Finally Finding Faith (The Reed Brothers) Read Free Page A

breeze of his heavy exhale. “All gone.”
    I finally look up. “I’m sorry.”
    He nods. He gets up and starts to wander around the shop. An hour later, I’ve put his watch back together and I wind it up. It should work. But it just doesn’t. And I don’t know why. I heave a sigh.
    “What’s wrong?” he asks from directly behind me. I feel the heat of his breath on the back of my neck, and the hair on my arms stands up.
    “Nothing,” I say and I start to take it apart again. I look over my shoulder at him. “Are you in a hurry?”
    He shrugs and settles down beside me. He picks up a pen and starts to spin it on the tabletop. I look over at him. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly , and he stops the pen from spinning with a slap of his hand. “So, you live here?” he asks. “In New York? All the time?”
    I nod. And I keep disassembling his watch.  Watches are made on a series of gears, even watches this old. I make sure each one works as I put it back in place. There are no snags. No broken gears. No missing parts. Nothing was jarred loose in the blast. “Yep,” I say quickly.
    “Have you always lived here?” he asks.
    “No,” I grunt. “I moved here when my grandmother got sick. Before that, I was in Florida.”
    “Do you like it here?” he asks.
    I shrug. “One place is as good as another.”
    “Why aren’t you married?” he asks.
    I look up. “What makes you think I’m not?”
    He grins, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “Because any man in his right mind wouldn’t let you out of his sight.”
    I jerk my head up. He gets up and starts to wander around again, like he didn’t just say something profound. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mumble.
    He cups his hand around his ear and leans toward me. He grins. “What was that?” he asks.
    “Never mind.” My gaze drops to his lips. He licks his full upper lip, and I have to force myself to look away.
    “Something wrong?” he asks. His eyes drop to my mouth and he walks closer to me. Is he thinking about kissing me?
    I look down at the watch. I shrug out of my sweater, because it’s suddenly hot in here. “No,” I say.
    I look at the parts of his watch, which are scattered all over my table. The door to the upstairs opens and Pete walks down.  Half way, he slows down, and looks from me to Daniel and back. “What did I miss?” He grins.
    “Shut up,” I grumble.
    “Oh,” he breathes. He nods his head and punches my shoulder as he walks by me. I growl at him and he laughs.
    “How’s Nan?” I ask. “Still upset?”
    “Only that you were worked up over it,” he says. He ruffles my hair with his big bear paw.  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he says quietly. “Could have happened to anyone.”
    I nod, biting my lower lip to keep from sobbing.  Nan has gone downhill so fast. She keeps having these mini -strokes that make her weaker and weaker. There’s not much else we can do for her, except wait and make sure she’s comfortable.
    “She was talking about some old clock,” Pete says. He picks up a bag of chips I was eating earlier and helps himself.
    I smile. Granddad bought her a funny little clock made in Germany when they first got married. But they sold it when times were lean, about thirty years ago.  Granddad has been scouring the internet to find another one. “He’ll never find another clock like that, not one that he can afford. They make crappy knock offs, but he doesn’t want crap. He wants the real thing for her. Or nothing.”
    “What kind of clock?” Daniel asks.
    “It was a German clock, made with a Black Forest design, and when the hour chimed, dancers came out of the clock and slid back and forth along the front.” I shrug my shoulders. “That’s all I remember about it.”
    “Is it rare?” Pete asks.
    I nod. “And too expensive for Granddad to buy another.” I would buy one today, if I could find one and had enough money. “Nan used to make up love stories about what