Cinderella in Overalls - By Carol Grace Page 0,3

leaning against the stall across from them and still watching her. She looked down at Jacinda. “But she looked so poor, and she has a baby to feed.”

Jacinda snorted. “That is not her baby. And she wears those old clothes on market day. I see her every week. Harden your soft heart, Catalina. We will make a bargainer out of you yet.”

Catherine nodded. “I just need a little practice.” When she glanced up, the man was standing in front of her holding a half-dozen mangoes in his hands, so close she caught the masculine scent of pine soap.

“How much?” he asked in careful Spanish, and Catherine slanted a desperate look in Jacinda’s direction. She wasn’t ready for another customer yet. And she definitely wasn’t ready for the man in front of her whose broad forehead and wide, generous mouth made her heart skip a beat.

Jacinda took in the situation with a flash of her dark eyes and opened her palm as if she were handing the man over to her. This one is for you, she seemed to say. Don’t blow it this time.

Catherine took a deep breath and looked up into dazzling blue eyes. “Six pesos each,” she said firmly. The sights and the sounds of the market faded except for the beating of Catherine’s heart. Start at six and come down to three, she repeated to herself. But the man didn’t say anything. How could she come down to three if he didn’t speak? He just stood there, holding the mangoes and staring at her until she felt her knees weaken, and she swayed back against a wooden crate.

The man’s eyes widened in alarm, and he dropped the mangoes in an effort to steady her. His friends picked up the fruit and advised him to offer two instead of six.

Just as loudly and just as firmly every one of the vendors in Catherine’s stall began shouting reasons why the mangoes were worth more. They may not have understood the Americans, but they knew how to keep the bargaining alive. There was a glimmer deep in the man’s eyes, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Catherine thought that if he laughed she wouldn’t be able to control herself, and then her career as a vendor would be over. Bargaining was serious business, and she knew she was being tested. Right here and right now.

“Six pesos each,” she repeated over the hubbub.

Suddenly the stall fell silent. He reached into his pocket for a handful of silver and counted the coins one by one as he placed them in her outstretched palms. His fingers were cool, and she felt the current flow from his hand into hers. Then he carefully closed her hand around the money and held it tightly for a long moment.

There was no amusement in his eyes this time. There was something else, something that caught and held her for longer than the transaction required. His companions were incredulous.

“What is it with you, Bentley? The first woman you see and you lose it.”

“Come on, boss. We’ve got to get you the hell out of here and back to the bank before this woman talks you into a crate of potatoes and we have to store them in the vault.”

The women surrounded Catherine to congratulate her. The noise level rose, and when she looked again he was gone. He and his friends had been swallowed up by the crowd. But she had held firm and made a big profit. She had passed the test. She was one of them.

To celebrate, Jacinda took her to the tiny bar-styled cafe late in the afternoon when the shadows fell over the stall and the other women were packing their empty bags and counting the money. The cafe was warmly lighted and inviting with the aroma of strong coffee. Jacinda patted a bar stool and motioned for Catherine to sit next to her.

“It was a good day,” Jacinda remarked as the proprietor set small cups of black coffee in front of them. “Do you know I have worked in the stalls since I was fourteen years old and I have never seen anyone pay full price for anything? It was most amazing.”

“Amazing,” Catherine agreed, wrapping her hands around the cup to feel the warmth. “But I can’t take full credit, amiga mia. The man was North American. Unaccustomed to bargaining. Like me. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take advantage of anyone again.”

Jacinda picked up her cup and stared thoughtfully at