwork. Being a little dazed, it took a minute before he could figure them out. They were similar to the Santa Fe Railroad certificates he and Lance had gotten in Marceline. When he looked up at her expectant face, she attributed his pale appearance to this latest find. Breathing heavily, his eyes were wide and excited. “These are stock certificates.” His voice was obviously hoarse as he explained it to her. “We are owners of forty thousand shares of stock in Disneyland.”

Beth broadly grinned at that. “Wow! We own part of Disneyland?”

Nodding mutely, he handed the certificates back to Beth.

“I didn’t realize opening the treasures was this exciting!” Beth exclaimed as she looked at the treasures. “Is this how you felt every time you found a capsule?”

Adam didn’t answer her as he stared at the rusty metal box at his feet. It was an ugly little box eighteen inches long and about ten inches wide and deep. There were no markings on the outside that would indicate either its origin or the contents. But, it wasn’t the box itself that caused his current condition. It was what he had found inside that had stunned him.

He pushed the box over the carpet closer to Beth. At her questioning look, his voice was very quiet. “Open it.”

Having enjoyed opening each envelope and box to discover what was inside, she simply figured Adam wanted her to enjoy opening the next present from Walt. “What is it? A model of one of the ride cars? Oh! I know! It’s a piece of the Matterhorn!” His eyes staring at the box, Adam remained silent as she opened the stiff lid. The rust had penetrated the old hinges and it stuck halfway up. Beth let out a whoosh of breath and her hands started shaking as she slowly reached for one of the objects in the box and brought it up to her face.

It was a solid gold coin stamped with the skull and crossbones that they had searched for high and low inside the Pirate ride. It matched the half pendant they had taken to Tobago—only this one was whole. The edges were worn from time and elements and the Latin lettering on the back was half worn off.

Tearing her eyes from the gold coin, she looked over at Adam. He just slowly nodded to her. She dropped her eyes back to the chest and to the hundred identical coins that lay there. She ran her fingers through the coins, feeling the cold metal slip past her fingers and hearing them clink together with a sound that only gold can make. There were other types of coins mixed in. Some had an embossed cross and crown, some had a noble face in profile. Some were smaller than the one she handled. But each and every one of them looked to be solid gold.

Speechless, she looked back at Adam. Before she could say anything, he held up something he must have taken out of the chest before passing it to her. Dangling off a thick black string around his index finger, swinging slowly back and forth, was a little pouch. It was black, about four inches wide and five inches deep. The rough fabric might have been some type of canvas, but the pouch was obviously hand-sewn.

Beth just looked at the little bag as it swung in front of him. She was suddenly having as much trouble breathing as was Adam. “Oh, Adam,” she whispered. “What are we going to do? This is incredible!”

He just shook his head side to side, overwhelmed. Unable to speak, he held the dangling bag out to her, indicating she was supposed to take it.

She licked her lips and took the string off his finger, holding his empty hand for a minute. He didn’t know if it was for strength or support or just simple human touch. He watched as she pulled open the drawstring closure at the top of the bag. She visibly paled when she peered inside.

Opening her left hand and cupping it in front of her, she tilted the little black bag and poured.

Into her hand flowed a sparkling rainbow of gemstones. There were blues, reds, pinks, yellows and greens. There were round ones and rectangular ones. Some were flat-bottomed and had a domed top. Sapphires. Rubies. Diamonds. Emeralds. Still on her knees Beth crawled over to the window and held her hand in the beam of bright sunlight that streamed into the room. The sparkle and glare from the stones hurt her eyes as they sent myriads of colored spots dancing through the room.

“Oh, Adam!” she gasped. “How could he leave so much? I don’t understand.” With her hands shaking, she carefully poured the stones back into the dark bag. Gently setting the bag on top of the coins and smoothing the fabric with her fingers, she forgot the jostling they must have received when Adam was getting them out of the cave.

“I don’t understand either…. Even though….” He broke off, unsure.

“What?”

“This might possibly explain the huge expansion Disneyland underwent early on. Then there was Florida. You think Walt took items from this treasure chest, sold what he needed when he needed it, and then left the rest? The family never wanted for anything. I imagine he went back only as he needed to...to finance his dreams and ideas. Maybe he added the other items—the watches and the certificates—as time went on. Maybe those items were included to connect the treasure specifically to him.” Adam just quit talking and shrugged. There had been no explanations left with the treasures other than the note with the Opening Day tickets. All they had was the diary. ‘Remember me,’ Walt had written.

They would never forget.

When lunch was finished and cleared, Adam had his parents return to the table. He and Beth knew it was time for the long-awaited explanations.

Having retrieved Walt’s diary from his safe when he checked his apartment, he now put it on the table in front of him. The backpack was on the floor between his chair and Beth’s. He asked them to please let him tell the story all the way through without interruptions and then they could ask questions if they had any. He faintly smiled. How could they not have questions? He still had them himself.

It took an hour for him to recapture the past eight and a half weeks. He could see his parents holding back comments and questions, their faces registering surprise and, in some cases, shock at what the searchers had done and found. When Adam was through, he brought out the certificates, the watches, and the tickets they had just found and laid them on the table. When he set the beat-up chest on the table, his dad set the stock certificates he had been examining back on the table and pressed his lips together. He hadn’t been allowed to talk yet.

Adam opened the lid so it faced his parents. They were totally shocked as his dad reached across the table, then stopped his hand to look questioningly at Adam. When Adam wordlessly nodded, John took a couple of the gold coins and handed one to Margaret. “My word!”

They looked to Adam for more of an explanation. Instead, he held up the black pouch and opened it, spilling the gemstones into his shaking hand. It didn’t get any easier no matter how many times he looked at them and told himself they were his. Theirs.

Margaret gasped and stood from her chair. It almost fell over in her haste. She had always loved gems and rubies were her favorite. She looked at the large stones in Adam’s palm and picked out a square ruby. It was over half an inch wide and almost as deep. Just like Beth had done, she held it up to the light. “It looks flawless.” She looked back at Adam’s hand, still held outright with the gems slightly shaking side to side. “It looks like the Seven Dwarfs mine! Adam, this is incredible. Oh, are we allowed to talk now?” Suddenly confused, she looked back at John and then at Adam again.

Adam gave a nervous laugh. “Yes, of course you are. I…I don’t know what to make of this. Beth and I are about ready to jump out of our skins. I don’t even know where to start.”

Margaret started talking in her nervous excitement. “I don’t know anything about the gold coins. But I do know a little about gems. You’ll need to have the stones appraised. You might look online first to get some idea on what they are worth.” She glanced at John, not sure she should continue, but did anyway, “There’s a website I like that has stones like these. You can measure this to find its size and then compare it with what they have listed. It’s called awesomegems.com. There are also a lot of pages of information on each type of stone. Maybe they can recommend where to take them to be appraised.”

She broke off when she noticed John was looking at her strangely. “And how do you know so much about this, Missy? Hmmm?”

She gave him a wide guilty smile. “I…I did a little shopping with them. Really helpful people,” she stammered to a stop.

“What’d you get?” Knowing his wife, John gave a fake sigh.

Margaret looked to Beth for some support. “Remember that wonderful Princess Di cocktail ring I had made? The oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds? It was from them.”

“Oh, I love that ring!” Beth exclaimed. Then, glancing at the look on John’s face, she started fiddling with the stock certificates.

John cleared his throat and broke the tension that had been mounting. There were more important matters to discuss than his wife’s ring. “Well, Adam, I can’t approve of everything you did to reach your goal. But, I think I understand why you had to do it. I think you know the seriousness if you had been caught.”

Adam silently nodded. It still turned his stomach to think what might have happened to him and Lance.

“There is one point I wonder if you’ve thought about yet. Your life is now officially changed forever.” His dad looked from one white face to the other. “Do you two realize that?”

Both Adam and Beth nodded seriously. How could it not be changed? It wasn’t just the dollar figure of what was sitting on the table in front of them, either. With the treasure came responsibility—responsibility to use it and to use it wisely. They both understood. With each passing moment the understanding was sinking in deeper and deeper.

“You’re a grown man, so I won’t give you my advice. Unless, of course, you ask for it,” he added with a half-grin. “Then your mother and I will be more than happy to do what we can. You know that. Do you have any plans, or is it too soon?”

Beth just shrugged and looked at Adam. It was his treasure. She didn’t yet know where she figured into the mix. That gorgeous blue sapphire would be nice.…

Adam slowly closed the lid of the treasure chest after the stones had been put back in their little bag. “Well, I’ve thought of a few things I want to do. I want to do something for the school in Marceline and for the little girl Mandy who helped us. I don’t know what yet, but I’ll think of something.” He didn’t know what else to say. His thoughts were all scrambled. Pay off his student loan. Pay off his parent’s mortgage. Pay off Beth’s car and his truck. Set up a trust fund. Maybe an art scholarship for underprivileged kids. Maybe he could bring Mandy and her family and some friends of hers out to stay at the Disneyland Hotel and give them a nice vacation at the Park….

“Well, there is one thing I know I am definitely going to do.” After a long silence, Adam suddenly stood from his chair. Three pairs of wide, excited, concerned eyes stared at him and watched his every movement.

“What’s that?” His dad was curious as to what was going through his son’s head.

“I’m taking all of you to Club 33 for dinner tonight!”

They all let out a cheer and released some of the tension by dancing around the room like five-year olds at a party.

“What time do you want to go?”

“How about around 6:00, Dad? Is that time enough for all of you to get ready?”

“Oh, I don’t know what to wear!” Margaret turned and headed for the stairs.

“How about your Princess Di ring?” They all heard John’s mutter as he followed his wife to their room.

Listening to his mom’s advice, Adam had sent in three of each type of stone. He called them an inheritance from a beloved uncle. The website Margaret had recommended gave the location of a laboratory that specialized in grading and appraising world-class gemstones. Adam would receive certificates of authenticity and the approximate value of each of the stones he sent in.

It was four weeks before the gemstones came back from the lab in New York.

Adam had done some of his own research during those four weeks. He read up on rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds so he might understand the wordage on the certificates when they were returned.

Even then, he was unprepared for what he was told.

WINTER 2003—1 ½ YEARS LATER

Adam stood on the ridge feeling the cold wind blow against his back. Below him was a gently sloping hill of green grass and flagstone walkways bordered by flowerbeds of hardy marigolds in orange and yellow and carefully pruned evergreen shrubs. Here and there were topiaries of Mickey and Minnie, Dumbo and Donald. A gazebo had been built in one corner of the yard and dark wood benches were arranged at various vantage points. At the bottom of the hill was a slow-moving river surrounded by trees and carefully placed boulders. Further on, beyond the property, loomed the San Gabriel Mountains, their peaks powdered white from the first snowfall of the year.

Behind Adam was a house. It was French in style, two stories, with a second fireplace in the master bedroom suite. There was a long, curving driveway that came up from the main road. The driveway was bordered by trees that would someday fill in and form a green canopy under which to drive. The rose garden off to the side was barren of any color this late in the year. But, when spring came in a couple of months, there would be roses in every color of the rainbow.

Sitting next to Adam was a huge Golden Retriever. She nudged her head under Adam’s hand and pushed upward so he would start petting her again. Then she saw a flash of gray move across the yard and was off in a golden burst of speed. She hadn’t yet caught a squirrel, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Looking over at the commotion as the squirrel wisely went up a tree, Adam called the dog, “Sunnee, heel!” Sunnee looked at Adam, then she looked up at the tree, and then she looked back at Adam. With her version of a doggie sigh, she reluctantly came back to Adam’s side. However, her eyes never left that tree.

Adam had bought one hundred acres there in Yorba Linda. Getting out of remodel work, he decided to build spec homes. Each home would sit on a five-acre parcel and each home would be unique. This was the first home he had built and he was tremendously proud of it.

For months Adam had worked on this house, doing most of the work himself with his subcontractors. What he couldn’t or wouldn’t do—like electrical—he contracted out and oversaw the work. Other than the crews, he kept the project to himself. Nobody else had seen it.

There was only one thing wrong with this house. It wasn’t a problem with the heating or the air or the plumbing. The design of the house allowed for flow of movement and there was no wasted space. He had worked with a designer on the interior.

No, the one thing wrong had nothing to do with the design or the mechanics. It was a fine house with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, walk-in closets, and a honey oak kitchen. It was a home for a family. Adam had just moved in about a month ago. But, he was alone. Well, there was Sunnee, but she was usually busy with the ongoing squirrel situation.

Yes, that was the one problem—Adam was there in this large house all by himself. So far. That was going to end today. Adam had sent out one invitation that contained only an address and the time to come, nothing else. And, as he looked at his watch, he expected to hear a car at any moment. Turning away from the pleasant view of the river, he walked back to the house whistling for Sunnee. She’d come—eventually.

And so would Beth. Beth would arrive at any moment and he was excited to see her. In the year and a half since their treasure hunt had ended, they continued to date each other. They gradually regained the relationship they had had before that day long ago when she had gotten fired from Disneyland. They had rebuilt their relationship and expanded it and he wanted her to be the first to see his new home.

Beth had been busy too. They had approached Disneyland with an offer: Disneyland would get—on loan—the pieces from their collection that held the most interest from a historical and collector vantage point: The first nametag, the cancelled check, the matching watches, some of the never-before-seen cels, the original opening day tickets, and a few, carefully selected handwritten notes. In exchange for the exhibit, Beth would get her old job back. Since her beloved ride was no longer in existence, she would get the job of her choice—for as long as she wanted, with the option to switch and train on other attractions, whether it would be a Jungle Cruise skipper or a Monorail pilot. She had been very busy at the Park and extremely happy. The offer was working out well for both Disneyland and Beth.

Now Beth was on her way to an unknown address somewhere near the Michaels’ home, but in an undeveloped area. She followed the turns as the invitation instructed and came to a long driveway and an incredibly green lawn stretching off into the distance. Pulling to a stop in front of a beautiful house, she could tell it was new from the size of the plants and the fresh paint and trim.

The front door opened and Adam stepped out, closely followed by the biggest Golden Retriever she had ever seen.

Tail waving, the dog gave a deep, half-hearted “Woof” and then greeted her like a long-lost friend.

“He’s beautiful!” Beth was all smiles as she stepped out of her Jeep.

“She,” Adam corrected with a grin.

“She? What are you feeding her? Steroids?”

“Nope, just a big girl. Say hello to Sunnee.”

Beth started laughing and got down on her knees in front of the dog. She had a difficult time getting her arms around the wriggling mass of gold hair. “Perfect name, Adam.”

“Yeah. I thought so, too. Every home should have a dog.”

“So, is this your first spec home?” Beth looked around and liked what she could see so far. “This is so exciting, Adam!”

Instead of answering her, Adam just took her arm and walked her through the front door. “Living room.” She could see a nice fire burning in the fireplace, its white marble mantelpiece glowing in the light. Before she could enjoy the warmth or the surroundings, he tugged her through to the next room. “Dining room.” She barely had time to look at the crystal chandelier hanging from the white ceiling medallion before he took her out the French doors. “Back yard.”

“Gosh, Adam.” She had a difficult time keeping up with him as he dragged her along the freshly-laid sod lawn. “I hope you give a better tour for prospective buyers. They might want to spend a little more time actually looking at it.”

“I wanted you to see the view before it got dark.” With a secret smile, that was all the explanation he was going to give her right then.

“It’s two in the afternoon.”

“Obviously, Captain. I wanted you to see the river.”

“I like rivers.” She gave a laugh as they got to the top of the crest. “In fact, some of my favorite…..” Whatever she was going to say died on her lips as she looked down at the river below. Yes, there was a river, but Adam had added to it, trenching out a side river that curled around a familiar-shaped island. It looked just like Tom Sawyer Island in Frontierland, complete with a settler’s cabin—not burning—a log fort, a barrel bridge, some teepees and even a canoe. There was even a wooden dock made out of logs. But Beth didn’t notice the fort or the cabin or the dock. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from what bobbed in the water, tied to the dock by its rudder and bow.

It was the Bertha Mae, one of Beth’s keelboats from Disneyland.

Tears streamed down Beth’s face as she stood there, staring. “How did you find her, Adam?” she whispered. “She was sold.”

“I found the blueprints online and built her myself. She….”

Adam found he was talking to himself. Without waiting for the rest of the explanation, Beth took off running down the hill with a happy Sunnee barking at her heels. She came to a halt on the dock and stood there staring at her boat. The Bertha Mae was even painted the same soft blue. Stepping up on the narrow deck that was just above the dock, she ran a hand over the shutters nailed open next to the two side openings. There were benches inside the cabin just like before and hanging from the roof were two old-fashioned metal lamps. Walking forward, Beth ran her hand along the side of the boat—fearing if she didn’t touch it, it would vanish. There was the little bench built for two out front. She walked to the back and wiped the tears off her face as she found the control panel and the red-tipped throttle. There were the stairs and handrails leading up to the benches on the top. “Slide all the way down. Slide on down. No, keep sliding. It’s the only way we keep the seats clean.” She saw the speaker mounted on the tall mast that held a Disney flag and found the switch on the control panel to activate it. Just for fun, she flipped the switch and was further surprised when banjo music poured out of the squeaky speaker. “Now sit back and enjoy some of that deeeelightful banjo pickin’ music guaranteed to make the next few minutes fly by like hours!” She leaned back against the rudder that arched over the back of the boat and found it felt just right.

Watching from the dock, Adam looked extremely pleased with himself. In an instant she flew off the boat and into his arms. “Oh, Adam, thank you! I’ve never received a more perfect present!”

He enjoyed the hug. “I’m glad you like it. It wasn’t easy finding some of the engine parts.”

On hearing that, her head snapped up. “Engine parts? You mean the Bertha Mae runs?”

“What good would it be if it didn’t, sweetheart?”

He had to hang on to her to keep her from jumping back on the boat and taking off. She suddenly broke away from his kiss with a perplexed look on her face. “Why did you build my keelboat at a spec home? What am I going to do with her?”

Adam laughed as he leaned back to look into her face. “Who said this was a spec home?”

“You did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well, then, what did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Beth became even more confused. “Then whose house is it?”

Adam had his hand in his pocket as he answered her. “Mine. Do you like it?”

“You built yourself a house and you didn’t tell me?”

He smiled at the look in her eyes that was a cross between intrigued and irritated. “Now, if I had told you it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it? Do you like it?” he repeated more gently this time.

She didn’t look back at the house. She looked only at Adam. “It’s perfect.”

“So, you do like it.”

She could just nod.

Adam waited a long moment before he asked his next question. “Do you think you could live here?”

“With you?”

“Well, me and Sunnee,” who, at that moment of being ignored, was using her nose to push at the back his leg.

“Oh, well, if Sunnee is going to be here, I might think about it.” Beth suddenly became shy and slightly reddened.

Adam brought his hand out of his pocket and looked down at his closed fist. “Do you remember the flight to Tobago when I told you the reason why you fell into the River that awful day? You asked me why I did what I did to arrange it.”

“You never told me.”

Adam licked his lips that had gone dry. ”I know. I asked you to trust me, that I would tell you later.”

Beth gave him a small smile. “Is this later enough?”

“Yeah, it’s later enough. Come sit with me up here.” He led the way up the stairs to the top deck of the keelboat and they sat facing each other on the narrow benches, their knees touching. Adam leaned forward and took her right hand with his left. “You do know I’m sorry for how that day turned out, right?”

Beth nodded, but was silent. This had bothered her for over six years and she was anxious to hear what he would say.

“I had a plan for that day. Randy did what I asked him to do and you fell in, as you were supposed to. I jumped in, like I was supposed to. But, then the Suit showed up and you were hauled off. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“My shirt coming off?” Her cheeks turned red with the memory.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen either.” Adam was going to add ‘that was a bonus,’ but wisely didn’t say it out loud. “Something different was supposed to happen that day and I have regretted it for six years.”

“What was it?”

Without taking his eyes off her face, Adam held up a ring that had been hidden in his right hand. It had a sparkling princess cut, cornflower blue Ceylon sapphire in the middle, surrounded by pave diamonds. Each corner of the mount had another blue sapphire. There were alternating diamonds and blue sapphires down the band in an intricate filigree pattern. Beth’s mouth fell open. “I was going to ask you something that day.” The emotion of the day caught up with Adam and he was almost whispering now. “Maybe I went about it the wrong way, but I had wanted to make that day memorable. I knew how much you loved your keelboats, so I wanted to ask you…to marry me with the keelboats in the mix somehow. I guess I didn’t think it through very well.”

He watched as a single tear ran down the side of her face. He hadn’t even seen her tear up. “Oh, Adam.”

Was that a yes? Was that a happy tear? Why was she just sitting there? Did he forget something? Adam had never proposed before so he didn’t know exactly what was supposed to happen. “Am I supposed to get down on one knee?”

She wiped her eyes and laughed. “If you do that up here, we might just keel over and somebody might get keeled…and I don’t want that to happen before I say yes.”

He slipped the ring on her outstretched finger and then moved over to the seat next to her. Taking her in his arms, he sealed their promise with a kiss.