Page 15 of Amazing Grace

The shelves below displayed leg warmers, knee-high boots with kitten heels, jelly shoes, Candies high wooden-heeled shoes, and Keds.

The rest of the store was filled with racks of clothing: ripped sweatshirts, tights, sweatpants, velour sweatsuits, parachute pants, high-waisted jeans, accordion-pleated gowns,gowns with ruffled necklines, jackets with large shoulder pads, lace bustiers, and short, frilly skirts.

At the rear of the store was a check-out counter, and behind it stood a woman who seemed to have chosen her clothing exclusively from the wares sold in the store. Her long blonde hair was processed in a spiral perm and gathered up in a banana clip, and she wore a sweatshirt with the collar ripped off, baring one shoulder, along with a pair of high-waisted jeans.

“Hi! May I help you?” she called out in a cheery, singsong voice.

“Um, we’re just looking,” Grace said. She pretended to finger a pair of parachute pants on a nearby rack.

The woman gave them a wide smile. “Oh, sure! Take your time. If you have any questions, just sing out. The dressing room is over here.” She pointed to a curtained area at the back of the store.

They continued to pretend shop for a while, slowly making their way to the counter. Grace picked up a pair of leg warmers and brought them to the register. They were neon pink and were something she’d never wear, but she needed a ruse to strike up a conversation with Ginny.

“Do you have these in any other color?” Grace asked. “Maybe in the back room?”

“Oh no. I never keep stock in the back room,” Ginny said. “It’s off limits.”

“I see. Well, we’re new in town,” Grace began as Ginny started to ring up the sale.

“Oh, I know! My cats told me. They’re quite the gossips, you know.”

“Your cats?”

“Yes, indeed. They’re telepathic. Are you telepathic?”

Grace shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not.”

Ginny sighed. “Then I’m afraid you won’t be able to hear them. That’s sad. They love meeting new people. My dear departed husband, Charles, could never hear them either.”

“I’m sorry about your husband,” Grace said.

“Oh, poor Charles has been gone twenty years now. He was a police officer in Denver. I moved here after he passed. Me and the cats, of course.”

Grace exchanged a glance with Molly. “What did your cats tell you about us?”

“Well,” she said, pointing to Grace, “your name is Mary, and,” she continued, pointing to Molly, “your name is Jane…or Janet. Sometimes they don’t get it right. You’ve just moved into town.”

“Wow, that’s…er, amazing.” Molly said.

“Right on the nose,” Grace added. “Say, since we’re new, maybe you can help us with a few recommendations?”

Ginny beamed. “I’d love to. What would you like to know?”

“Well, we could use the name of a good salon,” Grace said. She patted her hair. “I need color and a cut badly.”

“Oh, that’s easy. “Cuts ‘n Curls, on Second Street. That’s where I get mine done.” Ginny grinned.

“Oh, and it’s a lovely perm,” Grace said. “How about dinner? Any good restaurants?”

“Oh, lots! I hear the Whitewater serves really good burgers, but if you’re into vegetarianism like me, Cherry’s Pies has a veggie pizza to die for. The Club Diner serves a pasta primavera that’s really tasty, too.”

“Sounds delicious. How about banks? Investment firms? I have some money put aside that I need to transfer from Denver,” Grace asked.

“Well, I use the First Bank of Summit Springs. As for investments, all I can say is stay away from Albert Herves. Helost all my money in a Ponzi scheme with a lowlife named Jeremy Prada. Oh, when I think about it I get so mad I could just kill! Every cent I had put away is gone. All I have left is this store.”

“That’s so sad. I’m sorry you got caught up in all that,” Molly said. The pity in her voice was clear and sincere.

Ginny waved a hand, then looked over Grace and Molly’s heads to make sure there was no one else in the store. “Between us chickies, Jeremy Prada is dead, and he got exactly what he deserved. He was the mastermind behind the Ponzi scheme, you know. His head was bashed in while he was in that hay maze they build every year outside of town.”