‘Why are we going here?’ Dalia sounded confused and not too pleased.
Ronaldo already had his seat belt off and his door half open.
‘You said we were going to the pet shop.’
‘We are.’ Mary glanced in her rearview mirror. ‘Ronaldo, don’t you put one foot in the street until I tell you.’
The boy stopped, his foot half in and half out of the car. He looked like a runner ready to take off as soon as the gun fired.
Mary sighed, released her seat belt, reached over to the passenger seat and picked up a folder. She found the paper she wanted, extracted it and opened her door. ‘Stay with me, both of you.’
Ronaldo pushed open the door to the Village Hardware store and the three of them entered. The store appeared to be empty.
‘Mary McGill. I haven’t seen you in here in ages.’ The man seemed to appear out of nowhere, grinning from ear to ear. He looked like a lumberjack in his blue jeans, lace-up tan boots and plaid flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. His head was covered with thick black curls and his deeply muscled forearms with black hair that extended down to the knuckles of his stubby fingers. ‘Hope that sink isn’t blocked again.’
‘No, Todd. The sink is working fine. I hoped you could take this home to Bonnie. It’s a receipt for the donation the Pure Breed Dog Club made to the Christmas Can Tree. They’ll need it for their taxes.’
Todd Blankenship glanced at it but made no move to take it. ‘I don’t suppose you’d consider driving this out to Bonnie.’ He looked at Mary forlornly. ‘Bonnie needs some company right about now, some cheering up. She’s taking Cliff’s death pretty hard.’
‘Oh.’ She didn’t know what to say. Stopping at Bonnie’s wasn’t on her schedule, but she’d wondered if she was all right. Cliff had been Bonnie’s vet and friend for many years. ‘I have to go to Evan’s then drop the children off at the winery – I can stop by your place on the way back.’ She glanced at her watch and tried not to let Todd see her reluctance. She’d planned on going home early, taking off her shoes and doing nothing harder for dinner than heating up the chicken and rice soup she took out of the freezer this morning. But if she could help Bonnie … ‘She’s taking it hard?’
‘Very hard.’ Todd didn’t look too happy. He shook his head in bewilderment. ‘How could anyone do such a thing?’
‘I don’t know.’ Mary tucked the paper back in her carryall and looked around for the children. They were by a large bin filled with sale items and were intently examining something that looked like barbeque tools. ‘What are you two doing?’
‘Looking for a Christmas present for Tony. We want to get him something with our own money. Mom too.’ Ronaldo returned his attention to the bin.
‘Do you think Tony would like this? He loves doing barbeques.’ Dalia held up a barbeque apron embossed with a chef’s hat, a whiskey bottle and a saying Mary didn’t think appropriate for a gift given by two small children.
‘It has a broken apron string.’ She removed the apron from Dalia’s hand.
‘It’s only two dollars.’
‘It’s still overpriced.’
Ronaldo dug a long-handled spatula out of the jumble of things in the bin. ‘I’ll bet he’d like this. Where’s the fork thing?’
Todd removed the spatula from Ronaldo’s hand. ‘It’s gone. I’ve priced these things so low because parts are missing or the packages are torn, or something. I’m not sure this is where you want to shop for a Christmas present.’
Dalia looked at him then down at his boots. A slight frown passed over her face. ‘We only have five dollars and we don’t want to get any money from Mom if we can help it.’ She turned back to the bin, moved stuff around and came up with a package of barbeque skewers, long, thin ones with heavy wooden handles. ‘Look! These are nicer than the ones Mom and Tony have and they’re only three dollars.’ She held the package aloft, grinning.
‘Oh. That package is torn and one’s missing.’ Todd reached for it but Dalia clutched it to her chest.
‘Mom can find a box.’
‘Aunt Mary will find one.’ There was no doubt in Ronaldo’s voice. ‘We’ll give it to both of them.’
‘Would you?’ Dalia’s expression was hopeful as she looked at Mary. ‘They’re only three dollars. We can get something for the baby with what’s left.’
‘Of course I will.’ Mary’s thoughts whirled. How was she going to wrap those wicked-looking things? The ends were sharp. They’d go through any wrapping paper … The long, awkward box under her bed. She’d been certain it would come in handy someday. She examined the skewers. Five of them. Should be six but Tony and Luanne wouldn’t mind. That was more than enough for their family and the baby wouldn’t be eating barbeque food for some time. ‘Ring them up, Todd.’
Todd looked at Mary then down at the children, reluctance evident in his furrowed brow and his tight shoulders. ‘That’s mighty thoughtful of you kids, but are you sure? Someone destroyed the package and there are only five skewers.’ His voice trailed away as the children said nothing but showed no signs of replacing their prize in the sale bin.
Mary glanced at her watch. ‘They’ll do fine. Ring them up, Todd. Dalia, where’s your money?’
Distress passed over the little girl’s face. ‘My wallet’s in my backpack in the car.’
‘I’ll go.’ Ronaldo beamed at Mary. ‘The car’s right outside. Can I?’
Mary’s car was parked outside the store window in plain sight. Nothing could possibly happen to the boy with her eye firmly glued on him. Had she locked it? No. She never did, not in this town. She nodded and he was off.
‘We’re going to the pet shop next. They have the cutest puppies.’
Ronaldo was half in and half out of the car and Mary gave Dalia’s statement only half her attention.
‘You like puppies?’
Mary turned quickly away from the window.
Dalia nodded. ‘We found one, Ronaldo and me. We’re trying to get Mom and Tony to let us keep him.’
Todd’s next question was sharp with surprise. ‘Where?’
Mary quickly intervened. ‘Over by the church. They found it over by St Theresa’s. A stray, I guess.’
‘Where is it now? Is it OK?’
Another dog person. Mary wondered if he’d act this concerned if the kids had found a newborn baby. That wasn’t fair. There were more stray dogs than lost babies, and it was a good thing people cared about them. ‘It’s at the Benningtons’ clinic.’
That wasn’t enough for Dalia. ‘Doctor Bennington’s going to keep him until he’s bigger and learns to – you know – go to the bathroom outside. He’s real cute. He’s got one white foot and white down his front and all his toenails are white and his ears are curly. He looks like the puppies over at the pet shop. You can go look at them, if you want, and you’ll know just what Sampson looks like.’
Todd might be a dog person, but he didn’t seem to have any interest in Evan’s puppies. He opened his mouth ready to ask another question, but Ronaldo burst in the door, panting slightly but proudly waving Dalia’s wallet over his head. ‘Got it.’
Dalia handed Todd a five-dollar bill. He rang up the sale, gave Ronaldo the package and Dalia the change. She gravely counted it and put it in her wallet.
Mary hid her smile. ‘We’ve got to get going if we’re going to meet your mom at the winery.’
The children beamed as they carried their treasure out to the car. Mary put the skewers in the trunk and took both their hands, and they walked across the street to Furry Friends pet shop. She glanced back. Todd Blankenship watched them from the door of his shop. Mary waved. He waved back, turned and walked back into the store.