Free Heat Wave by Nancy Thayer Page B

Also they sold the odd unused gifts accumulated over the years like the weed-whacking golf driver, the electric corkscrew, the digital measuring cup, and the speaking clock that spoke in such a depressed monotone that it creeped out the girls.
    Framingham Burr, another friend of Gus’s, volunteered to stay outside. A big man, he never noticed the cold, and he was pleased to run the table holding all of Gus’s things: ice skates, tennis racquets, scalloping gear, electric foot massager, electric nose hair trimmer, electronic multiroom temperature monitor, and mounds of clothes from high school and college days, beloved sweaters, ties, and overcoats Gus hadn’t been emotionally ready to give up but no longer wore, and had been banished to the basement.
    The depressed clock said, “Eight.” Toby stepped aside.
    Dozens of customers poured up the driveway, charging toward the tables, almost desperately eyeing the merchandise, as if sure they would find a treasure. Some of them did. Cries of delight floated through the air as a little girl found one of Cisco’s old ballet tutus. The elegant brass carriage clock, one of two Carley and Gus had received as wedding presents, was plucked from the table with triumph by a newlywed couple. An elderly woman happily paid good money for the dusty, outdated 1982 world encyclopedia Maud had convinced Carley to put out. People surged up to the tables, grasped items, shoved money toward her, or dropped the objects back on the table and rushed to another stand.
    Carley looked over to see an extremely pregnant young woman with the Slavic cheekbones of the Russians who were working on the island. The man with her, Carley presumed her husband, was dismantling the crib Cisco and later Margaret had slept in as babies. Once again, a kind of regret, almost a panic, ran through Carley like a thrill. She watched Margaret approach the pregnant woman, holding out one of her favorite, softest, teddy bears.
    “Would you like to have this for your baby?” Margaret asked.
    The woman hesitated.
    “It’s a gift!” Margaret announced. “A gift for your baby. I love babies.”
    “Thank you very much.” The woman took the bear and smoothed its fur, studying it. “It is a very special bear,” she said to Margaret. “And you are a very nice girl.”
    Margaret grinned, wiggling all over with pleasure at the compliment.She ran to Carley. “Mommy, look, I gave that lady my bear for her baby!”
    “That was nice of you, Margaret,” Carley told her. “What a good, generous girl you are.” Suddenly the day brightened for her—absolutely turned around. How proud Gus would be of his little girl, so instinctively kind and thoughtful. What a good thing it was that her daughters’ crib was going to be used by that young couple from a country so far away. It made Carley feel more connected, somehow, to the wider world.
    Maud leaned over. “You should have baked more.”
    Carley glanced down at the end of the table where she’d placed her gingerbread people, applesauce cake, pumpkin muffins, and her special chocolate, walnut, and a bit of everything else cookies. Every single crumb was gone. Carley didn’t have a chance to answer Maud—she was dealing with a woman who wanted to buy the scarf Carley was wearing around her neck.
    Around noon, things quieted down. The frenzy of eager shoppers ebbed as people headed home for lunch. Most of the items were gone.
    Margaret was crying because she’d sold a baby doll that she realized had been her very favorite. Carley picked her up, took her into the house, and cuddled her while she drank juice and ate a peanut butter sandwich. Moments later, Margaret jumped off Carley’s lap, yanked on her parka, and rushed back out to the action.
    Carley returned to her table. No customers now.
    Maud said, “I need a bathroom run. Can you give me a ten-minute break?”
    “Absolutely.”
    Maud stood up, stretching. “My boys are out at Lauren’s this morning. She said