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cash register.
Believe me, I d rather spend the day with you lovely
ladies.
196 Annie Flannigan
Sugar Anne lifted her head just a little.
But I m afraid there s a damsel in distress who needs me
today.
My pulse perked up. Esther?
That fellow I found on the Internet, remember? He
does metal sculpture and has a studio in a cabin up in the
mountains. I want to drive up and see what he thinks of
the project.
Metal sculpture? What about an engineer? Or a differ-
ent salvage company? Or . . . or what about a preservation-
ist society? I had given up as gracefully as I could on
saving the Trav O Tel or the Buffet. If there was any chance
of keeping some part of my precious heritage intact, I wanted
to make sure it was done right.
He shook his head. I ve looked at every angle.
Which is what this artist needs to do, doesn t he? Why
are you going to him? He should come here and see the sign
for himself.
He won t do it. Says his time is too valuable. But he did
agree to look over some of the old postcards Sugar Anne
found around the office last night. He patted the breast
pocket of his denim jacket. I m hoping to spark his inter-
est.
You? I let go of Sugar Anne and walked toward Ry.
You hope to convince this guy?
I ve been told I can be pretty persuasive. His eyes
sparkled. He cocked his head and rubbed his thumb along
his jaw.
I could feel the blush working like a slow heat rising
from just above my breasts but I did not let it deter me.
You need someone who is already interested, Ry.
L ove and a Bad Hair Day 197
This man is our best bet.
Our best bet? I put my hands on my hips, ready to use
any weapon at my disposal to make him see things my way.
Why, Mr. O Malley, that s the first time you ve alluded to
the idea that you and I are in this together.
Our as in mine and Esther s.
I folded my arms. I d say you two make a nice couple,
but you didn t even have a clue how to turn the old gal on.
Oh . . . my . . . gosh! Sugar Anne leaned on the counter
and gawked at us. You two are flirting with each other!
We re not flirting. We re negotiating, I never took my
eyes completely off Ry.
We re not negotiating. We re through talking about this
entirely.
How can we be through when it s so obvious you have
picked the wrong person for the job? And if he is the right
person and you really want him to care about this project,
you are going about it all wrong.
Jolie s right about that, Daddy. Those postcards are a
nice touch, but none of them really show the sign all that
well.
I know, but what can I do? I left my digital camera back
in Straffer.
I rarely have had moments of clarity of purpose so quick
and intense that I did not dare question or seek outside con-
firmation of them. But this was one. I had a purpose and to
fulfill it, I had to go with Ry today. I have a camera.
Digital?
My father s old Canon. It still has a half a roll of film in
it.
Which would take days to get developed.
198 Annie Flannigan
Get with the times, pal. I was already heading for the
closet where I kept the old camera. The Sunshine Market
has its own one-hour photo now.
A one-hour photo lab? Here in Verbena?
It s not entirely the sticks, you know. They put it in to
capitalize on the Flea Market crowd and it s gone great
guns every since. That is until . . .
Until . . . His jaw set and he scowled at the floor.
Well, they ll probably be glad of the business, then,
Sugar Anne chimed in.
Oh, I almost forgot. Ry reached into the pocket of his
jacket and pulled out a small plastic object. Sugar Anne
found some of these and I thought you might like to have
one as a memento.
I laughed. I haven t seen one of those in years. You re
grandpa used to sell them in the lobby for fifty-nine cents
years and years ago.
Sell? He didn t give them away?
Give? Your grandpa? I shook my head and gave the
cheap souvenir snow globe a vigorous shake. Thank you,
Ry. Now let me pay you back in kind by taking those pic-
tures for you.
Ry rubbed his finger over the bridge of his nose and re-
lented. Okay. Fine. Take some shots, I can wait an hour to
hit the road.
Good. I studied the brightly painted plastic land-
scape under the small dome. That ll give me time for
Emma to get here and me to make arrangements with
Granny Missus.
Emma? Granny Missus?
Emma can run the salon and Granny Missus can watch
L ove and a Bad Hair Day 199
Dylan after school. That way I can go with you to persuade
your Internet metal artist how important this job is.
If Jolie s going, then I m going. Sugar Anne stepped
forward.
Jolie s not going, Ry told his daughter without meeting
my gaze.
But I was going. Come hell or high water I would make
that trip. No waiting for signs. No weighing pros and cons
or worrying over what Granny Missus might say. This was
bigger than all that.
This was my chance to hang on to some tiny portion of
my past, to do for Verbena what no Hadley had ever been
able to do before rescue it from the greed of the O Mal-
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