"Phil! Does this thing work?"
I hated these things. Once a year or so, the block would have one big garage sale. For the couple of bucks we made, it wasn't worth the aggravation of digging the stuff out, cleaning it up and then bickering about the price.
But, here we were again. I raised my head from the pimply teen who was trying to palm one of my Rookie of the Year cards, rather than pay the $5 to see my wife Sue pointing to the white ceiling fan.
"Works fine!" not including the fact that the only reason we changed it was because she wanted a wicker fan.
"And it has all the parts?" another female voice asked, deep and throaty. My head turned. A woman about fifty stood with Sue. Why I didn't notice her before is beyond me.
I totally forgot about the cards, letting my 10 year old son keep an eye on the teen, and moved across the lawn to my wife of twelve years, the last four of which had been pretty stagnant.
I smiled and nodded at the woman. "Yeah, everything that came with it, including the instructions."
She was Sue's height, 5'5, but bustier, with a salt and pepper Pageboy framing her bone-white skin. Perfect lip gloss and eye-shadow made her look like someone from the perfume counter at Macy's. Her eyes were what? Violet? No, greyish?
She held my eyes, and I knew Sue was watching intently. "Well, it's such a great price! How could I pass it up?"
I smiled. "I'm sure you'll be satisfied with it."
"Money back guarantee?" she joked as she reached for her purse.
"You got it," he responded as Sue began to protest. The lady said to Sue, "I'm just joking, Hon!"
I helped her to her car with the box, which was falling apart a bit. I plopped it in her trunk and straightened up. She asked, "So, do I tip you?"
"That won't be necessary, unless you need some help carrying it into your place, too," I flirted.
"Hmm, I don't think your wife would like that."
Sue was busy with another sale by then. "Right now, no, but I'll be available as soon as this thing winds down."
She seemed to be considering it, and I felt something stir in my jeans. "Thanks, I just moved into the neighborhood, I don't want to be run out on a rail!"
"Really? And me being head of the Welcoming Committee? How did I miss that? Seriously though, let me know if you have trouble with that fan."
She looked me up and down. "Hopefully, I won't."
"Okay, you hope your way, I'll hope mine!"
Sue ragged on me for flirting with a woman my mother's age.
"Oh, come on, I was just being nice, and she wasn't that old."
"Phil, she was probably fifty-five, maybe older!"