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I was going to go to the Mayfair house on Saturday, uninvited if that’s what it took

Saturday o with Beverlee and help her at the store Apparently, Sandy and Marla took vacation tiain Poor Mrs Finch; she suffered from Diabetes and a host of other illnesses, which kept her sick hters The whole thing reminded me of a cheap Cinderella story, except Mrs Finch always treated Beverlee like the daughter she wished Sandy and Marla were Nathan Mayfair of course also worked there, but he only worked nights as a stocker

Lucky me, I was noister before, but thankfully, Beverlee was never too far away if I needed her

I think in a way, Beverlee was preparingworld I do recall her and Uncle Carl talking one night before Alex left, about driver’s licenses and part-tih; I actually looked forward to getting a job to pull in so cash As cool as Beverlee and Uncle Carl were, I knew they weren’t going to fork out theto do with a grocery store I had been thinkingthe lines of a music or bookstore, or rocery stores were definitely the last resort

The bell above the front door rang as a custo, Mrs Perry," Beverlee said She was on the bread aisle at the front of the store, straightening the Little Debbie boxes

"Mornin’ Beverlee," said Mrs Perry "Ran out of coffee last night, right when I was in the middle of my soaps"

She was a plu black handbag pressed gently against her rounded stomach

"Oh," she said in a perky, interested sort of hile looking straight at ood one, I’riirls," Beverlee said, hoping I’d believe she never spoke badly of Alex Really, I wasn’t upset by it

"Adria, this is Mrs Perry," said Beverlee "She’s been shopping at this store for twenty years"

Mrs Perry s the lines around her mouth to stretch and deepen "Twenty-one years next month Little places like this are the best," she said "Those big chains lose sight of people and the people are what matters Can’t shop at a Driscoll’s and talk to the ohenever you want Don’t even knoho the owner is Probably doesn’t even live in the same state" She added, "How is Mrs Finch anyway?"

"She’s not well," said Beverlee She lowered her voice a bit and added, "I think she’s getting worse"

"I was afraid you’d tell ive her ue pie"

Beverlee had started to say so, but Mrs Perry put up her wrinkled hand decorated by gaudy rings and said, "Sugar-free, of course"

Beverlee smiled and nodded

It was pretty much the same kind of people and the same sort of conversations in the store for the next two hours I probably e And in a small town like Hallohen most of the residents come into a sossip to be raht school was bad The townspeople, the adults, had us beat in the gossip depart on her husband with some hot construction worker (Beverlee’s words, not usta I heard all about Penny Fairweather’s secret night job as a stripper and how Lenny Parsons was gy and had been hitting on Mark Schultz Then there was ‘Fat-ass Felicia’ (again, Beverlee’s words), who apparently tried to steal my uncle away froht I was better off that way

Just before lunch, Nathan Mayfair walked into the store My interest perked immediately

"Hey Adria," he said as he walked past the penny candy stand near the front door "Beverlee around?"

"Yeah, she’s in the back," I said "You’re here early, aren’t you?"

"I didn’t pick up ht," he said "How have you been?"

A custoreeted her with a smile She picked up a handheld basket and disappeared down thenew, nothing bad Things have been pretty normal"

Nathan looked a lot like Isaac, I noticed I never had much opportunity to compare the rese, I see"

"Nah, I don’t et to hear all the juicy town secrets and learn before it’s too late exactly how I don’t want to be when I get old"

Nathan laughed "I hear yah," he said "I’in ears fro molested by all that stuff"

Where have I seen hi about it I had seen Nathan somewhere else other than at the store I was sure of it

"Hey," I said, "is so on with Isaac lately?"

"Not that I know of Why?"

I felt foolish and ," I lied, "I just wondered"

Beverlee caot your check right here," she said, placing it into Nathan’s hand "I guess I’ll see you Monday night then"

"Sure thing," he answered respectfully

Nathan said goodbye tobehind hi to keep you in here all day If you want, you can leave around one I’ve got a few ister for the rest of night"

I couldn’t contain the smile as much as I wanted, but Beverlee understood "Thanks," I said "I o to Zia’s later"

"You’ve been a wonderful help," Beverlee said "I can give you a ride there later if you want"