Death of a Garage Sale Newbie Read Online Free PDF

garage just to be on the safe side.
    He gave one final glance to the forest. With the basket in one hand, the box tucked under the other arm, and Phoebe trailing behind him, Earl ambled toward the house. He shifted the load in his arms so he could reach the door handle. The screen door creaked as it swung open.
    Leaning against the door frame with the box and basket growing heavy, he waited for Phoebe to saunter inside. “Take your sweet time.” The cat lifted her furry chin to him and continued at the same leisurely pace, waving her question mark tail side to side.
    He stepped into the kitchen, and the screen door slammed behind him. After checking the refrigerator for a potential late-night dinner and deciding on a sandwich, his gaze wandered to the phone on the wall.
    The answering machine showed the number two. Hadn’t Ginger said something about phone messages?

Kindra Hall awoke with a start , jerking sideways. The heavy book that had been on her chest fell to the carpet with a muffled crash. She sat up, blinking in near darkness. Where was she?
    As the fog of sleep drifted off her brain, the rough texture of Mary Margret’s couch oriented her while her eyes adjusted to the blackness. The sequence of the evening came back to her in pieces. When Mary Margret hadn’t shown up at four-thirty, Kindra had gotten a sub for work and gathered her study materials, including her monster size lit book, out of her car.
    Kindra took in a deep breath and tried to remember where the nearest light switch was. She’d been dreaming about a department store sale where the BHN was allowed in before anybody else. But the dream wasn’t what had awakened her. Had there been a noise?
    She grappled to make the transition from confusion to coherence, sorting through which sensory information was real and which was a product of her dreams. The dream had been wonderful. She, Ginger, Suzanne, and Mary Margret had checked the price tags and pulled clothes off the rack without being pushed and bumped.
    Kindra swung her feet to the floor, leaned over, and felt around the carpet for her lit book. She tossed the colossal textbook back on the couch. Summer school was a drag—less time and money for shopping and less time to hang out with the BHN—but it was the only way she would be able to finish when she was twenty-two.
    It would take her three more pathetic years. Over and over, her parents reminded her of what a failure she was because her older brothers had finished undergrad work at sixteen. She came from a long line of scientists whose idea of a good time was to recite the periodic table. Achieve, achieve, achieve! Everything was a competition in her family, and she always felt like the loser.
    Being with the BHN made all the pressure from Mom and Dad bearable. Ginger and the other ladies hugged her a lot and made her laugh. Her own family certainly wasn’t big on hugs. In high school, though she had joined the squad to spite her parents, some of the other cheerleaders were her substitute family.
    She rested her forehead against her palm, curling and uncurling her toes. At one point in her dream, Mary Margret had shaken her shoulder, holding a blouse in the other hand, and said, “Look at this. Such a deal.” Or had she really been here and tried to wake her?
    The worry she had felt when Mary Margret hadn’t shown up at four-thirty returned tenfold. Ginger had been right. Mary wouldn’t stay away this long without calling. Unless she couldn’t call.
    Rain pitter-pattered on the roof as she stumbled toward the kitchen, where she remembered seeing a light switch. Once the living room and kitchen were illuminated, Kindra felt like she had finally arrived in the land of the living.
    Textbooks, notebooks, and highlighters cluttered the coffee table. Her box of garage sale goodies was on the easy chair. Kindra mostly bought designer clothes, paperbacks, and Beanie Babies. Ginger was the real pro when it came to garage saling. She had