Chapter 11
Sebastian
When I left Jackson’s room and got back to my office, I pulled the crumpled note out of my pocket and tried to straighten it. I set it down on my desk and sat in my chair. just staring at it. Jackson was back, and I was happy. I felt like I could breathe again.
A box where I kept things I thought were important sat inside my desk. I was struggling with deciding whether or not to keep the stupid note, but reached down, grabbed the box out, and placed Jackson’s note inside. That was the end of it.
***
Time moved along as if nothing had happened and having Jackson back had quickly gone back to feeling normal. We’d gotten back into a rhythm at work and home. He rode with me into work each day and I waited for him after work to give him a ride home.
I was heading to the kitchen at work to make myself some coffee when I stopped because I overheard two women in the restoration department talking. One of them said Jackson’s name.
“I heard Jackson was sleeping under a bridge,” one gossiped.
The other fed into it, “Well, I heard Sebastian found him in a drug house.”
When I heard drug house I was done. “Excuse me. What did you say?”
They straightened their backs and in unison said, “Nothing.”
“No, I don’t believe it was nothing. I specifically heard you say Sebastian as if we know each other on a personal level.
And I also heard someone say I found Jackson in a drug house which is wildly inaccurate, and you’re only adding to the rumor mill, which is not something I allow in my business.
” They both looked down and said nothing.
“I would suggest that if you want to keep working here in the positive work environment I’ve created for all staff, you should find something else to talk about or go directly to the sources if it concerns you that much.
If you’re unhappy with that and you no longer wish to be employed here, say the word.
I’ll wish you the best so you can leave to continue your inappropriate gossip session at the expense of a fellow employee that you know nothing about, somewhere else. ”
The first said, “Sorry, Mr. Moore. We didn’t mean…”
“I know exactly what you meant. If you’ll excuse me.” I grabbed the coffee and poured my cup, not giving the ladies another look and left the kitchen.
I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. A drug house. Be serious.
I sat down at my desk when a knock came at the door. “Come in.”
Ian peeked his head around the door. “Hi, do you have a minute? We received an inquiry.”
“Yeah, of course. Come on in.” I watched as he and Jackson came in and sat down. “What’s up?”
Jackson spoke first. “We received an inquiry about a mint condition Lionel train set dating back to nineteen thirty-one. It’s about an hour away and they can meet tonight.”
Lionel Trains date back to the early nineteen hundreds.
The inventor was Joshua Lionel Cowen, an engineer.
In 1931, Lionel’s profits dipped due to The Great Depression but bounced back just a few short years later.
Also, in 1931, the number 400E was released.
It was the largest of all trains in the Lionel collection.
Ian chimed in next. “It’s a pre-war large black set. Easily worth almost two grand.”
Nodding, I said, “Let’s take a look at it. Are the two of you going?”
Ian leaned forward. “I can’t go. I have something to do after work.”
Giving him a look he knew well, with squinted eyes, I said, “Well, the new policy states everyone goes in pairs.” Then I looked at Jackson who was sitting quietly. I’m sure he was unclear of what was going on between Ian and me. “I’ll go with you, Jackson.”
He straightened his back, “Oh, um, you don’t have to, Sir.” There he was with that sir again. I felt my pants tighten. Fuck. “I just mean, I know you’re busy. I can go. It’s no problem.”
I cleared my throat, trying to push dirty thoughts out of mind, and said, “No. Jackson, there’s a new company policy that states everyone goes in pairs, especially if it’s after hours. We want to ensure the safety of our employees.”
Jackson looked down and I knew what he was thinking.
He was blaming himself. I shouldn’t have said it was a new policy.
It just drew attention to him and what he went through needlessly all over again.
Then, I said, “It’s okay. It’s been some time since I’ve gone on one of these runs.
I’m looking forward to it. I’ll meet you at the front desk at four thirty.
” He smiled before I asked, “Can you give me and Ian a moment, please?”
“Yes, of course. Thank you,” he said. I could tell he was happy to go. He fumbled for a minute and finally stood up. “I’ll head back to my desk and finish going through the potentials.” I nodded to him.
Once the door was closed, I looked at Ian and said, “Do you think you’ll ever not be too busy to go on one of these trips?”
“Oh, don’t start your shit, Sebastian. I made plans a week ago and I can’t break them. It’s too important.”
I threw him a raised eyebrow. “Look, it’s someone but no one I want to talk about yet. She’s important and I’ve already pissed her off more times than I can count so I can’t cancel this time. I just can’t.”
“Yeah, I get it. Don’t worry about it. I do think we need to come up with set days of the month that are clear for us to do visits.”
He nodded. “Yeah, okay. That works. Let’s talk about it later. I gotta head out and get ready.”
“See you tomorrow.”
*
I met Jackson at the front desk at four thirty. As I walked up, I watched him shut everything down and switch the answering service on the phone. He was the perfect person for this position and took great pride in every single thing he did. It showed. I asked him, “So, it’s an hour away, you said?”
Jackson grabbed his notebook and thumbed through it before finally looking up and said, “Well, more like an hour and a half. Not terrible, though.”
I grinned and said, “You’re right, with how rare these sets are, we should be lucky it’s not eight hours away. Let’s get to it. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
“I am too, honestly! The way the man described it, you could tell he takes great pride in it. I’m hoping he took great care of it, too.
” Jackson talked the whole way out to the car.
“He’s an old military veteran and lives out on a farm.
He says he has an entire barn of stuff. Can you imagine what’s inside?
One man’s junk… or whatever they say. I would love to go through it all. ”
He was talking a mile a minute. “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. It’s true. I’m glad I could go on this trip. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one. I’ll step on it to get us there before it gets too dark in case the guy wants to show us the barn too.”
Jackson grinned from ear to ear. The excitement in his voice and his smile made me smile and I felt like I hadn’t smiled like that in years.
I remember when I first started the business, I used to be happy just like Jackson.
My business isn’t huge, but it’s big enough that the administration takes away from the time that I used to spend picking.
I wished that were all I had to worry about.
The drive wasn’t bad, and we kept the conversations mostly about work.
Finally, we were pulling onto the long gravel driveway leading to the big white farmhouse that Jackson had mentioned.
The driveway was lined with maples on both sides and a wooden fence bordered the yard.
It wasn’t dark yet so we could see most of the property.
It was beautiful. There was an older man with a long white beard, holding a cane, and wearing coveralls sitting in his rocking chair on the porch. He waved as we pulled up.
Jackson and I got out and walked up to the man. He shook our hands and said, “Nice to meet yas.”
Jackson spoke first. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Talbot. We’re pretty excited to see your Lionel Train set.” Then he motioned to me. “This is Sebastian Moore. He’s the owner of the business.”
I shook Mr. Talbot’s hand before he smiled and welcomed us in. “Ah, yes. Come on inside. I keep that pretty thing inside the house, not in the barn. Although, there’s probably some other jewels out there. You’re welcome to go poking around out there if you’d like.”
Jackson was grinning wide again. I said, “Well, let’s take a look at the train and if we have time, maybe we can do that.”
The man led us further inside the home. Wall to wall antiques and beautiful items that spanned many decades of his life lined the walls.
There was a black and white photo of him and a woman on the wall.
They were standing in front of the house under one of the now much larger trees.
“That’s my Alina Sue. She’s gone now but this home was her canvas.
Everything in here, she picked out alongside me. ”
I smiled at his adoration of her. “She was beautiful.”
He laughed. “That she was. There wasn’t a person she didn’t get along with on the face of the earth. Say, she would be real happy to know I called y’all to come get some of this stuff.”
Jackson and I laughed. I said, “Well, let’s see this train set!”
“Right this way,” the old man gestured, pointing to a large table in the living room.
Jackson was right. Mr. Talbot’s train was in mint condition. It was stunning. I held it and turned it left, then right, then looked at the nose of the train. Everything was in perfect condition. There wasn’t a piece out of place. I was entranced, and asked “What are you looking to get for it?”
“Oooh, I don’t know.” He scratched his beard before saying, “What about eight hundred dollars.”