Chapter 13
The brief rush of customers died down shortly after Gideon left, but Sabrina had made four sales, his included, that added two hundred dollars to the till. Not a bad morning. Especially since she hadn’t yet made enough this week to cover Julia’s paycheck.
Even better, the pair of women who’d come in first had bought a whole slew of things for a relative who was moving into a new place and had already said they’d be back for more.
Maybe getting the job from Amelia was spreading something good in the air already. Two hundred was a good day for Bits & Pieces.
And it had only just begun.
Soft sounds came from her tote bag. She bent down and took the lid off the shoe box. Korrin was sitting up, mostly awake. Thankfully, there was no one in the shop at the moment. “Morning, sleepyhead.”
He looked up at her. “Morning.”
“You want something to eat? I have some grapes and cheese crackers. And there’s coffee, but I don’t know if you drink that.”
He nodded. “Grapes and crackers sounds good.”
“Okay. Stay in the box. I’m going to carry you into the back room. You can fly around all you want in there, but you’ll have to stay in there until it’s time to go home. Also, I really need that list. Is it done?”
“Almost.” He yawned and scratched his head. “Where’s Trip?”
She glanced over. “Still sleeping. And I’d like him to stay that way. You can’t play rodeo in the store.”
He cut his eyes at her. “We weren’t playing rodeo.”
“Well, whatever you were doing. This is a place of business. Different rules apply.”
He sighed out a breath as if she were putting the world on his shoulders. “Fine.”
“I’m going to introduce you to my friend Julia later.”
His brows lifted. “The one who’s a witch?”
“Yes, but you’ll like her.”
“She better be nice.”
“Of course she’s nice.” Sabrina stood and lifted the tote bag. “Hang on. Headed to the back now.”
Once she was through the door, she closed it and set the bag on the table they used for their breaks. She lifted out the shoebox. “Okay, you’re free. Grapes and crackers coming up.”
He flew out, hovering nearby as she put two grapes and several cheese crackers on a small paper plate. “Should I cut those grapes up?”
He stood on the table. “I’m not a toddler.” He looked at the grapes. “Yeah, maybe.”
She sliced them in half, then in half again. “There you go. I have to go back to work. You’ll be okay in here, right? No shenanigans? No getting into stuff that isn’t yours?”
His expression said that sounded very boring, but he nodded and picked up a cracker. “Can Trip hang out with me?”
“When he wakes up. And once that list is done. Amelia’s given me the go-ahead to fix the music box, so you need to be back in that thing in a few days.”
Having a mouthful of cracker crumbs didn’t stop him from talking. “I told you I’m not sure about that.”
“I know. And I’m going to do my best to see what I can figure out. But you also told me you would go back in once your list is fulfilled. Is your word no good?”
“That’s not fair. What if she wants to siphon all my magic out of me and use it for her own? You really want that to happen to me?”
“No, I don’t. That’s why I’m going to tell Julia about you and see what she thinks.”
He frowned. “Why would she know?”
“Remember I said she’s a witch? I figure she’ll know—”
“I know you said she’s nice, but I don’t think I’ll be able to trust her. I don’t like witches.”
“Julia isn’t practicing. She can’t do anything to you, even if she wanted to, which she doesn’t. Trust me. Anyway, her magic doesn’t work right. There is nothing to fear from her. I give you my word. Which is good.”
He made a face and took another bite of cracker.
She left him to it and went back out front.
She did some dusting and rearranging while thinking about the kitchen canisters she’d sold.
Sets went well, but they weren’t always easy to come by.
The reason people often got rid of them was because they’d broken one. And they rarely kept the broken one.
She’d look this weekend when she went yard sale-ing.
If she went yard sale-ing. She might need Sunday to work on the music box.
She wanted to do the best possible job on it that she could.
She wanted to impress Amelia, in hopes the woman would keep her in mind for future jobs and recommend her to others.
A little while later, a man came in with a box of stuff to see if she’d be interested in buying it. It was mostly knickknacks, one small desk lamp with a cracked plastic shade, and some kids’ books.
He wanted fifteen dollars for all of it, but empowered by getting the music box job, she bargained him down to ten.
A good thing, too, because the lamp was calling to her.
It would be perfectly functional with some fresh paint and a new shade, which she was pretty sure she had in the guest bedroom at home.
She sorted through the box as he left. The kids’ books went onto the shelves where she had other books, the knickknacks she cleaned and inspected, then priced and distributed throughout the store. The lamp she took into the back room to deal with later.
She found Korrin still on the table, grapes and crackers gone. But as she came in, he stood up and shoved something behind his back.
He was too small to effectively hide anything. She could see little chains hanging down behind his legs. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Korrie, I can see you’re doing something. What is it?” She came over to have a better look.
He sighed. “I was going to surprise you by untangling these necklaces.” He held them out.
She blinked in surprise. “Those were in a box.”
“I know. It said To Be Fixed on it. I thought there was something in there I could help with. I got one of them free already.” He held that necklace in his other hand. It was a simple pearl pendant.
“That’s great. Thank you. I’ll put that out for sale right now.”
“You’re not mad?”
“For you being helpful? No way. I’m grateful you did that. Would have taken me hours.”
He smiled. “I can do the rest of them, no problem. If you want.”
“I do want. Thank you!” She left him to it, happy he was occupied and staying out of trouble. Less happy he wasn’t finishing the list, but nagging him didn’t seem to do much good.
The day passed by with a few more customers but no more sales.
Sabrina had hoped the morning’s prosperity would continue.
When Trip finally roused from his nap, she took him to the back room to hang out with Korrie, who was now working on a new batch of necklaces and had yet to produce the list of things he wanted to experience.
She knew he was dragging his feet, but making him cranky wasn’t going to get anything accomplished.
Julia arrived to work with a pastry box. “Guess where I went before work?”
Sabrina knew the box. “Black Horse Bakery?” She loved that place. And not just because everything in it was free, except for the coffee. Free was the right price point for her budget, but the baked goods were amazing.
“You know it.” Julia set the box on the counter and lifted the lid. “I got chocolate cupcakes, the last éclair, and three slices of banana bread. Oh, and one oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie, which I ate on the way over here. Sorry.”
Sabrina laughed. “It’s okay. I have some news.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “You got the music box job.”
“Yes!”
Julia hugged her across the counter, nearly pushing the bakery box off. Sabrina quickly grabbed it.
“That’s not all.” Sabrina took a breath. “The music box is magical, and yesterday, when I took it next door, I accidentally released a creature that was living inside it, and now there’s a bit of a situation.”
Julia eyes widened a second time, but not in a good way. “Yikes. Is there a plague coming? Or did you get three wishes? What kind of situation are we talking about?”
At that exact moment, the door to the back room came open and Trip came darting out. With Korrin riding him.
“Korrie! No!” Sabrina frowned. “That kind of situation. The creature was a sprite, and he refuses to go back into the music box until all of his requests have been fulfilled.”
Julia watched the pair race around the shop for three seconds, then she stuck her hand in the bakery box, took out a chocolate cupcake, and started eating it. “I had a feeling we were going to need chocolate today. I just didn’t know why. Now, obviously, I do.”