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By mid-morning, Brody had read as much as he could take of Travis McGee. No other customers had stopped into the store, real or threatening. His boredom had reached the maximum threshold, yet he was a man who knew how to deal with that part of life. Prison had taught him that skill. Luckily, he did not need to deal with it here.
He wrote a note and taped it to the window. Back in twenty minutes. Then he locked up the store.
The Pleasant Peasant wasn’t a typical grocery store found in most metropolitan cities. At most, the business was a third of that size. It didn’t need to be much bigger than that to support Pleasant Valley. Even with the surge in the tourist season, it seemed as if the store was a bit big.
Nauseatingly cheerful Muzak played in the store, and bright fluorescent lights shone down to the shimmering tile floor. A couple of checkers stood behind their counters, helping customers.
Brody walked up to a young man with impeccably combed hair. A name tag clipped to his green apron read Aaron. When the checker finished ringing out his customer, he turned to Brody.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“Is Daphne available?”
“May I ask who you are?”
“I’m the guy asking for Daphne.”
Aaron carefully appraised him, which caused Brody to scowl. He was quickly annoyed by the man’s disapproving judgment.
The cashier stepped back and picked up a microphone that rested near the register. He depressed a red button, which resulted in an irritating squawk over the store’s intercom system.
“Daphne,” Aaron said, announcing her name throughout The Pleasant Peasant. “A man who won’t identify himself is at the front counter and would like to talk with you.”
Several patrons and the other cashier looked in his direction. A woman stepped into Aaron’s line and watched the interaction between the two men with great curiosity. Brody’s annoyance with the checker immediately turned to dislike.
“Was that necessary?” Brody asked.
“I think so since you won’t tell me who you are.”
“What business is it of yours?”
Aaron again depressed the microphone button and caused another screech through the store’s intercom. “He still won’t tell me who he is, Daphne.”
Brody glanced at the patrons in the store. More customers were stepping out of the aisles to witness their interaction. It seemed that everyone was staring at him now.
“What is your problem?”
“Tell me your name, sir.”
“No.”
Aaron held up the microphone with his thumb over the red button. It was meant clearly as a threat.
Brody couldn’t believe it. A grocery store clerk was harassing him. As the bookkeeper for the Satan’s Dawgs, he would have made the register jockey eat the microphone by now. But as the owner of The Red Herring, he needed to on his best behavior. This was for many reasons, not the least of which was hurrying down the middle aisle now.
Daphne Winterbourne called out, “Aaron! Leave him alone.”
“He won’t tell me his name.”
“He’s the new owner of The Red Herring.”
Aaron lowered the microphone, his eyes full of distrust. “Why didn’t you say so?”
When Daphne was near Brody, she smiled up at him. “Mr. Steele, what brings you to The Pleasant Peasant?”
“You do, Ms. Winterbourne.”
“I do?”
Aaron leaned toward them as did the older woman who was still waiting for her groceries to be totaled.
Brody lightly touched Daphne’s elbow and guided her to a quieter place. He saw the disappointment on both the faces of the checker and the aged customer.
“I came to ask you out... on a date,” Brody slightly stammered.
“A date?” she muttered as she pushed her round glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
“Yes. Would you go to dinner with me?”
Daphne stepped back from him. “I barely know you, Mr. Steele.”
“That’s why we should have dinner together.”
She carefully studied him as her eyes slanted with suspicion. “I don’t know about this.”
“What’s not to know?”
“I’m still not sure about you and the bookstore.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Alice Walker and I were friends. She wouldn’t just leave town without saying goodbye. Then you show up, saying you own her store.”
“Then let’s go to dinner, and you can tell me about Alice. Maybe we can track her down together.”
“But you bought her business. You should be able to get that information from whoever helped you.”
Brody nodded. “I will try. As soon as I leave here, I’ll work on tracking her down.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Well, thank you, Mr. Steele.”
“You’re welcome, Ms. Winterbourne. About dinner? We can go anywhere. If you like, we can go out of town.”
“Why would we do that? Pleasant Valley has everything I would ever want.”
Brody blinked several times, not knowing quite how to respond to that statement.
Daphne studied him for several seconds. Finally, she said, “Mr. Steele, if you want to take me out to dinner, you can take me to the new Italian restaurant.”
“Il Cuoco Irato?”
“Then, you’ve seen it?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you like Italian?”
Except for when it’s a bodybuilder that walks into my store. “It’s new?”
“A few months, maybe a little more. Everyone is talking about it, but I haven’t been there yet. I’ve been waiting for something special.”
“And this will be special?”
Daphne’s smile was bright. “Won’t it be?”
“I hope so.” He grinned.
“Then I will meet you there at seven.”
“Meet me? Can’t we walk there together,” Brody said. “Or do you live far?”
“Oh, no, I live in town, but walking together seems too forward for a first date. Don’t you think? No, I’ll meet you there.”
Brody almost laughed. Walking together would be too forward for a first date. Daphne Winterbourne was like a woman from another planet. She was different from any woman he’d ever met.
“Fine,” Brody said. “Seven, it is.”
“See you then.” She turned and headed toward the back of the store. Brody kept waiting for her to turn around and see him watching. When she didn’t, he was slightly disappointed.
He noticed Aaron watching him, though. A malevolent grin grew on the cashier’s face.
“I’ll make sure to let her know you stayed until she made it to the back.”
Brody pointed at the clerk and thought about saying something threatening. Instead, he waved it off in frustration. He didn’t need the entire store knowing about it.