Life At Islands Estates Ch. 15

"That's good, but you probably will pay five thousand on tax on the money we made on the stock yesterday. Understand what I'm trying to say?" he countered.

I had gotten the point. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Spend money was the order of the day. Only thing was, I really hadn't learned how to be frivolous yet. But given time, I vowed to learn.

A little tapping on the door sucked us out of our discussion about money. Dad crossed the room and opened the door. In scampered Little Caroline and she climbed up on my lap. Camille was in hot pursuit because she knew the significance of the closed door to the study. I assured her all was well and bounced the kid on my knee.

Camille displayed the ring on her finger for dad and he hugged her and wished us both all the success in the world. He cautioned me to keep our discussions in confidence and departed the room. I patted the seat next to me on the sofa for Camille to sit. She frowned as I drained the dregs from my glass.

"Hey! I'm getting married day after tomorrow. I'm allowed," I said.

"I know," Camille said, holding my hand. "And thank you for including us in your plans. Having a mixed child in Florida is controversial, to say the least, in 1965."

I was stunned at her remark. But given the racial turmoil taking place in Jacksonville, and all around The South, we were fortunate to be isolated from it here at Islands Estates.

I put my arm around and kissed her softly, holding her close to me.

"I love you, Brown Sugar," I said. "It's us against them."

Camille told me that Rita's whole crew had gone to St. Augustine to outfit Sandra with a new wardrobe. The twins were keen on exploring 'The Old City" while the ladies shopped. I was happy for the break from all the activity. I shoed Camille out of our hair and Caroline and I set out to explore the back yard.

I spent the next hour and a half walking the little feet off Caroline around the yard and down by the river. I planned to have Gerald erect us a fence along the bulkhead to prevent Caroline from falling into the water. As I walked, I also decided to expand the fence around the estate northward into the new property several hundred feet and build a barn so we could get a couple of horses. Caroline looked to me like she'd enjoy horses.

There, dad would be proud, I was getting ready to spend a lot of money. Life At Islands Estates was good.