Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [22]
“Then I’d better get ready for her, just in case she shows up,” I said.
I started pulling the supplies we would need for our next lesson. We’d already covered candles rolled from beeswax sheets, and touched on dipping candles, too. Now it was time to pour, something I’d been practicing quite a bit on my own and was most eager to start teaching.
Eve came back as I was setting the worktables up in the classroom for our lesson. From the look on her face, she was bearing more bad news.
“What is it?”
“Mrs. Jorgenson called. She’s not going to be able to make it.”
I slammed a block of wax down on the table. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Harrison, she had a meeting she forgot all about, and you know how she loves those things.”
As I gathered the materials back together, I said, “So if she really wanted to be here, when did she reschedule her next class for?”
When Eve didn’t answer, I pushed her. “Well?”
“She said she’d let us know.”
“Yeah, right.” I brushed past Eve and said, “We gave it our best shot, didn’t we?”
“Harrison Black, we’re not out of this yet.”
“Face it, the ship is sinking, and we’re both going down with it.”
Eve frowned, started to say something, then changed her mind as she headed for the front.
I asked her, “Where are you going?”
“We’re still open for business, Harrison. I’m going to go unlock the door.”
I let her go, lost in my own self-pity. My worst fear had come true: Mrs. Jorgenson had abandoned us, cutting the last vestiges of profitability we had. I’d have to speak with Mary Ann, my bookkeeper, and see how much of a cushion we had before it was time to print up the going out of business signs.
When I walked up front to find her number, Eve was actually waiting on a customer. The woman looked familiar to me, but I didn’t recognize her immediately. She had frosted hair piled on her head in some kind of complicated structure that defied gravity, no doubt with the aid of a full can of hairspray. As Eve rang up her sale, I said, “It’s good to see you here again.”
“I’ve never been in this shop in my life,” she said, avoiding eye contact with me. “I just found out about this place this morning.”
“I’m sorry, but haven’t we met before?”
“No, I’m sure you’re mistaken. I’m new to the area.” She grabbed her change from Eve, nearly forgot her bag, then retrieved it and bolted out of the shop.
“What was that all about?” I asked. “Another faithful reader of The Gunpowder Gazette?”
“No, at least she never mentioned it. She told me she just moved down from Charleston, West Virginia. Harrison, you really should try harder to remember our customers. Belle was an expert at it.”
“Come on, Eve, I can’t remember every single person who comes in the door.” I looked around the shop. “Until lately, that is. I’m telling you, that woman looked familiar. If I didn’t see her in here, where did I see her?”
“I do hope that’s a rhetorical question,” Eve said. “I certainly can’t help you with it.”
“It’ll come to me. Just give me some time to think about it.”
She frowned, then said, “In the meantime, you really should speak with Mary Ann about our situation. It might be prudent to find out where we stand financially. Not that I’m trying to tell you how to run the business.”
“I was just thinking the same thing myself. I’ve been meaning to give her a call.”
I couldn’t bring myself to dial Mary Ann’s number. I was serious about seeing what kind of slump we could handle before things got really desperate, but the phone call would have to wait. Pearly Gray walked into At Wick’s End, and from the look on his face, he’d just lost his last friend in the world.
Pearly said, “Harrison, do you have a moment?”
“I do for you. Come on back to the office.”
He said, “I hate to ask, but could we speak outside?”
“No problem.” I would have gone to the zoo with him if it would make him feel better. “Eve, I’ll be back.”
“That’s fine,” she said, carefully avoiding Pearly’s glance. The two of them had gone out a few times, until Eve had discovered that Pearly was escorting several