(Catch up on previous installments by clicking the link at the top of the page!)

S. O. Teric’s housed a collection of books on everything from astrology to ghosts to UFOs to traditional healing methods – the usual fare for spirituality stores and new age enthusiasts. But as I wandered down the high rows of books all tucked snugly and untouched in their dusty spaces, I realized this was something more. Cozied in with small-press paperbacks and best-seller hard covers I found the odd leather-bound tome, the occasional unbound, typewritten manuscript. Nora had pulled together a variety of sources on exotic philosophies, ancient civilizations, and extinct belief systems. S. O. Teric’s wasn’t simply a new age store for lonely middle-aged cat ladies and young Goth mind-expansionists who thought the best way to shun the established adult regime was by falling in love with demons and gods. This was a trove of knowledge, collected in her travels around the world. If I sold it or closed it down, her life’s work would be scattered back to the far-flung corners from which she had rescued it. At the very least, I would have to box it up and take it with me, maybe donate it to some historical society somewhere.

The store held an upper level supported by silver-scrolled pillars. I wound my way up the iron circular stair and found myself surrounded by candles. Thankfully, they were all unlit. Sconces sat on display tables, staring at me with the faces of gargoyles and cherubs, cats and jackals and creatures I had no name for. Similar engravings and figurines clustered here and there, flickering in and out of shadow with the movement of a flame in a tall, slender oil lamp. The lamp sat on a table in the center of the floor, the black silk cloth beneath it shimmering faintly. I thought of myself here, surrounded by such images and effigies. I imagined whispers slipping from the book pages, creaks coming from the statues. Goosebumps were inevitable.

I couldn’t stay here, in this place that reminded me so much of Nora and yet also gave me the heebie-jeebies. Even if I toned down the décor, I still didn’t know how to run a business, even a small one with little income and a highly specific clientele. Just how much did I owe my aunt for being a horrible niece? For being her heir? Her blood? Her favorite?

The bell over the front door tinkled happily. I ignored the voices downstairs as I examined a deck of tarot cards on the table. I flipped the top card, revealing the Queen of Pentacles. To be fair and forthcoming, I do actually know how to read a basic tarot spread. I don’t claim the psychic powers that go along with it and I have to look up most of the meanings. Pentacles looked scary to modern Western society, so a lot of decks changed them to coins. Either way, the interpretation involved security and prosperity. Sometimes the “face” cards were interpreted as actual people. In this case, a woman granting prosperity.

I drew a second card, a little weirded out by the first. Death. Contrary to popular belief (and every paranormal-esque movie ever), the Death card doesn’t mean literal death. I suppose it might, once in a blue moon. Its true representation is of an ending that makes way for a beginning. Like the winter that culls the weeds and brush and makes way for spring revitalization. Death…but not without rebirth.

My hand hovered on the deck for a third, final card when the discussion downstairs grew into shouts.

“Get the hell out of my shop, Dark River!” the sales clerk shouted. She followed it up with several choice names and descriptions of the recipient’s mother.

A man answered, but I only heard the deep rumbling of his voice. The darkness seemed to absorb his words.

I stepped over to the railing to peer down from the loft. From there, I could tell the shelves were arranged in a star pattern with a reading table in the middle. That was one thing I shared with my aunt – we both found beauty in the details, even if no one else every saw them.

“Miss Ambray!” A tall man, half-shrouded in shadow, stepped out from under the overhang to raise his hand toward me. “I thought I saw you come in here. I would like a word, if I may?”

Cautiously, I descended the spiral staircase. Who or what made Ivy try to throw a person out?

The man met me at the bottom. He was at least a head taller than me, and, though the lighting stole away the exact facets of his face, he looked to be in his fifties. A black or maybe dark blue suit made him more difficult to make out in the dim interior. “My name is Albert Dark River, Miss Ambray,” he said in his deep voice, extending his hand to me to shake.

I took his hand, felt calluses against my skin. “How do you know who I am?” I asked. Small towns spread gossip, everyone knows that. But the only people who knew my identity were the Terminator cop and Vinny the bad pinball player at the diner. The first I didn’t take for a blabbermouth, and the second had been too busy taking a ribbing when I left.

“It’s my business to know things, Miss Ambray. I work for Majestic Vista Realty.” He handed me a business card that I couldn’t read in the dark.

Ivy appeared suddenly at my elbow. “I told you to get out!” she spat at him.

“Yes, I believe you said of ‘your’ store. But unless I’m mistaken, this store actually belongs to Miss Ambray here, does it not? My business is with her, not her petty employees.”

I didn’t need to see it to know Ivy balled her fists in preparation to unleash a small fury on the man. “He’s the devil, Annika, don’t listen to him. Tell him to get out.”

“What business would that be, Mr. Dark River?” I asked, ignoring her.

“I have a client very interested in purchasing this property,” he said. “Its location is excellent. With the passing of your aunt, for which I am sincerely sorry, I understand its fate is in your hands. A young woman from the city like yourself might not wish to be burdened with such a white elephant as this.” He flicked his hand in the direction of the books. I didn’t need a lot of light to see the distaste written clearly in the pursing of his lips.

“My aunt loved this store,” I said, stalling. “I haven’t yet decided what I’m going to do with it.” I directed the last part more toward Ivy than the man.

“Well, when you do, please give me a call. My client is anxious to begin developing a venue that would better benefit the town.”

I nodded at him, not sure what to say to that. My neck tingled at this oddly fortuitous meeting. My first day in town, having only recently learned of my strange fortune, and I was given an easy out. As much as I might decide I wanted to sell, I hesitated to actually make that decision. Too much spun far out of my control, and I couldn’t make any concrete decisions until my brain stopped whirring.

Mr. Dark River made like he was tipping his hat to me, except he wasn’t wearing one. “Good day, Miss Ambray. I hope to hear from you soon. Ivy.” He didn’t look at her, merely dropped her name like dirty handkerchief as he left.

“Let the door hit you on the way out,” Ivy shouted after him. Under her breath she added, “And crush your spine, ‘cause you don’t have any balls.” To me, she said, “When you sell this place, Annika, do me a favor and don’t sell it to that guy. He’s nuts. And an ass.”

Refraining from mentioning pots and kettles, I simply nodded. The business card felt heavy in my hand.

“I don’t suppose you’re interested in having a cup of tea with me?” Was she getting chummy because she imagined we now had a common enemy, or because she saw an angle she needed to play?

“Sorry, Ivy,” I said, listening to chimes in one window twinkle in the breeze. “I need to get my pizza home.”

“Sure.” I could hear the hurt in her voice. “Maybe next time.”

“Maybe,” I said. Secretly, I didn’t think there would be a next time.

I spent the rest of the day familiarizing myself with Nora’s home and went to bed early. She had two spare bedrooms. I picked the larger of the two, unable to make myself stay in the master bedroom. The queen-sized bed welcomed me like a cloud welcomes a fat baby cherub. I was asleep as soon as my face snuggled against the cool pillow.

 

I overslept. My plan had been to rise early and meet some of the older townspeople. They might be able to advise me in how to go about fixing the broken parts of the town. At the very least, they could tell me which parts were actually broken, and which belonged in the quirky, strange category. Unfortunately, the bedroom sported no alarm clock and I had forgotten to set my phone.

When I rolled out of the bed, my body aching faintly from the previous day’s drive, the sun streamed through the lace curtains with a cheerful glow. I made a face at it, my eyes kept to slits to ward off the light as well as the cheer. Of my possible choices for emotions to begin my day with, today did not include carefree glee.

I showered again to help me wake up, this time making an effort to look more than simply presentable. Makeup, hair, a dark blue sundress. I wanted to make a good impression. Though the swollen blue eyes staring back at me in the mirror denied my high hopes, I at least looked like I made an effort.

Without perishables in the kitchen, I settled for organic oatmeal and water for breakfast. Not the most pleasant way to start my day, but I supposed it could be worse.

I stepped out onto the porch to find a note tucked under the flower knocker. It had my name on it, making me frown. Opening it, I read, frowned, snorted, then tossed it on the front table before closing and locking the door.

If Ivy really wanted to help me, she should have made a better first impression. Maybe we could work up to being allies…eventually. After the irritation had worn off. Besides, I didn’t have time to meet her for a noon lunch; it was already five minutes past.

As I turned to take the stairs two at a time, I accidentally kicked the morning’s paper onto the lawn. Careful as I tread across the grass, I gingerly picked up the heavy roll and shook it open. The Goode County Gazette had served the area for ninety-seven years. It said so right there below the title. I intended only for a quick glance, to discover what this strange backwater found newsworthy.

It was me.

(Click the link at the top of the page to catch up if you’ve missed a week.)

Outside the diner, I contemplated my options. If I was going to revitalize the town, I needed to know its streets and buildings and people. But the box of pizza in my hands was unwieldy and would go bad long before I got back to Nora’s if I set out to see the town now. If I went back to the house first, I might lose daylight. I had a year, but for some reason I felt like I needed to use every moment at my disposal. I blamed it on impatience with Aunt Nora’s silly, unmeasurable stipulation but deep down, I knew there was more to it.

I decided to make the most important stop first then drop the pizza off at the house. That way, no matter how much time I had left, I’d at least have gotten the big item off my list. The only problem was, I had no idea how to get there. I could go back inside the diner and ask Blondie, or approach the cluster of women down the street. Neither made me feel confident and energetic.

I sighed, tucked the box under my arm, and trotted down the sidewalk.

Three women stood outside a short building with big windows. The sign above the door read, “Goldilocks.” Of course it was the beauty parlor; this town didn’t have enough cliches already.

“Excuse me,” I said, doing my best to sound normal. “Could you tell me where—“

“Oh my gosh,” the tallest of the bunch exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she saw my pizza box. She was on the dark side of brunette and thin as a rail. Some spiteful part of me hated her on sight. She could probably eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and not gain an ounce, whereas I expected to be several pounds heavier once my pizza was gone. Her makeup was perfect, her hair an exquisite, glossy fall of soft curls that looked effortless. “Are those boys still playing that stupid game?” she asked. “Why do they do that? The ball just goes up and down. It’s not like it can go anywhere but in the hole.”

“They seriously need girlfriends,” a shorter, thicker woman said. I thought she was a brunette, too, but the mass of curlers and foil in her hair made it hard to be sure.

“What happened to Pam?” the first woman asked.

“Took off at the end of the semester,” a third woman said, her blonde hair tucked under a shower cap. “They really need to try for older girls.”

“Women,” the shorter woman corrected.

“Don’t they have jobs?” I asked, satisfying my curiosity as well as making sure they didn’t forget I was standing there.

“Vinny and Joey do,” the first woman said, peering at the sky as she thought. “They work with dirt and electricity, or something like that. I don’t know about Tony. What does he do all day?” she asked the blonde.

The blonde shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“You dated him, Lori. You have to know something.”

“Correction, I went on dates with him. The only thing I know is that he drives a crappy old SUV and he has a pet ferret.”

“A ferret?” the shorter woman asked, her tone expressing disgust.

Bean Pole mistook the question. “It’s like a weasel. Right?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Yeah. I’ve never seen one, but my dad and brothers used to take me camping up north in the summer with a bunch of friends, so I’ve seen a lot of weasels. They’re funny looking, and they move like they have no bones.”

The other women exchanged glances and started giggling.

“What?” Bean Pole said, confusion on her delicate features. “They do! And they’re greedy. I think ferrets are just hairy weasels.”

“So Tony has a big, hairy weasel, huh?” the short one said, elbowing Lori.

The women burst out laughing. Bean Pole stamped her foot. “You guys! What’s so funny?”

I struggled to keep myself at the fringe of the group instead of walking away. There was no way I was going back in the diner now that my brain contained echoes of Tony’s hairy weasel, but if I didn’t get directions I could be walking all day. Then my poor pizza would be unfit to eat, and I couldn’t let such tragedy take place.

“Can you tell me where the new age shop is?” I asked Bean Pole.

“Sure,” she said, though she didn’t look at me. She was too busy frowning at her companions in consternation. “It’s a block over that way.” She pointed behind herself, away from Nora’s house. “Just go to the end of the street, go left, and it’ll be on the other side of the street. It kind of stands out.”

“Thanks,” I said, and started to back away.

“Be careful,” she said. “The girl who works there is…”

“Weird,” Lori the blonde said.

“Mean,” the shorter woman said.

“…loud,” Bean Pole finished.

I smiled and nodded, assured them I would be careful, and scurried away. Curiosity wanted me to ask why they were doing their gossiping outside of the beauty parlor when it was clear two of them were in the middle of a style. I clamped down on it with a vise of willpower and hurried down the street in search of my aunt’s shop.

S. O. Teric’s was Nora’s pride and joy. She opened it when she was barely out of high school, or so I had been told. Back when bell-bottoms and fringe were in and expanding the mind was a life pursuit instead of an excuse to experiment with drugs…okay, instead of just an excuse to experiment. How it had survived in a little town in the middle of nowhere was anybody’s guess. Considering what I had learned about her bank account, I guessed it probably floated on the income from some secret, unknown source I wasn’t yet privy to. Like blackmailing the leader of a small country, or a really big lottery win nobody in the family had ever bothered to mention.

Bean Pole hadn’t been exaggerating when she said it stood out. It was a small shop on the corner of Aspen and Grove with a vibrant blue front door smack on the corner of the building. The building’s trim was silver and gold, the sort that gleams in the sunlight and is liable to blind a person at the wrong time of day. When I got closer, I saw that the bricks, painted black, were covered in tiny scrolling designs, like a silver henna tattoo. Crystals of different hues hung inside the open windows, dancing in a light breeze. The lack of security surprised me more than the shop; the exterior shouted Aunt Nora did the decorating. My nose started tickling and I found myself swallowing repeatedly to chase away a sudden cough that got stuck in my throat. With a deep breath, bracing myself for what lay inside, I crossed the threshold into S. O. Teric’s.

It smelled like Nora.

That was all I could think before the tears welled in my eyes. Her house held a delightful smell, but it wasn’t what called her up in my memory. This was. This poorly lit, cramped, musty hidey-hole with too many knick-knacks on the shelves and not enough space to move around them; with its buckets of incense sticks and racks of candles and decorative puddles of crystals and rainbows; this was what smelled like Nora. Lavender, sandalwood, old books, dark corners…all the scents combined to paint her in my mind’s eye.

“Can I help you?” asked a sunny voice from behind a tiny counter.

The girl matched the counter. She barely came up to my shoulder. Her floaty clothes both showed off her figure and made her look sweet and innocent.

“Um,” I said, buying time to regain my composure after nearly breaking down from the smell of the place.

“If you’re the new pizza delivery girl, you’re late. You can tell that slacker in front of the oven that I’m not paying for his damn cigarette breaks.” She threw in a few other choice words I wouldn’t be repeating. Ever.

“No, not,” I said, intelligently, taken aback by the words so incongruous with her appearance.

“Oh. Come to have your palm read? Your chart drawn? I don’t do the Chinese stuff yet, but I’m learning. Our Reiki services are no longer available.” She abruptly shut up. Then, as if her speech hadn’t been strange enough, she petted a small golden frog on the counter like it was a beloved friend.

As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I noticed the black sashes tied around columns holding up the second story, the cloths draped over certain lumpy stands. A sign affixed to the front of the register read, “A light in the darkness, an angel beyond us.”

I cleared my throat, unable to tear myself away from that sign and the little golden frog. “My name is Annika,” I managed to say.

Her response was not what I expected.

“Shit,” she said.

My mouth hung open for a moment as I attempted to find a reply to that succinct reaction. “Uhh…” was all I could come up with.

“You’re here to close the store, aren’t you?” She swore up a storm, muttered something about her horoscope, and slammed her fist into the counter. Then she took a deep breath, shook out her hands and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she smiled sweetly at me. “Sorry. I’m on a Zen cleanse. You ever fasted?”

I shook my head.

“It’s a bitch on the blood sugar. But seriously, you’re here to shut us down, right?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

“I loved Nora,” she said, almost as if I hadn’t spoken. “We were a part of each other’s spirit group. She was kind of like my aunt, too. I’m Ivy, by the way.” She waved her small, many-ringed fingers at me.

That rankled a little. Nora was my aunt. My blood. Some remnant of my childhood self insisted she was mine and no one else’s. Except I hadn’t felt that way for a decade. I hadn’t cared enough to call her on major holidays, let alone enough to visit. I didn’t deserve to feel possessive.

I quelled the rancor and forced myself to smile. “She was a good person. I’m glad she had someone close who was like family.”

“She talked about you a lot. How she wished you would follow your light. When she told me she was leaving you the store, I forgot about Mars’ influence and refused to come to work for a week. Wish I hadn’t done that now.” She ran a finger over the golden frog. “I told her you have too much water in your chart to stick around, but she didn’t listen to me. You’re going to sell, whether you know it or not.”

Nora had always preached the importance of an open mind; she lived by the creed, “To each, her own.” She spent time with Wiccans and Neopagans, nudists and Christians, Democrats and Republicans. I couldn’t discount the possibility of my astrological influences suggesting my future, but I would go no further than that. The stars didn’t tell me what to do. I didn’t appreciate having my choices dictated to me, especially not by a stranger the size of a large, surly leprechaun.

“Look,” I said, battening down the hatches on my anger. “You don’t know me. My aunt asked me to come here and see the shop for myself. I’m here.”

So many possibilities flew through my head – choice, savory words that begged to pierce and bite and stab. I couldn’t say any of them. If this girl was as close to my aunt as she claimed, then she, too, was grieving. Maybe more than I was. As much as I wanted to wring her short little neck, she deserved the benefit of the doubt. Plus, she might be my only ally in my new-found, hare-brained quest to save Meadowhaven from extinction.

“Here it is,” she said, gesturing around herself with wide arms. “Look all you want, but you’re going to sell.”

Spite became a flaming snake in my belly, coiling around my stomach as if getting ready to hatch fireballs. I clenched my teeth to keep its exit route blocked and said around them, “I’ll make myself at home, then.”

I could tell a similar serpent possessed my small opponent. Her round cheeks flushed, bright enough to see in the dim light. “Enjoy yourself.” I caught the hiss in her words, but I refrained from striking out at her.

Instead, I smiled and set to the task at hand.

I’ve been told I’m exceedingly good at presenting a cold shoulder. I used it now and left the little clerk in my icy wake.

(Miss part 2?  Click here to go back!  Or click the link at the top of the page to read the story so far.)

Aggie’s words were not a figure of speech.

As I took to the streets on foot – the better to gauge the work before me – I immediately noticed the dilapidated nature of, well, everything.  Unlike Aunt Nora’s lovingly tended abode, the houses on her street and the one beyond were sagging, sad creatures entirely lacking in charm.  Most of them sported gaps in the roofing where shingles had clattered away in storms or beneath the sliding weight of heavy spring snows.  Grass stood yellowed and shriveled, showing pale, dusty dirt beneath.  Paint chips flecked half-empty flowerbeds and many of the trees on the block died long enough ago that even the woodpeckers had vacated their dry husks.

By the time I reached Main Street, my mental list of obvious fixes overflowed.  The town’s housing was just the beginning – Main Street stretched out like a ghost, faded and half-forgotten.  If I squinted, I thought I could almost see through it to the future.  A future wherein Meadowhaven had ceased to exist.  I knew I needed to see the past; to recognize the glory Aggie had mentioned and with which Aunt Nora had so often regaled us.  Try as I might, it eluded me.  All I saw were boarded-up windows, signs with missing letters, and weeds half as tall as I was.

There seemed to be four shops still in business.  One I marked but ignored for the moment, a hairdresser, and two others.  My growling stomach distracted me from paying closer attention; the second building across the street on my left let loose a smell I could only describe as mouth-watering to the point of near-delirium.  But maybe that was my stomach talking.

I crossed the street after looking both ways before I realized I probably would never need that habit here.  Two cars sat hunched on this side of the street, both old enough I doubted they came with seat belts.  A cluster of women stopped their chatting a few doors down to cast interested looks in my direction.  I ignored them.  Gossiping women were the last things I wanted to deal with.  I was confident I looked clean and together, but there would be the telltale redness to the eyes, the bags under them that proved I hadn’t slept recently.

Food and then sleep, I promised myself.  I just hoped at three in the afternoon, the emporium of delicious smells would be as deserted as the road into town.

A sign on the window that needed a serious touch-up told me this was Benny and Cheese, which sounded like a bad rip-off of a kid’s play place.  The moment I set a strappy sandal on the linoleum floor, however, it could have been called “Cheese ‘R Us,” and I wouldn’t have cared.  I found myself enveloped in a puffy cloud of pizza heaven.

My mouth watered.  My stomach churned in demand.  My body took a seat at the diner-style counter without conscious direction.  I didn’t see the duct tape holding my stool together or the sauce stains indelibly scarring the cracking floor, though I think my subconscious did.  I only had eyes for the menu waiting for me and even that I saw only partially.  The cover had something to do with gangsters.  Whatever.  The inside bore the phrase, “Chicago-style pepperoni,” and it erased all other thoughts in my head.

I ordered a large all for myself with a side of Diet Coke from the wiry blonde guy behind the counter.

“Expecting friends?” he asked.

“Nope.  And even if I was, they’d have to get their own.”

He gave me a lazy half-grin and said, “Cool.  Be up in a few.”  He left me with my glass of icy soda pop and disappeared out the swinging door to the side of the counter.

I expected him to hand off the ticket to someone in the kitchen, but he didn’t come back.  Either he was smoking something in the bathroom or the diner ran on an employee base of one.

My fingernails made a delicate tick-tick-tick sound on the counter as I drummed them along its cool surface.  The whole place had a ‘50s thing going on.  The counter bore a hint of stylized chrome, the stools were round and spinny.  Underfoot, the linoleum looked a little newer, more like ‘70’s cheap, making Benny and Cheese decidedly less appealing.  The more I looked, the less I liked.  The booths were an ugly pinky maroon, faded from years in the sun and patched together with duct tape.  The linoleum stains weren’t just pizza sauce; I had a feeling the beige color had once been white and decades of foot traffic had taken its toll.  The place was clean, though, and that was a major plus.  I’d hate to find out the only place to eat in town was a nasty gastrointestinal disaster waiting to happen.

The only other people in the diner – a trio of guys about my age – were clustered around an old pinball machine.  Every now and again, the one playing did something right, lighting up the machine’s backboard and eliciting a sound like a cat’s death knell.

I pursed my lips.  Not exactly the best digesting atmosphere, but anything more than cozy silence wouldn’t have met my standards today.

An undefined amount of time later – the clock on the wall, its neon dead, kept telling me time had stopped at four-thirty – my pizza arrived.  I blinked at it in astonishment, then transferred the expression to the blonde guy.  He gave me that same lazy half-grin.

“I guess I won’t need to buy food for the rest of the week,” I said.  The thing was a monster with a deep dish crust as thick as three of my fingers, at least two cheeses that oozed and gleamed without being rubbery, and a full layer of overlapping pepperoni.  It also had about the same diameter as my car’s tire.  “You didn’t have to go to any special trouble,” I added, rubbing my cheek to hide a quick check for drool.

He gave me a quizzical look that upgraded my opinion from stoner to slacker.  Then he lifted a shoulder and said, “It’s the usual.”

Again, I blinked at the pie and then back at him.  This was usual?  I didn’t want to argue.  It wasn’t like I was disappointed he hadn’t brought me a special pizza to flirt with me; dating wasn’t currently on my menu.  Especially now that I had a town to save in honor of my dead aunt.

The thought sobered me.  I had to bite my tongue to keep the tears out of my eyes.

“Thanks,” I said when I trusted my voice again.

Blondie shrugged again, laid out a plate and silverware, refilled my glass, and went back to making a pyramid out of playing cards.

I dug into the pizza, barely pausing to breathe on the first slice.  It wasn’t to drown my brain in a food coma – at least, that’s what I told myself.  I knew it was a lie, but I let the gullible half of myself believe it.  This was just an incredibly tasty, probably-incredibly-bad-for-me pizza and I was enjoying it after a long, long drive.

I nearly choked on it in surprise when the dying cat suddenly went into heat.  The trio of guys clustered around the pinball machine gave manly shouts in perfect unison, one in despair and two in triumph.  The tall one slapped the player on the back before shoving him out of the way for a turn.  The third just kept laughing.  He tried to talk, but only more laughter came out.

I glanced at Blondie, who just shrugged back.  I lifted my eyebrows at the pizza.  It went on seducing me with its well-rounded pepperoni and impressive carbs, leaving me with no choice but to eat more of it.

The losing player bought a round of beer from Blondie, obviously his punishment for not hitting the buttons fast enough.  I had never been a fan of pinball; with only a pair of paddles at one’s disposal, it was as rigged as a poker game in a strip club.  Plus, the constant clicking and shushing and, in this case, the sounds of feline death, gave me a headache.  Or in the current case, made my headache worse.

“Don’t miss Riverglen Road,” the guy said to me as he gathered the open bottles in his hands.

I forcefully swallowed a too-big bite of heaven and croaked out, “Sorry?”

“On your way out of town.  Whichever way you’re going, it’s got great scenery.”  He was cute in a scrawny, lost puppy sort of way.  That last part was probably just my recent loss adding a sad filter, but he put it to good use with his boy-next-door charm.

“Oh, I’m not leaving.  Not for a while, anyway.”  A year, if I wanted to be a millionaire.  I hadn’t decided yet.  Millions would look good on my sister; there wasn’t a lot that didn’t.  If I failed in my quest, the responsibility would pass to her.  That was about the only part of the legal documents I had retained.

His face seemed made for innocent but pleasant surprise.  I was wary of the innocence, but he seemed like a nice guy.  Besides, if I was going to stick around – and especially if I was going to appease my aunt’s spirit in the Great Beyond (her term, not mine) – I might as well get used to being chatted up by locals.  “Really?  How come?”

I wiped sauce from the corners of my mouth with a too-thin napkin and nodded as I took a swig of Diet Coke.  The combination of flavors, pizza sauce and soda pop, sizzled on my tongue and helped calm my frazzled nerves.  I went over three different ways of saying it before finally just blurting, “My aunt died.  I’m here to take care of her stuff.”  Who needs grief when there are awkward social moments to help get over losing a loved one?

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, and actually sounded most of the way sincere.  “Wait.”  He took a long look at me, and by long I mean head-to-toe.  Somehow when he did it, it wasn’t at all creepy.  “You’re Nora’s niece?  I’m really sorry.  She was an interesting lady.”

I could tell by the way he said “interesting” that what he meant was “crazy.”  I let it slide.  There were lots of times I thought she was crazy, too.  Who else but the half-insane would require such a task as saving a town to earn an inheritance?

“Thanks,” I said.

“I’m Vinny.”  He shook my hand once I managed to drop my napkin in my lap.

“Annika,” I said, shaking back.

He grinned, and I suddenly knew what ‘like a schoolboy’ looked like.  “Nice to meet you, Annika.  The tall guy over there is my brother, Joey, and the jerk who’s still laughing like an idiot is Tony.”  He raised his voice on the last introduction, throwing Tony a disgusted glare to go with it.

Tony took that moment to turn and bellow, “Where’d you go to get those beers, V?”  I didn’t think he could have heard his name over his own laughter, but some people have remarkably good hearing.  Others simply seem attuned to hearing their name regardless of circumstances like dogs when someone says, ‘treat’ or ‘walk’ from three rooms away.  He joined us at the counter without looking at me.  He was too busy giving Vinny a spot-on impression of a Stallone glare.  In fact, the Stallone thing was more than just the glare; he had the same sort of dark good-looks melded with boyish charm.  The kind that usually went with pulled pigtails, maybe, but I found it strangely uplifting.

“Here, ass,” Vinny said, handing off two of the beers.  Then he tipped his head toward me and added, “I didn’t want to be rude.”

“Since when?”  Tony took a swig of the beer.  With a great show of satisfaction, he leaned against the counter and waggled the bottle in Blondie’s direction.

“Keep ‘em coming, J.  On Vinny’s tab.”  He clapped Vinny on the shoulder before he busted up laughing again.

I went on eating my pizza.  Attractiveness aside, I thought I had better start elsewhere in town than with these guys.  I made it a point to avoid involving myself with the immature, loud, or obnoxious.  A trifecta meant a beeline for the hills.  Even – or maybe especially – when wrapped up in a Stallone-like package.

“Sorry,” Vinny said to me under his breath.  He went to join his brother as he was called for another turn.

Tony tipped the beer back again, watching the game with one elbow on the counter.  “New in town, huh?” he asked without looking at me.

I nodded.  It seemed a rhetorical question at this point.  Plus, I had that no involvement thing working for me.

“Want a beer?  He’s buying.”

A glance at the clock on the wall to confirm my suspicions before remembering that, oh yes, it was perpetually four-thirty here.  I don’t drink a lot, generally, and even then not usually before six in the evening.  I’d left my phone at home, but the sun streaming through the scratched window told me it was still well before six.

“No, thanks,” I said before stuffing another bite of pizza in my mouth.

“He’s a good kid.  Funny.”

I had a feeling Tony meant that Vinny made a good mark for jokes, not that he told them well.  I kept on chewing in a ladylike fashion with my mouth closed and no words falling out.

Tony finished off his beer and waved to Blondie for another.  Finally, he looked at me.  This annoyed me more than his lack of eye contact; the directness of his dark-eyed stare went deeper than my clothes, deeper than my skin.  My cheeks flushed in spite of myself.

“Do you swing?”

A bit of cheese went down the wrong pipe.  I spluttered into my Diet Coke and swallowed hard several times to clear the cough.  Tony slapped me on the back to help.  Then he started laughing again, a low, deep sound to match his voice, like the rolling of stormy waves on a black night.

“Sorry?” I coughed, wiping tears from my eyes.  I hesitated, then remembered I hadn’t bothered to put on eye makeup before embarking on my quest for food.  That only made me more self-conscious.  My back felt warm where he’d slapped it; the sensation merged with the heat of embarrassment in my face.  What the hell was wrong with me?

“Dancing,” he clarified with a self-satisfied grin.  “Do you swing dance?  I always forget that last part.”

“I’m sure you do,” I muttered.  I was torn.  Did I admit my ability to Charleston and rock step, leave myself open to getting to know this Stallone-faced jokester, or did I play dumb?  I hadn’t been dancing in a couple years.  I hadn’t been out with members of the opposite sex in…longer than I cared to comment on.

“There’s a club in the city, the Venutian.  We drive up there every Friday if you’re interested.”  He left me his second beer and returned to his cronies.  The space beside me filled up with cold air, chilling the exposed skin of my arms.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the offer, but I knew one thing.  I was way too tired, too sore, and too stained in tears to worry about turns and lifts and flirting.

The three went on playing pinball like nothing else in the world existed but the beers they routinely chugged down.  I finished off my slice and had Blondie box up the rest – a good three-quarters of the monster.  After I paid, I stared at the bottle of beer still sitting next to me, untouched.

Finally, I pushed it toward the waiter-host-chef and said quietly, “Tell him thanks, but it’s not a good day for beer.”  I was sure Tony would disagree, but I didn’t let that stop me. What I wasn’t sure about was why I cared at all about assuaging Tony’s his feelings.

Ignoring my internal question, I gathered up my enormous doggie box and made my exit from Benny and Cheese.