Chapter Thirty-Nine
Marshall
We stayed up so late that I was still tired when I awoke the next morning. Reluctantly, I turned over, feeling a stiffness in my joints and bones, to find Lori curled up beside me resting her head on her hands with her eyes half-open. White light fell through the window blinds and pooled onto the carpet.
“Hey, you,” she said softly. “How did you sleep last night?”
“I could go for a few more hours.” I rose slowly and reached for my blue jeans. “But my mom would never forgive me if I stayed in bed any later than mid-morning.”
Lori reached out a hand and stroked my arm. “She’d never know.”
“She would know. Anyway, did your sister come home at all last night?”
She shook her head. “No, Sam usually stays over at Jamal’s these days. I asked her why they don’t just move in together, but she just glared at me in annoyance. I think she’s also afraid of what our mom might say. It’s weird: Sam is sex-positive in so many ways but not in this.”
I rose and began looking for my boots, which I found near the foot of the bed. “Well, anyway, we need to run by the store and tell her the news. How do you think she’ll react when she finds out we bought the place?”
“Overjoyed, most likely. She’s been hoping something like this would happen.”
“And you weren’t?”
Lori looked hurt by the suggestion. “I told her it was wrong to expect such things and that wasn’t the reason I was dating you. I don’t know if she listened.”
“Probably not, but that’s okay. There’s a reason I’m dating you and not her.”
“You mean besides the fact that she was already spoken for?”
I nodded. “I mean, yeah. You were both cute, but I found you way more endearing. I remember the first time I ever walked into the store and saw you standing behind the counter with your hair in a crown braid. I think you were talking about your favorite French films or something, and you were so passionate and animated. I loved your enthusiasm. I would’ve picked you over her every time.”
“It’s nice to know that you wouldn’t have dated my sister,” said Lori, a little sarcastically. “I’d love to say the same, but I guess I won’t know until I’ve met your four brothers.”
“I’m the only one worth going out with, trust me.”
“I suppose I’ll just have to take your word for it.”
We drove to the store together. Although summer was fast approaching, a cold front had blown in the night before, and the wind was cool on our hands and faces. When we reached the strip center, we found several movers loading sound equipment into a white van. Pastor Gustman walked among them looking unhappy.
Inside the store, several regulars were seated at the counter watching the movers through the window.
“I had a feeling that wasn’t going to last long,” said Cheryl darkly. “Last Thursday I had a dream in which a hurricane swept through the plaza, and a flood carried Gustman away. When I awoke, I said to Myrtle, ‘He’ll be out of there by the end of the week.’”
“It’s too bad,” said Alvin sadly. “We were just about to have our first meeting.”
“I’m sure he’ll find another location,” said Sam, passing a plate of pecan pie across the counter. “I wonder what compelled him to leave, anyway.”
Marshall and I stared quietly at each other for a moment. “Yeah,” I said slowly. “About that…”
Sam listened with a look of growing disbelief as Marshall explained about the purchase he had made the night before.
“So you actually bought the entire strip center,” she said flatly.
He nodded. “It wasn’t difficult once I had a few million in savings. Now that I’m the manager of this place, you won’t ever have to worry about paying rent again. If you want to turn the strip into a giant bakery, you can. If you want to branch out and put a grocery store next door, you can do that, too. I understand it used to be a grocery store, anyway, before Gustman moved in.”
Sam turned to Lori and mouthed a few words soundlessly. “This can’t be real. Maybe I’ve died, and this is all a hallucination I’m having in my last seconds of consciousness.”
“No, it’s very real,” said Lori. “Remember on Sunday night when you got drunk and said you hoped he would sink a few million into the bakery? Well, now you got your wish.”
Sam blanched, as if not wanting to be reminded what she had said on Sunday night. “You know I was kidding, right?”
“Sure, Sam,” Lori laughed.
“I need a minute,” said Sam. Coming around from behind the counter, she sat down on a stool beside Cheryl, who offered her a bite of her pie.
“No, thanks.” She reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a cigarette, which she fingered with trembling hands. “You know, as bad as things are in the world right now, I really didn’t think something like this could ever happen to us.”
“Well, the world isn’t all misery,” Lori reminded her. “I hope you’ll remember that in the future whenever you’re tempted to complain about your sad life.”
“No, I won’t forget it now,” said Sam. She turned to me, looking shy and embarrassed. “Is there any way to repay you? Would you like my firstborn? I can give him to you.”
I laughed and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. “I didn’t buy this place with any expectation of reward. I just hope you and Lori will continue to bless the community with your baking for a long time to come.” With a tip of my hat, I added, “And now if you’ll excuse me, girls, I need to be getting over to the library.”
Sam’s face went white. “Are you buying that, too?”
I left them standing together talking and walked back out into the cool parking lot. Pastor Gustman stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets, watching the movers load a piano into the back of the van. I gave him a curt nod as I climbed into my car. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but I could’ve sworn he winked at me.
As I was pulling out of the parking lot, Sean passed me in a tractor going about thirty miles per hour. Seeing me waiting there, he flashed his middle finger joyfully and yelled out a few words that would have horrified Gustman if he had heard them. I honked loudly in response, and together we raced down the street toward the library.