Chapter 11
Lack of sleep had Sabrina dragging as she made her rounds through the shop.
Korrin had not slept most of the night, and as a result, neither had she.
Her mistake had been showing him how to use the television remote.
He’d found the Western channel and had watched Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and The Rifleman at full volume.
Twice she’d gotten up to turn it down. Twice he’d turned it back up. She’d closed her door and put a pillow over her head.
Unfairly, he was now passed out and snoring in a shoebox in her tote bag, which was tucked behind the counter.
There was no way she was going to leave him alone in her house.
Also, she planned on introducing him to Julia and telling Julia the whole story.
Sabrina felt like she had no choice. She needed help. Korrin was a lot.
Even Trip looked tired this morning, although frankly, he only had himself to blame for playing his part as Korrin’s horse. Honestly. He’d acted like he’d enjoyed it. And now, of course, he was asleep on his shelf.
What a life.
Sabrina yawned as she got the shop open. She’d arrived a few minutes later than usual due to moving slowly and hadn’t gotten to see the clockwork owl go through its motions. Odd how much she looked forward to that.
At least she’d figured out an estimate for Amelia.
The music box housing would need a lot of hours to bring it back to its original beauty.
Those little painted scenes would be painstaking work.
She’d have to call Temperance to see if the art supply store had the fine brushes she needed.
Otherwise, she’d have to order them. Regardless, Sabrina could do the job and do it well. That much she knew.
She hoped her figure wasn’t too much for Amelia. She also hoped the woman didn’t think Sabrina was charging her such a fee because Amelia had money. Sabrina would never do that. A person’s financial status shouldn’t be a factor in what they paid for something.
Although the opposite was sometimes true. If someone looked a little down on their luck, she was happy to take a few dollars off a price.
She drank the last of the coffee in her travel mug and went to start a pot in the back room. Besides being a storage area and occasional workspace, it was also where they took their breaks. On one side, they had a small counter, a round table with three mismatched chairs, and a kitchenette set up.
She got the coffee out. The canister was nearly empty. She’d have to pick some up the next time she got groceries.
She was kind of procrastinating, knowing she needed to go next door and get Gideon’s price. She was dreading it, to be honest. She expected it to be crazy high. The thought of having to tell Amelia the final total put a little fear into Sabrina.
She wanted this job so badly. The thing was, it didn’t matter that Sabrina was the only real repair game in town. Amelia could send the music box away to an expert if she wanted to. With her money, she could get anyone to fix it.
Sabrina blinked as a realization hit her. If Amelia did that, Sabrina was really going to be in trouble. There was no way she’d get Korrin back into the box before his list was fulfilled, and there’d be no time to do that if Amelia didn’t allow Sabrina to do the repairs.
This was not good.
What could she do? She had to think. Could she offer Amelia a deal? Take some money off if the price quoted was unacceptable? Then again, what if Amelia thought the price Sabrina gave her was too cheap? There was such a thing as underpricing. People lost confidence in things that were too cheap.
She groaned. This was too much decision-making on too little sleep. She needed to talk to Gideon. He did repairs all the time. He’d know what to do.
She bucked up her courage and headed for the door. “Trip, I won’t be long. Distract anyone who comes in, will you?”
No response. Not even a tail twitch. She was clearly paying him too much.
She walked into the Clockwork Owl and was immediately struck by the strong aroma of coffee. Maybe Gideon would offer her a cup. If he did, she was taking it. “Gideon? It’s Sabrina. You here?”
“Just a moment,” he called out from the back.
While she waited, she looked in one of the glass display cases.
He had such a nice collection of things in there, but the ladies’ watches were what caught her eye.
There was one that was especially beautiful.
White gold and diamonds in a long, Art Nouveau lozenge-style case with a thin white-gold bracelet.
She sighed dreamily, imagining wearing such a gorgeous thing.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
She looked up. He was in a light blue shirt and matching sweater that made his eyes pop. She’d never seen him look so handsome. She’d also never seen him in anything that wasn’t brown, gray, or black. She hadn’t thought he owned any other colors. “It’s okay. I was looking at the watches.”
She touched the display case with one finger. “Just out of curiosity, how much is that diamond watch? The Lucien Picard one?”
“You have good taste.”
She knew what that meant. It was expensive. Although he probably said that to every customer.
He took it out of the case. “It’s platinum and—”
She put her hands up. “Platinum? I already know it’s too much. I was just curious.”
“It’s twenty-four hundred. And underpriced.”
She nodded, smiling. “Beautiful and a real work of art but way out of my budget. Thanks.” She felt bad that he’d removed it from the case.
He hadn’t actually thought she could afford it, had he?
Being poor sucked. Slightly embarrassed, she changed the subject.
“Were you able to come up with a price for the music box?”
He put the watch back and closed the case. “I was. I can take care of it for six hundred dollars.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “That’s less than I thought it was going to be. That’s good. That’s really good.”
“What’s your estimate for your part?”
She cringed. “I don’t think I can do it for less than five hundred. It’s going to be a lot of work. A lot of small, detailed painting. That takes time. And gilding won’t be cheap. That’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
He frowned. “Gilding?”
“No, I meant pricing. Do you think twelve hundred is a good price? Or should I charge a little more? Or a little less. You know more about this stuff than I do.”
“I think twelve hundred is very reasonable. You could probably go higher, say fifteen hundred. In case it takes more than you think. Then if it comes in less than that, she’ll be pleased to pay the smaller amount.”
“Fifteen hundred? Really?” She hadn’t thought about padding the estimate, but she could see his point.
“Better than having to tell her it was actually more.”
“True.”
“If that seems like a lot of money to you, remember this is a valuable antique. A piece of history, really. I don’t think Amelia will balk at paying that.”
She exhaled. “That’s a valid point. Thank you.” She smiled. “You look really nice today, by the way.”
“I do?”
She wiggled her finger at him. “Yes. That color really suits you. I’ll call Amelia and give her the estimate, then I’ll let you know what she says.”
“How was the sprite last night? Or shouldn’t I ask?”
She exhaled long and hard, then laughed. “He was a handful. He rode my cat around the house like his own personal stallion.”
Gideon’s forehead wrinkled. “He did what?”
She nodded. “Yep. And Trip seemed to enjoy it. Then Korrin watched the Western channel all night. Gunfights, shoot-outs, and saloon brawls made it a little hard to sleep, but I’ll live.”
He looked mortified. “I’m sorry about that.”
She shrugged, comforted by his concern. “Hopefully, tonight will be better.”
“Has he shown you his list yet?”
“No. He shrunk it down, folded it up, and stuck it in his pocket. There’s no way I can get to it without waking him up, so I’ll just have to wait.”
He nodded. “Okay. I hope it’s not too extensive.”
“Same here.”
He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but since he didn’t, she decided to fill him in on her decision. He was being so nice. So not cranky. Maybe he’d just needed to get to know her a little bit. Or maybe her compliment had softened him up.
“By the way, I’m going to tell Julia about what’s going on. She’s a non-practicing witch, but she knows a lot about supernatural creatures, and I feel like I need the help with him. I promise she’s trustworthy. Amelia will never find out you worked on the music box. If that’s what you want.”
“If she accepts the estimate, I suppose there’s no reason to keep my name out of it.” His eyes narrowed. “Assuming she’ll be happy with the work you do.”
She crossed her arms. There was the Gideon she’d first met. She tried not to let the comment hurt, but it had. “My work will be perfect.”
“I just meant—”
“You know, Korrie said that you liked me. Can you imagine?” She rolled her eyes and chuckled to hide that Gideon had wounded her. “He clearly likes to cause trouble. But that’s what sprites do, according to Julia.”
Gideon went stony. “So I understand. He’s living up to his reputation then.”
“Most people usually do.” She turned toward the door. “I’ll let you know what Amelia says.”
“All right.”
She lifted her chin as she walked out. What was wrong with that man? Maybe it was his curse, whatever that might be, but could he not just be nice?
It was such a shame. And really unfair. Because she could very easily like him. But not with that attitude. The man might be the most broken thing she’d ever come across. Thankfully, she felt no need to fix him.
Just a longing for this job to be over as soon as possible.