Chapter 41
After breakfast, Sabrina dropped Gideon off at his shop, then ran home to get Trip before returning to Fiddler Street. She buzzed with energy, with the idea that Gideon would be able to stay after all, with the thought that they could banish his curse for good.
How amazing would that be? For both of them?
It meant he could stay in Shadowvale. And maybe they would become more than friends.
The idea gave her a little thrill. She was willing to admit she liked Gideon in a way that had nothing to do with friendship, but she’d been trying to ignore it since he was so unavailable.
But he had to like her in some way, didn’t he? After all, he’d been ready to take the fall for her at Amelia’s. Sabrina had never imagined he’d speak up like that and say he was responsible for letting Korrie out.
That admission, on her behalf, had nearly left her speechless. It had also confirmed what she’d already known. That Gideon truly was a good man.
He didn’t deserve to be alone.
As she got the shop open, she could hear Korrie filling Trip in on the morning’s adventures. She thought about what he’d said at breakfast. She glanced through the door into the back room. Could Korrie really talk to animals?
Trip always looked at the sprite as if he could understand him. This was Shadowvale, though. Home of the impossible. Where the woman who’d founded the town had a tiger as a pet.
As soon as Sabrina got the shop opened, she had customers. She greeted them, made sure they were good to browse, helped one find the lamps, then went back behind the counter and texted Julia. It was late enough that she ought to be awake.
You still up for the Enchanted Forest tomorrow?
Didn’t take long for her to answer. Seriously? Um, YES.
Sabrina smiled. It won’t be just us. Korrie and Gideon are coming too. Korrie says he can help us find THE BOOK.
No way. That was followed by three shocked-face emojis.
Sabrina laughed. Yes way.
Whoa. I was already in but I’m super in now.
Good. I’ll tell you more when you get here.
After that, more customers came in, and Sabrina stayed busy. Like, really busy. By the time Julia arrived, she’d lost track of how many sales she’d had. The only break she’d taken was to run to the bathroom and refill her insulated cup of water.
Sabrina blew a strand of hair out of her face as she restocked shopping bags. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Julia looked around at the customers. “What’s going on? Are we having a sale I didn’t know about?”
Sabrina shook her head. “I have no idea. It’s been like this all morning. At this rate, we’re going to be out of things to sell.”
Julia snorted. “I’ve seen your guest room. And our back room. There is tons of stuff to sell. It just needs to be fixed.”
“You’re not wrong.” Sabrina glanced toward the back room. “Can you take over here for a few minutes?”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“Thanks.” Sabrina went to talk to Korrie. She found him stringing beads together into a long necklace. One of her tins of broken jewelry sat open on the table. Trip was next to him, watching attentively.
Several other beaded necklaces lay on the table, already completed. She picked them up to admire them. The color combinations and mix of beads were eye-catching. “These are great. And that one you’re working on is really pretty, too.”
“Thanks. I love blue and purple together.” He kept adding bead after bead.
“Yeah, great combo. I’m going to get these other ones priced and on sale immediately.
” She sat at the table, not even bothering to ask how he’d found the jewelry-making supplies.
“Are you still interested in working for me? I don’t know how much I’ll be able to pay you just yet, but I promise it’ll be something.
And you can live with me for as long as you like.
I can at least feed you and give you shelter. ”
He slipped another bead on, then set his needle down. “You don’t have to pay me. Not much anyway. A little would be okay. You’ve already done so much for me. I would love to work for you. And I really like living with you and Trip.”
She suspected it was more Trip than her, but she was okay with that. “That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear. I like having you around a lot. And I’ll be honest, you fix things better than I do. You’re so good at it.”
“You fix things just fine,” he said. “You just do it differently.”
“Thanks, Korrie.” She started to get up.
“Are you going to fix him? You might be the only one who can.”
She sat back down. “I’m … I’m going to try. But I don’t think anyone can help him until that curse is gone.”
Korrie nodded solemnly. “I really am going to do my best to help you find the book.”
“I know you are. Thanks.” She leaned in and carefully kissed his tiny cheek.
He went bright red and giggled. “No one’s ever kissed me before.”
“I find that hard to believe. You’re a very attractive sprite.”
His giggle turned into a snort, making her laugh. “I’m very glad you’re staying. And if you want to do more than fix things, we might be getting to the point where we could use more help on the floor.”
His eyes widened, and he went absolutely serious. “You mean I could help with customers?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
He stood straighter. “You’d let me do that?”
“Sure, why not? You’re okay talking to people, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but … I never thought you’d let me do that.”
“Korrie, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly running a Walmart here. I need all the help I can get. Granted, we’ll have to get you familiar with the shop and the merchandise, but—”
Julia stuck her head in. “Sabrina? There’s a customer that would like to talk to you about a repair. Said Amelia Marchand recommended you.”
Sabrina got up, taking the necklaces Korrie had already made with her. “I’ll be right there.” She spoke to Korrie again. “Think about what I said and let me know if you have any questions.”
“I will.”
She went out to see about the customer, smiling as she approached the counter. The woman was older and looked affluent. “Welcome to Bits & Pieces. I’m Sabrina. I understand you have something that needs to be repaired?”
The woman nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Sabrina. I’m Pryn Gallow.”
“Nice to meet you, Pryn.” Sabrina didn’t know her, but the woman had some attractive pieces of jewelry on that looked expensive. Her silver hair was done up in an elegant twist.
“Amelia recommended you very highly. I just acquired a set of Staffordshire Spaniels, porcelain, lovely things, but sadly our housekeeper broke an ear off one. I have all the pieces. Do you think you can repair it?”
Depending on the age, the dogs she was referring to could be worth a lot of money. “I know I can. Just bring it in.”
“I actually have it in the car. I’ll go get it.”
“I’ll be right here.” As Pryn left, Sabrina grinned at Julia. “I wonder if this new influx of customers is because of Amelia too. If so, that woman works fast. I was only at her house this morning.”
“Maybe she sent out a mass email to all her friends.” Julia laughed. “Whatever’s going on, I’m happy about it. What are you going to charge her?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see the piece.”
“I was doing some researching. High-end ceramic repair starts around two hundred and fifty bucks. Minimum. Something to think about.”
“Wow, definitely.” An idea had already come to her. “Maybe it’ll be something Korrie can do. He’s going to officially start working here, by the way.”
Julia gasped. “That is the best news ever. Does he need a place to stay? I have an extra room.”
“I think for now, he wants to room with Trip.”
Julia nodded knowingly. “I totally understand that, but maybe I should tell him I have two cats.”
Sabrina laughed. “Oh, he’d love that.”
Julia looked past her. “Customer needs help.” She took off.
Pryn returned carrying a box. Inside was an object wrapped in a towel. She set the box on the counter and carefully unwrapped the dog. “You can see the damage and the pieces.”
Sabrina took it all in, nodding her head at the tiny white shards against the dark blue towel. “It wasn’t a clean break, was it?”
“No,” Pryn said sadly.
Sabrina took hold of the box. “Do you mind if I show this to my associate in the back? He’s very good with ceramics.”
“That’s fine,” Pryn said.
Sabrina hoped her next statement didn’t send the woman running. “I should tell you, it’ll be a minimum of two hundred and fifty to do the repair. But it will be seamless. Like it never happened.”
Pryn nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”
“Great. I won’t be long.” She took the box to Korrie in the back room. “A customer just brought this in. What do you think? Is this something you can use your magic on?”
He hovered over the box. “Lots of pieces. Do they all need to go back in?”
She slanted her eyes at him. “That would be optimal, yes.”
“Okay. You want me to do it right now?”
“No, I need her authorization first. Let me go talk to her.”
Before Sabrina could leave, Julia came in, talking in a whisper, phone in hand. “Do you know who that is? I asked a friend of mine. Pryn Gallow is Robin Gallow’s mother. The Goblin King? She’s basically royalty.”
Sabrina blinked. “No pressure.”
Julia smirked as she headed out again. “Just thought you should know.”
“Okay,” Sabrina said to Korrie. “Let me go speak to her, and I’ll let you know.”
Pryn was still standing by the register. “Do you think you can fix it?”
“We definitely can. It’ll be three hundred. And you can pick it up Monday. Does that work?”
Pryn smiled. “That’s wonderful. I’ll pay you now.” She took cash out of her purse, and Sabrina wrote it up.
As soon as Pryn was out the door, Sabrina took one of the hundreds and went to tell Korrie.
She held out a hundred-dollar bill. “Go ahead and fix it. Also, here’s part of your first earnings.
I was paid in three hundred-dollar bills, and I want to give you half, but I need to break the hundreds into smaller bills to give you the other fifty. Is that good?”
Korrie shook his head. “No, that’s too much. A third of the money is fine. You’re already giving me a place to stay, food to eat, and a job.”
“Korrie—”
“No arguments, Sabrina.” He stuck his chest out. “I mean it.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that very much.”
He grinned as he looked at the bill she’d given him, snapping it a few times. “So. How many pancakes will this buy?”