No Ordinary Affair Read Free

prettiest, most feminine, most form-fitting dress , I told myself it was because Miss Parsham might appreciate my looking a bit more pleasant. And when I dabbed perfume behind my ears I told myself it was because the back room of the shop could be musty and the pleasant scent I wore would offset it. And the bit of extra makeup? Well, I just bought a new brand. Might as well try it out.
    “See,” I told myself when Miss Parsham did indeed compliment me on my appearance.
    “Much better,” she said, regarding me over the top of her horned-rimmed glasses. “You’ll make a far better impression on the customers looking like a lady than you will dressed like a slattern.”
    I frowned but said nothing , though I wondered a bit petulantly if she thought I dressed like a slattern, why she hired me . I thought I dressed stylishly.
    “I’m off to another estate sale,” she announced. “So you’ll be at the helm again today. Mind?”
    “No,” I said, and then quickly before I could forget. “Before you go, Miss Parsham , a gentleman found this in the box you bought back, I think, from the schoolmaster’s estate sale. He wanted to know what price you put on it.”
    She slid her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose and took the paddle, squinting at it with a deep scrutiny before handing it back
    “I’ve never seen it,” she said.
    “But he took it out of the box,” I countered.
    “I didn’t say it wasn’t in there. I just said I don’t remember seeing it,” Miss Parsham replied. “There was a ledger, several inkwells, some slates. But not that thing as I recall. However, if you say he took it from the box he took it from the box, although why he wants that and nothing else I have no notion.”
    She glanced at the paddle again. “Charge him twelve pounds.”
    “Twelve pounds? Is that all? It looks old.”
    “Perhaps I could get more, but it’s of no interest to me compared to the other things,” Miss Parsham said, pulling on her raincoat. She looked out the window and sighed. “Ugh. I do hate going to estate sales in the rain. Half the time the relatives haven’t the sense not to haul everything out on the lawn even though they know it will get soaked.”
    I put the paddle back behind the counter. “Maybe you’ll get there before it rains,” I said. “It’s not supposed to come in 'til sometime after noon.”
    “Let’s hope so,” Miss Parsham replied. “There’s supposed to be books at this one. The last thing I need is to find some lovely old valuable volume wet through. I don’t think my heart could take it.”
    I smiled as she left and turned my attention to two women who were walking in. They were looking for teapots and I directed the to several especially lovely ones we’d acquired. They were pleasant and chubby and were part of a club which held what they called “eclectic teas” at a different members’ home each week.
    I was quite enjoying their company when I saw the shop door open and Ethan Willoughby stroll in. He was wearing a long black coat, and his shoulder length hair was pulled back this time. He also carried a cane and the first impression I got was of a country gentleman who’d stepped not through a shop door, but through a portal in time.
    He gave me a little smile when he saw me but left me to my other customers, who continued to chat me up about their unusual tea club and some of the interesting things they’d done. I cast sidelong glances at Ethan as they finalized their selection, worried that he’d get tired of waiting and leave. But he seemed in no particular hurry as he quietly perused the shop shelves, his hands deep in the pockets of his overcoat.
    The ladies were pleased with their teapots. One was green and shaped like a cabbage and the other gold with an exaggerated stem and a lid handle shaped like a key. The pair thanked me profusely for my help and promised they’d be back as they left
    “We’ve taken up enough of your time,” said the shorter