“So, have you thought about getting your surgery?” Arthur looks at Cassidy as they eat dinner.

Arthur had picked Cassidy up at the antique store and took her out for dinner. The other day she received her letters, so she could finally get her birth defect corrected.

“Yes, but I can’t get it right away. The shop is still getting out of the red and I only have two-part timers working for me.”

Cassidy wanted to get the operation as soon as possible. However, the store was still dragging itself out of the red. Most of the antiques she could markdown and sell fast were inching them closer to breaking even.

She had a couple come in yesterday and bought several pieces at what she was asking. The check for the purchase hadn’t cleared the bank yet. If the check is good, it will bring them up to five hundred dollars.

“Well, you know I could come up and give you a hand on the weekend.” Arthur was cutting into his steak.

“Thanks. The thing is, I need to go through the warehouse and see what needs to be fixed and redone.”

“I thought you said most people don’t want to buy antiques that have been worked on or redone?” Arthur was puzzled as he looked at Cassidy.

“Normally, no I don’t like fixing or redoing antiques. However, we have some in the warehouse that needs work done to them and they have been sitting there for a while.”

“Do you know anyone that might be able to fix them?”

“Yes, there’s an old-timer that I know that can fix them. He uses to work at a furniture store back in the day and was really good.” Cassidy was glad she knew him and that he was willing to do the work for her.

“Well, it sounds like you have everything handled.” Arthur was impressed with Cassidy.

“Well, almost everything. If I keep selling my inventory as I have. I’m going to need new inventory to replace it and that means going to estate
sells and such.”

“If you need help sweetie, I’ll give you a hand.”

“Thanks.” Cassidy was happy Arthur was willing to help.

“Any news about the person selling bad moonshine?” Arthur knew Cassidy went to talk to one of the older timers about the problem.

Cassidy looks at Arthur “I haven’t heard back yet from the old-timers. Even if they have found the person responsible, for selling bad moonshine. They wouldn’t tell me. That’s not how things are done among us moonshiners.”

Cassidy knew everything is kept among the old-timers and the guilty person or persons. There was a code all moonshiners followed, and no one broke that code. If they did, well the consequences were harsh.

Cassidy and Arthur finish dinner and later go to the movies. Cassidy was enjoying the time she and Arthur spent together. Her roommates loved it when she was happy. Arthur drops Cassidy off at her place.

“Are we still on for tomorrow night?” Cassidy was looking forward to their dates.

“Yes, and I’ll pick you up at the store.” He kisses her on the lips.

Cassidy returns the kiss and leans into Arthur’s body. Her legs felt like jelly and the only thing holding her up was Arthur’s strong arms. After a
few more seconds, they stop kissing and look into each other’s eyes.

Arthur could tell how much in love Cassidy was with him. He could see it in her eyes.

“I better let you head inside before we start tearing each other’s clothes off.”

A smile appears on Cassidy’s face “would that be a bad thing?”

“Not really, but you have a store to run and I have to be at the sheriff’s office. So, I’ll see you tomorrow evening.” Arthur gives Cassidy a light kiss on the cheeks and heads towards his Jeep.

Cassidy watches as Arthur walks off. She loved his butt in the tight jeans he was wearing.

The next morning Cassidy heads towards the store. When she pulls up to the store, there was a brown van sitting in front of the store. Inside were two men people. As she approached the store, she could see the passenger of the van looked to be about her age. The driver, on the other hand, looked to be around her uncle’s age.

The two men get out of the van when Cassidy approaches the door. The guy around Cassidy’s age was watching her, while the older guy was sipping his coffee.

“Hank, its good to see. I hope I’m not interrupting your retirement.” Cassidy unlocks the store and rushes to turn the alarm off.

“Retirement sucks Cassidy. I have too much time on my hands.” Hank walks into the store and looks around.

He couldn’t believe that the old place hasn’t changed much. It still looked like he remembered it when he retired. It uses to be the old furniture store he worked at.

“Well, I have plenty of work to keep you busy. If you’ll follow me to the storage area, you can see what I need to be done.” Cassidy starts walking towards the storage area in the back of the store.

Hank and his grandson Peter followed Cassidy to the back to see what she had that needed to be completed. Each step Hank took, kept taking him back when he worked in the building. Hank lets out a whistle when he sees how much stuff there was. It ranged from some broken trunks of various sizes to cabinets, chairs, dressers and other items.

“Yeah, I thought you might feel that way. All of this should keep you busy.” Cassidy was watching Hank as he moved about looking at everything.

“This is going to keep me and grandson busy alright. Do you want all original hardware used or will a modern piece work?”

“I want to keep it as original as possible. If you can’t find an original part, go ahead and substitute it with a reproduction part.”

“Alright, any other instructions?” Hank had a smirk on his face because he already knew what she was going to say.

“Yeah, keep the repairs cost down, please. I still need to make a profit on this stuff.” Cassidy knew how much she already had invested in the
furniture.

“Alright, we’ll take a few easy pieces and get them ready for you.”

“Thanks.”

Cassidy watches as Hank selects pieces he wanted to work on. The trunks were one of the things she needed to be repaired. She spots Peter helping his grandfather move the pieces out to their van. Once they were loaded up and drive off.

Cassidy prepares the store for business and goes through the newspaper looking for estate sells and such. She spots a few that were on the weekend that she and Arthur could go to. They were at different times and not too far away from each other. She figures they could go to all of them. She’ll have to take the company van, but hopefully she can get some good antiques.

Most of the day is slow and Cassidy dusts the shop. She does make a few small sales that help, but only in keeping the lights on. Once she is done dusting and polishing, she hears the bell just above the door ring. She turns to see who just walked in “Richard, what brings down to my store?”

Richard smile when he sees Cassidy “I came to give some good news. The person responsible for selling bad shine has been reported to the ATF agent you left with Papa Joe. It seems he poisoned more people than the agent told you.”

Cassidy was stun, normally the old-timers didn’t tell agents. She looks at Richard with disbelief on her face “I thought we policed our own?”

“We do, but his crime was more than we felt right to deal with, so we called your agent friend and gave him the information anonymously.”

“Remind me to never make you guys mad.” Cassidy hadn’t figured on that move.

“Trust me, Cassidy. If you committed a crime as bad as this person did. We would hang you out to dry. The only other option left to us was
putting him in the grave.”

“Oh! The crime was that bad?”

“Yes.” Richard couldn’t believe how bad things were when they found out.

“Thanks for telling me. I know you didn’t have too.”

“You’re one of us, Cassidy. Plus, your uncles are my best friends. So, that makes you family. If you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks, Richard.”

Richard turns around and leaves the store. Cassidy goes about rearranging some antiques and wonder why the old timers had the person arrested.