The Queen of Sleepy Eye Read Online Free PDF

finish. This is the original paint, you know.”
    â€œOf course, Francie. That’s no problem. I have the other service bay.”
    Mom’s body softened beside me. “Thank you, Tommy.”
    I climbed into Tommy’s truck, pressed against the door beside Mom, holding the velvet box with the tiara inside. Driving down the full length of Cordial’s business district, two whole blocks, I recited over and over to myself: He makes my feet like hinds’ feet. He makes my feet like hinds’ feet.
    * * *
    WHILE MOM REGISTERED for our stay at the Lazy J Motel, I studied the map of Colorado on the wall. With my finger I traced the route we had taken from the Nebraska-Colorado border to Denver and up through mountain towns like Idaho Springs, Dillon, and Eagle, about where I fell into a drugged stupor and slept. From there, Mom should have driven on to Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and then Orchard City, just a few miles from Utah. No town named Cordial appeared along the route. I asked the motel clerk, Bonnie, a round-faced woman with honeyed eyes. “I was sleeping when we got to Cordial. How far are we from Orchard City?”
    â€œWell, little missy, if you can avoid driving behind a hay wagon or some flatlander camper, the drive won’t take you more than a couple hours.”
    â€œTwo hours?”
    Mom kept her head down, giving all of her attention to the registration card.
    â€œSo anyone coming to Cordial would have to get off the highway and travel … ?”
    â€œSouth on Highway 50 until they got to Clearwater,” Bonnie said. “Then they’d have to turn east on—”
    â€œEast? That’s interesting,” I said. “East is the exact opposite direction of California.”
    Either Bonnie didn’t notice the sarcasm in my voice, or she thought I’d failed geography in a big way. “That’s right, missy, you and your mom came east on Highway 92 to Highway 133, and then you followed the signs and— ta-dah! —you landed yourselves in Cordial.”
    I softened my tone in light of Bonnie’s sincerity. “I don’t suppose too many people just happen upon Cordial.”
    Mom crossed the t and dotted the i of her last name with sharp jabs. “That’s enough, Amy.” I slumped in the only chair of the tiny reception area. Mom asked Bonnie what being single was like in Cordial.
    â€œWell, I’ll tell ya. Cordial is known for its fruit. Before very long, they’ll be picking cherries as big as golf balls from the orchards. They grow in huge clusters. All you have to do is reach up and grab what you want. Since the Raven Mesa Coal Mine reopened, men in town have been just as plentiful. They’re lonely and their pockets are bulging with dough. You can take your pick.”
    More than anything, I wanted to sit with Mom to watch Bobby and Cissy dance the mambo on The Lawrence Welk Show. I was that desperate to stop Bonnie’s unwitting threat to my journey westward. “Shouldn’t we get to our room, Mom?”
    If anyone heard me, they didn’t let on.
    Bonnie leaned in. “Why, we’ve had more weddings than funerals this spring, and that’s saying something.” Bonnie and Mom agreed to try their luck at the Lost Mine Saloon that night. There was no sense reminding Mom of her pinkie pledge. She wore the very look I’d seen on Robbie Coleman’s face outside Baumgartner’s Bakery.
    Mom stepped into the motel room in front of me, and I drew a breath. She threw up her hands. “Don’t start with me, Amy. I’m tired. I’ve driven all day. You have no idea how scary it was driving those last thirty miles in low gear. Big trucks passing us on double-yellow lines. Rough-looking guys in pickups honking their horns and shaking their fists at me. I’m going out for one drink with a nice lady. That’s all.”
    â€œJust tell me why you left the