Found Money - James Grippando [27]
Amy checked her reflection in the plate-glass window before entering. She had chosen her outfit carefully. Nothing too sexy. She didn’t want Ryan to infer that his old man had left a box full of money for his twenty-eight-year-old mistress. She wore a navy blue suit with a peach blouse, shoes with only a two-inch heel. No flashy jewelry, just faux pearls and matching earrings. Sincere, but serious. She entered the double doors and stopped at the sign that said, “WAIT HERE TO BE SEATED.”
“Can I help you?” asked the hostess.
“Yes. I’m supposed to meet someone here at four. His name is Dr. Duffy.”
She checked her clipboard. “Yes, he’s here. He said he was expecting someone. Follow me, please.”
Amy gulped. He had actually come.
Most of the tables were filled, and the after-work crowd was beginning to file in for wine and locally brewed beers as well as coffee. The hostess directed her to the booth by the window. The man rose to greet her. He looked younger than she’d expected. More handsome, too. A good-looking doctor. Gram would be doing cartwheels.
“Dr. Duffy?” she said as she approached.
They shook hands. “Right. And you must be…”
She hesitated. No last name. “Call me Amy.”
“Okay, Amy.” He didn’t push for a surname.
“Have a seat.”
The waitress appeared as they slid into opposite sides of the booth. “Can I bring you something?” she asked.
“How about a decaf cappuccino?” said Amy.
“And for you, sir?”
Ryan paused. “I’ll just have coffee.”
“We have two hundred kinds.”
“Pick any you like. Surprise me.”
She rolled her eyes, jotted something on her pad, and left.
Amy took another look at Ryan. He really was handsome.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
She blushed, embarrassed that he’d caught her staring. “I’m sorry. I guess you just don’t look anything like the small-town country doctor I was expecting.”
“Well, I make it a point never to smoke my corncob pipe outside of Piedmont Springs.”
She nodded and smiled, as if she’d deserved that. “Anyway, thanks for coming, Doctor.”
“Call me Ryan. And you don’t have to thank me. I’m pretty eager to find out what this gift is you’re talking about.”
“Then I’ll just get right down to it. Like I said, I got a package a couple of weeks ago. When I tore away the brown paper wrapping, I found a box for a Crock-Pot. No return address, no card inside. I checked the serial number with the manufacturer and found out the warranty was registered in the name of Jeanette Duffy.”
“That’s my mom’s name.”
“Does she own a Crock-Pot?”
Ryan chuckled, thinking of the mounds of corned beef at the gathering at their house after the funeral. “You bet she does.”
“A Gemco Crock-Pot, by any chance?”
“As a matter of fact, it is. I was with my dad when he bought it for her.”
It was the added confirmation she needed. “Good. Anyway, I opened the box.”
“I assume there wasn’t a Crock-Pot inside.”
“No.” Her expression turned more serious.
“There was money it. A thousand dollars.” Amy watched his face carefully. She felt duplicitous, but it wasn’t entirely a lie. It did contain a thousand dollars. She just didn’t tell him that it also contained 199,000 more. Not yet, anyway.
“A thousand dollars, huh?”
“I don’t know if it was your mom or your dad who sent it. Either way, with your dad just passing away, I didn’t want to bother or upset your mom. That’s why I called you. Honestly, I’m not sure what to do.”
“Keep it.”
She was taken aback by the quick response. “No questions asked?”
Ryan shrugged. “I can’t see my mother doing something like this. So I assume it was my dad. He obviously wanted you to have it. You may not have known him, but somewhere along the line you must have shown him some kindness, or maybe he felt sorry for you for some reason.