Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [54]
“I’m sorry, this must be really painful for you.”
He waved a hand in the air. “I’m beyond numb with it, sir.”
I had to ask, “So where do the candles come in?”
He smiled gently. “My wife loves the simple line and form. She eschews all ornamentation in her life, and sir, if ever there was something full of unnatural augmentation, this pair is gloriously it. What a wonderful wedding present these will make.”
I helped him carry them out to his car, a black Buick from another era with enough real metal in it to hold magnets. We buckled the candles into the backseat and he left, whistling as he drove away.
The cash register report looked quite a bit healthier after his augmentation, and there was no doubt his purchase had made him feel better.
I tucked the deposit under my arm and locked At Wick’s End whistling a tune myself.
There was a light on at Tick’s antiques shop, and I glanced in to see her slumped over a chair inverted on one of her tables. I rushed inside to see if she was all right when she said, “Who’s there? Harrison, what a pleasant surprise.”
“Are you all right?” I asked breathlessly.
“What? Of course I am.”
“When I saw you slumped over the chair, I thought...”
“I’m trying to repair the bloody thing and sometimes there’s no clamp in the world nearly as good as a pair of human hands. Thank goodness it’s quick-setting glue. I’ll be with you in a minute. Feel free to look around.”
I hadn’t spent much time in the antique shop, but that was true of several of the businesses at River’s Edge. There was so much time taken by my own shop, I didn’t have many opportunities to visit with my tenants. As I let my gaze wander through the store, it amazed me Tick could find anything here. Desks were crowded with lamps and trinkets, while chairs were tucked in among bureaus and pie safes. I let my fingers trail across the stained glass of a Tiffany lamp when Tick came up beside me and told me how much it was.
I quickly pulled my hand away. She said, “It’s all right to touch it, Harrison.”
“If I broke it, I’d have to work six months to replace it,” I said.
She laughed. “Surely not. I’d give you a merchant’s discount if that happened, but most likely I’d be able to fix it myself.”
“Is that standard, you repairing your wares? Somehow it doesn’t seem all that kosher.”
Tick shook her head. “Spoken like a man who deals only with new stock. If I didn’t add the bit of glue and screw to many of these pieces, they’d break before my customers got them home. I’m faithful to the original builder whenever I can be, and I’m happy to point out my repairs whenever I’m asked.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” I said. “It’s just so different from what I do.”
“That’s why there are markets for us both. Don’t let it trouble you. I have a rather profitable side business repairing and restoring pieces I never sold in the first place. It’s quite fun, actually, making something whole again. I do everything from woodworking to stained glass work, s I rewire old lamps and restore chandeliers. Now what I could be more fascinating than that?”
“Yes, I can see that it might be. Well, as long as you’re all right, I’ve got to get to the bank.”
“I’m afraid I’ve got hours to go yet before I’m ready to leave,” she said.
“Lock your door behind me,” I said. “We don’t want to take any chances, do we?”
She patted my cheek. “You’re sweet, Harrison, but I’ll be fine here on my own.”
I left her to her restoration, and as I glanced back in once I was outside, she was already back at work. It made me feel somewhat better, realizing that I wasn’t the only one wedded to my shop.
I drove to the bank and made my deposit, then thought about grabbing something to eat. Lately I’d been taking more and more of my meals alone, and I wondered if I was becoming some kind of recluse. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy being around people, but my time off alone was becoming precious