They Left Me at the Canyon, So I Came Back for the Wedding novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Paid in Full

Haskell Hardware opened at seven on Monday, and by nine the lot was full of contractors' trucks.

I parked across the street, legally, five hundred and twenty feet closer than I was allowed to be a week earlier.

The order had died at midnight on Saturday.

The magistrate had thrown it out herself, with a short note, after the deputy brought her the recording.

Rachel got out of the passenger side with her phone in her hand.

Carrie came around the hood in her park jacket.

"You don't have to do this," she said.

"I know."

"You could just let the sheriff do it."

"The sheriff is doing it. I'm only buying a lock."

We crossed the street together.

The bell rang over the door, and the cat on the paint counter opened one eye.

The store was crowded.

Men in work boots stood in a line at the register with their arms full.

A woman in a church sweater held a watering can.

Diane Haskell stood behind the counter in her green apron.

She had been crying, and she had put on lipstick over it.

She saw me and her face worked.

"This is a place of business," she said.

"I know. I'm a customer."

I took a package of padlocks off the rack and walked up the line.

A man at the front, a heavyset roofer, stepped aside without being asked.

"Go ahead," he said. "I've got time."

I set the lock on the counter.

"Eleven forty-nine," Diane said, in a thin voice.

I put down twelve dollars.

She made change with shaking hands.

"There's a hearing on the lease," I said, loud enough for the line. "You signed a page that said my apartment was joint since June. The landlord says it's a forgery."

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