Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [60]
The dogs were at the door before the knock sounded. Annie gasped, then turned white. What if it was Parker? The dogs whined their distress.
“The only way you’re going to find out is if you open the door,” Elmo drawled.
Annie padded barefoot to the door. She looked through the peephole. Two men. “Sit and mind your manners,” she cautioned the dogs. She opened the door a crack. “Yes?”
“Miss Clark. I’m the manager, and this is my assistant manager. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but we don’t allow dogs here.”
Annie’s heart thumped in her chest. “If that’s true, then why did you allow me to have this condo? My dogs are well trained and behave. If there’s any damage, I’ll be more than glad to pay for it. It isn’t my fault the other condo flooded. I’m not the one who made these arrangements, they did, and you agreed. I’m not moving, and neither are my dogs.”
“You don’t understand; animals are not permitted,” the manager said fretfully.
“What I understand that you don’t understand is that I’m registered here now. You agreed to allow me to stay. Someone here in this facility okayed my dogs. I repeat, I am not moving. Now, what part of that don’t you understand?”
“We don’t allow animals.”
“You already said that. You now know my position on your rule. Take it up with the Whaler condo people. If you don’t like that suggestion, call the authorities. Harry, Rosie, show these nice gentlemen your teeth.”
If the situation wasn’t so serious, Annie would have exploded into laughter when both dogs bared their teeth. “Is that impressive or what?” she said to the jittery managers. “If I were to drop five hundred dollars here on the doorstep, will that make all this go away?”
“In the blink of an eye,” the manager said smartly. The assistant manager nodded his approval.
“You wait right here.” Annie was back in a minute with five crisp hundred-dollar bills. She reached out and dropped them into the hallway. “Finders keepers,” she said, before she slammed the door.
“You guys did real good,” she said, tickling both dogs’ ears. If they had been cats, they would have purred.
“Guess you heard, huh?” Annie said, flopping down on the chaise.
“My ears didn’t perk up till I heard you tell the dogs to show them their teeth. Pretty clever,” Elmo said.
“Yeah, so clever it cost me five hundred bucks. What time is it?”
“Four-fifteen.”
“This is too close for comfort.”
“So call again if it will make you happy. My advice would be to have another beer.”
“I can do that, too. Three and I dance on the table. You know that, Elmo, so stop plying me with liquor. What should we talk about?”
“What would you like to talk about?” Elmo queried.
“Why didn’t you ever get married, Elmo?”
“I guess I never found the right woman. I think I was looking for someone as kind and wonderful as my mother. No one measured up. I came close a few times, but it didn’t feel right so it just never happened. I did miss not having children, though. I enjoyed the kids on the campus. That’s the end of that story. Why don’t we talk about Mr. Parker Grayson?”
“There’s not much to say. You know the story. He’s too steeped in his culture and can’t see beyond the end of his nose. Great kisser, though. I really liked him, and I thought he liked me. Sometimes things just aren’t meant to be. Part of me wants to see him again and part of me doesn’t. That’s the end of that story. Now what should we talk about? What time is it?”
“It’s four-twenty-five. You want to talk about the Hawaiian flowers? Hibiscus is what they call the flowers in the gardens over to the right.”
“Really. Bet you don’t know the name of the state bird. It’s nene. It’s kind of like a goose. Wanna know the state tree? It’s kukui, better known as the candlenut. Long ago it provided the Hawaiians with light, oil, relishes, and medicine.”
“You’re just a wealth of information,” Elmo said as he got up to get more beer.
“Get some root beer for the dogs, Elmo.”
Annie flipped the lid of the beer bottle and took a swig. “Boy, this is good.