Leondra took in a breath. “This isn’t a storefront shelf. You needed a working cart.”

“I need something I can rely on. This’ll do me for now, but not for long. So this is what you get.”

She settled the money back in his hands and lifted the handles of her old cart. “Well, if it’s not good enough, I can still make use of it. You save that money to spend on a better looking cart.”

The bluff was aptly made. The man threw his hands up in the air. “Wait wait wait! All right, Leondra. You win. Here’s what we agreed upon.” He reached into his apron for the rest of his funds. Leondra watched as he did count out the rest of what he’d promised. “If this don’t last me a month, there’ll be retribution, mark my words.”

“If it doesn’t last a month, show me the wreckage and I’ll give you your money back.”

Came back a little strong with that one. Leondra could hear her sister groan. But as she put down the cart and had the money in hand, Leondra didn’t care. She was certain. She would have relied on this cart for another six month, at least. One would be easy.

Leondra was honest. She never would expect someone to renege on a promise.