Rufus Blackstone had taken three curtain calls when “A Christmas Carol” ended. Nora’s story hour with the children had been standing room only, bringing out not only the kids, but the kids at heart. The lottery winners had all pitched in at Conklin’s to help cater the Festival, Sam and Marion working side by side all weekend.
At the table where Alvirah and Willy, Regan and Jack, Nora and Luke, Muffy and Steve, Duncan and Flower, and Duncan’s fellow lottery winners were seated, they were all exultant.
“I hope they don’t throw the book at the Winthrops,” Flower said. “They did try to save me and almost lost their lives because of it.”
“The one I feel sorry for is their Aunt Millie,” Duncan said. “When she showed up here the other night to get the ticket from me, she almost fainted when she saw the cops and they told her that her nephews were in jail. Then when she tried to describe the convenience store where she supposedly bought the ticket, it was classic. I wish I’d had a camera with me.” He laughed. “She said it was on a busy street and she couldn’t remember whether there was a gas pump out front or not. When I handed that ticket over to the police, I think they were stunned. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with it.”
“A judge will rule on that,” Jack explained. “Those two crooks were on parole and shouldn’t have been gambling. Who knows what the judge will decide?”
“I just can’t believe that I never suspected Betty Elkins of being so evil,” Glenda said, shaking her head. “Boy was I dumb.”
“Glenda if you hadn’t come running into The Hideaway like that,” Regan said, “Betty and Jed would have been on their way to that lake with Flower, and it might have been too late to stop them.”
Duncan squeezed Flower’s hand, then looked around the table. “I can’t tell you how grateful Flower and I are to all of you.” He started to get choked up.
Flower smiled at him then looked at Alvirah. “It was so sweet of your friend Mrs. O’Keefe to offer to let us have the ring Duncan chose for me.”
“She meant it but was thrilled when you turned her down,” Alvirah laughed.
“Mr. Pettie is going to make a special flower ring for us,” Duncan said. “I admit that I was really angry that he put the ring in the window, but if he hadn’t—”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
“We’re going to get married on St. John’s Island at the end of January,” Flower said. “We want you and your families to be our guests for a long weekend at the resort there.”
“We can make it,” Willy said emphatically.
“We all can!” Tommy agreed.
43
Friday, January 30th
Six weeks later, Duncan fresh out of his cast, the whole group was sunning themselves on the beach the day before the wedding. Glenda’s cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. “It’s Harvey!” she said, exasperated. “Why won’t he just leave me alone?” She answered. “What now, Harvey?”
“Glenda,” he cried. “I just heard the judge’s ruling on that other lottery ticket. He said it was null and void since those crooks had no right to buy it in the first place.”
“I’m glad about that,” Glenda said. “I’ve got to go.”
“Wait! He also ruled that there was only one winning ticket. You people are going to get the whole pot!”
“The whole pot?” Glenda gasped.
“Twenty-four million each!” Harvey’s voice cracked. “Glenda, we had a good thing going…We just hit a bump in the road…”
“Harvey, you’ve got to be kidding! I’ll tell you what. I’ll make a donation in your name to the BUZ network’s favorite cause.” She hung up. The others were looking at her expectantly. “The judge has ruled that our ticket takes the whole pot!” she screamed. “The whole 360 million!”
Whoops and hollers could be heard the length of the beach. Tommy’s mother jumped out of her chair. Ralph and Judy’s daughters went running into the surf and began splashing each other. Marion and Sam looked stunned. “That’s a lot of jelly donuts,” Sam said. Duncan and Flower just smiled. At this point, another twelve million more or less didn’t mean that much to them.
Regan, Jack, Nora, Luke, Muffy, and Steve just looked at each other.
“And I thought I was ‘doing nice,’” Nora laughed.
Alvirah leaned forward. “This is all wonderful. But you must remember that much is expected of those to whom much has been given.”
“Alvirah, don’t worry. We’re all planning to give to charity,” Ralph assured her.
“That’s good. And now, more than ever, I must insist you become members of my Lottery Winners Support Group….”
Jack turned to Regan, his right eyebrow raised. “That’s one group I wouldn’t mind being asked to join.”
Dashing Through the Snow Page 16
