Death of a Coupon Clipper Read Online Free

office.
    That could only mean one thing.
    Hayley fumbled around the contents of her bag. Her fingers touched some paper and
     she instinctively knew what it was. An envelope. With the check for the insurance
     company inside it. She forgot to mail it.
    “Gretchen, I am so, so sorry. I have it right here. I can run it by your office during
     my lunch hour.”
    “That will be fine, dear. Once I have it, I can reinstate your policy.”
    “Great, thank you. Now I need to file a claim for the damage to my car. Do you want
     to take down the information or have me fill out a form online?”
    More silence on the other end of the phone.
    Again. Not good.
    “Excuse me, dear, the accident happened yesterday?”
    “Yes. The roof collapsed on top of my Subaru. There was no other car involved. I’m
     covered for something like that, right?”
    “Of course, dear. The only problem is when your policy was a week past due, which
     would have been yesterday, it was canceled.”
    “I understand,” Hayley said. “But I have the check right here in my hand and you said
     you could reinstate it.”
    “Yes. And you will be covered as of today. Unfortunately, and this is why I am so
     ready to retire next year, the vultures at this company will almost certainly deny
     your claim because at the time of the accident, you were technically not covered.”
    This could not be happening.
    “But I’ve been on time with my payments for years. This was a onetime mix-up. I swear
     I’ll never be late again.”
    “If it were up to me, I’d have you driving a brand-new Infiniti by the end of business
     hours tomorrow. But I’m not authorized to process this claim. I have to send it to
     corporate headquarters and they decide whether or not to cut you a check. Hayley,
     I’m telling you right now, this is the kind of loophole they always look for.”
    Hayley felt her eyes welling up with tears again. She couldn’t take much more of this.
     She quietly thanked Gretchen for her time and hung up the phone. She sat in stunned
     silence the rest of the morning, robotically answering the phone and jotting down
     information from local businesses calling to place ads in the paper. She couldn’t
     even begin to focus on her column, which was due by the end of the day.
    Around noon Randy walked through the door in a stylish navy blue winter coat he bought
     while visiting a college friend in Denver and a scarf Sergio’s mother had knitted
     for him last Christmas.
    “Hey, sis, I’ve come to treat you to lunch. Want to go to Jordan’s and split a large
     order of onion rings? I’m feeling naughty.”
    He instantly sensed something was wrong.
    “What happened now?” he asked.
    Hayley recounted the details of her conversation with Gretchen at the insurance company.
     And the devastating estimates from Billy Parsons to repair her roof and install a
     new furnace.
    Randy rushed over to Hayley as she stood up and hugged her tightly. “You know I’d
     lend you the money, but we’re cash poor right now because of the money pit we live
     in and our astronomical gas bill this winter. And Sergio cleaned out our savings to
     buy his plane ticket home to Brazil.”
    “I know, I know. This isn’t your problem. I’m the one who got myself into this financial
     mess. I’ve been budgeting, but I just didn’t include any unexpected problems. What
     am I going to do?”
    “You’re going to come stay in my drafty house until we figure out how to get you a
     new furnace. We’ll sit by the fire and wrap ourselves up in blankets and drink Irish
     coffee with whipped cream and we’ll bake cookies until we both grow a belt size. It’ll
     be like one big fun slumber party.”
    It sounded heavenly.
    And Hayley really needed a lifeline right now.

Chapter 4
    Randy picked Hayley up at the office promptly at five o’clock in his blue Prius and
     they drove straight to the grocery store to stock up on cookie dough, chocolate chips,
     coffee, and, most important,