Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [55]
Annie buckled the two shepherds into their seats. Elmo sat in the middle while she sat across the aisle. She buckled her own seat and smiled at Elmo. “I hate to fly.”
“I’m not fond of it myself. The truth is, it’s safer than riding in a car. Okay, everyone, here we go! Up up and away,” the old man chortled. Harry barked and Rosie joined in. Annie simply gritted her teeth.
Elmo accepted the glass of wine the steward handed him. Annie did likewise. “Please give the dogs some root beer,” she said to the steward.
“There are rules. I can’t serve dogs.” Harry barked sharply at the steward’s tone.
“There aren’t any rules on this flight. I paid for four passengers. The dogs each have a seat. I explained about the dogs when I chartered this flight. I’d suggest you move your ass and get the root beer. If you don’t have root beer, 7UP will do. If you don’t, you won’t be with us when this flight returns to Charleston. You can find your own way home from Hawaii. Or, you can get off in Dallas when we set down there. It’s your call,” Annie snapped.
The steward marched off. He returned with two bottles of root beer. “Didn’t you forget something? These dogs are talented and incredibly protective but they do not know how to swig out of a bottle.” Elmo guffawed until he choked. Harry licked at the tears trickling down the old man’s face.
“This is going to be a fun trip.” Annie giggled. “I had our lunch catered. You’re going to love it, Elmo. Do you think you’ll miss your lady friends?”
“Nope. Wouldn’t even tell them where we’re staying. They’d be calling all hours of the day and night. One of these days they’re going to smother me. I love the attention, but sometimes it gets to be too much. Are you gonna be seeing that coffee fellow that broke your heart?”
There was no use in pretending she didn’t understand what he was saying. Elmo knew her too well. “No. And he didn’t break my heart. There was something off-kilter about him. To this day I can’t put my finger on it. I was smitten, though.”
“Then why’d you do all that shopping last week. You bought out the stores,” Elmo said as he poured root beer into two plastic dishes.
“Because I’m rich, and I can shop till I drop. Everyone wants new clothes when they go on vacation. You didn’t say a word when I gave you the new stuff I bought for you.”
“That’s different. Don’t let me forget to bring back two grass skirts. Did you spend a lot of money?” Elmo asked slyly.
“A fortune. More money than I ever spent on clothes in my life. I bought a Chanel handbag, Elmo. Guess how much it cost.”
“Two hundred dollars?”
“Try twenty-two hundred dollars.”
“Mercy!”
“Before you can ask, I spent seven thousand bucks. I almost got sick when I tallied it up. I went crazy.”
“I’d say so. Looks to me like the tranquilizers the vet gave these dogs is kicking in. What should we do?”
“Read. Or, I can have the steward put on a movie. You have to wear earphones to hear the voices. If you plug in the headset, you can hear music. If you move over here, we can play cards. Or we can take a nap.”
“Let’s just talk. Do you know what I heard on the news last night?”
“News?” Annie giggled.
“Yes, news but Boston news. Remember that kid that went to prison for stealing the money? He’s getting out a few years early for good behavior. He’s over thirty now. Imagine that. He spent the best years of his life in jail. He said something I really didn’t understand. He said if the money had been recovered immediately, he wouldn’t have had to serve all that time. Can that be true, Annie?”
“I don’t know, Elmo. I didn’t watch the news last night. When that insurance investigator was dogging all of us he never said anything like that. Maybe it’s something he wants to believe. Robbery is robbery.”
“What tickles me to no end is half the money being returned. When it was returned all those years ago, they said it was fluffy, like someone washed it in fabric softener.”
“Elmo, do you believe everything you hear?”
“In this case I do. They showed the kind of money bag the bonds and money were