“Uh, anosmia?” Buck questioned, maintaining his distance as they walked toward the barn.
“Yup. Couldn’t smell a thing. She’d been like that for years.”
Randal slid the big barn door open, and there, inside, were neat piles of diving equipment stacked on several carts.
Randal continued. “Knowing you were coming, I filled the tanks about an hour ago to pressure test them since they haven’t been used this year. You can see, though, they’re all holding air.”
Buck walked forward and checked the gauges on the eight available tanks, noting that they all looked good.
He perused further.
Along with those cylinders, there was a compressor, masks and fins; wet suits and dry suits including booties, gloves, and hoods. There were regulator sets, buoyancy control devices, dive computers, and even a few dive lights and knives.
As Buck shuffled through everything, he saw it was all in great shape. Randal had clearly taken good care of his equipment.
“This stuff is close to perfect,” Buck acknowledged, picking up each piece individually to check things over.
“No reason to treat rigs poorly,” Randall answered, picking up and running his thumb over one glove, fondly. “I’m sure these things will help a lot while you’re establishing your business, at least until you can afford to buy new.”
“Are you kidding me?” Buck countered. “We might not have to do that for a while. It looks like we’ll be able to use this stuff for years.”
“Or at least until regulations change,” Randal chuckled. “There’s always some new-fangled advancement in materials and safety coming down the pike.”
“True,” Buck agreed. “But I don’t foresee any of this gear going obsolete anytime soon.” He cleared his throat. The moment was right to get down to business. “I know you talked to my brother, Spencer, but he didn’t say anything to me about price. What are you asking?”
Randal named a figure that was more than reasonable.
Buck raised his brows. “Why so cheap? Not to torpedo my own chances, but you know you can get half again as much for all this stuff. I’m sure of it. I’ve been looking.”
Randal stroked his chin. “You’re right, but let me put it to you this way. I’m giving you a discount on taking thewholelot. If I wanted to sell it by the piece, then sure, I could get more. But I’m not up for the hassle. Do I want every Tom, Dick, and Harriet traipsing through my place to pick up one dry suit? Nope. The dogs might be happy for the company, but I wouldn’t be.” He spat on the ground, and the onion smell bloomed around them.
Buck was tempted to hold his breath, but managed to laugh instead. “Okay. I get it. But I still don’t feel right, taking it for so little. How about…?” Buck named a figure that was twenty percent higher than what Randal had asked, which as far as he was concerned, was still a huge bargain.
“You drive a hard deal, son,” Randal cackled. “But I’ll take it. You’ve got yourself some gear.”
“Awesome. Will a check do?” Buck asked. “We just opened our company account a few days ago, and we don’t have our debit cards or any pay apps set up yet.”
“Hah,” the man scoffed. “I wouldn’t know what to do with that new stuff even if you had it.” Randal snorted. “A check is fine. I know where to find you if it bounces.”
“It won’t. I promise.” Buck practically ran back to his van to get the checkbook, taking deep breaths of fresh air along the way.Damn. Randal was one hell of a nice guy, but the smell was downright overwhelming.
Their transaction took no time at all, and in another ten minutes Buck was all loaded up and ready to go.
“Come visit us, any time,” Buck told Randal. “Maybe we can set you up for a few shallow dives that won’t tax your lung.”
“I might just take you up on that,” Randal nodded. “Maybe next time my daughter is home, on leave or for good, we’ll both come up to see you.”
“I’d like that. And thank you so much for all this.”
“My pleasure.”
Buck shook the man’s hand again while holding his breath surreptitiously, then got into his van and drove away.
It was a shame about Randal’s onion addiction. If Buck hadn’t been gassed out, he would have loved to have spent more time picking the man’s brains.
The nearly three-hourdrive north passed quickly, which was probably due to Buck’s excitement over seeing Bobbie again. Last night she’d more than hinted at it being okay if things got a little physical, and he was trying to work up the courage thatupon greeting her in a few minutes, he’d approach with a gentle kiss.
Thoughts of Bobbie continued to consume him as he entered Orono. Not that she’d ever been far from his mind, but he’d purposely refused to think about her while conducting business this morning, so he wouldn’t appear distracted.
