Lucky Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries) by Sharon Fiffer

Halloween?” asked Jane.
    When the phone rang and Nellie, still busy giving the evil eye to fourth graders, made no move to answer, Jane ran to the kitchen to grab it.
    “Put your mother on, honey,” said Don.
    “You kids use the sidewalk. That’s what it’s there for.”
    “She’s yelling at the neighborhood, Dad, what’s up?”
    “It’s Carl.”
    Jane heard the break in her father’s voice before he cleared his throat.
    “I found him when I got here. He had closed and locked up the front, but the back door was still unlocked. He was on his way out. He had his jacket on and that little cap of his. He was sort of awake, but…” Don broke up midsentence and cleared his throat. “Doc says stroke.”
    “He’s dead?”
    “He’s in intensive care, but they don’t seem very hopeful he’ll come out of this one.”
    Jane pulled her mother in from the doorway and closed it behind her. She told her as gently as she could that Carl was at the hospital and it was serious.
    Nellie continued to stare out the front door.
    “So Carl’s dying?”
    “Maybe,” said Jane. “I’ll get dressed and drive you to the hospital.”
    “Nope. You finish getting dressed, make yourself look presentable, and go tend bar while Dad and I go to the hospital. Carl hasn’t got any family but your dad and me so we should be there together, not one at a time. Hurry up.”
    Jane ran into her bedroom to put on her boots. She ran a comb though her hair and put in her hoop earrings. While she helped herself to a quick swipe of Nellie’s lipstick in the bathroom, she heard her mother’s voice coming from the front porch.
    “That’s right, go around and use the sidewalk. Grass won’t grow there if you wear out a path.”
    Jane drove to the tavern, and got a quick lesson in drawing a beer. Jane thought she had enough practice, but her dad gently shook his head.
    “You’re tilting the glass too much. Just like this,” he said, helping her hold the glass correctly in her left hand under the tap while drawing the beer with her right. Don picked up a coaster and smoothly slid it under the glass.
    “You won’t have too many people, Janie,” said Don. “And if you have any questions, call this number.”
    Don withdrew a cell phone from his pocket, looked at a piece of masking tape on it, and copied down the number, then placed it by the landline phone behind the bar.
    “When did you get a cell phone?” said Jane, letting beer run all over her hand as she backed away from the tap to face her dad. “And why don’t I already have the number?”
    “I got it last week,” said Don. He looked a little flushed and Jane wondered if the pressure of finding Carl had been too much for him. Then she realized her dad was blushing.
    “I haven’t told your mother yet. I just thought we ought to have them. I got her one, too, but I wanted to get used to it … you know, figure out how to use it myself so I could teach her when I gave it to her,” said Don. “I want you and your brother, Michael, to be able to reach us. With you all alone up there in the city, I thought it would be good for us all to be able to get in touch easier.”
    “It’s a wonderful idea, Dad. But if I call you on it this morning, won’t Mom catch on pretty quick?”
    “Got it on vibrate and I can just excuse myself and call you back. Doesn’t really matter, I’m ready to start the battle with her to use one. I’m getting pretty good. See? I got your number, and Nick’s, and Michael’s, and the EZ Way Inn on my favorites. And Carl’s,” he added.
    Don’s voice got husky and he went around to his desk to pick up his keys and hat. He was swinging by the house to pick up Nellie and together they would go spend a couple of hours at Carl’s bedside. To anyone watching, they would make an odd triangle of a family.
    Jane watched her father put on his hat, tilt it back at an angle, and felt tears coming. She had known Carl forever. He was cranky and usually silent