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“Uh, yeah. Sure. I went to business school—I can totally handle this.” I squared up my shoulders, puffing out my chest a little.
“Great. I’m gonna head to the hospital then, go check on Pops. I’ll be back around lunchtime to grab Macy’s car.”
* * *
Spoiler alert:I didnothave it.
Practically as soon as Quinn left, I ran into a host of problems. The cash register drawer got stuck. I didn’t know where they kept their extra change and unbelievably, a large number of people in Peachtree Grove still used cash. Then the credit card reader went down—I swear it was a first-generation reader—so it was honestly no wonder.
I made a mental note to order an updated version ASAP while Mrs. Smith scrawled out an IOU on a yellow legal pad. Guess that’s where I’d be keeping track of credit card sales for the time being, at least until Quinn got back.
By lunchtime, I had a throbbing headache behind my eyes and my stomach was growling, the muffin I’d eaten earlier long gone.
Ring-ring.I glanced up as Quinn waltzed through the door.
“How’d it go? No problems, right?”
I shot him a look, shaking my head slowly. “Nothing major. Except your credit card reader is down.” I waved my IOU legal pad in the air. “Here’s the list of people who paid on good, old-fashioned credit.”
Quinn chuckled, letting out a long whistle. “Your hot-shot MBA program didn’t teach you how to use credit card readers?”
“Not the original models, no. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for all the items if the customers don’t make good.”
“I’m not worried. Amused, but not worried.”
He ducked into the office. A bunch of rattling and a swear word or two spilled from the open doorway, then he reappeared. Quinn whipped a credit card out of his wallet, swiping it through the machine.
Beep.
A bright green flash, then the word ‘Approved’ appeared on the reader.
“The Wi-Fi was down.” Quinn filed his credit card away, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
I blew out a breath, relieved I hadn’t broken anything and only slightly embarrassed I hadn’t pieced that together.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” he said, punching me on the arm.
Ring-ring.A teenager with long, dark braids, wearing a sweater and jeans, walked into the store.
“Hey, Jolene. This is my cousin Liam. He’s going to be running the store while Pops recovers,” Quinn said.
“Cool. How’s Pops doing? My mom told me to send y’all our best.” Jolene twirled her right braid in a slow circle, not making eye contact with Quinn.
“He’s doing fine. Tell your mom thanks. Listen, we have to head over toChevy’s, had some car trouble this morning. You okay on your own for a while?”
“Sure.” She shuffled over to the counter and pulled up a stool, settling in.
I had my doubts a high school kid could handle the store solo, considering all the trouble I’d had, but Quinn was the boss.
“C’mon, let’s go grab Macy’s car.”
“Gladly,” I said, following him out the back door and into the alley. So far, the general store gig had turned out to be a lot tougher than anticipated.
* * *
“Hey,boys. Car’s out back. I’ll pull it around.” Chevy hopped up, disappearing into the back of the garage. Three seconds later, Macy’s Civic rolled up, humming perfectly.
“Good as new,” Chevy said, cutting the engine and handing the keys over to me. “Let me grab the invoice.”
