Snuffed Out (Book 2 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (15 page)

“
I believe I see now. Let’s
try it again.”

As I severed the wick between two more
tapers, she said, “Do you mind if you supervise me instead of
twisting your own candle? I really could use the guidance.”

“
Of course,” I said as I
laid the taper in my hand aside. I resented the command for a
moment, then remembered how much I was charging her for this
private lesson.

“
Harder, that’s it, really
roll it out,” I instructed as she worked.

After we were both satisfied with her
efforts, I said, “Now it’s time to pull back a little. You aren’t
trying to get the twist in a single motion. Don’t be afraid to work
with the wax.”

Her second effort was a little better than
the first, but only by a little. I’d planned to get into braiding
with her in the same lesson, but it was not to be. We’d have to
postpone that to another session. If there was one thing I’d
learned about Mrs. Jorgenson since we’d started our lessons, it was
that she demanded she master each and every task before going onto
the next phase.

I dipped some of the reserve tapers into
warm water.

“
Why on earth did you do
that? I’m not finished with them,” she said fiercely. Mrs.
Jorgenson hated it when she didn’t master a technique on the first
or second attempt.

“
We need to keep the wax
warm. We could use an oven just as easily, or even dip them a dozen
more times, but this should work best for what we’re
doing.”

“
If you say so,” she
said.

By the time she’d gone through all the
candles we’d dipped, her technique was just starting to come around
to something resembling my first effort. It was gratifying that
there was at least one form of candlemaking I’d mastered quicker
than she had, but this was certainly no time to gloat about it. I
said, “If you’d like to try your hand at braiding candles, we can
have another lesson right now.”

She scowled. “I need to master this one
first. I’ll be back, don’t you worry about that,” Mrs. Jorgenson
said. Out in the main part of the store again, she said. “I believe
I’ll take some of those wax beads. They are rather convenient.”

“
Yes, ma’am. Anything else I
can get you?”

She thought about it a moment, then said,
“Let’s have a few more spools of wick, and I need six of your
beeswax kits.” We’d tackled rolling candles out of sheets of wax
earlier.

“
Brushing up, are
you?”

Mrs. Jorgenson sniffed the air. “These are
for my grandchildren. They spend entirely too much time on their
computers, and these kits should do nicely to distract them from
their monitors.”

“
That’s a wonderful
idea.”

As I totaled her bill and had her sign the
receipt, I said. “Do you want to go ahead and schedule the next
session, or should we just play it by ear again?”

She wasn’t amused, not in the least. “Make
it in three days. I’ll have mastered the twists by then.”

“
There’s no doubt in my
mind,” I said as I helped carry her purchases out to her car. After
every previous lesson, she’d taken her efforts proudly home with
her, but I noticed I’d forgotten them.

I said, “Give me a second and I’ll go get
your candles.”

“
That won’t be necessary,”
she said. “By tomorrow I’ll have much better tapers.”

“
Good for you,” I said as I
stepped away from the car.

She seemed to think about it for a few
seconds, then said, “I don’t suppose it would hurt anything to take
them with me. Would you mind?”

“
Not at all,” I said, glad
she hadn’t abandoned her efforts.

Eve met me at the door. “She forgot these,”
she said, nearly out of breath as she pushed a bag into my hands.
The tapers were all safely wrapped and in the bag.

“
Thanks, Eve.”

I passed them on to Mrs. Jorgenson, and she
grabbed my hand before I could release it. “About Mr. Gaston,” she
said in a lowered voice. “Do keep me informed.”

“
As soon as I know
anything,” I said.

She nodded and drove away, and I watched
until she disappeared. I wasn’t sure about this new development,
having the richest woman in Micah’s Ridge butting into a murder
investigation. It could lead to a lot of trouble, for all
concerned.

But I couldn’t waste too
much time worrying about it,
either.

I had a business to run, a complex to watch
over, and if time permitted, a murder to solve.

Chapter 11

“
Welcome to the grand
reopening of The Pot Shot,” I said to the crowd of onlookers poised
in front of Sanora’s pottery shop. I had no idea how she’d drummed
up so many people on such short notice, but I was impressed. Not
only were there nearly a hundred people in the audience, there was
a reporter from The Gunpowder Report, our local newspaper, and a
camera crew from KRZY, our local television affiliate.

If this was her basic, spur-of-the-moment
promotion work, I couldn’t imagine what a well-thought-out campaign
must look like. I doubted I’d be able to get this kind of a turnout
unless I started giving candles away. Maybe not even then.

I looked down at my notes, then said,
“River’s Edge welcomes you. Feel free to shop all of our fine
stores while you’re here.” I’d suggested the last bit to Sanora,
and she’d heartily okayed it. After all, while we did run separate
businesses, we were also part of a community. Besides, I thought it
wouldn’t hurt her standing with the other tenants, and the fact
that it might throw a little business our way at the candleshop
hadn’t escaped me.

But these folks were here for Sanora, and I
felt obligated to give the pottery center stage.

“
There are some great deals
inside, there’s food and drink, too, so come on in.” With that, I
used a giant pair of scissors to sever the red ribbon Sanora had
strung across the door, and she was officially open for
business.

As folks moved toward the open doors, I
thought I spotted Heather in the background, but I must have been
mistaken. Coming to Sanora’s opening was something I just couldn’t
see her doing. I regretted she was missing the opportunity for
sales, but shutting her store down had been her decision.

I found myself standing beside Tick after
the crowd vanished into The Pot Shot.

“
Nice speech, Harrison,” she
said. “I didn’t know you were available for rallies and
celebrations.”

“
Believe me, I have no
intention of making a habit of this. Sanora needed a quick
substitute when the mayor canceled, so she asked me.”

“
You did fine,” Tick
said.

“
Do you think this crowd is
going to wander around to our shops after they see what The Pot
Shot has to offer?”

Tick said, “It’s too soon to tell, but it
couldn’t hurt How’s business at the candleshop been lately?”

“
We’re keeping our heads
above water,” I said. “How’s the world of antiques?”

“
Oh, it stays pretty steady
between our walk-in customers and our regulars. Why, I’m even on
the Internet now, if you can believe that.”

“
Getting much business
there?”

She shook her head. “Not particularly,
though I must admit, I don’t give it the time it requires. I have a
young lady from the high school working my web page. It was her
idea, since she had a debt to work off with me.”

“
How did that come
about?”

Tick said, “Young Maria has a passion for
Depression Glass, and we barter for her services. You haven’t been
in the shop lately, you should stop by. I’ve just gotten some
lovely furniture from Ireland.”

“
It must be great fun
amassing your stock. Do you ever go on any expeditions
yourself?”

She nodded. “In fact, I was supposed to go
to Scotland two weeks ago, but I had to cancel at the last minute.
My traveling companion backed out on me almost as we were boarding,
and it’s no fun going alone.”

“
I understand that,” I said
as I started for The Pot Shot. “Are you coming?”

“
Do you know, I’ve never
stepped one foot into that pottery shop? I don’t appreciate the
medium at all.”

“
How about candles? You know
you’re always welcome in At Wick’s End.”

She shuddered visibly.  “Thank you for
the invitation, but no, I’m afraid not. You see, I’ve got a horrid
fear of fire. I’m afraid I spend all my time with my
treasures.”

“
Well then, maybe we could
have lunch at Millie’s sometime.”

Tick frowned, then said, “I seem to keep
saying no to you, don’t I? I’d honestly love to, Harrison, but I
don’t have someone like Eve watching over my wares.” She glanced at
an antique watch pinned to her sweater, then said, “I’d better go
back to the shop.”

“
I’ll catch up with you
later, then.”

“
Do visit me sometime soon,”
she said as she headed back to her world of antiques.

Sanora was busy behind the cash register, so
I wandered around the shop. The display I’d seen earlier sporting
many of Aaron’s pieces had already grown smaller, and from the look
of things, there wouldn’t be anything left by the next day. What
was it about the work of some artists and craftsmen that as soon as
no new pieces would ever be available, the remaining ones sold so
quickly, and in most cases for so much more? Folks had grabbed up
many of Belle’s creations after her death, until I held some in
reserve for the shop with “Not For Sale” stickers attached. In a
way, it kept her a part of the shop she’d so carefully created.

The press had left as soon as they’d gotten
their pictures, but the browsers and buyers were buzzing about in
full force. Sanora noticed me and waved me to her.

“
Thanks again for doing
that, Harrison,” she said as she wrapped a tea set up in thick
brown paper.

“
My pleasure. If you don’t
need me, I’m going to head back to At Wick’s End.”

“
See you later,” she said as
she ran a customer’s card through her register. I noticed her
sign-up sheet for classes was already filling up, and I wondered
how to juice up the attendance in our candlemaking classes. Maybe a
display in the front window, or even an ad in the paper. Eve had
been pushing for more exposure, and I was ready to listen to
her.

I moved down the wide walkway of River’s
Edge back toward my shop and glanced at the river beside us. The
Gunpowder was flowing past at a good clip, and for a moment I
wished I could be out there on it. Not today, though. I had too
much work to do. Thinking of kayaking made me wonder about Erin and
what her history was. Had she truly been interested in candlemaking
when she’d come by the shop, or was there a chance she was
interested in the candlemaker?

I laughed out loud at that. My imagination
was definitely getting the better of me. April May had told me
clearly enough that she knew Erin was still getting over someone,
and besides, I didn’t have time for someone in my life, not with
the demands of my responsibilities. Still, I missed those jitters
that made me feel alive. When I fall for a woman, I tend to fall
pretty hard, and a part of me yearned for that butterfly feeling in
my stomach at the sound of someone special’s name. I wondered if my
late Great-Aunt Belle realized just how much she’d put on my plate
by leaving me River’s Edge. Probably, she was a crafty old gal, and
I found myself missing her every day. There were a thousand
questions I would have loved to ask her, but then again, if she’d
still been around I wouldn’t be running At Wick’s End.

I glanced in Tick’s antique shop and saw
there were a handful of customers in her shop. Maybe, if we were
lucky, some of them would migrate all the way down to the
candleshop.

I found Eve doing inventory when I walked in
the door. There wasn’t a customer in sight.

“
How was your speech?” she
asked. “Sorry I missed it, but someone had to watch the store,
goodness knows it’s been quiet though. Did many people show
up?”

“
There were about a hundred,
I’d guess,” I said, “And the speech was everything it needed to be:
short and to the point. Have we had anyone drift in
yet?”

“
Not since you left. I
certainly hope we get some of the traffic here. You did mention us
in your speech, didn’t you?”

“
I mentioned everyone,” I
admitted, not wanting to get into my lack of a specific
endorsement. I still believed I’d handled the situation correctly,
but I had no desire to get into that particular discussion with
Eve.

I glanced at the clock. “You can leave early
again today, if you’d like. I should be able to handle things
here.”

“
There’s nowhere I need to
be,” she said. Funny, just last week she’d skipped out early nearly
every single day. Something had changed in her life, there was no
doubt about that.

I bit my lower lip, then asked, “Eve, is
there anything you want to talk about? On a personal level? I’ve
been told I’m a good listener.”

“
There’s certainly no need
for that,” she said abruptly.

“
If you change your mind,” I
said, “I’m here.”

Eve ruffled the papers in her hands, then
said, “I’ve got work to do.” She disappeared into the storeroom and
I regretted saying anything to her. When would I learn? While she
and Belle had been great friends, I still got the impression that
Eve barely tolerated me.