Chapter 12
Gideon watched Sabrina leave, immediately angry at himself. Why had he made that comment? It made him sound as though he had no confidence in her abilities. That had been rude.
That had, sadly, also been very him.
He was so used to keeping people at arm’s length.
At least he’d learned that Sabrina didn’t like him and that the sprite’s words had indeed been a lie. No need for Gideon to confess his curse to her now.
They would get this music box fixed, and that would be that.
Still, he didn’t move. Just stood there, feeling … what was he feeling? Upset. Stupid. Like he should do something but didn’t know what.
She’d been nice to him. Asked him for advice and listened. Even complimented his shirt and sweater. When was the last time anyone had said something like that to him? He wasn’t sure it had ever happened.
And he’d had to make a comment.
He didn’t doubt her ability to refurbish the housing. She was clearly good at such repairs. She had a whole shop filled with things she’d fixed.
He sighed. Should he go next door and say something? Tell her he was sorry? That would be embarrassing. But … maybe he deserved to be embarrassed. Maybe he should still explain his curse to her.
Or maybe he should just let her keep her current opinion of him. It would be better for her if they weren’t friends. Safer for her.
Deflated by the truth of that, he turned to go to the workroom. The idea of telling Sabrina the truth lingered, however.
The shop door opened. An older man. He fished a watch from his pants pocket. “Morning. Hoping you could have a look at this old pocket watch for me. Won’t keep the time the way it should.”
“Certainly,” Gideon said.
After a brief inspection of the watch, Gideon filled out a repair form and gave the man a copy. “I should be able to have it back to you in a week, but I’ll be in touch if it’s more than a cleaning.”
“Thank you.” With a nod, the man left.
Before Gideon could head into the workroom, another person came in. A woman, holding up a wristwatch. “Can you put a battery in this for me?”
“Of course.” What was going on? Two customers in a row when he was trying to figure out what to do about Sabrina.
It was as if his curse was trying to prevent him from telling her the truth. Which meant it must be the right thing to do.
He quickly replaced the woman’s watch battery, reset the watch to the proper time, and rang her up. He followed her to the door, wished her a good day, and before another person could come in, locked up and went into Bits & Pieces.
The shop was empty, except for the cat sleeping on a shelf near the register. What had she said the cat’s name was? He couldn’t remember. He looked around. “Sabrina?”
She emerged from the back, coffee cup in hand. “Gideon? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you changed your mind about helping me.”
“No, not at all. But I did come to tell you something.” He could not imagine something he wanted to do less than explain about his curse.
With a curious look, she walked to the counter. “Want a cup of coffee?”
“No. Thank you.” He took a breath. “First of all, I want to say that I have every confidence in your ability to refurbish the exterior of the music box. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. This might sound like an excuse, but sometimes—”
The door opened, jangling the bell above it. Two women came in.
“Good morning,” Sabrina said. “Welcome to Bits & Pieces. Let me know if I can help you find anything.”
As they went to browse, she looked at him again. “You were saying?”
Maybe he should have accepted the offer of coffee. It would at least have given him something to do with his hands. “Just that I don’t want you to think this is an excuse, but—”
The bell jangled again, and an older woman came in. “Do you have any kitchen canisters? I’m looking for a set if you’ve got them.”
Sabrina gave him a smile. “I’ll just be a second.”
He nodded. He didn’t want to keep her from business. Not when he knew she needed the income. He stood by the counter and waited. Was this his curse at work again? If so, maybe he should visit her more often.
He moved to the side and started to peruse the items in the display case. A lot of jewelry: brooches, necklaces, bracelets, a tray of rings. Next to those were some watches, all of them ticking away.
She ought to pull the stems out to preserve the batteries, but he doubted she’d want more advice from him.
He peered closer. There was a nice-looking man’s Elgin with a new strap.
Maybe that was the repair Sabrina had done to it.
That and giving it a quick polish. He wondered what she was selling it for.
She returned with three kitchen canisters in her arms and the older woman who’d been looking for them. She wrapped the canisters carefully, bagged them, then rang the woman up. Twenty-five dollars for all three seemed cheap to him, but what did he know about such things?
As the woman took her purchases, Sabrina addressed him again. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to apologize for doing business.” He tried to smile. “What are you selling that men’s Elgin watch for?”
“I think twenty dollars.” She opened the case and checked the tag. “Yep, twenty.”
“I’ll take it.” A plan was already forming in his mind.
She gave him a funny look. “Don’t you have plenty of watches already?”
“Can’t ever have too many.” He handed her a twenty and put the watch in his pocket.
“Thanks.” She rang up the sale. “You should come in more often. You’re good for business. What was it that you wanted to tell me?”
He shook his head. “Just that I’m sorry for what I said. I do have faith in your abilities.”
She studied him a moment. “Thanks for that. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I don’t suppose you’ve called Amelia yet.”
“I did. I gave her butler the price, and he said he’d relay the message and that she’d get back to me.” Sabrina shrugged. “Just waiting on her to return my call now.”
Like magic, which it probably was in this town, her phone rang. Landlines weren’t uncommon in Shadowvale. “Bits & Pieces, this is Sabrina. How can I help?”
She smiled, then the smile disappeared. She nodded. “I see. Okay. Thank you so much.” She hung up. “That was Amelia. We’ve got the job.” She inhaled, the look on her face very much like the realization that this was actually happening.
“I’ll get to work on the mechanics immediately.”
“I’ll start on the housing as soon as Julia comes in. Then I can work undisturbed. I’m really going to need to concentrate.”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
She glanced behind her, at a floral tote bag on the floor. “There’s just the matter of Korrin to deal with.”
“As soon as he produces that list, let me know.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re still going to help me with that too?”
“I believe he’s going to insist on it.” Gideon lifted one shoulder. “The sooner we can get it done, right?”
“Right.”
“See you later.” He went to his shop. He immediately took out the watch and examined it. Gold-filled, in need of a cleaning and crystal polish, but not in bad shape. He would do that first, then move on to Amelia’s job.
The watch was far more valuable than Sabrina knew. In fact, Gideon already had a buyer in mind, a man who collected vintage watches.
There was a tidy profit to be made. With a smile, he paged through his customer book, found the name he was looking for, then dialed.
“Walter? This is Gideon at the Clockwork Owl. I think I have a watch for you. I won’t put it out for sale until tomorrow, but I don’t expect it to last. That’s right.
Lord Elgin, gold-filled. Probably 1940s.
I don’t think I can let it go for less than six hundred, but I’m open to offers … ”