I flailed for an excuse. “Our dog and cat,” I said to ward off the hour’s long conversation I could see looming in my future if we got corralled into his shop.
“Both welcome, if they’re well behaved. That’s a real pretty dog you got there. Part chow chow you said?”
I glanced back at Lorde, who sat next to Lu. Lu’s smile softened. It was the kind of smile that let me know I was all hers, and she was happy about it.
Abbi was bouncing on the balls of her feet, eyes wide and hopeful. The little black cat, who was not a little black cat, draped over her shoulders, a darker shadow beneath her shaggy white hair.
I raised an eyebrow. Lu nodded.
“That’s right,” I said to Bill. “Part chow chow and shepherd.” I snapped my fingers softly.
Lorde ran on over and leaned against my leg, pushing her big fuzzy head under my hand so I could give her a scrub. I dragged fingers behind her soft ears while she huffed and made happy little yawning noises. “She’s a very good girl.”
“Well, bring her on in,” he said. “I have a bowl of water and a choice ham hock for her. You have a few minutes, right?”
Lu and Abbi made their way to us, and Lu dropped her hand next to mine. I took her hand as I always would, weaving my fingers between hers.
“We have a few minutes,” I said. Lu squeezed my hand.
“We haveallthe minutes,” Lu said.
“Mat Davis?”The coffee shop proprietor had his big hands curled around the takeout containers filled with goulash. We’d been ready to leave a half hour ago, but he was still holding our lunch as soft hostages, keeping us in the quiet shop to visit a while longer.
It was a technique well used by gossips, the curious, and the lonely. I was pretty sure Bill was a little bit of all three.
“Mr. Davis doesn’t live here. Well, not now. His family had a house out somewhere in Topeka, I heard.”
“But he does business here?” Lu asked.
“Oh, I suppose.” Bill let go of one container to open the paper bag that had been lying on the counter undisturbed for some time now. “He’s one of those antique collectors, you know. I think they called them pickers for a while, but really, he’s just finding old junk, shining it up, and selling it online.”
That explained the trombone. It probably also explained the magic mirror in his pocket, though it didn’t explain how he knew how to use the mirror.
“Isn’t that something,” Lu said. “I’ve done a bit of that over the years.”
“Have you?” His hands stilled, the paper bag yawning and empty.
Abbi sat on a wooden stool, swinging her feet. She got up and hummed her way toward the big front window like no one could see what she was doing.
She was up to something. I knew she was.
“I have a few old things in storage,” Bill said. “If you have the eye for this sort of thing, maybe you’d want to take a look?”
Lu tipped her head. “If Mr. Davis has been through it, I’m sure he’s taken the most valuable items.”
“Who said I let him look through my storage? I’d rather save my valuables for someone with a good head on her shoulders.” Bill gave her a wink, and my Lu, who could stare down the gods themselves, went pink beneath her freckles.
I camped back on one foot and grinned, enjoying her discomfort, so rarely shown to others.
“Now,” he went on. “I understand you have places to be. Oklahoma, I think you said.” He gave the bag a shake, like that would make any difference for the insertion of our rapidly cooling lunch.
“We do,” Lu said with a slight hesitation. She might not have started life as a picker looking for lost treasures and hidden magics, but she’d been hooked on it for decades now. It’d been the primary way she’d funded her life on the road.
“Far be it from me to keep you away from your business,” Bill said, fingers pinching the edge of the brown bag, the other hand still curled defensively around the food. “But if you wander back this way, I think you might find some very lucky things I’d be willing to part with. For the right price.”
The door opened and a woman with the curliest hair I’d ever seen piled up on her head sauntered in. She wore blue shorts, a tan shirt, and a pair of very practical shoes. A mail bag slung across her chest.
“Morning, Bill.” She gave Lu and I a nod. “Got your mail.” She placed a handful of envelopes, including one that was roughly book shaped on the counter. “Buns still fresh?”
