Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer Read Free Book Online Page B

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    â€œTanner, we don’t normally take so many personal calls at work. Maybe you’d better tell your friend not to call so much.”
    â€œI’m telling those girls not to call. They just keep after me.”
    How many Baby s have you got?
    Â 
    I stapled the white Lone Star in the corner of the big relief map of Texas, put five Western boots on plastic stands in front of the map, and lugged out the sign I’d made that proclaimed:
    WESTERN BOOTS ON SALE
    20% OFF
THIS ONE’S FOR YOU, HARRY!
    Tears stung my eyes, but I wasn’t going to cry. I touched a stacked-heeled black boot. Harry Bender always wore cowboy boots.
    He was the greatest shoe salesman in all of history.
    Murray stood quietly at my side. “You know, kid, when Harry was ringing up a sale, he’d flick the corner of the credit card, make it twirl in the air, and catch it behind his back. The customers loved it.”
    â€œI hadn’t heard that story, Murray.”
    â€œThere are a million stories about him.”
    I centered the little photo of Harry in his Stetson hat laughing away. I decided that lighting a candle might be overkill.
    Tanner sauntered into the store, twenty minutes late from lunch. He looked at the memorial. “What’s that?”
    â€œIt’s to honor a friend of ours that died,” I told him. “When I line up all the men I’ve known in my life, Harry Bender was the best of them all. When I sell shoes, I think about how he did it and that helps me do my best.”
    Tanner touched the scar on his face. “The best man I knew was our neighbor, Ice. If you got locked out, he’d kick down a door for you or throw a brick through your window. He was that kind of guy.”
    â€œKid,” Murray said, “pulling from that memory won’t help you in retail.”
    Tanner shrugged. “You line up most of the guys I know, you’d be smart to run the other way.”
    A small man was standing by the oxfords, but looking wistfully toward Harry’s boot display.
    â€œCan I help you, sir?” I asked. Tanner was at my elbow.
    â€œOh, I’m just looking.” He stared longingly at the cowboy boots.
    â€œI’ve seen a lot of people stand here trying to decide if they should try on a pair of boots,” I said, smiling. Tanner smiled, too.
    The man laughed. “Well, they’re impractical. Cowboy boots . . . I mean, where would I wear them?”
    I just stood there.
    The man looked at Tanner. “Okay, tell me the truth. Would you wear these?”
    Tanner grinned. “Are you kidding? I’d sleep in ’em, they’re so cool.”
    That man’s face beamed confidence. I already had the foot measure ready.
    â€œI really came in for an oxford, but . . .”
    Tanner looked at the oxfords and shook his head.
    The man gulped.
    I got the boots.
    â€œJust step firmly in here, sir, and press your heel down.”
    That man started strutting around the store, stopping at every mirror. He stuck his thumb in his belt. “I’ll take ’em,” he said. His voice had grown deeper.
    I rang him up at the counter, took twenty percent off in honor of Harry. Told him to stay safe out there. Tanner rolled his eyes at that one.
    â€œYep.” He sauntered out the door. If we sold cowboy hats, we would have had a sale. Horses, even. I turned to Tanner. “It doesn’t always go like this.”
    â€œYou haven’t had me to help before.”
    Just then, Yaley walked in.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Tanner demanded.
    â€œChecking up on you.”
    He opened his hands. “I’m here.”
    â€œI see you,” she responded.
    Tanner made an irritated noise and sauntered into the back.
    â€œMy job’s never over with him,” she said to me.
    I had a memory flash. Me as a little kid checking up on Dad when he was watching TV. I’d count the number of empty beer cans by his chair. I learned