Sunset Bridge (40 page)

The band struck up something particularly raucous, and Tracy and Marsh were herded to the dessert table. She cut the first pie and fed a bite to him; then he reciprocated. Everyone swarmed around the table as the Dancing Shrimp staff cut and served the rest.

Marsh took Tracy’s hand and led her through their well-wishers to the edge of the crowd. But their departure wasn’t complete. When they got past their guests, her former neighbors were waiting.

“We got you something,” Wanda said. “You should open it now.”

Maggie went up to the porch and came down with a wide, flat package that was half as tall as she was.

“You might say we had to dig deep…to give you this,” Alice said.

Tracy couldn’t imagine what kind of gift this could be. A painting? Something expensive they’d had to dig deep into their pockets for? She was surprised, because somehow that just didn’t fit with the kind of friendship they had.

The package was wrapped in plain brown paper, likely one of the few things large enough to enfold it. A bright red ribbon was tied in a fancy bow.

“Janya, I bet you tied this,” Tracy said.

“It will be easy to untie,” Janya said. “Just pull the end.”

Marsh had stepped away, and he gestured for her to do the honors. Tracy, who still held her bouquet, took one look at it, then tossed it to Maggie, who laughed and caught it easily.

“Something I ought to know?” Wanda asked.

Maggie put her arm around her mother. “Let’s watch her unwrap. Then I have a lot I want to tell you. We’ll find a quiet spot.”

The bow came undone as easily as Janya had promised. The paper, which had only been folded around the gift, came loose when the ribbon fell away.

Tracy stared at the sign that had reposed, faceup and neglected, at the border of her property since the day she moved to Florida. It had been cleaned and polished by her friends, but it was still a wreck.

“Happiness Key,” she read out loud, choking on the words. Letters that were too faded to read had announced the future development of a condominium complex and marina, but now the only part she could make out was the name. It was enough.

“Do you need us to explain why we dug it out of the rubble? Took three of us to find it and do it. But it was just lying there waiting,” Wanda said.

Tracy didn’t need an explanation. Once she returned from her honeymoon and consulted with her new husband, the sign would find a place of honor somewhere in the yard of the Cracker house. But wherever it stood, this was one message that was perfectly clear.

“We took Happiness Key with us,” she said, leaning the sign against her hip and opening her arms to hug them in thanks. “All of us did. Here’s the proof.”

“One thing about you we can always count on, Mrs. Marshall Egan,” Wanda said. “Sooner or later, you do figure things out.”