by Junie Coffey
Pansy smiled and clapped her hands.
“So, who won the treasure hunt?” asked Nina.
“The girls’ sailing team. The Clues Brothers never made it out of The Pirate’s Wake, apparently.”
“Well, we’re pretty awesome detectives, I must say,” said Danish.
“You were great, Danish,” said Nina, “running after Barry when he had that gun! And keeping Lance from getting away. You’re very brave.”
“Back at you, kid,” said Danish, raising his iced-tea glass to her.
“You, too, Pansy,” said Nina. “If it wasn’t for your insider knowledge of the maid-service schedules of the rich and infamous on Pineapple Cay and familiarity with French lingerie sizes, we’d never have known about Lance and Tiffany.”
“Although, honestly,” continued Nina, “I’ve been going over it in my mind, and until Danish’s slick retrieval of the GPS coordinates for Love Cay from Barry today, I couldn’t really think of any other point since Tiffany disappeared when we actually had a clue about what was going on. I mean, it was really a complete fluke that we found them.”
“I’m taking the win,” said Danish.
“I went by the police station on my way here, and Blue was taking Tiffany, Barry, and Lance out to the police van. They were all in handcuffs. I think they’re sending them to the main island tonight,” said Pansy. “The Pineapple Cay station only has two holding cells, and I can’t imagine what pair out of those three you could put together in a confined space after all that’s happened.” She sighed.
“Why couldn’t they just be happy?” she asked. “None of them had to worry about paying the rent or having enough food to eat. In fact, they had enough money to satisfy any whim, and do some good in the world to boot. And, look at this, we all live in a place where the sun shines almost every day.”
Danish leaned back in his chair and gazed out to the horizon, where a huge moon was rising out of the sea. “Well, to paraphrase the beloved American troubadour and lifestyle expert Jimmy Buffett, Pineapple Cay is a state of mind, my friend. You can be angry and bitter, or you can be happy. It’s usually a choice.”
“If you can’t be a poet, be the poem,” said Nina.
Danish nodded. “Right on.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am extremely grateful to Miriam Juskowicz for offering me the opportunity to publish this novel with Lake Union Publishing. It is the thrill of a lifetime. My sincere thanks to Kristin Mehus-Roe for her meticulous and thoughtful editing of the manuscript and for her ideas on how it might be improved. She has made me sound much more literate than I am, and it is thanks to her that Nina Spark did not have to pay excess baggage fees for all the stuff that did not fit in her duffel bag en route to Pineapple Cay. Thank you, also, to all the other members of the editorial, design, marketing, and administration team at Lake Union Publishing who contributed their expertise to producing this book. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Junie Coffey lives with Fisherman Fred and Hurricane Annie in a little town north of forty-five degrees latitude, which got two hundred inches of snow last winter. She has worked as a travel writer and has both lived and vacationed throughout the Bahamas and the Caribbean, spending time in the islands every chance she gets. To learn more about the author and her work, visit www.pineapplecay.com.
