Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [7]
That was all I needed, more details to muddy my mind when I should have been focusing on dipping candles.
I had just finished practicing my third dipped candle of the day when Heather came in.
Eve saw her and said, “I’ll go see what she wants, Harrison. Finish your candle.”
I studied the slim tapers in my hand. My previous attempts had all been singles, dipped with one strand of cotton wick dangling down into the melted wax atop a reservoir of very hot water. This time I’d decided to try a tandem. Both ends of the wick were dipped into the wax at the same time, leaving a narrow strip of untouched wick for me to hang on to. A couple of the dips had come rather close to immersing my fingertips, and I was beginning to see Eve’s point that I should have been using a wire holder instead of my own precious hands. Knowing Mrs. Jorgenson, though, she wouldn’t sit still for it. The closer she could get to the process, the better she liked it.
Heather came back with Eve close on her heels. “I’m sorry, Harrison, I know you’re busy, but I want to get Esmeralda.”
I glanced at my watch. “My lesson’s not for another fifteen minutes. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Eve said, “Give her your key, Harrison, she can get the cat herself.”
I brushed off Eve’s advice. After all, At Wick’s End was my store, not hers. Besides, Mrs. J hadn’t been early for a lesson yet.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back,” I said as I handed her the dual tapers in my hand.
“I don’t want to put you out,” Heather said as we walked outside. I’d thought about putting in a secret entrance I could use to get me from my store to my apartment directly upstairs over the store without leaving the building. I’d been thinking about a pole like the firemen used, but that wouldn’t do me any good getting back up. As it was, we had to go outside, then up to my place.
“You’re not putting me out,” I said. “I was happy to watch Esme for you. Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”
Heather said, “Yes, I do. Harrison, I don’t want to go into it, okay?”
“Fine,” I said. If she didn’t want to tell me, that was her business.
I unlocked my door, and Heather brushed past me to search for her cat. Esme was still on my bed, asleep on my pillow. She didn’t even wake up when Heather collected her.
“Thanks,” she said as I locked up behind me.
“Any time. Esme’s a pretty good houseguest.”
Heather merely nodded, and it was all I could do to keep on her heels as she rushed down the stairs. She managed to duck into The New Age before I could say another word. I saw Mrs. Quimby inside and waved. She was a graying lady with a quick smile and a love for cats and minerals, and she helped Heather out now and then with both.
I thought about following Heather into her store and not leaving until she gave me some reason for dumping Esme on me like she had. Millie had said Heather and Aaron had dated, but it had been over before I came to River’s Edge. Was her reaction because of unresolved feelings toward the potter, or was there more to it than that?
I glanced at my watch and realized any cross examinations would have to wait. Mrs. Jorgenson was due in five minutes, and I had just enough time to get things ready for her first lesson in dipping candles.
“I told you not to go,” Eve said shrilly as I walked into the store.
“I’ve still got five minutes to spare,” I said as I walked in.
“You’ve got more time than you think,” she said with a grim shake of her head. “Mrs. Jorgenson’s come and gone. We’ve lost her, Harrison.”
“What do you mean, we’ve lost her? I had five minutes.” I said the last a little harsher than I should have.
Eve said, “She came thirty seconds after you left, walked into the store, looked around in a huff before I could say a word, then stormed out. I was so stunned by her reaction that