Chapter 10: The Bargain Nobody Wanted

The free bench came with eight flowerpots and a wheelbarrow that refused to turn left.

I discovered the wheelbarrow's preference while Tate stood beside his truck.

The seller had been clear that the whole lot needed taking.

I had been equally clear that I could find uses for everything.

Now the wheelbarrow carried two pots directly toward a painted garden gnome.

Tate caught its handles before it reached the little man's red hat.

"Does he come with the bench too?" he asked.

The seller looked over from her porch and said we could have him.

I had intended the bench for the sunny place beside our kitchen door.

I wanted somewhere Tate might sit without waiting for a visitor to need it.

That was still a good idea, despite the gathering evidence around it.

I turned the wheelbarrow and started toward the truck again.

Its wheel caught, and I completed a neat circle around my own boots.

The seller explained that it only needed a small repair.

Tate crouched to inspect the axle before I could stop him.

Then he looked at me and deliberately stood again.

"It needs a wheel," he said.

"Possibly a different wheelbarrow."

I set down the handles and studied the eight enormous terracotta pots.

One already contained a small tree I had not noticed.

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