Today’s
excerpt is from Bigfoot Bait, Book #2 of the Becker Trilogy. Dan and Janet buy food to take to the others,
who spent the night in the forest. Enjoy
and have a great day.
m.j.
Janet nodded as
she walked off. She looked around for
something to cook what she’d left on the counter. She happened to look up at two things of
interest hanging on the wall, but did nothing about her sighting as she found
disposable salt and pepper shakers, as well as hot sauce. After adding those items to those on the
counter, she walked back to the wall where she had spied the two items of
interest. One was an old-fashioned iron
skillet; the other was a cutting board.
Janet reached up, took the two items off the wall, and carried them back
to the counter.
The old man
looked at them and shook his head.
“Those ain’t for sale, young lady.”
Undeterred,
Janet reached into the money belt she wore, took out five crisp new one hundred
dollar bills, and laid them on the counter.
“How about five hundred for the two of ‘em?”
“I reckon I can
do that. But I gotta tell you—if the
young fella who should be workin’ instead of callin’ in sick was here, I’d kick
his ass if he sold ‘em to you. Cost part
of that five hundred bucks to repaint the wall.
In case you didn’t notice, they been there a while. The paint underneath where they were is
brighter than the rest of it.”
“Yeah—I
noticed. You own this place?”
“Yup. But not for lack of trying to sell out, so I
can retire proper. I know you’ll find
this hard to believe, but I’m nearin’ ninety.
The fella who works days for me wants to buy me out, but the bank won’t
lend him the money. We’re trying to
figure somethin’ out, but haven’t yet.”
“Hmmm…I’ve got
an idea, but will need to talk to my husband about it. In the meantime, how much for the rest of
this? Hold on…I forgot to get more
thermoses. Add three of the large ones
to this stuff, along with coffee to fill ‘em…and the one my husband will be
bringing, if he ever gets here.”
Dan, walking up
behind Janet—and knowing she saw him pull the car up in front of the store—just
sighed. “I’m here, twit…with the
thermos, I might add.”
Janet grinned,
then introduced herself and Dan before the owner introduced himself. That taken care of, Janet pointed to where
the thermoses were. “Grab three of
those, darling. Might fill all four up,
when you have nothing better to do.”
The owner looked
at Dan. “Not only is your lovely wife
easy on the eyes, she’s a bit sassy, too.
Sorta like that in a woman—reminds me of mine.”
Dan just grunted
as he went to grab three of the new thermoses.
As he did, the owner pointed at a sink near the large old-fashioned
coffee urn. “Might want to rinse those
out before you fill ‘em up.”
Dan mumbled to
himself as he took all four thermoses to the sink to wash them out.
While he was
doing that, Janet paid for everything.
As Dan started taking things to the car, Janet asked for the name of the
daytime clerk who wanted to buy the station and store, as well as the phone
number of the owner.
After giving her
the information, the owner asked, “You got something up your sleeve besides
your arm?”
“Maybe. I’ll get in touch with you, if so. By the way…you’re such a nice guy, hold up on
the paint job. When we’re finished with
the skillet and cutting board, I’ll wash ‘em up and bring ‘em back to
you.”
“Now that’s a
deal I like the sound of. You pay me
five hundred bucks for rental fee. Hell
of a deal. Gonna have to tell my clerks
how much I made extra by cunning salesmanship.
Though I gotta admit, you and your husband eat all those vittles, I
might never see you again. An awful lot
for two people.”
“Well, Mr.
Nosey, it isn’t for just us. We’re
meeting some friends in the forest.”
“Have a good
time. Don’t let Bigfoot get you.”
As Dan came in
for more to take to the car, Janet was roaring with laughter. She stopped as she looked at her
husband. “I’ll bring what you don’t get
this trip. I’ve just been warned to be
careful Bigfoot doesn’t get us.”
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