Gabe Tucker swaggered around the tiny used car lot kicking tires and scoffing at all the attempts by the weary salesman to promote the various vehicles. When he finally settled on a six year old Honda Civic he spent another agonizing hour beating the price down and puffed his chest when the salesman surrendered, signed the papers and took the cash. The old Chevy he accepted as part of the deal would probably serve some car buff's need and he parked it on the corner where it could be seen but not detract.

"Not bad, eh?" Gabe slouched down in the seat and pushed his knee against the dash.

"Yeah, Gabe. You did good." Sandra fiddled with the mirrors and the seat adjustment until she was comfortable and then studied the controls. Gabe wouldn't allow the air to be on because it consumed gas. When she complained about the heat, just open the goddamn window he commanded. She turned on the stereo and chose a station playing a soft rock selection, pleased to note he didn't bitch about that.

They had eaten at a diner that Gabe wanted to knock over but when they got a glimpse in the register while paying for breakfast, he changed his mind. Now it was getting on in the afternoon and lunch had been missed while he bought the car and Sandra was hungry. She stated her piece and got a foul-mouthed reply before he began looking for a suitable place. Suitable to Gabe meaning one he could rob.

Sandra was still chewing the last of her burger as she ran to the car carrying the bag of valuables they'd lifted from the customers. She jumped in and started the engine, looking back for Gabe. She saw him back awkwardly out the door with a large, overweight man grappling for the handful of bills in his hand and then her chewing stopped as Gabe brought the gun up and shot the man right in the face. He dashed to the car and leaped inside, tossing the money and the gun in the back and slamming the door.

"Go! Go!" He leaned across and punched her arm, startling her out of her shock. "For Christ's sake go!" His eyes were wide and shining.

The little Honda fishtailed off the lot and out onto the asphalt, tires smoking and screaming as Sandra held the pedal right to the mat, her eyes staring ahead at nothing, the sight of the blood spray from the man's face locked in her mind.

He really shot someone the last time too!

******

Ted wandered back to the same restaurant he'd where he'd eaten after leaving the police station and chose a seat in the area serviced by his earlier waitress. When she came to his table he mentioned that he'd checked into the hotel she'd recommended and that he found it quaint. She nodded and smiled. Ted liked her smile.

"The owner just loved that era. When she passed away it was in the contract that whoever took over had to preserve it the same way; sort of a heritage thing."

He chuckled,"Well she got her wish." He closed the menu and handed it to her. "What's good, and please don't say everything?"

"If you like fish and chips we make just about the best you'll find anywhere."

"Sold..." He moved his head around, looking at her chest. "No name tag?"

"It's Toni, short for Antoinette."

"Hmmm, better than, Anti, I guess." Her look told him he'd moved into lizard territory. "Sorry. Toni. I have a bad habit of making bad jokes. The fish and chips sound great and can I have an order of bread with that, please?"

She scribbled his order on her pad and asked about a drink, which he again asked for her input. "We have several domestic beers a couple of imports and two colours of wine." The response was not leading to happier times.

"I'll have any one of the domestics, I really don't care which. And again, I apologize. My name's Ted if you want to take some time to think up your own joke. Ted Wagner." Her demeanor seemed to soften and she offered a conciliatory smile before moving off.

The fish and chips were great and the beer was not too strong to spoil the combination. When she returned to ask about coffee and desert he tried once again to obtain a suggestion from her.

"You can't make your mind up about anything, can you?"

"Actually I can," he said, turning to look her full in the face. Her light hair hung in wisps about her cheeks, escaping from the roll she'd gathered at the back with a large clip and her brown eyes held his with a daring innocence. The nose was short—not too short—and the pale pink lips were in perfect balance with the rest of her face. "I made up my mind that you're an extremely attractive young woman."

The blush came before she could deal with his remark and she pursed her lips together in annoyance. "I don't take kindly to customers coming on to me...Ted." She dragged out his name to indicate just how annoyed.

"I was just answering your comment. You should learn to accept a compliment without painting it as a come on."

It was her turn to feel embarrassed and she hastened to offer her own apology. "Sorry, it's just that it happens fifty times a day and I get pretty sick of it."

"Did I mention I was a doctor, I could cure that for you.

Her face froze in a look of growing fury and as they stared at one another the anger melted away, replaced by the humour of his deliberate effrontery in the face of her complaint.

******

Humour had always been a part of Toni's growing up, with parents that constantly teased she and her sister, and let themselves be the brunt of their defensive jokes so yielding in the face of the young man's efforts was an easy step. Her dad was a moderately successful pressman in a moderately successful print shop, providing as much as he could for two growing girls and his wife. When he retired it was to a home for seniors because the wife that he'd loved so much for so many years was already there... battling cancer.

Toni left college and tried finding work that would pay enough for her to help with her parent's expenses, winding up instead, after several bad career choices, as a waitress in Paris Flats. Her sister had gotten herself pregnant and left the province with her boyfriend leaving no forwarding address or providing any subsequent contact.

Now she was thirty-four years old, her mom had passed on and her dad didn't need help any longer because of a prudently purchased insurance policy many years ago, so Toni had let life slide, accepting the waitressing position as her peak and likely her final position. Until now. Until this aggravating but interesting, Edward Wagner.

"Antoinette Fulmer. It doesn't really roll off the tongue does it?"

They sat together in the booth of a coffee shop several blocks from where she worked. After relentless flirting and teasing, Ted had convinced her that she just had to have a coffee with him after her work ended if for no other reason than to prop up his belief in his material. Surprising both of them, she had agreed and their mini date turned into a pleasant, relaxing end to the evening.

"Edward Wagner could trip you up too if you weren't careful." She laughed, stirring her second coffee.

"Yes, he could." His eyes met hers and he smiled at the creeping glow in her cheeks. "As a matter of fact," he continued, "I'd like that opportunity again some time... maybe for a show or a dinner?"

"There just isn't any quit in you is there?"

His eyes changed for a second and he looked down at his hands. "Only if I have to."

She leaned back in the booth and tapped her spoon on the edge of her saucer. How many do you meet like this, Toni? How long are you going to wait before you find it's too late? "Well, Edward Wagner, I guess I accept then because I don't see any reason why you should have to." Her ears tinged red as she boldly took the step.

"Yeah? You mean it?"

"Please, don't play the adolescent doofus."

"Sorry. When then?"

"I don't work this weekend at all." She sat back up and took a sip of her coffee.

"That's two days away!"

"Good at math too; what a catch." She smiled and it was his turn to blush.

The coffee date ended with a short walk to the lot where she parked her car, a nine-year-old Buick coupe, painted in a horrible shade of green.

"Don't mention the colour," she said when she saw him looking at it with a squint. "It was what I could afford not what I could choose."

"It's, gag, lovely, really. He pushed a finger in his mouth.

"Ever the charmer." She unlocked the car and got in. "Need a lift?"

"Since you're leaving... yeah."

"Oh brother." She rolled her eyes and started an engine that sounded like a terminal John Deere tractor.

Ted climbed in beside her and fastened his seat belt. "Do these work?"

"Soon see." She shifted into gear and chugged off the lot and down the street. Ted watched her all the way to his hotel, amazed that he had been so lucky to meet a woman like Toni in such a short time. When he got out he lingered in the doorway, bending down to say thanks.

"Two days, right?"

"Don't be late." She took her foot off the brake and he stepped back, shoving the door shut as she thundered down the road, and watching her out of sight.