A Deadly Grind Read Free Page A

wrote her purchase down in her notebook, lot number and final bid.
    Lesley, a longtime friend of one of Jaymie’s favorite neighbors, septuagenarian Trip Findley, winked at her. “Now there’s a catch, lads!” He pointed his auction gavel at her. “The girl’s pretty as a picture—blue eyes, brown hair up in a sweet ponytail, rounded in all the right places—and she can cook, too!” he crowed, as laughter rippled through the crowd.
    Jaymie wanted to sink into the ground at Lesley’s ill-timed witticism, and even more so when she saw Joel smile and bend over to listen to Heidi, as she cupped her hand around her mouth and whispered something in his ear. Jaymie took a deep breath and once more turned away, ignoring them.
    Several more lots of household items went for bargains, and finally the box of Pyrex dishes and cooking utensils came up. Jaymie crossed her fingers as the bidding started at five dollars. Soon, it was just her and another bidder still in it. She scanned the crowd as she bid, and when she saw her competitor was DeeDee Stubbs, another friend and neighbor from Queensville, she called out, “What d’you want in the box, Dee?” There must be one specific thing she was after, because DeeDee was no Pyrex collector.
    The plump woman, the same age as Rebecca, peered through the crowd, shading her eyes from the slanting sunlight. “Jaymie! It’s you I’m bidding against? I only want the
Partridge Family
lunchbox!”
    “Let me have the lot and I’ll gladly
give
you the lunchbox.”
    “Done!” DeeDee called out, “I’m out of it, Les. Jaymie can have it.”
    The old man had a look of mock severity on his face as he glared at Jaymie. “You’re cutting into profits, young lady! Not the done thing, and you know it.” Another ripple of laughter flowed through the crowd at his chiding.
    Jaymie shrugged. “Sorry, Les! But nobody
else
wants it; I’m just speeding up your auction.” Another wave of laughter followed as she got the box for twenty dollars, and the auction moved on, fast-forwarding through several more lots.
    The jewelry, art, antique furniture and anything more valuable from the estate dissolution was going to a big auction house in Detroit, but somehow the entire collection of Royal Crown Derby had been spared, and Becca successfully bid on it, spending a rather large sum to get it. Jaymie knew that her older sister would triple or quadruple her money on the Crown Derby set by breaking it up. It seemed to Jaymie that the family china of two generations ago should stay together, but Rebecca pointed out that nobody wanted it that way. Her buyers were replacing individual pieces that had been broken over the years, or were acquiring place settings or missing serving pieces to add to their own sets. It didn’t do to get sentimental about business.
    The crystal lot came up, and then some silver plate, so Jaymie tuned out, melting back among some taller folks and watching. It was an oddly assorted crowd. She recognized some people: the local farmers there to bid on the farm equipment and antique tools; DeeDee, who attended to beef up her inventory of fifties, sixties and seventies kitsch and TV tie-in merchandise for her online selling; and a few more. Joel and Heidi bid on a vintage fur jacket and a steamer trunk, then drifted away.
    But the strangers were fascinating, as always. There were young couples buying up the necessities of life: pots and pans, small appliances, and lots of cheap dishes. And there were those who were clearly there for just one item; the nonfunctioning grandfather clock, old paintings—smoke-stained and grimy, but potentially worth money if you had a good eye and a willingness to gamble—a set of six farm chairs. If she’d had room, Jaymie would have bought the sturdy farm chairs herself, but their Queensville house was fully furnished—overstuffed, actually. Despite Becca’s admonition, though, she
was
going to buy that gorgeous old Hoosier kitchen cabinet, so