Chapter Twenty-One
“I
’m surprised that you found so much more glassware,” Libby said when she and Benny arrived at the store on Thursday morning. “If folks knew the value of what was on those three tables, they would be robbing us instead of going after banks.”
Benny covered a yawn with the back of his hand. “This is supposed to be the day that we don’t have to get up so early. Are you sure that your friend Raisa said she would be here at six thirty in the morning and not in the evening?”
“Yes, I am. She stayed over on the other side of the Red River with a friend in Valliant last night. She said she would swing by here on her way back to Jefferson this morning and check out what we’ve got. Our original plan was to have lunch together, but things changed,” Libby answered. “She was very excited to get a look at the pink items.”
The bell above the front door signaled that someone had arrived, and Raisa yelled, “I’m here. Where are y’all?”
Libby raised her voice. “We’re over to your left.”
The first table held the pink pieces, all the green antiques were on the second table, and the third one was covered with miscellaneous pieces that were anywhere from clear crystal to a deep purple hue. Raisa gave Libby a quick hug and then gasped when she looked at the first table.
“Good Lord! Where did you find this gold mine?” she asked. “I didn’t know there were this many pieces still floating around out there.”
“At a sale up in McAlester, Oklahoma,” Benny answered.
“You will still give me the standard ten percent dealer’s discount, won’t you?” she asked as she picked up piece after piece, checked the prices, and carefully set them back down. “You’ve got them marked down from what I would consider retail for antiques like these, so I understand if you want full price.”
“Ten percent always goes to dealers,” he agreed.
His lack of greediness was just one more thing that Libby had come to appreciate about him. “I need to go get some more wood for another shelf. Have you got this, Libby?”
“I can take care of it,” she answered and pointed toward the break table. “Raisa, why don’t you hand me the pieces you are interested in, and I’ll set them aside. Then you can go through them again and pick out the ones you really want.”
“See y’all in a few minutes, then.” Benny disappeared into the maze of furniture and antiques.
Raisa handed Libby a matched set of four pink Depression-glass bowls. “I want these for sure. One of my friends is doing her whole wedding in antiques, so I know she’ll buy these to put mints and nuts in.” She kept Libby running back and forth until the break table was covered; then she sat down in one of the chairs and looked over each and every piece.
“I’ll take all of them,” she finally said. “You’ve even got them all shined up for us, so they are ready for my friend to look at before we even put them out on the shelf. Now that the business is done, tell me about Benny. Are y’all dating yet?”
“No, we aren’t,” Libby answered. “Are you going to ask him out?”
“Nope.” Raisa shook her head. “That ship has sailed. Right after I saw you the last time, I met this tall, dark rancher who lives up near Valliant. My friend introduced us, and I’m not rushing into anything, but there’s a definite spark that could be telling me this is the one.”
“Congratulations. I hope everything works out for you,” Libby said.
Raisa stood up. “Thank you. Can I take some of the boxes you’ve got shoved up under that end table?”
“Sure thing. I’ll get the roll of paper we use to wrap breakables in and help you get these ready to go.”
“I’ll wrap while you take the price tags off,” Raisa offered. “And, honey, I’m not blind.”
Libby drew her dark brows down in a frown. “What does that have to do with boxing this stuff up?”
“The sparks dancin’ around between y’all are so plain, I can almost see them, and I can definitely feel the heat between y’all,” Raisa whispered.
Libby could feel her cheeks turning red. “You are imagining things because you are falling in love.”
Raisa slipped an arm around Libby’s shoulders and hugged her. “Honey, I call it like I see it—and like I said, I’m not blind.”
Before Libby could argue, Benny arrived with a board in his hands. “Did you decide which ones you want?”
“Yes, I have, but I may come back next week to look at what’s left. I really like some of those rare pieces,” Raisa answered, then winked at Libby and fanned her face with her hand.
“There’s free water up in the front of the store,” Benny said. “I’ll bring each of you a bottle as soon as I lay this board down. I can take the price tags and tally up the total minus ten percent while y’all finish packing up.”
“That would be great,” Libby said.
“Thank you so much for letting me have first rights, and a bottle of cold water would be great.” Raisa turned to Libby and whispered, “You might want to pour it on your head rather than drink it. The sparks just get hotter and hotter.”
Libby gave her a dose of her worst stink eye and put a finger over her lips. “Shhh ...”
“Might as well face up to the facts,” Raisa told her.
“I might if it’s the truth and not a figment of your overactive imagination,” she said in a low tone.
When Benny returned with three bottles of cold water, Libby put all the tags in his hand. The tingle when her fingers brushed against his went all the way to her elbow. She told herself that the only reason she felt a little bit of chemistry was because Raisa had caused the feeling by the power of suggestion. Besides, Benny was her boss and pretty much her best friend these days. To get involved in a relationship with him would be downright dumb.
She caught Raisa’s eye and said, “Tell me about this new man in your life.”
“Y’all can talk about that,” Benny said with a chuckle. “I’m going to tally these up and then hang that last shelf. That should be enough space to get what’s left on those tables out for sale.”
Raisa waited until Benny walked away before she lowered her voice and said, “He’s tall and has dark hair. You wouldn’t find him on the cover of a romance book, but he’s got a wonderful personality. He treats me like I’m a queen. He opens doors for me and asks me where I want to go and what I want to do.” As she talked, she wrapped the last bowl in paper and eased it down into the third box. “And he understands that I love antiques and that my job entails a little bit of travel.”
“Your eyes twinkle when you talk about him,” Libby said with a smile.
“Yours do the same when Benny is anywhere near,” Raisa told her. “Call me when you wake up and admit it, and we’ll talk about him instead of my Mr. Wright. You’ll laugh, but his name is actually Allan Wright.”
Benny came back with two sheets of paper listing the price of each item individually so Raisa would know how much to charge for the pieces in her store. “Here you go,” he said as he handed it to her.
She whipped a checkbook from her purse and filled it in with the correct amount. “Thanks again for the discount—and like I said, I may be back for more by the end of next week. My aunt is going to be over the moon with all this, and my friend who is getting married will think she’s hit the jackpot. Her wedding colors are shades of pink.”
“We’ll be right here,” Benny said. “Let me get the dolly, and I’ll load those for you.”
“He’s a keeper,” Raisa whispered when Benny was out of hearing range.
“He’s a very good friend, and I don’t want to mess that up,” Libby told her. “And besides, he’s my boss, and I really like this job.”
Raisa patted her on the back. “Call me when you need a bridesmaid. I’ll go on out and get the back of my SUV ready to load up the merchandise. See you soon.” She blew Libby a kiss and headed outside.
Libby giggled at her insistence and waved at her.
Benny came back, loaded up the boxes, and rolled them out the door. While he was gone, Libby arranged a few more pieces of glassware on the top shelves, alternating between different colors and patterns to give the pieces more visibility.
“Hey!” Benny returned, grabbed her around the waist, and spun her around until they were both dizzy. Then he fell back on the sofa and pulled her down beside him. “We just sold enough merchandise to your friend to pay for the whole lot. Every other sale is now pure profit. Libby, you are my good luck charm.”
“Are you serious?” she panted. “How is that possible?”
“Ever since you arrived, my life has been easier, and the shop has made more money than it ever has—and besides all that, I got a good friend that talks about the same things,” he answered. “As far as how it is possible, I did the same thing we did at the garage sale. I offered them a price to take all the glassware off their hands, and they took it. And while Raisa was picking out what she wanted, I got a call from another person in Clarksville. Her grandmother passed away, and that lady at the garage sale is related to her. She wanted to know if I would come take a look at what she’s got and bid on the whole lot.”
“Are you going to do it?” Libby asked.
“Oh, yeah, I am,” Benny answered. “Want to go with me on Monday?”
“I’d love to. How far is it from here to there?” She turned toward him and their eyes locked.
No! she scolded herself. She blinked and looked away. She would not let Raisa’s silly ideas ruin what she had going for her right here in Sawmill. Besides, Opal and Minilee would pitch a fit and unfriend her face-to-face, not on social media.
She glanced back at him to find him tapping out something on his phone. She couldn’t force her eyes away from his mouth and wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
“Fifty miles, give or take a few,” he said.
“What?” she asked.
“You asked how far it was to Clarksville. It’s about fifty miles. We can go over there, take a look, and be back home by lunchtime,” he replied. “Maybe you’ll be my lucky charm that day, too. This might start off a new era in the way I buy merchandise. It’ll require some sorting through, and maybe a bigger trailer. Or maybe I’ll just buy a good-sized moving van.”
Libby was a lot more interested in how it would feel to have his lips on hers than what he was saying about business.
“What do you think of that?” he asked.
“Might be a good idea,” she said, jolted back to the subject. “But if you’re going to start that mode of buying, we could open the store one more day a week—maybe Thursday—and close at five rather than working until seven.”
Sounds like you are throwing the word we around a lot here lately, the pesky voice in her head whispered.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.
“For what?” he asked.
“For saying we when I should have said you. This is your business, not mine,” Libby answered.
“Libby, darlin’.” He took her hand in one of his. “I’m the owner, but no one has ever worked as hard as you have, or put in as many hours”—he pointed toward the shelves on the wall—“or had such good ideas, including that garage sale that is putting me on the track to do things different.”
“Will you be happy spending more time in the store and less on the road?”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. “Yes, I believe I am, as long as we are working together.”
Her breath caught in her chest. “Speaking of work, we’ve got shelves to get ready before we open the doors for business tomorrow, but ...” She paused and wondered if she should even finish the sentence since it was so personal.
“But what?” He held on to her hand.
“But you make me feel special, so thank you,” she told him.
“You are very special, Libby,” he whispered, in an echo of her earlier words, and let go of her hand.