Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
“What are you looking at?” Ernie was totally getting on my last nerve.
“Nothing.”
“Good.”
Another customer came into the shop, so I shot away from the register so I could go help him. Usually if a guy came in alone, Ernie made him feel uncomfortable, and what’s more, he was in a serious shopping mode.
“Can I help you?”
He looked at me and smiled. He smiled a little too much. Great. Just great.
“I’m sure you can, Sugar. I’m looking for something for my mama. It’s her birthday tomorrow. She’s mentioned your shop before, so I thought I could find something she would like.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
He looked me up and down. “Something expensive.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. I turned around and saw Ernie had taken over the register, but there was a line.
Shit.
“Do you have a budget?”
“Price is no object.”
Ick.
“Oh, I have just the thing.” I took him to the front of the store where Henry Sharp’s Eternal Flame piece was.
“This just came in from a local artisan. He’s already making a name for himself.
Just last week we sold one of his pieces to a collector on the West Coast and another one of our more established clients who likes to remain anonymous. ”
I like to remain anonymous, and the west part of Tennessee could be considered the West Coast, couldn’t it?
“Here’s his biography.”
I handed him the card with Henry’s pictures on it. Besides a portrait, there was also one of him working in his ‘studio.’ Leslie had had to really zoom in to make his garage workbench look more like a workroom, but she’d managed it.
“How much?” he asked suspiciously.
I hadn’t put a price tag on it. “If I priced it like I did for the others, it would be six-thousand dollars, but because this is for your mama, and she’s a regular customer of ours, I could sell it to you for forty-five hundred dollars.”
“That’s still pretty steep.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I’m sorry. Let me take you to another section. We have some very nice things in the hundred to two-hundred dollar range,” I said sweetly.
“No, no. I told you price was no object. And since you’re going to give this to me at such a good deal, I would be a fool to let it go.” He reached out and caressed my arm.
I stepped back.
“Now, you’ll want the lighted pedestal as well, correct?”
“That doesn’t come with it?”
“Oh no, that’s extra.” And every time you cop a feel, I’m charging you for something more, you slimy turd.
“Well of course I want the pedestal.”
Ernie arrived at my elbow. God bless the man.
“Ernie, make sure… what was your name?”
“Dane. Dane Laske.”
“Make sure Dane Laske gets this packaged in the velvet case. He doesn’t want to skimp on anything.”
“Is that an upcharge?” Dane asked.
“Oh, just a minor one,” Ernie assured him. He picked up the sculpture and pedestal. “Follow me.”
“I thought you were helping me,” Dane looked over at me.
“Oh, I have to see to some orders in the back. Ernie is our best salesperson. You heard everything, right?”
“Oh, I heard and saw everything,” he assured me.
“Good.”
“Leave your mama’s contact information with Ernie, so we can send her a birthday card, won’t you?”
“Do you need my contact information?” Dane asked hopefully.
“No,” Ernie said as I headed to the back of the store. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Hi girls, how’s it going?”
“Busy. It’s a Lance day.”
I looked over and saw that Lance was busy taping shut some of the boxes in the corner. He was Darla’s older cousin, and had been working for us on and off for the last few months whenever we needed the extra help.
“Hey, Lance,” I waved.
“Heya, Zoe,” he saluted with the tape gun in his hand.
Things did go a lot faster with him around.
I paid him the same wage as the girls, even though he’d tried to negotiate a higher hourly rate.
He’d explained that since he was older and lived on his own, he should make more.
He was very close to being out on his ass when he said that, and he must have seen it on my face.
He backed down immediately. Smart man… kind of.
“We’re getting more thank you cards these days, have you noticed?” Wendy asked. “Actual cards, not just e-mails. Isn’t that kind of weird?”
“Have you been forwarding them to the craftsmen?”
Wendy nodded. “One came back return-to-sender. I meant to talk to you about that.”
“Who was that?”
“Mrs. Laughton.”
“Her address should be right in the system. She lives in Florida now.”
Wendy went over to the computer and pulled up what I assumed was Mrs. Laughton’s information. “I show her living in Tellico Plains.”
“Shit, that’s on me. I got a little busy after she told me she was moving. I need to call her, I wonder if she’s getting her payments. I need to check with Leslie.”
I flashed back to that moment when the deer jumped out in front of me. It had to have been over twenty minutes since I escaped Dane, but still, I didn’t want to go out there and be accosted again. Better to call Leslie than try to track her down in the shop.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and pressed in her number.
“Yeah, Boss?”
“We have the wrong address in the system for Mrs. Laughton. She’s moved to Florida. She has a cell phone, so you can contact her and get her new address, and iron out any payment issues.”
“I’m on it.”
“Anything else?”
“Is the creepy customer gone?”
“Any customer that you upcharged to almost five-thousand dollars is not creepy.”
“Next time I’m sending Mr. Leers-A-Lot your way.”
“Okay, he’s creepy. Yeah, he hurried out after Ernie started flirting with him. Ernie used one of our velvet boxes and gift wrapped the gifts. He also added a healthy upcharge. Did the guy get handsy?”
“Just a little bit.”
“Anytime someone uses their hands, is inappropriate. So good for Ernie.” I could hear the satisfaction in Leslie’s voice. That woman did not take any shit. She fit nicely into our little family here at Gathered.
“Wait until Henry hears he sold his piece for the full asking price. He’s going to be really happy, and his granddaughter is going to be over the moon.”
“Henry is going to get a piece of all the up-charges too.”
“Oh, I know that,” Leslie agreed. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
After she hung up, I looked to see how Darla was doing with the notecards that were put in each package, along with the biography of each craftsman if it was one of our handmade products. The girl had fantastic handwriting.
I saw her shaking out her hand.
“Do you need help with this?” I asked.
“Wendy helps whenever my hand cramps up,” Darla assured me. “Anyway, I like writing the notes. It really makes this job more fun than just sending out packages.”
It warmed my heart to hear her say that.
“Maybe Lance could help too,” I suggested.
“No way,” Wendy said while shaking her head. “You can barely read anything my cousin writes. This is a job for cheer professionals.” She giggled and Darla joined in.
I loved their attitudes.
I turned to Lance to make sure he wasn’t feeling bad at Wendy’s teasing. He grinned at me, as if reading my mind. “I’m good not writing the note cards. I’ve got enough to do with the measuring, weighing, producing labels and the actual packaging and sending.”
“You’re right. You do. Thanks for the good job on that.”
“It’s my pleasure, Boss.” He saluted again with the tape gun.