“It may have fallen to the floor.”
“Really? May it have?”
He didn’t smile, because Than wasn’t much of a smiler on the outside. But on the inside I knew he liked it when I teased him.
Or at least he tolerated it.
The girl was back again. Than went through punching the keys on the register, and came up with the new price. Four for the price of free.
The girl looked thrilled. “They’re for my friends,” she said, bouncing on the toes of her feet.
“Are they?” he asked, as he wrapped another spool.
“We found some old kites but need better string. Geo got his stuck in a tree, and I climbed up and got it for him. The string broke.”
“I see.” He wrapped the second spool, eyes on his work, but listening to the girl. Hearing, I thought, more than just her words. Hearing, I thought, what I heard.
There either wasn’t enough money or there wasn’t enough time for her and her friends to have new kites. They were making do with hand-me-downs, and thrilled to have them.
Than dropped one spool, two spools into the bag with the others.
Then a thought came to me. “Where did you find the old kites?”
Than stopped, his hand absolutely still over the open mouth of the red bag. His eyes ticked up to me, held.
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.
“Oh, out on the beach,” she said. “Some were stuck behind rocks. One was just hanging from a tree. Right where we play every day. And they’re good kites except for the string we lost.”
“Really?” I said. “Did you hear that, Than? There were perfectly good kites scattered out there where the children were playing.”
“Fascinating,” he intoned.
“Just such a coincidence the kites were left out there after you’d been out on your walkabout. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
“There you are,” he said to the girl, completely ignoring me. “Have a good day.” He folded the top of the bag over once, ran one boney finger along the fold and pushed it gently toward the girl.
She left the shop with a big smile on her face and was already digging through the bag before she’d even cleared the threshold.
“She’s happy,” I said.
Than moved past me to turn the sign over toClosed. “Kites are something to be happy about,” he observed.
“You could have just talked to Bertie.”
“About?”
“Wanting to donate kites to kids.”
He moved past me, and I caught a hint of his cologne, or maybe it was his soap. Something with rosemary and just the slightest hint of jasmine and honey. It seemed like a strange combination, but on him, it was wonderful.
“I am sure I do not know what you are speaking of.”
“The coincidence of all those kites showing up right when you were out on your stroll.” I nodded toward the window where the girl was already surrounded by three other kids about her age, handing one paper wrapped treasure to each of them.
“Ah,” he said, gliding toward the back of the shop where I knew he had a little room with supplies and also a fine selection of tea and reading material. “Some mysteries may forever remain mysteries.”
He was through the door then, out of sight. I didn’t know if he was activating alarms or just setting the shop to rights for the day. Maybe he kept his reserve uniform back there.
