by DK Land
He laughed. “Just teasing, Honey. What’s the problem?”
She went on to explain about Tandy’s date with Ollie, and the fact that Tandy didn’t know anything about fishing. “Do you think that you and I could take Tandy out in your fishing boat this evening and teach her a little about fishing so she doesn’t feel so completely inept when she goes fishing with Ollie? It would really mean a lot to Tandy. And, it would mean a lot to me too.”
“That sounds like it could be fun,” replied Jefferson. “Being out in a boat in the middle of the lake with two beautiful women doesn’t sound like any kind of problem to me.”
“Hey, Boy!” warned Shauni. “This will be for fishing lessons only, ya know. Don’t go getting any goofy ideas.”
“Whoa, Baby!” he replied. “I was only teasing. When do you want to get together?”
“Mabel told Tandy that she could leave early today, so if she and I could come up to your place around five, that should give us enough time to teach her a few things. Shouldn’t it?”
“Well,” he said. “It’s not going to put her in the same league as Ollie. But, something tells me that you’d have to look very long and very hard to find anybody that’s in the same league as Ollie. I’ll tell you what. I’ll go down to the dock and get the fishing boat all cleaned up and ready to go, so when you girls get here, we can get in as much time as possible before dark. Does that sound okay?”
“That sounds perfect, Jeffer,” replied Shauni. “We’ll see you then. Love you.”
“Back at ya, Baby,” he replied with a smile.
Chapter 9
The following morning, Harold was sitting on his usual stool at Mabel’s Coffee Shop. As he put his cup down on the counter, he said, “Well, it’s Saturday. Tomorrow you start working part time, don’t you?”
The diner was completely empty except for the two of them. “Yes, we do,” she replied cheerfully. “Both Tandy and myself are looking forward to the time off. Seven days a week in this place can really get to a person. Here, we live in such beautiful surroundings, and all I see are that grill over there, and this darn coffee pot.”
“When do your summer helpers start?” asked Harold.
She looked at her watch, and replied, “Well, it’s getting close to six-thirty, so all five of them should be rolling in here pretty soon. In fact, I’m a little surprised that Tandy isn’t here already.”
“Is Marti Mitchell your full time cook again this summer?” he asked.
Mabel smiled. “Yes, she is. You know, she has been asking me for the last three summers if she could go full time year round, and if she asks again this summer, I think I’m gonna take her up on it. Marti is a good woman, and Tandy and I have been putting in way too many hours. A person can’t go on like that forever.”
“That’s absolutely right,” answered Harold. “Besides, if you had more time off, maybe we could spend more time together.”
Mabel leaned over on the counter and said, “Well, aren’t you a sweet law enforcement officer? I thought you were supposed to be so mean and tough.”
Harold chuckled. “That’s only when our esteemed mayor is around.”
Just then, the quiet was interrupted by the noisy entrance of four laughing teenage girls, and one tall dark woman about the same age as Mabel.
Mabel said to Harold, “I’m afraid you’ll have to sit there by yourself for a bit while I take care of business.” She then turned to the new arrivals and greeted them. “Good morning, girls. You don’t know how happy I am to see all your smiling faces.”
“Good Morning, Mabel,” they replied.
Mabel continued, “If you all will follow me, we’ll go into the back room and I’ll show you where to put your personal things, and we’ll get started right away with learning the ropes. We’ve only got one new girl this year, so it shouldn’t take too long for everybody to get their feet on the ground.”
Harold chuckled to himself as the sound of a half dozen noisy women receded into the back room.
The cowbell rang and Ollie Torgerson appeared at the door without his usual big smile on his face. Harold greeted him. “Mornin’, Ollie. How are you doing… why are you looking so glum?”
Ollie walked over and sat on the stool next to Harold. “Good Morning, Sheriff. Oh, I guess it’s not all that important if you take into consideration all the terrible things that are taking place in other parts of the world. But, I just had a rather big disappointment in my own little world.”
Genuinely concerned, Harold replied, “Oh, really? Would you mind if I asked what happened?”
“Well,” sighed Ollie. “About three or four days ago, Lester bought…”
Just then, the cowbell rang again as Tandy rushed in. “Oh… Hi, Sheriff Wheaton!” She began to blush as she continued, “Hi, Ollie! Oh, gosh. I’m late! I’m hardly ever late, but I guess I slept right through the alarm clock.”
“Mornin’ Tandy,” said Ollie. “You just look like you’ve been getting your beauty sleep.”
“Oh, Ollie!” Tandy replied, as she continued to blush. “You always say such nice things.”
It was Ollie’s turn to blush, as he said, “Uh… Tandy? I was just telling the Sheriff about some rather disappointing news that I just received. Maybe you might want to hear it too, if you have a minute before you have to start training all those new girls.” He nodded in the direction of the back room, where all the noise was coming from.
Tandy’s smile faded, as she walked over and leaned on the counter directly across from Ollie. With furrowed brows, she said quietly, “Sure, Ollie. What’s the matter?”
Ollie said, “Like I was telling Sheriff Wheaton, just as you were coming in. Three or four days ago, Lester bought that old beat up fourteen-foot aluminum fishing boat with that little bitty five horse motor on it from George Platte. You remember? George got transferred, and he and his wife are moving to Denver.”
Tandy and Harold nodded.
“Well,” continued Ollie. “I thought that it was a little strange, because I had never heard Lester mention anything about going fishing. I mean, if a person buys a fishing boat, you’d think that they would’ve mentioned at least once before they bought it that they liked to go fishing, wouldn’t you?”
Tandy and Harold nodded again.
“If the guy doesn’t like to fish,” asked Ollie, “then why would he buy a fishing boat?” He paused as he looked from Harold to Tandy. Neither seemed to be able to think of an answer to Ollie’s question, so he continued. “Well, as it just so happens, I found out the reason late last night. That darn Lester called me at home and said he was quitting. Just like that! No two-week notice, or anything like that. Boom! Right out of nowhere, he says he’s quitting!”
Tandy replied in amazement, “No! Oh, Ollie! I’m so sorry!”
“That’s too bad, Ollie!” said Harold.
Then Ollie said, “Well, here’s the kicker! Apparently, Lester bought that old boat so he could commute back and forth between here and Vander Island! I guess that Preston Vandervork hired Lester to take old Julius Benson’s place as caretaker. I guess Julius is getting too weak to continue working.”
Tandy raised her eyebrows. “Really?” she said. “Well, it sure doesn’t seem very fair for Preston to hire Lester and not have him give you a two-week notice!”
“I agree,” said Harold. “That just doesn’t sound like something Preston would do. I would have expected him to call you and discuss the situation, or something.”
“Nope!” replied Ollie. “Not a word. But, until I can get somebody to replace Lester, I’m afraid I won’t be going fishing.” He looked at Tandy. “I’m really sorry, Tandy. I know how much you were looking forward to…”
She interrupted as she placed her tiny hand over his. “Oh, Ollie. That’s okay. I understand. Really, I do. I was just so very pleased that you even asked me.” Suddenly, her face lit up as she said, “Say, I’ve got an idea. If you’ve got some really small coveralls that I could wear, I could come o
ver and help you when I’m not working here.”
Ollie smiled, “That wouldn’t be fair, Tandy. Shucks. You work hard when you’re here. It wouldn’t be right to ask you to come over to the station and…”
“Ollie!” she insisted. “You didn’t ask me. I offered. Besides, I think I’d enjoy it.” She looked down a little as she said, “And we could also have a lot of conversations when the station’s not busy.”
Harold smiled and patted Ollie on the back as he turned to reach for the coffeepot that Mabel had left on the lunch counter. “Ollie, I think you’d better accept the young ladies offer.” He winked at Tandy. “As far as I can see, this just might turn into a better deal for both of you then if Lester hadn’t quit.”
Ollie was confused. As he rolled the idea around in his mind, it seemed as if this tiny little blond woman would make it very enjoyable to come to work. He knew that she was a hard worker when the situation called for it, and he knew that she wasn’t afraid of squirmy things, like digging frogs out of a barrel to sell them to fishermen. However, he had a sudden awareness of not wanting to put her in any sort of harm’s way. Working in a service station could be dangerous at times.
“All right,” he announced. “I’ll make you a deal. If you want to work for me at the station, you’re welcome to. But, you have to agree to follow some rules first.”
Tandy grinned and pretended to salute. “Yes, sir, Boss! You just tell me what the rules are and I’ll follow them.”
“First, the only thing I want you to do is to sell oil, and bait, and pump gas,” he replied sternly. Then he smiled, “Well, okay. You can sell those candy bars and peanuts and stuff that’s in the display counter too. But… now listen to me, Tandy. I don’t want you to be messin’ around out in the service bay.”
She continued to salute as she said in mock seriousness, “Yes, Sir! Ah, I mean, no Sir!”
“Tandy!” he pleaded. “Things can get dangerous out there, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Okay? If someone needs a tire fixed, or an oil change, or a tune-up, I don’t want you to…”
She put her hand down and said, “But, how’s that going to help you, if you don’t let me do those things?” She tried to stand as tall as she possibly could and said with conviction, “I may be a girl, but I’m a tough girl.”
Ollie couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay! Do you know how to fix a flat tire?”
Tandy smiled. “No!”
“Do you know how to do an oil change?”
“No!”
“Do you know how to tune up an engine, or how to operate a hoist, or replace a muffler, or change a fan belt, or repair disc brakes?”
Still smiling, she replied, “No, no, no, no, and no! But, you can teach me!”
Both men laughed, as Ollie turned to Harold and said, “This is the strangest interview I’ve ever conducted.”
As he continued to laugh, Harold replied, “I think it’s about the strangest conversation I’ve ever heard.”
Ollie turned back to Tandy. “Okay, Tandy. When things are slow, and I’ve got time to teach you a few things, maybe I’ll let you learn how to fix a flat and a few other things. But,” he added. “It will probably only be through the summer months. I think by this fall I’ll be able to hire a replacement for Lester.”
Tandy pouted. “Oh, really? Do you have anybody in mind?”
“Yes,” he answered with a bit of hesitation. “I do. Do you know Davey Pederson?”
“Davey Pederson?” said Tandy. “Of course I do. He’s just eighteen years old, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is,” said Ollie. “He’s been begging me for a job for months now. He’s been taking auto mechanics all through high school, and he just graduated last night. He said he’s planning on going to some school in Duluth for the summer so he can learn about repairing outboard motors. He’ll be done in the fall, and I think I just might hire him.” Ollie turned to Harold and said, “Heck, with outboard motor repair added to my business, I just might have to add on to the back of the building.”
Harold smiled, “Well, in this town, I think you’d probably have more business than you could handle.”
Ollie grinned as he looked over at Tandy. “That’s probably true. Then, if I had that much business, I’d probably need a bookkeeper. How are you with numbers, Tandy?”
She smiled proudly. “Mabel has always complimented me on my math skills and the fact that our till has never been off by more than a couple dollars.”
Ollie seemed satisfied. “Well, this seems to be working out just fine.”
Then Tandy mentioned, “Say, Ollie? Hasn’t Davey Pederson always been just about a half a bubble off plumb?” She looked at Harold. “Don’t you think that he’s always had some really strange ideas?”
Harold grinned. “Well, from a personal standpoint, I know he’s got some strange ideas about just exactly what the speed limit within the city limits should be. And, on occasion, he’s tried to test me a little on how loud a person can play a car stereo without blowing out the windows of the businesses on Main Street.”
Tandy waived her hand. “Oh, I don’t mean that kind of stuff. That’s not weird. That’s just normal kid stuff. What I’m talking about is some of the weird ideas that boy comes up with sometimes.” She lowered her voice a notch, as she continued, “Did you know that he was in here once, eating a hamburger and fries, when, just out of the blue, he asked me if I’d ever eaten cat before?”
“Cat?” exclaimed Ollie. “You mean, like ‘here kitty kitty’? That kind of cat?” He looked at Harold and said, “That’s gross!” He looked back at Tandy, and asked, “What did you say to him?”
She crossed her arms and said firmly, “I told him, of course I had never eaten cat before! But, I didn’t dare ask him if he had. I was afraid of the answer I’d get.” She became more animated as she continued. “And then, one time, when he and some of his friends were sitting right over there in the front booth, he was telling them about how he was going to take a razor blade and slice the skin between two of his toes. Then he was going to wrap tape around them and see if they would grow together! If it worked, he was going to do it to all of them. He figured it would give him webbed toes and make him able to swim faster.”
Harold and Ollie laughed. Harold asked, “Did he do it?”
Tandy shuddered. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out. But, I’ll tell you this, Ollie. If he comes to work for you, you better make sure that he never shows up barefooted.”
Ollie chuckled. “Okay, Tandy. I’ll make sure that he always has shoes on while he’s working, and I promise that I’ll never keep cats at the station.”
Just then, Mabel came out of the back room laughing. “Hey guys!” She looked at Ollie and said, “Good morning, Ollie! How are you this morning?”
Ollie smiled. “Good morning, Mabel. Well, thanks to these two.” He nodded toward Tandy and Harold. “I’m feeling pretty good now.”
Mabel replied, “That’s great! Both these people seem to have a way of putting a person in a good mood, don’t they?” Then she looked at Tandy, and said with a smile, “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty! Are you up for all day?”
Tandy lowered her eyes and pretended to be embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Mabel. I guess I slept right through the alarm this morning.”
Mabel walked over and put her arm around Tandy and said, “Well, gosh, Honey. It’s not as if you’re the only one here that’s ever overslept.” She looked at Ollie and noticed that he didn’t even have a cup of coffee in front of him. “Say, Missy! Don’t you think our good friend, Mr. Torgerson might have come in here for some breakfast and coffee to go along with the stimulating conversation?”
Tandy was totally embarrassed. “Oh, for heaven’s sake! I am so sorry, Ollie! I should have been getting your pork chop ready. I guess I was so engrossed in the conversation that I forgot all about it.”
“That’s fine, Tandy,” said Ollie. “Today’s the first Saturday of the summer season. I almost never get any
business before ten o’clock, so I’m in no hurry to open my doors anyway.”
As Ollie and Tandy continued their discussion, Harold told Mabel that he should be going back over to his office to finish some paperwork. Mabel walked him to the door, and said, “Harold. Yesterday, Shauni was in here and she and I had a rather long ‘heart to heart’ talk.”
“Oh, really?” he said. “There isn’t something going on that I should know about, is there?”
“Yes,” she replied. “There is something going on. There might be something very serious going on.” Then she lowered her voice. “Harold. Both Shauni and Jefferson suspect that you don’t trust him, but they really need to talk to you.”
“Oh, crap!” said Harold. “I’m sorry, Mabel! I know that I’ve told you about a lot of my suspicions about Jefferson, but I’ve never tried to let them show around him or Shauni.”
“Harold!” exclaimed Mabel. “You have never had a very good poker face. It’s always been very easy to tell when you’ve got something on your mind. I’m sure both of those kids have been able to see how uneasy you are when Jefferson is around. But, listen to me, Harold. Your suspicions about Jefferson are not what they want to talk to you about. The reason those kids want to talk to you is not because you’re Shauni’s dad. They want to talk to you because you’re the Sheriff.”
Harold was surprised. “Because I’m the Sheriff? Well, why don’t they just come and talk to me? Did Shauni tell you what this is all about?”
“No, she didn’t,” Mabel replied. “And I didn’t ask her. She seemed quite nervous about whatever it is, though. I think that Shauni will be calling you to ask if the three of you could meet someplace. When she calls, I think you had better take this seriously, and meet them someplace where there wouldn’t be a chance of anybody else overhearing what’s being said.”
Harold was completely perplexed as he walked across the street to his office. He had absolutely no idea what Shauni and Jefferson would want to discuss with him that would require such secrecy. When Mabel had first broached the subject of his daughter and her future husband wanting to have a private conversation with him, the first thing that came to his mind was his fear that they were going to be moving away after the wedding. But, when she had said they wanted to talk to him in his capacity as Sheriff, he became completely confused.