by Sharon Dunn
“She is enjoying her first shopping excursion.” Suzanne folded back the sling, revealing a fuzzy black head. “This is the last baby.”
“You say that every time.”
“Yes, but I mean it this time.” Suzanne had pulled her hair up. Wispy brown curls framed her face. Her cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink. She looked pretty, serene. “I’m not getting another license plate.”
Shaking her head, Ginger pulled a dress with a floral print off the rack.
“Remember, you can’t look at the price tag.”
“I know the deal.” Her heart beat a little faster at the thought of holding a dress that had to be priced through the roof. “None of this means I am cheap, you know.”
Suzanne nodded. “Arleta is waiting for you at the checkout.”
Ginger spoke into the walkie-talkie. “I’ve just left the second checkpoint. Over.” Earl offered her more affirmation.
“We’re all behind you.” Tammy chimed in.
Ginger turned back toward Suzanne. “’Course someone who wasn’t cheap wouldn’t need a whole support team just to pay full price for a dress.” Ginger put her hand on her hip. “I am a tightwad, aren’t I?”
“You are the only person I know who uses paper towels twice and washes dental floss.”
“Cheap comes in handy once in a while.”
“I wouldn’t have a zero balance on my credit card if it wasn’t for your cheap skills.” Suzanne twisted side to side. “Now get on up to the checkout counter.”
Ginger lifted the dress, touching the cool fabric. She fanned herself. “I only feel a little dizzy.” She lay a hand over her churning stomach. “I feel like a teenager right before her prom date shows up, excited and a little scared.”
“Go.” Suzanne pressed Ginger’s shoulder and waved her forward.
The distance from the full price rack to the checkout was approximately a million miles. Arleta, with her coat folded over her arms, stood straight as a metal pole at the cashier counter.
Ginger’s pace slowed from a brisk walk to a trudge. This isn’t for Earl. It’s for me. I have something to prove to myself. She was about twenty feet from the checkout. Her feet dragged.
Arleta offered Ginger a reassuring smile. Yup, this was for her. It was about letting go of irrational fear that if she paid full price for something, there wouldn’t be money for food. She was about three feet from the checkout. The saleswoman wasn’t the same pouty girl who had been there before. This one had a soft smile.
Small talk would keep her mind off of what she was doing. “You know what I’ve been thinking?”
“What’s that?” Arleta adjusted the moss green moleskin jacket on her arm. Ginger had helped her pick that out, along with the matching pants.
“I’ve been thinking that if you keep your fist closed too tight, God can’t put the good things in it that He wants to give you. You have to live life with open hands, let Him control the money.”
Arleta turned so she stood shoulder to shoulder with Ginger. “I’ve been thinking about that God fellow quite a bit myself. Even old women can change their habits.”
Ginger smiled at her new friend. She hadn’t even talked about her faith. Who would’ve thought that coupons and half price sales would bring someone closer to the Savior? “You got that right.” She placed the full price dress on the counter. “Arleta, there have always been four of us in the Bargain Hunters Network.”
“Where is the membership application?”
“It’s a little less formal than that.” Ginger raised a warning finger. “But if you see a sale and don’t tell us, we’ll write you up a citation.”
The saleswoman flipped the dress over to find the price tag. Ginger turned sideways so she wouldn’t have to look. The woman scanned the bar code. Ginger winced.
She stared at the ceiling and took several deep breaths. Breathe in. Breathe out.
The saleswoman chirped, “That’ll be eighty—”
Arleta made a shushing noise. Then she waved her hands, crisscrossing them in front of her. “We are not to know the price.”
The woman behind the counter let out a perplexed, “Oh.”
Sweat droplets formed on Ginger’s forehead. She swung around to face the salesclerk. “Eighty what?”
“Ginger, just hand her the credit card.”
Her heart squeezed. “Eighty what?” she squeaked.
Arleta steadied Ginger’s trembling hand with her own. “Stick to the plan. Just hand the lady your credit card.”
In between pulling her credit card from her pocket book and handing it to the saleswoman, Ginger dropped the card twice.
The woman stared at the credit card.
“Is something wrong?”
She waved the card. “It’s just that it’s kind of wet from sweat.”
Ginger peered into her purse. “Maybe I should give you a different one.”
“No!” Four voices, one male and three female, spoke in unison behind her. Her support team had closed in. They knew her too well.
Ginger tilted her head coyly. “Guess I better just use that one.” She giggled. “After all, it’s just money. There are more important things.”
The clerk wiped the card on her sleeve and swiped it. Ginger touched her palm to her chest. Earl’s hand rested on the middle of her back.
The clerk handed the card back, put the eighty-plus-dollar dress into a bag, and pushed the bag across the counter.
“You did it.” Kindra clapped her hands together and bounced three times.
Ginger turned around to face her support team—the BHN, Tammy, and Earl. Arleta squeezed her shoulder.
Earl tilted his hat. “To our life of adventure.”
“To our life of adventure, good friends, and good deals.” Ginger lifted her bag. “And all that God provides.”
Don’t miss the next
Bargain hunters mystery
coming January 2008
About the Author
Sharon Dunn can’t recall ever paying full price for anything. She inherited all her bargain hunting skills from her mom, whose most famous purchase was three grocery bags of cheese because “it was on sale.” Mom froze the cheese. Thawed cheese crumbles and tastes, well…previously frozen. Like Ginger, Sharon had to learn that God was a better financial manager then she was. Giving Him control of the checkbook allows her to operate from a place of gratitude instead of fear. Sharon clips coupons and haunts the clearance racks, where she buys things for her three children and very tall husband. She would love to hear from readers—visit her at www.sharondunnbooks.com. It won’t cost a dime. Such a deal.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products
of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to
actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEATH OF A GARAGE SALE NEWBIE
Published by Multnomah Books
A division of Random House Inc.
© 2007 by Sharon Dunn
Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible, New International Version © 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.
For information:
MULTNOMAH BOOKS
12265 ORACLE BOULEVARD, SUITE 200
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO 80921
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunn, Sharon, 1965-
Death of a garage sale newbie: a novel / Sharon Dunn.
1. Garage sales-Fiction. I. Title. PS3604.U57D43 2007
813′6-dc22
2006031463
eISBN: 978-0-307-56198-5
v3.0