Page 23 of Justice for Samara

Three hours later, everything was in his truck. He tied down the mattress and headed back to Cadiz. He’d stopped on the way to town and gotten a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and some coffee, but it was almost lunchtime, so he picked up a pizza and drove straight to the house. It only took him a couple of minutes to put the pizza on the counter so he could start unloading.

On his last trip back in, a voice called out, “Hey, whatcha doin’, Michael?”

One look told him it was his neighbor, Danny. “Moving in. Not completely, but enough to stay here.”

“Marjorie driving you nuts?” the man asked. Yeah, his mother was a legend around town all right.

“Yep. You got it. But no more. It’s almost done anyway, so I figured I might as well take advantage of it.”

“That’s the spirit! Need some help with that mattress?”

Michael looked at it, then turned back to Danny and smiled. “You know, that would be nice. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Okay. Let me go get Mitzi and… Oh, I’m just messin’ with ya! Come on, I’ll help you.”

“I’d offer you something to drink, but I’ve got nothing right now,” Michael said when they’d gotten the mattress into the bedroom. He’d have to take the sheets to the laundromat to wash them, but that was doable.

“That’s fine. Hey, let me go get you a soft drink. How’s that? Since you don’t have anything here.”

“That’s okay, but thanks a lot. And if I can ever help you with anything, just let me know,” Michael told Danny as the two men shook hands.

“Will do. I’d better get back over there. By now she’s figured out that I’m not in the den and she’s been talking to thin air. That has a tendency to aggravate her, if you know what I mean,” the older man said with a pat on Michael’s shoulder.

“I do! Thanks again.” He waited until Danny had shown himself out before he started opening packages and putting things away. In an hour, he’d hung the shower curtain and liner, stacked up the towels and washcloths, put down a couple of rugs, and stored all the newly-purchased cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink. At some point he’d have to take the blinds down to paint, but for at least the time being, the windows were covered. The drapes could be bought and hung after the painting was finished.

His phone rang and he almost didn’t look at it. He figured it was his mom having a fit about him not going to church. Instead, it was Carter. “Hey there.”

“Did I just see you dragging a mattress into your house?”

Michael started laughing. “You absolutely did!”

“Just couldn’t take Marjorie anymore, could you?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Because I have a Marjorie, but her name is WildaFern,” Carter said with a snort. “Need any more help?”

“Nah. My next-door neighbor helped me get it inside.”

“Good. So what are your plans with Samara tonight?”

“I’m supposed to… Wait. How did you know about that?”

“Lucky guess. I mean, you asked how I felt about employees dating the day we offered her the position, and then Sharla told me Samara was quizzing her about you. So you worked up the courage to ask her out?”

Michael thought he’d heard wrong. “Samara was asking about me?”

“Yep. Sure was.”

“She actually asked me out. Or, I should say, to come over. I’m bringing dinner with me.”

“Sounds promising.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Really, you’d make a cute couple,” Carter said.

“Funny you should say that. When I took her to lunch that first day, the girl at the restaurant thought we were a couple and she said the same thing. So did Samara’s new landlord.”