A Real Pickle Read Free Page A

said with a laugh.  “Greg and I are fine.  It’s for a friend of mine, a man named Jeffrey…” I held the phone to my shoulder as I asked the chauffeur, “What’s your last name?”
    “Graham,” he said.
    I put the phone off my shoulder.  “Jeffrey Graham.  I’ll vouch for him personally, Diane.  He’s a good guy.”
    “I’ve got two places at the moment, depending on how much he has to spend.  If he’s loaded, I’ve got a real beauty that just came on the market.”
    “That sounds good, but let’s go in the other direction,” I said.  I didn’t want to come right out and say that Jeffrey wasn’t rich, but then again, I didn’t want Diane trying to set him up with something well beyond his budget.
    “Got it,” she said.  “If he doesn’t mind Spartan surroundings, I’ve got a real deal for him.”
    “Let me check,” I said, and then I asked Jeffrey, “How do you feel about a simple place?”
    He grinned broadly.  “I love it.”
    “He’d like to see it,” I told Diane.
    “Have him come by my office at three this afternoon, and I’ll show it to him.  Thanks for the lead, Victoria.”
    “Thank you,” I said.
    As I jotted Diane’s address and phone number down on a napkin, I told Jeffrey, “I assume that you’ll be free by three this afternoon.”
    “I’ll be there,” he said as he took the note from me.  “Wow, I thought stories about small towns were all lies.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You hardly know me, and yet look at all that you’ve done for me already.”
    I smiled.  “I like the way you looked after your boss,” I said.  “That makes you a good guy in my book.  Don’t let me down, okay?  I vouched for you, after all.”
    “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said.  “Well, I’d better get moving if I’m going to get everything done in time for my meeting with Ms. Meadows.”
    “If you need a different appointment time, I can always call her back.”
    “No, I should be fine.  There’s really not all that much left for me to do.  Thanks again.”
    “You’re most welcome,” I said.  “Jeffrey, would you do me a favor?”
    “Anything,” he said.
    “Be careful what you promise,” I said with a smile.  “This shouldn’t be too difficult, though.  Will you drop by and tell me when the funeral’s scheduled?  I’d like to go.”
    “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
    I was a little hurt by his outright refusal.  “Why, is it for family only?”
    “That’s not it.  You see, there isn’t going to be one.  Curtis didn’t believe in them.  He never focused on his death while he was alive, and he didn’t want us to after he left us.  He’ll be cremated within the hour, and his ashes will be spread under his favorite oak tree on his property.  It’s the way that he wanted it—no fuss and no muss.”
    “I can understand that,” I said.  “I’ll miss him and the tiny plastic pickles he used to leave behind.”
    “If you’d like some, I have three boxes of them in the limo,” Jeffrey said.  “He never wanted to run out.  I guess in the end, he didn’t.”
    A tear started tracking down his cheek, and Jeffrey left the diner quickly before he lost it completely.
    Ellen came over and joined me after he was gone.  “It’s so sad, isn’t it?”
    “I’m surprised by how hard it hit me.  It’s not like it was a big secret that Curtis was dying, but I hate that it happened here at the diner.”
    “Me, too,” she said as she looked over at the booth where he’d died.  “Am I crazy, or is there a white shadow hanging over that booth?”
    I looked where she was pointing, and sure enough, it appeared that a ghostly image was hovering above the surface of the table.  Feeling a little shaky, I started walking toward it, determined to see what was causing it.  My hand went right through it, and I looked down at the napkin dispenser.  The stainless steel surface was reflecting sunlight off the tabletop and into the air.  I