Elka took his hand and was using all her worldly charm as she spoke, “Let’s talk more about that at dinner. Why don’t you let us take you to lunch and we’ll walk to the lawyer’s office.”
He sat back, “Aint got nobody to watch the store until one, Earl is comin in jist afore that.”
Elka smiled, “Do you think he might come in earlier?” Clarence nodded. “Get him on the phone I want to talk to him.”
She had Earl talked into coming right away. Walking down the street to the diner Elka slipped her arm through mine. I looked down with one of those “what’s going on” looks. She smiled and said softly, “Shush, just go with it.”
At the diner Clarence introduced us as Lars and his little woman Elka. It bothered me but she seemed to love the idea and went with the flow. At the lawyer’s office he wondered how Norwegians could have a last name like Stanley. Once again, it was Elka to the rescue. Lars mom was Norwegian but his dad was from Oregon. My grandparents were both Norwegian.”
That seemed to settle things and the sale went along smoothly. In less than 45 minutes the money had been transferred and we were the new owners of Boones Farm and Dairy Supply. As well as the building next door and its few contents. Considering Elka had been on a roll with all the negotiations to that point I told her to continue when we took Clarence to dinner. Walking back to the store she stopped and held me in place by my hand.
She looked at me funnily, “Are you sure? You haven’t done much talking, I don’t want you upset at me. I just seem to have a connection with the old guy.”
I smiled, “We’re in this together sis. We’ve always looked out for each other, I have complete confidence in you. There’s no one on this earth that I trust more. We should find out what he wants for the place and agree on a price though, before you say yes to a sale.”
She grinned, “Of course silly. I would never make a decision like that without your input. Let’s take a quick look around the store and then go back to the motel, I need a nap.”
At the store we met Earl, a middle aged guy who seemed to be enthusiastic. Through conversation he revealed that he’d lost his job several months ago when a manufacturing plant closed and he’d been filling in part time for Clarence. I asked if he was interested in full time employment.
“You bet sir. The missus would be mighty happy if I found a full time job.”
I looked at him, “Okay, let me talk it over with Elka and we’ll let you know in the morning.”
Clarence was back by then, he gave us all the keys to the store except a set for himself. He gave Elka, not me, all the keys to the building next door. He winked at her and said. “I spect that’ll be your place soon enough anyways. Aint nuthin over there for your fella.”
As we were saying our goodbyes and making sure Clarence was going to meet us at the local supper club at six he asked.
“Are you and the little woman sure about seein the farm? I mean, it aint much anymore. Buildings need work and I aint done nothin to the inside other than keep it clean since my woman died.”
I shook his hand, “Yes sir, me and the little woman are absolutely sure. We’ve talked about it at length. I made reservations for six so make sure you’re there on time.”
We said nothing on the short jaunt to the motel. Once inside the room she changed into some sweats while I was in the bathroom and laid down. I closed the curtains to darken the room and followed suit. I was nearly asleep when her soft angelic voice broke through.
“Lars. Can I lay with you?”
I had no objection, “Sure. Just don’t hog the bed like when we were kids.”
With her snuggled against my back she spoke softly, “You’re really playing the little woman thing up. What gives?”
I turned to face her, our noses weren’t more than five inches apart, “Well. If we’re gonna make this charade work, we sure as hell can’t be calling each other brother and sister, can we?”
She sighed, “I guess not. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Then I’m going to start wearing mom’s wedding ring, it fits me. You don’t need to wear anything, but women look for that sort of thing on a married woman.”
I acquiesced, “Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. I need to think about wearing one.”
Her next question floored me, “Will you hold my hand and kiss me in public then?”
I pushed back enough to look into her eyes, “Don’t push it sis. Yeah, we should probably hold hands or something like that when we’re in the public, and maybe a kiss if it’s expected, but don’t get your hopes up. We are brother and sister in case you’ve forgotten.”
She slumped into my chest, “I know, I just feel so safe when I’m with you. I need to sleep Lars, don’t let me go past four.”
I put my arm around her shoulder, “What makes you think that I’ll be awake at four?”
“Because you never nap for more than a half hour.”
And she was right, I never seemed to do more than quick power naps. When I woke she was snuggled tight to my chest, as I attempted to untangle myself from her she made one of those “MMMM” sounds, as if to say, “not yet.” I gently slid from her grasp, laid her head on the pillow, kissed her on the forehead and whispered. “Shhhh, sleep.”
She was lost in sandland immediately. I decided to walk to the office for a Dr Pepper. Once inside Cindy walked around the counter.
“So. I hear you folks are the new owners of Boone’s. Sure you’re ready for something like that? I mean being young and probably not married very long. It can put a lot of stress on a relationship. I wish you well.”
I popped the can, took a long swig trying to figure out what to say, “There won’t be any problem for me and Elka, we’ve known each other since forever. This is something we both want to do, it’ll work out just fine. Thanks for the concern though. Once we’re up and running we plan to have a huge bbq in the lot next to the store, everyone will be invited.”
She chuckled, “Now there’s something this town needs, a family restaurant. There are the diners, fast-food joints, and the supper club but there’s nothing in between. Maybe you should think about converting the old five and dime. I can guarantee it would be busy, folks can only do the diners and fast-food places so much. And the supper club is too expensive to take the kids. Nope, a family kind of place would go gangbusters here. Talk to your bride about it.”
And there it was, Elka was now being referred to as my bride. What the hell, I never saw that freight train coming. There was no turning back now, we were going to need to behave like a husband and wife. We were going to have to have a serious talk and make sure we didn’t slip up and mention we were twins. Shit, why did I let that little snot talk me into this situation. Were she not my sister I would gladly make her my wife, but she was. How were we going to pull this off?
While she was sleeping I took a short walk down main street. News certainly travels fast in smaller cities. Nearly everyone I met on the street knew that Elka and I were the new owners of what most called the farm store. Walking past the bakery I noticed she was closed but that there were loaves of bread sitting on a table alongside the building. When I asked someone about it they commented that she would put the day old bread out for those who were down and out as the lady put it. I found myself thinking that was a wonderful gesture. Instead of tossing the food she was able to move the older products and the indigent were able to eat something relatively fresh.
As I opened the door and walked into the room Elka was coming out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her head. She shrieked, I grunted, apologized and walked away as quickly as possible. Wandering around the parking lot wasting time so she could dress I was unhappy with myself. For the first time in our entire lives I was feeling aroused looking at my sister. Damn she looked good, long slender torso, cute breasts that jiggled a little as she was drying her hair, and then there was that soft elegant looking patch of blond hair at the apex of her thighs.
Both of us have natural blonde hair, however my pubic hair had turned a light brown as I aged. Hers obviously never did. I was chastising myself about not being able to get that image from my mind. I mean, how do you unsee something like that. With my back still turned to the door I heard it open.
Elka poked her head out and called, “Lars, honey, it’s time to get ready.”
When I looked around to see who the show had been for there stood Cindy peering out the office window. I was thinking as I walked to the room, “boy, we’re going to have to be on our toes every moment of every day to make this sham work.” And if it didn’t work our business and lives would be ruined. We had no choice but to make sure it worked. I planned to open the door slowly just in case, to my surprise it opened from the inside with a flurry. Standing in a skirt and bra was Elka.
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