Page 3 of Call My Bluff
“Hello,” said a female voice, and an older woman in denim shorts and a neon-green racerback approached. “Are you interested in the love seat?”
Olivia pursed her lips and forced herself not to answer right away. “Maybe,” she hedged, pulling out her phone. “How much are you asking?”
“One fifty even,” the woman replied. She rearranged a few items on a nearby table as she spoke. “It’s clean and in good condition; no pet hair or stains, and it’s from a nonsmoking household. One fifty is a steal.”
Itwasa steal, considering Olivia had seen a similar piece on sale for $499 at a local furniture store. But this was not her first rodeo. “I’m not sure it will fit in our place,” she stalled. “Do you know the dimensions? I’ll talk to my roommate.”
The woman rattled off some numbers while Olivia alerted her best friend.
Olivia:I found us a couch! It’s green. Should fit under the window. I’m gonna need a truck.
Lexie:Where are you?
Olivia:537 Harolds Court
Lexie:I’ll get Jake. Work your magic!
Olivia nodded politely to the woman, who was still standing nearby. “Let me think about it,” she said.
“Of course! Take your time,” the woman replied, and she walked away to help an older lady with a lamp.
Olivia moved to a shelf of tiny porcelain figurines, all the while scanning the sparse crowd of shoppers. The best person to talk to at a sale like this was the seller’s husband; he was usually anxious to get his garage back and willing to send the junk on its way with minimal fanfare. She looked for anyone who might fit the bill. There were several middle-aged women sorting a stack of tea towels and one young mother watching her children rummage through a bin of stuffed animals. A younger guy was inspecting a rusty bicycle frame leaning against the side of the house, but there were no other men in sight.
She shifted from one foot to the other. If Jake Tanner wasn’t running to his pickup truck at that very moment, she’d eat her shoes! The poor boy had only been dating her best friend for two weeks, but he was already wrapped around her pinkie finger about as tightly as he could be.
Sure enough, her phone buzzed in her hand a few seconds later.
Lexie:On our way! Jake’s picking me up, and he’s bringing one of his roommates. We owe them pizza.
Olivia chuckled softly. Yep, that’s what she’d thought.
A set of door hinges squeaked to her left, and an older gentleman with a receding hairline stepped out of the house and onto the smooth garage floor. Olivia looked along the length of the driveway and saw the woman she’d spoken to standing at the far end discussing something with the mother and her kids.
It was time to make her move.
“Excuse me, sir!” she called, lifting her hand to catch the man’s attention. “Are you selling this couch?”
The man looked around, as if surprised to find someone speaking to him, and gave her an uncertain sort of smile. “Well, my wife is. I’m not sure what she’s asking for it, honestly. It’s been in the garage for a while.”
Perfect.
“Hmm,” Olivia said, pretending to consider. “Well, I could have some friends pick it up today, if we can afford it. What do you think about... seventy-five?”
The man rubbed one hand across the scruff on his chin and looked nervously out toward the yard. “I think she wanted a bit more than that. I can go get her for you.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother anybody,” Olivia answered quickly. “I saw a smaller one at another sale anyway. Thanks, though!” She waved cheerily and started to walk away, hoping with all her might that he valued the empty space in his garage more than a couch he wasn’t using anyway.
Thankfully, she was right.
“Wait!” the man called as she stepped into the sunshine, and Olivia barely kept herself from smiling. She turned back to find him half jogging out to meet her. “What about one ten?”
Olivia pulled the folded bills from her pocket and flipped through them, biting her bottom lip for good measure. “Imaybecould do ninety.”
The man winced, but he looked at the money with wistfulness in his eyes. “I’ll do one hundred if you can take it today. I just want it gone.”
Sold!
But Olivia sighed deeply and counted her bills again. “Alright, but would you put this back for me?” she asked, handing over the stained glass windowpane. The man held up his hands, palms out. “You can have that, ma’am. Just take it.”
