At Wick's End - Tim Myers [42]
Eve frowned and bit her lower lip. “I honestly don’t know. We don’t want to alienate her.”
I laughed. “The lady is determined to learn. Why not charge her for the privilege?”
“It’s your shop, Harrison.”
“Double it is, then.”
When I got back from the storeroom, I couldn’t find Mrs. Jorgenson anywhere. Oh, no. I shouldn’t have left her alone after all. Then I saw her head appear above a shell full of copper cookie cutters, a dozen or so in her hands. “I’ll take these as well.”
I added them to her total, along with the amount, astronomical in hindsight, I was charging her for lessons. Seeing it on paper gave me a bout of cold feet. Would she balk at the fee and walk out? I mentioned the total to her casually, fighting to keep the jitters out of my voice.
Her only comment was, “That sounds quite reasonable,” and I suddenly wondered if I’d charged her enough. Oh, well, it was too late now.
Eve began carrying boxes out of the storeroom, and Mrs. Jorgenson gave her the remote control to her trunk. I said, “Hang on a second, I can take care of that.”
“I don’t mind,” Eve said as she disappeared outside.
I handed Mrs. Jorgenson her credit card as well as the receipt for her to sign, then gave her the other copy. “Would you like to set up your next lesson now?”
She nodded. “Let’s say the same time next week, shall we? I plan on devoting this week to rolling.”
She started for the door, then said, “You know, I’m quite impressed with your ability to teach candlemaking. It’s as if you still remember what it was like to learn it for the first time.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“You have a feel for the wax, don’t you?”
“I’d like to think so,” I admitted. “You’ve got a real knack yourself.”
When Eve came back inside a minute later, there was a bemused smile on her face. “What’s so funny?” I asked.
“She actually tipped me,” Eve said, holding a ten up in the air. “Did she give you one too?”
“Not a chance. It looks like you’re buying lunch,” I said.
Eve tucked the money in her blouse pocket, then studied the bill I’d made out. She gasped when she saw the amount I said, “I didn’t charge enough, did I?”
“Enough? Harrison, that total I gave you was for an entire class of five. You charged her much too much.”
I grinned. “Funny, she thought it was quite reasonable.”
Eve still looked troubled. “I still think it’s too much.”
I said, “Then I’ll give her a break on her supplies the next time she comes in, but I don’t think it was a mistake. I’m telling you, she didn’t bat an eye.”
“Let’s not try to make up all of our losses on her,” Eve said softly. “No matter how tempting it might be.”
I was about to respond when Pearly came in, a scowl on his face.
“What’s wrong,” I asked him, not sure I wanted to know the answer.
Chapter 10
Pearly said, “I was just upstairs at my locker. Do you mind telling me what happened? It smells like a perfume factory blew up in there, and all my possessions are scattered about on a table. Are we having an unscheduled yard sale no one mentioned to me, Harrison?”
Eve looked flustered by the comment and said curtly, “I need to tidy up the back room, if you’ll excuse me.”
After she was gone, Pearly asked, “Was it something I said?”
“No, she’s been like that since yesterday.” I took a deep breath, then said, “We had another break-in the night before last. Somebody went through the locks with a bolt cutter and dumped everything out onto the floor.”
Pearly frowned. “There was a bottle of aftershave my granddaughter bought me for Christmas. I suppose it’s all gone as well, isn’t it?”
I nodded sadly. “I’m sorry, there were several broken bottles in the mess.”
He brightened for a moment, then said, “I suppose that’s the silver lining in all this then. I detested the concoction, and now I can honestly say that it was destroyed by vandals. That should save me until next Christmas, though I can’t imagine what that will bring; my granddaughter has a rather eccentric taste in scents. Do the police have any idea who could have done it?”
“Sheriff Coburn’s too busy to deal