Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Jed drained his own coffee, popped the last bite of the delicious apple turnover into his mouth, and scooped up the two checks the perky waitress had left. “My treat this time.” Seeing Monte start to protest, he added, “You can get it next time. I’ll probably be by every day or two, and the java here is well worth a stop.”

Monte smiled then. “That’d be great. I’m glad I decided to see if I could help you find an address.”

Jed returned the smile. “So’m I.”

They exited the shop together. Jed noticed Monte didn’t go back into the Sportsman’s Stop until he pulled away from the curb.

* * * *

Two days later, when the delivery van again pulled up on Hammond, Monte saw it at once. As much as he wanted to greet the driver, he had a customer and that novelty was not something he could afford to ignore. The customer was just a young man in his teens looking at skate boards. Privately, Monte was unsure he could afford one, but he would not treat customers in a shoddy manner, regardless.