Chapter Twenty-Three, Part Two

By the time they finished at Tate’s, an hour had passed and they had run up quite a bill. But it was mostly things they needed – not just Sophie’s school supplies, but new sheets, socks and underwear for them both, a set of nice curtains for Sophie’s room, a few rugs, and a tea kettle to replace the one at home, which was slightly rusted. They had also bought a small iron figurine of a horse for Sophie to put in her bedroom. Carrying their bags, they went to the grocery store, but went in the back way so they could set down their purchases before subjecting themselves to the stares and questions of the store’s customers.

“Do I have to go out there and meet people?” Sophie asked.

“You’re only putting off the inevitable if you stay back here,” Robert said, “but do whatever you feel most comfortable with. I’m going to observe operations for a little bit, then I’ll get us some groceries so we can go home.”

Sophie pulled a chair up to a table, broke open her box of crayons, and started drawing in one of her school tablets. This was for the best anyway, as far as Robert was concerned, since he didn’t really want a child underfoot while he tried to assess how things were going at the store. So he left her to her artwork and opened the door that led to the space behind the main counter.

“This appears to be a popular shopping time,” Robert remarked, upon seeing several shoppers meandering the aisles.

Norma had been standing with her back to the door and hadn’t heard him come in. She jumped, then forced a smile. “Nice to see you, Mr. Dubeck. I’m not used to other people popping in unless they’re on the schedule.”

“I’m sure my habits will become more regular once I settle in.” Robert looked around. In addition to two older female shoppers and a younger woman with a child in tow, there was a middle-aged woman operating a cash register near the front of the store, entering prices into the machine and placing an elderly man’s purchases into a cloth bag. On the other side of the store, a teenage boy was taking things out of a cart and placing them onto shelves. “How many employees do we have, Norma? I think you mentioned in one of your letters that we had five. Is that still the case? Do we need more or less at certain times of the year?”

“It’s pretty much the same all year round. In addition to myself, there are two full-time employees and three part-time. Except for the stocker, everyone has worked here for five years or longer.”

“That’s good to know. Turnover is a big waste of time and money in business, assuming the employees you already have are good at their jobs.”

“And these all are,” Nora said. “I trained most of them myself. In fact,” she pointed toward the woman at the register, “you probably remember Fernanda. She’s a little older than you, but her brother Roy was your age. He fought in the civil wars, you know. He was killed at the siege of Santa Fe.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Robert meant it sincerely. He remembered Roy as an exuberant kid, not much of a student, but creative and energetic. He had probably been one hell of a soldier. Robert also remembered Roy’s sister Fernanda. He watched her total the man’s sales and add tax. She was a nice girl, but reputed to be one of the dumbest students to ever go through the admittedly small Castaño school. And she was being entrusted to accurately sum up purchases and apply the correct sales tax? Even with the help of a cash register, Robert doubted her ability to do that sort of work.

He was pondering how he could best check Fernanda’s math without letting on that he didn’t trust her when a sallow blonde in jeans and a dirty pullover came up to the counter. She stopped short and stared. Robert stared back, trying to put a name with the face. “Emily Dean?”

The woman smiled. “Emily Reyes now, but yes. And you’re Robert Dubeck.” She ducked her head and tucked a lock of greasy hair behind her ear. “I’d heard you were coming back. What a day to run into you! I’ve…been working in the yard all day. I stopped to make myself a sandwich, when I realized my husband and boys had eaten the last of the bread. Now I wish I’d stopped to fix myself up before running over here.”

“Well, I’m back for good, so there will be plenty of opportunities for that.” Robert wanted to say more, to ask which of the Reyes brothers she had married and find out how she was doing, but something felt off. Emily darted a nervous glance at Norma and he noticed her hands were trembling. She looked none too healthy, either. Suspecting that the women wanted to talk alone, he excused himself. “I promised my daughter we’d stock up properly on groceries today.”

They seemed relieved to see him go, and when he peeked around an aisle endcap a few minutes later, they were in a heated, although whispered, argument. Finally Norma let out a sigh and went into the back. She returned a few minutes later with a bag that looked like it was heavy. Emily thanked her and turned to go.

Robert hurried to the other end of the aisle, near the front door, and intercepted her in an artlessly casual manner.

“I’m glad you came in today, Emily,” he said, trying to pretend like he wasn’t looking into her bag. “We’re going to have to get together and catch up on old times.”

“Oh yes. Definitely.” She forced a smile and clutched her bag a little more tightly, but not before Robert noticed that it contained no bread, even though that was what she claimed to have come for. “I hear you were quite the war hero and then went to live in the United States,” Emily said with forced enthusiasm. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.” She gave a little wave. “See you around.”

Robert watched her go. Poor Emily. She had once been the prettiest girl in Castaño. It was disturbing to think of her married to one of the n’er do well Reyes boys. No wonder she looked like hell. She was probably always broke and lucky if she wasn’t being beaten, besides. And what was it she was getting in secret from Norma? Whatever it was, he was going to have to put a stop to her doing it on store credit, if she was being billed at all. Maybe he would take the account books home with him tonight. It was clear there was a lot that needed to be investigated around here.