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.She had awakened with the dreams still fresh on her mind which left her a little confused.She didn’t think about either of them that way.Did she?After checking for messages, even though she wasn’t expecting any, she dropped her phone into her pocket and headed downstairs.Aunt Jane had beat her to the kitchen again.She was working her way through The Miami Herald’s Sunday edition.The paper consumed a considerable amount of the island’s available real estate.She sat, nibbling on a banana nut muffin while she read.Next to her was another muffin on a plate and a fork, obviously set out for Kelly.Kelly smiled at the thoughtfulness.“Are you ready to dig into the garage?” she asked her aunt.“I hate garage sales, but we’ve got to get rid of all that old stuff, and I just can’t bear to throw it away.” She patted the barstool next to her.“Sit down and have a banana muffin first.”Kelly pulled a bottle of orange juice out of the refrigerator and set it and a glass next to her plate.“I’ve got a good start on it already.”“I know you do.I bought price stickers and plastic table clothes to lay things out on.A guy from the rental place should be here any time now with some folding tables.I thought we could get stuff cleaned up and priced out so all we have to do next weekend is drag it out into the drive and wait for the shoppers.”“Wow, you really have thought about this.”“I have.I guess you inspired me.”Her aunt flipped the TV set in the kitchen on and tuned in FOX News.They finished their muffins with no more discussion and within the hour they were in the garage, ready to go.They opened the garage doors to let in some light.At least the humidity wasn’t hovering around 100% and a light breeze was blowing off the Gulf that kept the air moving.Jane moved around the garage.She barely glanced through the donate pile.The sale pile drew a little more attention.“I think I’ll sell all the furniture out here.I have all I need in the house.I kept most of the nicer antiques.”“Most of this doesn’t look old enough to be considered antique, but it’s in good shape.Someone will buy it.” Kelly nodded.“My handwriting is pretty poor, so why don’t you write the price stickers?”“Sounds good.” Kelly had the clipboard, round yellow price stickers and a black felt-tipped pen in hand.“Okay.The dining room table and four chairs.write me a sticker for $125.”$125,” Kelly wrote the sticker and stuck it on the tabletop.“Next!”“The dining room hutch.hmm $75.”Kelly followed behind her aunt, writing and sticking.“Sofa? Ahh.$75.no $50.It’s pretty worn.”“How about $60? You can always come down, right?”“Agreed, $60.”The process and teamwork continued on until all the large unboxed items were priced.Outside the garage the sound of flip-flops plopping on the concrete was heard and Scott and Austin walked inside.“Hello Ms.Jane,” Scott said.“Hi boys.Did you come over to help us out today?”“Sure.why not?” Austin agreed.“Good,” Jane said as she saw the delivery truck stopping with a squeal of brakes at the end of her drive.“We have some unloading to do.”Austin turned around.“Great.I passed up vacuuming the house for this,” he said without real regret.The young delivery kid made his way to the garage with his snap pack under his arm.“Jane Morris?”“That’s me.Are those my tables?”He looked down at the paperwork.“Six five-foot-long folding tables.Just sign here, and then maybe I can get some help unloading.”Jane signed the form and stuck the copy in the pocket of her shorts.“I’ll help you, dude,” Austin offered as they jogged down the drive.Within minutes all six folding tables were stacked in the garage against the wall and the truck had gone.One-by-one, they set up the tables, covered them with the plastic cloths and loaded all the small items like glasses, cups, bowls and knickknacks on them while Kelly wrote and stuck the prices on them.They kept at it until all the boxes were empty and the tables full.By midafternoon everything that could be processed was priced.Jane had even had time to go through the keep pile and pass some of the items on to one of the tables and re-box and label the rest for storage.“Next Friday I’d really appreciate it if you guys could get everything set out, then we’ll be ready for the sale on Saturday.You’ve been a big help today.I think you all deserve a percentage of the money we make.”“You don’t have to do that,” Austin was quick to say.“I know, but you’ve all earned it.It would have taken me months to get this done.Thanks.”“You’re welcome,” Austin and Scott said simultaneously.“I guess I’ll see you guys back here in a couple of hours,” Kelly said.“Yeah, see you then,” Scott said.“Later,” Austin called over his shoulder and the two boys headed back down the driveway and toward their homes.“I need to make a dash to Publix to pick up some steaks.Would you clean up around the pool while I’m gone? The pool guy only cleans the pool itself, and that darn bird has left more gifts for us on the chairs.”“No problem.I’ll get right to it.” Kelly took some cleaning supplies to the backyard and turned on the hose.She washed everything down, knowing that it would all be dry by the time the guests arrived later.The backyard wasn’t in bad shape, but she gathered any random trash that had blown over the fence, the downed palm fronds and other dead foliage and carried it to the garbage container.A large bull frog had found its way into the pool skimmer and Kelly fished him out and set him free in the flowerbed.Finally, she rearranged all the lawn furniture so that it looked orderly, but inviting.When her aunt returned, she helped her marinate the steaks and put together the salad and wrap the corn for the grill.Then they both went to their rooms to shower and get dressed for the evening.Kelly put on one of her new shorts and blouses and decided to let her clean hair fall loose and straight [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]