Today, Fern runs the store normally, besides the incident in the afternoon.
Mrs. Murphy comes in to buy some bait for Mr. Murphy and the grandkids to go fishing, and brings their 3-year-old granddaughter, Gracie.
When they walk in the door, Fern looks up to see little Gracie sprinting toward her for a hug.
Fern and Gracie love each other, which is why Gracie had begged her grandmother to let her go to Freeman Market to see Fern.
Fern and Gracie play with the cash register while Mrs. Murphy picks out the bait she wants.
Then, Fern helps Gracie check out her grandmother.
However, when Fern closes the cash drawer, she doesn't see Gracie's thumb sticking in the way.
The drawer shuts with a ding, and Gracie starts wailing. Fern quickly tries to open the drawer again, but the button refuses to work because the lock isn't latched completely.
She runs to the storage room to rummage through the toolbox she keeps back there. She finds a flat head screwdriver and runs back to the register.
Fern sticks the screwdriver into the crack at the top of the drawer and pries it open. The register drawer is now broken, but at least Gracie's finger isn't.
Fern gives Gracie a popsicle, a hug, and a kiss on her thumb to make her feel better.
Mrs. Murphy and Gracie head home, and Fern examines the cash drawer to see if she can fix it.
After examining it for a few minutes, she concludes that it's never going to latch well again. Fern adds a new cash register to her mental list of things that need to be replaced.