Authors: Nancy Frederick
"Hello?
I have a dozen cars to sell."
6
Instead of letting her shoulder bag swing at her hip as she usually did, Annabeth carried it with the strap twisted around her hand.
The most cash she'd ever had in her wallet at one time was a hundred dollars.
Now she carried nearly four thousand.
How strange the house looked without R.J.'s collection of heaps.
No, it looked better.
There was room for a bigger garden if she wanted.
If only she were able to keep the house instead of having to move out of it.
What would R.J. say when he found out she sold his cars?
There was little doubt there--he'd be livid.
She walked into Hawkins Ford, toward Doug's office, but he wasn't there.
Stepping back into the showroom, she admired the new cars.
She had never had a new car of her own.
Imagine being able to walk right in here and buy one of these shiny new vehicles.
R.J.'s van was only a couple of years old--he had bought it new.
Her car had once been his--the one he drove to work before he started his vending machine business.
Annabeth ran her fingers along the fender of a shiny red Mustang.
Gosh!
It was adorable.
Imagine speeding along the highway in that.
She wouldn't think a thing about visiting Laurel if she had a nice safe car like that to drive.
She glanced at the sticker then sighed, the numbers on it banishing her fantasy.
She walked toward the door, a bit intimidated.
Outside was the lot of used cars.
Surely one of those would be better than her old clunker.
"Hi, there!"
His voice was deep and smooth.
His intonations confident and friendly.
Annabeth turned and looked up into the smiling face of the man who'd just addressed her.
He was the one Doug had been arguing with the day of the party.
He offered her his hand.
"I'm Grady."
"Hello," she said quietly, observing him.
He hadn't changed much from his days as a football star.
He still had that predatory quality, that take-charge self-confidence.
"How can I help you?"
"I was expecting to see Doug."
"He's not here just now.
Let me help you."
He walked over to the Mustang she had just been admiring, opened the door and helped her inside.
"Very comfortable seats," she said, climbing out.
"Did you want to test drive it?"
"Actually I wanted to look at used cars."
Grady nodded his head, looking into her eyes in a way that implied that he knew her although Annabeth was certain he did not remember her at all.
"Let's go outside then, ma'am, um?"
"Annabeth Welner."
"You know, Ms. Welner, you'd look awfully good in that Mustang.
It seems a shame not to at least test drive it."
"I could test drive it.
I just couldn't pay for it.
Let's look outside."
Annabeth was amazed to hear herself speaking so frankly.
Grady led her toward the door, mentioning as they walked, "We offer excellent financing, you know."
They walked through the lot of cars.
There were so many, but some of them were priced relatively cheaply.
Annabeth wondered how she'd choose the right one.
She took a deep breath and tried to get a sense of focus.
"You know, I think I have the perfect car for you. Come on back here."
Annabeth followed Grady to the car he recommended, but before she could climb into it, Doug appeared.
Grady scowled almost imperceptibly as Doug scrutinized him and then looked her and back to Grady.
What was going on between these two men?
There was definitely something below the surface, but she couldn't imagine what.
"I looked for you when I came in," said Annabeth.
Doug watched Annabeth and his brother closely for a reaction then said, "Why don't you let me take over."
"Okay, sure," answered Grady without emotion.
"Thank you for all your help," said Annabeth to Grady.
"No problem."
Doug touched Annabeth's arm as Grady walked off.
"It's nice to see you again," he said smiling, his eyes flashing at her.
"I did something terrible," she laughed.
"Oh?" he asked playfully.
"My husband had a dozen old cars parked at the side of our house.
I sold them all to Sam's Junk Yard.
I'm tired of driving a clunker."
Doug laughed.
"His body's not in one of the trunks, is it?"
"No."
"Then you're not so bad.
Not an amicable divorce?"
"Oh, I don't know.
We just started it.
He canceled my credit card and cleaned out the bank accounts."
Doug shook his head.
"I'm sorry.
Your dad's a lawyer, isn't he?"
"You have such an amazing memory."
Doug looked deeply into her eyes then, as though he were searching for something.
"I'm surprised you didn't want Grady to help you," he said improbably.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because he was your first--uh--boyfriend--uh--in high school."
"What?"
"You did--uh--date him, didn't you?"
"No!
I don't think we ever even had a conversation."
"Are you sure?"
Annabeth grew more perplexed by this line of questioning.
She thought back to high school, remembering a dance and began to speak.
"There was the spring dance.
Where you there?"
Doug watched her intently as she spoke, shaking his head briefly to respond and indicating that she should continue.
"I was standing with Maggie and Janice, and we were talking.
Grady started to walk toward us, to ask Janice to dance.
She was very popular there for a while."
Doug laughed, remembering the time, on a dare, Janice had left off the bottoms of her cheerleader's costume and then revealed quite a bit too much when she made a leap and her skirt twirled up.
"Bottomless cheerleaders usually are."
Noting the intensity of his gaze without making sense of it, Annabeth continued, "Maggie squealed, in a whisper, if you can whisper and squeal at the same time, 'Ooh it's the Hawk!'"
"His football name."
"Yes.
And before he could ask Janice to dance, Maggie grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor."
"Maybe he was coming to ask you to dance."
Annabeth blushed.
"Go on.
Of course not.
I'm sure not."
"That's an interesting story."
Doug's eyes were flashing.
Annabeth was certain she saw anger there but couldn't imagine why.
Not knowing what to say next, she touched the car Grady wanted to sell her and said, "Your brother seems to think this is the car for me."
"He probably doesn't know that you have a trade in and can afford something a little better.
You do want to trade in your old car, right?"
"I figured it wasn't worth anything."
"Sure it is.
Now come over here.
This is the car I want you to have.
It's in perfect condition.
Low miles.
New tires and battery.
You know the little old lady who only drove to church?"
Annabeth laughed.
"She gave up religion and decided to sell this car?"
Then she spotted the price painted neatly on the windshield.
"This is over seven thousand dollars."
"With your car as trade in.
And your ill-gotten gains from fleecing your husband."
"It's red.
I love red."
"Take it for a test spin, why don't you.
Just to be sure you like the way it handles."
She was in love!
She had bought a car!
Annabeth held her hand up to the vent.
Cold!
Perfect air conditioning.
She reached down and turned up the radio.
It sounded great.
And if she wanted to, she could play a cassette.
She looked down at the passenger seat, where all the papers lay.
It was her car and she had papers to prove it!
Her foot pressed down on the gas pedal and the car sped forward, silently obeying her commands.
There was no sound coming from under the hood but the smooth purring of the motor, perfectly doing its job.
Annabeth pulled out onto the local highway, where she could accelerate and enjoy driving her car.
It seemed a shame to go right home.
She drove for a bit, but there was no point in wasting gas driving along aimlessly, so she reversed the car and headed back into Gull's Perch.
Maggie, she thought, and glanced at the clock on the dash, which kept perfect time.
It wasn't much past two.
Maggie would be home, so Annabeth resolved once again to stop by and speak to her friend.
It was a matter of minutes before she was pulling up in Maggie's driveway, stopping the car and walking toward the door.
She glanced back once, thinking, I love that car!
Maggie pulled the door open, her face a mask of disinterest.
"Yes?" she said without emotion.
Annabeth bit her lip, looking deeply into her friend's eyes.
"Maggie, come on, stop this.
Let's talk."
"I'm busy right now."
Annabeth winced.
"Listen to me.
I did nothing to break up those kids.
They aren't even broken up.
They're still together every night.
You know that, don't you?"
Maggie stared silently at her.
"And I surely didn't try to ruin the party.
You can't really believe that.
My God.
You know how much trouble I had with that car.
For months.
In fact I just bought a new one.
Sold all R.J.'s heaps--without him even knowing it."
Maggie looked toward Annabeth's car parked in her driveway and her brow furrowed.
She opened her mouth to speak, but then her grandson's voice came from the kitchen.
"Oops, I need to go now."
And before Annabeth could reply she had shut the door.
Annabeth walked toward her car, the thrill at seeing it dampened only slightly.
What sense did it make for Maggie to be so angry?
She couldn't imagine.
Didn't it seem as though Maggie was just about to laugh when she heard about the sale of R.J.'s junker cars?
Sure it did.
Why was Maggie clinging to this anger?
And was she crazy or did Maggie look resentful when she saw that Annabeth's car was as nice as her own?
She turned the key in the ignition, and realizing that she was holding her breath, Annabeth consciously relaxed.
The motor started.
Of course it did!
She pulled out onto the street and drove the few miles to Old Magnolia Bayou.
Maggie would relent, Annabeth was certain of it.
The car drove smoothly along the curving lane and she pulled up beside her house, spotting Julie's car.
Julie sat waiting on the porch.
"You changed the lock!" she exclaimed.
"Dad told me to."
"I've been stuck here waiting for like twenty minutes.
Whose car were you driving?"
"My car.
Isn't it great?
I got fed up with that old clunker."
"Sure, it's nice.
Ready to help me with the art show?"
Annabeth sat beside her sister on the porch, enjoying the afternoon breeze.
"Sure.
Only I don't know if I can help the day of the show.
I got a job."