Love Finds a Way by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Author:Wanda E. Brunstetter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781607427469
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-01-09T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

For the next week, Sheila divided her time between Mountain Springs Retirement Center, to see Grandma, and The Older the Better Antique Shop, to help Dwaine. After his ankle had been x-rayed, the doctor determined that it wasn’t broken but he’d sprained it badly. Dwaine would be hobbling around on crutches for a couple of weeks, which would make it difficult to wait on customers, much less stock shelves, clean, or organize things in his shop. Since Sheila felt responsible for the accident, she’d called her boss and asked if she could take her last two weeks of vacation now. Dr. Taylor agreed, saying the woman he’d hired in Sheila’s absence was available to help awhile longer and telling Sheila to enjoy the rest of her time off. Since Sheila couldn’t afford another week or two at a hotel, after speaking with Grandma, she decided to stay in her grandmother’s old house until she felt ready to leave Casper. There was still enough furniture for her to get by, and since the power was on, she figured she could manage okay.

“This is so much fun,” she muttered under her breath as she dumped another load of trash into the wastebasket near Dwaine’s desk. Every day this week when she’d been helping Dwaine, Sheila had continued to search for Grandma’s doll or a receipt. No amount of cleaning or organizing revealed any evidence that the doll had ever been in Dwaine’s store. Dwaine had phoned all the other antique shops in town, but no one had any record of her grandmother’s doll. Sheila felt sure it was hopeless.

“I’d like to meet your grandmother in person and ask a few more questions about the doll,” Dwaine said as he hobbled up to Sheila on his crutches.

“That’s a great idea. Grandma’s been wanting to meet you, and I happen to know she baked a batch of peanut butter cookies yesterday afternoon.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “One of my all-time favorites.”

Sheila smiled at Dwaine’s enthusiasm. He reminded her of a little boy. During the past week, she’d gotten to know him better. His lackadaisical attitude and disorganization bothered her some, but he had a certain charm that captivated her. Not only was Dwaine good looking, but he seemed so kind and compassionate. Several times she’d seen him deal with customers, and always he’d been polite and fair in his business dealings. Even though Sheila knew little about antiques, she could tell by the customers’ reactions how pleased they were with the prices he quoted. “So when do we leave?”

Dwaine’s question halted Sheila’s musings, and she gazed up at him. “Oh, you mean go to Grandma’s place?”

He nodded and grinned at her. “That’s where the peanut butter cookies are, right?”

“Yes. I just didn’t realize you wanted to go there this minute.”

“Business has been slow this morning, so there’s no time like the present.”

Sheila was tempted to say something about Dwaine’s overly casual manner, but she decided it was none of her business how he handled things at his shop.

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