“So!” she said with some enthusiasm. I appreciated the “so” and sighed, impatiently waiting. “A friend of mine owns Value Town Furniture here in Hazenberg. It’s decent stuff and she’s letting me have my pick from the scratch and dent section at a heavily discounted price.”
I wasn’t completely following what she meant, but she continued as we looked around the apartment.
“Here’s what I thought...since you need furnishings and you were willing to pay for that by paying more in rent anyway, why don’t we just consider the furniture on a payment plan? We’ll go together and pick out what you want, at my discount of course, and I’ll buy it. Then once it’s paid off in the extra rent payments, it’s just yours to do with what you want.”
"That's super generous of you, ma'am," I didn't know what to say, I was a bit floored at her generosity. Since I was renting a furnished apartment, or so I thought, she had explained to me over the phone the rent would be higher to cover the furnishings. Seemed fine to me at the time, but now it seemed even better.
"It won't be perfect, but it'll be new and clean if that works for you?" I nodded my head and thought about how I'd have a bed to sleep in rather than my air mattress or the old couch from the listing photos.
Mrs. Sanders took me to the local KFC for lunch where she told me some Kentucky history and I put together that her last name was Sanders, like the Colonel. She admitted her husband was a distant relation and though they did not own the local establishment, she just rather liked the buffet. I couldn’t complain about that either; it was nice and a good price for what you got.
Before we headed to the furniture shop, which was right around the corner and near everything else in the small downtown, Mrs. Sanders said she had booked me a room for the night at the local B&B. “Again, I’m friends with the owners...everyone in town basically...and they had some extra rooms for tonight. That’ll give your place plenty of time for the paint to dry and you can check out tomorrow in time for the furniture to be delivered.”
"You're too kind. I've never met someone so friendly to a stranger," I admitted.
“We’re only strangers for a minute, sweet girl! We’ll be good friends real soon!”
I liked the idea of that.
“Working for the newspaper, you’ll make friends fast too, don’tchu worry!”
The “scratch ‘n’ dent” section of the store was located in the back part behind doors that said, “Employees Only.”
“Thanks again for helping me out, Blanche,” Makayla said to the lady about ten years older than her.
“Anything for you, love. Plus you’re helping me make some room back here for other stuff.”
“So how do we know the price on the furniture back here?” Makayla cut right to the chase.
“75 percent off the lowest marked price on the tag...but only for you.”
“You’re a real peach, Blanche. And please forgive my manners! May I introduce you to Aggie Crawford? She starts work at the paper on...Monday, is it?”
“Yep, that’s right.” I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Nice to meet you, darlin,’ I’m sure we’ll see much of you around town once you get settled.”
She excused herself and let us get to shopping. I missed it, but apparently, Blanche had given Makayla a pad of sticky notes to mark what she wanted to be delivered.
“Okay, so what furniture do you have that we will not need to get? Let’s start there.”
"My roommate will be dropping off a large trunk of mine on her way through town in a couple of weeks. That's really all I have." I hung my head.
“Sounds like we have some shopping to do, then! This couch and matching chair look nice...and maybe this small entertainment center?”
I noted the tear on the pillow and threw a bone. “I can mend this and flip it over, it’ll be good as new, and I’ll mount my TV if that’s alright with you, so this size entertainment center will be perfect.”
Check the living room off the list.
“Did you notice the two barstools next to the kitchen counter?” she asked and I shook my head no. “So maybe a small kitchen table, since you can use the stools for extra seating? And we could find some mismatched chairs to go with the table and maybe paint them?”
“Sounds great!”
Check the dining room/kitchen off the list.
“Cute desk! And maybe a sitting chair for the guest room? If you have guests, there would be room to set up an air mattress.”
“You read my mind!” She and I were really on the same wavelength with this shopping trip.
Check the office off the list.
The bedroom was last. I was afraid it was going to be the most expensive. We looked through a few different bed sets, and she didn't like any of them.
“These don’t match necessarily, but the four-post bed is lovely and this dresser and bedside table colors blend. A little scratched, but I think with a little furniture polish, it would be as good as new.”
“I love this idea...does she have mattresses too?”
"Oh, good point. Don't let me forget that...it might be kinda uncomfortable sleeping on the bed frame!” We both chuckled and finished up the shopping trip. Makayla tagged a few other things before we made our way up to Blanche to complete our purchases. “You’ll need end tables in the living room and a small coffee table.”
With the heavy discount, all the extras were chump change. With everything, we picked out Makayla was getting it all for less than $1000, and her idea was brilliant. It was basically a payment plan and I was very thankful she agreed to let me keep the furniture when I paid it off.
“Before we go, Blanche, she’ll need a mattress too, so we’re gonna go back up front so she can pick out a set. I know those will be regular price.”
We laughed and bounced on mattresses, and I realized hanging out with my new Hazenberg friends was gonna be just fine.
Chapter Six
Drake
“HOW’S MY FAVORITE BUTCHER?” asked Lanah Napier, advertising consultant at The Hazenberg Herald.
“Hah! How many butchers do you know?” I questioned.
“Not the point! You’re still my favorite!”
Grandpappy had regularly advertised in the newspaper for as long as I had known. I’m not entirely sure how much business it brought me, especially in such a technological age, but it was a habit, or at least a regular thing, I did with my marketing budget. I didn’t have the heart to say no to Lanah, either. I knew she worked on commission and every little bit helped.
"Same size as usual, I'll send you pics and sale prices for next week as soon as I can this afternoon." I needed to wait for a lull in business so I could take some pictures of the cuts that would be on sale.
When chuck roasts were on sale, I always included a picture of Chuck, and that seemed to be something that people liked. They also liked it when jerky was on sale. And that was coming up too.
Jack Baxter came in as I was finishing up my call. Jack owned Poison Ivy Acres. I never asked why it was called that, but they were one farm around town that was not open to the public. He brought me plenty of business though. And then some.