A Fare To Remember_ Just Whistle_Driven - Vicki Lewis Thompson [91]
Sabina frowned. “I’m not sure I do, Mrs. Nussbaum.”
The old woman fanned herself with her hand. “Your grandmother is a treasure. A worker of miracles. A gift from God. My husband, Irving, was having issues….” She lowered her voice again. “In the bedroom. Well, we tried everything. Those little blue pills, racy movies, I even performed a little striptease for him.”
“Did you try bondage?” Chloe asked. “I hear older guys like that a lot.”
Sabina shushed Chloe, then turned back to Mrs. Nussbaum. “What did she give you?”
“She gave me a potion. I have no idea what was in it, but it worked. I poured a bit on top of his apple cobbler and we had a night of passion that you wouldn’t believe. I just came to get more. I have big plans for tonight. I’m making a custard pie. Mr. Nussbaum loves custard pie.”
Sabina cleared her throat. “I’m afraid my grandmother is busy at the moment. But I’ll have her call you when she gets back.” She gently grabbed Mrs. Nussbaum’s elbow and steered her toward the door. “Good day, Mrs. Nussbaum.”
The elderly woman turned and smiled. “It is a very good day, isn’t it?”
Sabina watched the older woman exit, then turned and stalked to the back of the store, cursing beneath her breath. “One day, that stubborn old woman is going to get us both in trouble,” she muttered. “Nana! Nana, come out here right now.”
A moment later, Ruta emerged, dressed in her Gypsy costume. “I hear you had a date last night, Bina,” she said.
“That’s not what I want to talk about.”
“The charm is working.” She gave Chloe a wink. “You said he was handsome. Where did you meet him, darling?”
“I met the man on my way to get bagels. It had nothing to do with the charm. But we do have to discuss the potions you gave Chloe and Mrs. Nussbaum.”
“I have to get ready for Mrs. Marston’s reading. We are going to summon the spirits of her three dead ex-husbands today. Something about missing stock certificates.”
“Nana, what did I tell you about potions?”
Ruta blinked, then sent her granddaughter a nervous smile. “I don’t know, Bina,” she said, waving her hand distractedly. “Did you tell me something about potions?” She gave Sabina a blank look, but Sabina wasn’t about to fall for that old trick. Ruta was an expert at using her advancing age to manipulate any situation. She conveniently forgot conversations whenever it suited her, yet managed to remember the vital statistics of every single professional man who walked in the door of the shop.
Sabina raked her hair out of her eyes. “Do not play the old woman with me. We’ve discussed this at length and still you won’t listen.” She reached out and grabbed her grandmother’s hand, turning it palm up. “Let me tell you your fortune, Nana. If you want to lose this shop, then you keep right on mixing those potions.”
“What is wrong with my potions? They have been handed down for generations. Tested by time. I may be an old woman, but you worry like an old woman.”
“And if one of our customers has an allergic reaction or doesn’t follow your directions or heaven forbid, dies, what then? We will be sued and you will lose this shop and everything you own. And Simon Harnett will be waiting on the sidewalk to snatch it all up and turn it into condominiums or a huge hardware store or some silly shops that no one really needs. And then where will we live? Where will all our tenants live?”
Ruta waved her hand. “Don’t be so dramatic, Bina. No one is going to die. Neither Simon Harnett, nor his son, Alec, can force us to sell if we don’t want to.”
A sick feeling settled in Sabina’s stomach. “Alec Harnett?”
“Hey, wasn’t that the name of the guy who was in here last night?” Chloe asked.
“He came again last night?” Ruta asked. “Mario told me was here yesterday around noon. He dropped him off out front and saw him go into the shop. Did you talk to him, Bina, or did you kick him out? You should have called me. I would have given him a piece of my mind.”
Sabina swallowed hard. Her mind spun with confusion. They’d had no other customers over the lunch hour except for Alec Harper, the man she’d met on the