Boomtown by Lani Lynn Vale

shoes.  Walking into the bathroom I twisted my hair up into a messy knot on the top of my head, swished on some deodorant that smelled like baby powder and exited the bathroom.  I snatched Janie off the floor in the living room where she was pouring out lucky charms onto the coffee table and headed into her bedroom to get her dressed. 
      I dressed her in about the same as I was wearing, because I had the philosophy that babies should be comfortable too, and dresses blew. I wasn’t putting her in a dress, even though my mom bought a gazillion of them.  James and I thought it was hilarious that we dressed her so comfortably, and mom hated it with a passion.  I at least dressed her in clothes that matched and did her hair nicely.  James never did her hair, and was lucky to put two things on that matched. 
      Today I dressed her in tight black Capri leggings, and a shirt that said, “I love my auntie.”  Of course, I was partial to it because I bought it for her.  I put new squeaker shoes on her, and decided to tape a video of it to send to James since he despised them and tried to throw them away every chance he got. 
      Janie and I ran errands for most of the morning, hitting the grocery store first to drop them back at the house.  After that we went to Target so I could get a few new pairs of workout pants since all of mine seemed to be worn out from over use.  Although, the overuse wasn’t from working out, it was from wearing them as much as just wearing them in general.  I liked how they made my ass look, and sucked in my fat. 
      Janie fell asleep around noon, so I decided that now would be a good time to visit with Sam.  I picked up tacos after getting the order from Sam. 
      “Hey, is it all right if I come by the shop?” I asked him 
      “Yes, why wouldn’t it be ok?  Have you eaten yet?” he said in reply.
      “No, I was thinking about getting tacos.  Do you want anything?” 
      “Yea, just get me whatever you are getting times two.”  He answered. 
      “Alright, I’ll be there in a little bit.” I said to him before hanging up. 
       I ordered our lunch, and then headed to Free. 
       I happened to look into my rear view mirror and see a red compact following me, but didn’t think much of it until she turned down Second St. which was the fourth turn that I had noticed them taking with me. 
      I pulled into Free and the car passed by, but I still had an uneasy feeling so I decided to tell Sam anyway.  I drove up close to the bay doors and hopped out leaving it idling.  I walked up to Max since he was the first one I spotted and said, “Is it alright if I pull the truck in? Janie is sleeping and I don’t want to take her out, but I want to have some shade over here so it’s easier for her to sleep.”  
      “Yea, just pull in here, there’s plenty of room.” He said. 
      I nodded then pulled into the garage and shut the truck off.  About that time Sam came out from the office with his phone to his ear.  He sounded like he was arguing with someone, so I waited until he was through to go to him.  He wrapped me up in a hug and I leaned my head against his chest breathing in deeply. Gosh he sure did smell good.  Like fresh detergent, and some man body wash.  I took another sniff thinking I needed to steal one of his t-shirts after he wore it all day. 
      “Are you sniffing me?” he rumbled out. 
      “You know that Febreeze commercial, the one where the people are playing charades and the guy is lying on the floor, and the people are trying to guess what he is?” I said to him.
      “No.   Don’t watch much TV.” He told me. 
      “Well, in the commercial he is sniffing the carpet, and he smells so good. He just stays there, and keeps sniffing, all the while the people around him are shouting out their guesses.  Well that’s what I feel like doing to you right now.  You smell so good.  I need to see if they make a candle of the way you