Page 82 of Smuggler's Cove
Charlie walked Lincoln around the job site and explained the process, what was going where, and the timeline. “If we keep getting good weather, the piers should be done in two weeks. The shed is coming down tomorrow. I got a couple of guys who are going to break it down and toss the pieces into the dumpster.”
Lincoln stopped. “I better take a look inside and see if there is anything worth salvaging.”
“I already got the gear out—traps, lines, rakes, and all.”
“What about the maps?”
“I figure you’d want to check ’em out. See if there was anything you or your sister may wanna keep. Ya know, a keepsake sorta thing.”
Lincoln thought Madison might want to use them to decorate the walls of the new shed. She had a knack for repurposing things. “Thanks. I’ll take a look.”
Crusty appeared out of nowhere, something he was prone to do. “Howdy, boss!” He gave a huge wave.
“Howdy, Crusty. I see you’ve been hard at work.” Lincoln noticed the pile of old wood in the dumpster.
“We’re gonna take down the shed, but Charlie here said to wait for you.”
“Yes. I appreciate it.” Lincoln walked down the dock, which led to the shack. He began to unpin the maps from the fishing line when he noticed something wedged between the wallboards. He took one of the fishing hooks and pried it out. Another map. A very old one. He set it on the crooked table and began to unfold it. It appeared to be a rudimentary drawing of a river bend with markings of trees. He separated it from the others and put it in his back pocket. He’d take a closer look when he got back to Madison’s. He rolled the other maps and tied them with a fishing line.
As he went through the remaining items, he realized there was more that should get a second look. He called over to Charlie. “Do you have a box I can put all this stuff in?”
“Nothin’ that don’t smell like fish,” Charlie scoffed.
Lincoln spotted Hannah waddling toward him with a trash bag. “This here is clean.”
“Thanks, Hannah. You always seem to have what everyone needs.”
“I try to be prepared for any eventuality.”
Lincoln then realized Hannah was more than a nice person who made an awesome clam sandwich. She too was sharp and a lot smarter than she made known. It reminded Lincoln of when he was at Hackley and another student was from Louisiana. He made the mistake of thinking the student was not as smart as the rest of them because he had a drawl. That was the last time Lincoln prejudged someone. Or so he thought. Preconceived notions sometimes lay dormant in our heads. He thought about Madison’s original biased views about Smuggler’s Cove and recognized how easily it could happen. He made a mental note to watch himself for those tendencies and correct them.
Lincoln proceeded to collect anything that could be deemed personal. “Hey, Charlie? Could you swing by the house before I catch the ferry? I’d rather leave this bag here than drag it to the city just to end up bringing it back.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Charlie echoed Crusty’s salutation.
Boss. Lincoln snickered. He could not recall ever being referred to asboss.Sir. Professor. An occasionalDude. Neverboss. “It’s my sister that’s the boss. At least we pretend she is,” he said, and laughed.
The men sat at the picnic table to review the next steps. Much to Lincoln’s surprise, Charlie opened a laptop.See, another misconception?He silently admonished himself.
“If y’all can send me that spreadsheet, it would make things easier. I’d be able to send you an update via email at the end of each day.”
“You should have said something sooner,” Lincoln remarked.
“I didn’t want you to think I was being too pushy and all, getting into your private papers.”
“Heck, no! It was foolish of me not to ask.” Lincoln shook his head. He reached into his portfolio and opened his laptop. “What’s your email address?”
“Charliesgotclams at gmail-dot-com. We figured it was better than Charlie’s got crabs!” he hooted.
Lincoln burst out laughing. “Excellent point.” He typed it in and sent Charlie the Excel spreadsheet.
“This is how I keep track of Hannah’s business. She’s not keen on computers. Says they suck the brains outta people.”
“I can understand her point. Question: do you engage in social media?”
“Nah. If anything sucks the brains outta you, it’s all of them platforms and apps.”
“Madison likes to say that her idea of an app is something you eat before dinner.” Lincoln chuckled.
