Jewels in the Juniper - Dale Mayer Page 0,10

gave me over the years, she typed. I wasn’t allowed to keep them. He locked them up in the safe every night. And, of course, I didn’t have access to the safe.

And when you left, you left them behind?

No choice.

But they’re yours?

He gave them to me as gifts, yes.

Wow, Mack added. Not a nice man.

No.

I’ll mention it to my brother.

Okay.

And, with that, she had to leave it.

Her stomach growled. But the last thing she wanted right now was another sandwich. She stared around the kitchen, wondering if she could justify some Chinese takeout. She hadn’t had any in so long. She got up and found the roll of bills Nan had slipped into the bag of veggies just a few days ago and opened it up. Another three hundred dollars in there. “Nan, you’re such a sweetheart.” Doreen could live for a whole month on three hundred dollars. Of course she had more bills coming that had to be paid, and that was a bit of an issue. She checked the fridge and winced at how empty it was, then closed it again.

She sat back down. “Well, if we walked down to the Chinese place to see what was on special,” she said to Mugs and Goliath and even Thaddeus, “we would wear off the calories by the time we got back again.” Likely cold too. And maybe she couldn’t come inside with her animals, but she didn’t give herself a chance to hesitate. She got up and grabbed her wallet, checking how much money she had, including the three hundred dollars, and saw way too much to be carrying around. She took out ten dollars and put it in her pocket, so she wouldn’t spend more, and then put away her wallet.

With all the animals in tow, she headed out the front door, setting the security system, then down her driveway and around the cul-de-sac. She still had a way to go, but it wasn’t too far.

A post office sat in the same little corner, as well as a pizza place and a gas station with a little convenience store attached. Such a beautiful evening to be out for a walk.

As she walked across the road, the traffic had slowed down, and the evening lights had come on. It would be really beautiful on the way back, if darkness ever fell, because the lights on the marina and the boats out in the harbor were visible from here. It was truly breathtaking.

Back on the other side of the crosswalk the four of them carried on for the next two blocks, and she finally turned in to the area where the Chinese food was. She headed toward the corner where the store was tucked into the back, but, as she walked inside, Mr. Fong Wu lifted his head and smiled, until he saw Thaddeus on her shoulder and the rest of her animals and got upset.

“No animals. No animals!”

She glared at him. “I just want to place an order, and then we’ll wait outside.”

He appeared mollified, until he saw the ten-dollar bill in her hand. He rolled his eyes. “Big spender.”

“Not a big spender,” she said, feeling a little defiant, “but it’s what I have. What can I get for ten dollars?”

He looked at her in surprise, his fingers rapping away on the countertop, then snatched a take-out menu, placed it in front of her. He started to circle things. “Combo A, B, or C,” he said. “Or you can have a single dish.”

She nodded and stood here for a long moment. “How about this combination?” she said. “Noodles and lots of vegetables and almond chicken.”

He rang it up. “With tax it’s a little over ten dollars.”

She glared at him. “But it says in the front window that I get a ten percent discount if I pay cash.”

He looked at that, smiled, and said, “I forgot.” Then he changed the order and said, “Now you have enough,” and handed her back a little bit of change.

She smiled and said, “We’ll be outside.” She pulled the animals back outside to a big area with a round concrete table across the way beside a health food store that served shakes and coffees too. She looked at her coins and sighed. “We didn’t bring enough for a coffee.”

Mugs barked at her, obviously smelling something he wanted in the nearby garbage can. She kept him on a shorter leash because other people were around. Goliath, on the other hand, didn’t have that problem. He