The Bikini Car Wash Read Online Free Page B

thing?”
    Her father shrugged. “Sweetie, there are things worth fighting for in the world and there are things that are not. I try to have the wisdom to recognize one from the other.”
    Andi admired her father’s honor and his willingness to turn the other cheek, but she knew people in town sometimes took advantage of that. He was a better man than Plainview often deserved.
    “The Guthries are lucky you didn’t sell it to someone else.”
    Her father shook his head. “Nobody else ever showed any interest. I guess there’s not much anyone could do with it.”
    “What do you mean that there’s not much anyone could do with it,” Andi said. “It’s on one of the busiest corners inthe whole downtown area. Half the people in town drive past it every day.”
    Her father nodded. “Yeah, it does seem a shame that it’s just sitting there costing me money.”
    “I should open up some kind of business there,” Andi said, absently.
    “Yeah, you probably should,” her father told her. “When a person has a job and a regular check coming in, it’s always hard to risk that by going off on your own. But when you’re unemployed, well, what’s that old saying, ‘when you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.’”
    Her father’s words caught Andi’s attention.
    “You’d be okay if I opened some kind of business in that place?”
    “Sure,” he said. “If you can think of something to do with it, you ought to do it. You probably won’t get rich, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to have some cash in your pocket and to build back your savings. You’ll need it to move back to the city one day.”
    “I’m not moving back,” Andi reminded him. “I’m staying in Plainview.”
    “Well, then, you’ll need an income even more,” he said. “It may be a good long while before business in this town begins to pick up again. I’ll let you have the building for free. You can pay me after you make your first million.” He chuckled.
    Andi did too. It seemed pretty unlikely.
    “The building’s way too small for a shop or a restaurant,” she said. “It would be a good size for an office. But who needs an office with a drive-through?”
    “That’s been my problem with it all along,” her father said. “I can’t tear the place down because it’s part of an architectural conservation zone. I can’t expand, because the lot is undersized and pie-shaped. I couldn’t add so much as a closet without getting into the easement of Guthrie’s property. It was fine for what it was, but I could never figure what else to do with it.”
    “Maybe it could be a drive-through coffee place,” Andi suggested.
    “I don’t know how much demand there is for that kind of thing,” Pop said. “But it sure doesn’t hurt to look into it.”
    “Great!” Andi said, feeling surprisingly pleased and optimistic. She forked a big bite of casserole in her mouth and discovered why her father had pushed his plate away and why her sister was playing with hers.
    “Yuck, this is awful!”
    Jelly and Pop nodded.
    “You can’t cook, Andi,” her father pointed out. “You never could. And I don’t know why you keep thinking you can, ’cause you’re terrible at it.”
    “Mom was so good at it,” Andi said.
    “She was. But you’re not,” her father said. “So what do you girls think? How about some nice cheese and crackers? Maybe we can slice up an apple.”
    Jelly nodded enthusiastically.
    Andi was still mourning her epicurean disaster as she carried the casserole to the garbage disposal. “I don’t get it,” she said. “I did everything I was supposed to do. And it looks just exactly the way Mom’s used to look.”
    Her father chuckled with wisdom born of experience. “How things look, as often as not, completely fool us as to how things are.”
     
    The next morning Pete was sitting in front of the computer screen in his office, poring over a plan-o-gram from the distributor. The latest changes involved squeezing the