Free Finders Keepers by Catherine Palmer Page A

think he’s hurt. I tried to move the pole, but there’s so much canvas that—”
    “Whoa, slow down, Liz. What’s the problem?”
    “The awning on the Corner Market! It fell on Zachary Chalmers.” She grabbed the man’s hand and tugged him out the door. As they hustled back to the grocery store, Elizabeth could see that Pearlene Fox and several of the women who’d been shopping at Très Chic had gathered on the sidewalk to gawk at the commotion. Bud’s father, Al, had hobbled down to the corner from his gas station. The two men began to lift the metal frame that pinned Zachary.
    On her knees again, Elizabeth took Zachary’s hand. “Bud’s here. Al, too. Are you all right? Can you breathe?”
    “I can breathe,” he said. “Sort of.”
    As the frame lifted, she pushed away the canvas that covered his face. He mustered a grin and sucked down a deep breath. She brushed back the dark hair that had fallen across his forehead to examine a scrape near his hairline.
    “You tried to kill me,” he murmured.
    “I did not. It was an accident. I saved you.”
    “In that case.” He edged up on one elbow, cupped her cheek with his free hand, and gave her a firm kiss right on the lips. “Thank you.”
    At the chorus of delighted ahhs that escaped the Très Chic women, Elizabeth scrambled to her feet and set her hands on her hips. “Get up, Zachary Chalmers,” she snapped.
    He sat up on the sidewalk and rubbed the back of his head. “Anybody want to buy any cherries?” he asked.
    “They’re going fast.”

F IVE
    “My mom says you are a bloodsucking bleach,” Nick informed Zachary, who had knelt to greet the child on the sidewalk in front of Finders Keepers. “She says you are going to suck the life right out of the whole town.”
    The boy’s green eyes regarded him seriously, and Zachary did his best to keep a straight face. “A bloodsucking bleach?”
    “Yes, and I think if you suck the life out of Ambleside, then we will all be dead and in heaven with the teeny-tiny gate made out of a pearl. How big is a pearl?”
    Zachary held up his thumb and forefinger. “Pretty small. But I’ll tell you what, Nick, I’ve never been a bloodsucking bleach, or a bleach of any kind, for that matter. In fact, I think I’m a pretty good guy for the most part.” He glanced at the lace-curtained front window. “Is your mom working this afternoon?”
    “She works every day except Sunday, and that’s when we go to church. Do you go to church? Are you a Christian? I don’t think you can be my dad if you’re not a Christian.”
    “You know, if your mother thinks I’m a bloodsucking bleach, she’s not going to let me be your dad.”
    Nick pondered this one. “God can change anybody,” he said. “Even you.”
    “I’ll remember that.” Zachary stood and gave the boy’s hair a rub. “Don’t run off, OK? You scared your mom the last time you did that.”
    “I’m going to get Magunnery. She plays at my house after school, because her mother is still sick. Boompah’s sick, too. Mom says you’re running the Corner Market. She says, ‘That man ceases to amaze me.’”
    Zachary laughed. “I ceased to amaze myself a long time ago. See ya, big guy.”
    As Nick scampered away, Zachary climbed the old building’s limestone steps and pushed open the glass-windowed front door. As before, he was greeted by the mingled scents of beeswax candles, fragrant potpourri, and lemony furniture polish. A fan turning overhead rustled the lace curtains and white linen tablecloths. On a small side table against the wall, a silver teapot sent out a thin drift of steam. Near it, a plate of golden cakes beckoned.
    “Be with you in a minute!” Elizabeth called from the back room. “Make yourself at home.”
    At home. Zachary surveyed the collection of aged furniture, heavy oak tables, simple pine cupboards, worn rocking chairs, and soft-edged footstools. Then he thought back to the crowded trailer in which he’d lived his early