"Mindy, in the spirit of Christmas, I'm willing to go down to this price, but you're hurting me. A girl needs to make at least alittleprofit to keep the lights on. I really can't go any further."
Mindy grinned at me. "Oh honey, this has been the most fun I've had all week. Ilovebargaining. But I can't give my mother-in-law a present that only costs that much, so let's add two hundred to the price, and I'll take it."
I blinked. I had never had a customer bargain meupon price before.
"I can't do that. It's not fair to you, after you had me down to—"
But Mindy was already rummaging in her giant purse for her wallet. She shook her head and gave me a stern look. "Oh, no you don't. Every year, there's an unspoken competition between all the daughters-in-law to see who spent the most on Alva. My sister-in-law, the surgeon—and I think she has that tattooed on her butt, that she's a surgeon—has won for the past three years. But there is no way she would spend this much money on a present for our mother-in-law. I'm totally going to win this year. Then I get bragging rights for twelve entire months until next year, when it all starts up again."
She held out her credit card with a triumphant look on her face, and I didn't see how I could refuse. After all, I was helping her win a competition and get bragging rights.
I rang up the sale, patted the clock on the top of its case and told it goodbye, wrapped it carefully in a Dead End Pawn T-shirt I threw in as a bonus, and handed it over.
"Please come back anytime," I told them, smiling. "Especially when you don't feel you have to pay extra, and we can get down to somerealbargaining."
The twins grinned at me. Shelley handed them each a candy cane, and they were on their way.
I looked at Eleanor and shrugged. "I'm not really sure how to act. We only have ordinary merchandise right now. No compliment clock and no kleptomaniac Christmas tree. It's like … it's like we're a normal store or something."
Eleanor stared at me for a moment, and then she got the giggles. "Ordinary? Here?"
That made Shelley crack up. I tried to resist but couldn't help myself—everybody knows giggles are contagious. We were bent over laughing like loons when the next customer came up to the counter.
The elderly gentleman gave all three of us disapproving glares and waited until we stuffed our hilarity under control. "I know it's the holidays, young lady, but I think it was a little early to get into the Christmas rum."
I opened my mouth to apologize, but all that came out was a howl of laughter. Eleanor started laughing again too, and Shelley bit her lip to keep from joining in this time. She glanced at us—the two adults who were acting so silly—and must have decided she had to save the day.
She grabbed the mug and held it out to the man. "Candy cane?"
By the time he'd unwrapped his candy, Eleanor and I had the giggles under control again.
I arranged my face in my most professional expression. "I'm sorry about that, sir. It's just been a crazy week. How can I help you?"
"I wanted to talk to you about that stuffed rabbit," he began, pointing at my wall of taxidermy. "I know this is going to sound ridiculous. I must be hallucinating, but I'm almost certain I saw the rabbit bite the foot of the stuffed raccoon on the shelf next to it."
Okay. Not anentirelynormal store.
By the time I'd explained to the man about the enchanted rabbit—shockingly, he purchased it anyway—we were all starving. But the customers kept streaming into the store. Great for the bottom line, but not so great for my empty stomach.
"Hey, Shelley. Will you run in the back and call Jack? See if he can bring some sandwiches or pizza for the three of us? Maybe some sodas?"
"And dessert!" Shelley said, grinning from ear to ear. "Lots and lots of dessert"
She skipped off into the back.
"That girl is just a delight," Eleanor said. "She's healing more and more from the loss of her mom every day. You did a wonderful thing taking her in, you and Ruby and Mike."
"I can say honestly that she's been a blessing to us. We all love her."
After that, Eleanor helped a customer with jewelry while I rang up sales. When we had a temporary lull, she leaned back against the counter and gave me a hesitant look. "I don't mean to be nosy—"
"Unlike every single other person in Dead End?"
She laughed. "True enough. But it's just with that woman talking about her mother-in-law. I realized I've never heard the story of what happened to Jack's parents. Do you know?"
I blinked, feeling like I'd suddenly swallowed a rock. Ididn'tknow. And, even stranger, I realized I'd never once thought about it in the year since Jack had been back.
Great. So now I had to talk to Jack about Quinn,andI had to ask about his parents.
