Chapter 10 #2
“Ha! It seems everyone enjoyed the food and the camaraderie. That was really the point. Like I said, they’ll see that tree every day for the next four weeks. Now help me clean up, and then you can vamoose,” Frankie stated.
“I could kiss you!”
“Ew. Cooties,” Frankie said, and chuckled.
Pinewood
Myra and Annie were in the renovated barn with their clipboards, taking inventory of the toys that had been delivered. There were dozens of shrink-wrapped pallets containing toys ranging from toddler learning games to handheld video games.
“Wow. How much do you think all of this is worth?” Annie asked.
Myra flipped through the bills of lading. “I am going to need a calculator.”
Annie handed Myra her phone. “There’s one on here.”
Myra pulled up the app. “I suppose we should use the retail prices of everything.”
“Yes. I am going to have the load insured. Can you give me your best guess?”
“Guessing is not very accurate, my friend.” Myra peered over her reading glasses. “Here.” She handed Annie her phone. “I’ll call out the numbers, and you can do the math.”
It took the better part of the morning to determine a retail sales figure. It was in the neighborhood of 15,000 dollars.
“That is quite a haul,” Myra exclaimed. “And it doesn’t include the socks. Better add another two grand to the total.”
“Let’s just round it up to twenty thousand. I’ll call my insurance agent when we get back to the house,” Annie offered.
“Perfect. Kathryn said she’ll swing by later to eyeball everything so she’ll have the right truck.”
“Looks like it could be one of her regular trailers.”
“It does.” Myra put her arm around Annie. “We done good, girl.”
“By the way, Kathryn seemed much more relaxed at Thanksgiving.”
“Yes, she did. More comfortable.” Myra nodded.
“Do you think she’ll end the feud with Pearl?”
“One could hope. I can’t even remember what it was all about.”
“Neither can I,” Annie said in agreement. “But one step at a time. She’s coming out of her self-imposed isolation.”
“If it weren’t for our missions, I really don’t know what kind of interaction she would have with other people. I mean, besides the people she meets at the truck stops.”
“And there’s no guarantee she’ll see the same people more than once or twice a year,” Annie said.
“Ah, but that is probably why she felt comfortable. She didn’t have to interact with them on a regular basis.”
“Good point,” Annie responded. “So, what do you say we grab something for lunch? Let’s see what the boys are up to.”
“Isn’t there some kind of soccer or football something going on this week?” Myra said, and placed her reading glasses in her vest pocket.
“Isn’t there always? It seems like the season never ends,” Annie said, and chuckled. “Come on.” Annie gestured for Myra to get into the passenger side of the golf cart.
Myra took a deep breath, strapped herself in, and prepared herself for her lead-footed friend to hit the accelerator and kick up the gravel. As they sped toward the farmhouse, Myra grabbed the frame of the cart to steady herself. “Glad you got the windshield fixed.”
“And check out the new steering wheel cover.”
Myra looked at the customized leather and chuckled. “You have all the Sisters’ names on it.”
“Yeah. A tribute to our team.”
Annie made a quick turn, throwing Myra off balance. Annie grabbed her by the sleeve.
“We may not have a team if you keep driving like this!” Myra dreaded every time she got into a vehicle with Annie behind the wheel. “Why do you always drive as if you are in some kind of race?”
“For fun?” Annie asked rhetorically.
“Maybe for you, but not for me.” Myra held her breath for the next few minutes until they came to a jolting stop. “I shall never get used to this,” she said as she unbuckled her seat belt and jumped from the cart.
Annie wrapped her arm around Myra’s shoulders. “We weren’t even going over thirty-five miles per hour.”
“Huh. You sure could have fooled me.”
The women entered through the rear kitchen door, where Lady and her pups stood waiting. Annie and Myra stopped to give the dogs pets and smooches on their heads. “Where’s Daddy?” Myra asked. Lady gave a soft woof and led them to the den, where Charles and Fergus were watching a soccer match.
“See? I told you!” Annie exclaimed.
“Hello, love.” Charles stood and kissed his wife. Annie leaned over the sofa where Fergus had situated himself and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“What’s for lunch?” Annie asked.
The two men looked at each other. “We weren’t expecting you back so soon.”
“I take it the answer is ‘nothing yet’?” Annie grumbled.
“Are you hangry?” asked Fergus.
“No, but I will be if you don’t get your fanny into the kitchen and whip something up for us. We’ve been working in the barn for hours,” Annie joked.
“Right-o!” Charles stood and motioned for Fergus to follow. “I think we can cobble a few grilled cheese sandwiches together, eh, mate?”
“Make mine with tomato and bacon, on rye. Please,” Annie said demurely.
“Your wish is my command,” Fergus said with a straight face, following Charles into the kitchen.
Myra and Annie plopped down where the men were sitting, grabbed the remote, and changed it to one of the shopping channels. Annie rested her head on Myra’s shoulder. “Why do we watch this stuff?”
“To see if there is something we have absolutely no need for but buy anyway?” Myra answered. “At least we donate most of it.”
“Very true. We have good intentions.” Annie sat upright as the current items were being hawked by the hosts. “Look. It’s a dancing ballerina inside a bottle of water that lights up.”
“Let’s buy a dozen,” Myra said jokingly.
“Only twelve dollars with six flex-pays. What a bargain,” Annie said, and laughed. “Imagine someone spending seventy-two dollars on that?”
“When I was a little girl, there was a company that made anisette. Inside the bottle was a ballerina sealed inside a glass dome that also housed a music box. I don’t remember the tune, but I enjoyed watching her spin around.
” Myra sighed. “Unless that bottle on the shopping channel contains a delicious digestif, it’s not worth the money. ”
Annie smiled to herself and made a mental note to order one as a gag gift for Myra, but then it occurred to her to check eBay. They might have one exactly like Myra described, probably without the liquor, but they could remedy that.
A few minutes later, the aroma of bacon wafted into the room. “I think we should give them a hand.” Myra elbowed Annie. “Or at least pretend,” she said, and chuckled.