She perked up immediately. “Yeah, over here in this wider booth.” She walked around a corner, her kitten heels clomping on the older wooden floor.
“Come on,” Bud said.
I was too loyal to the Basanellis to buy anything. “I’ll look around here.”
“No.” He grasped my good arm and started walking toward Lisa. “You stay in my sight.”
I rolled my eyes. “Geez, Bud, you’re taking this protection thing a little too seriously.”
“Ha,” he muttered.
We turned the corner, and Lisa pulled out a drawer from a lovely looking china hutch. “These are the ones I have organized right now. Quite a few were stolen, but the Cupids didn’t bother opening this drawer. Unfortunately, I haven’t gone through all the boxes returned to me to find what other ones I may have to sell.”
Bud leaned forward and oohed and aahed. They were sounds I had never heard from the tough cop. He grasped one and lifted it under the light. The pocket watch was gold and open-faced, with a couple of scratches on the face. He looked closer. “This is eighteen-karat gold with an approximate manufacturing date of 1925 to ‘29.”
He squinted as he opened the back lid to look inside. “It has been repaired and has a replacement bow.” The guy sounded almost giddy. “How much?” he asked.
Lisa shook her head. “I couldn’t let that go for less than four thousand.”
I looked closer. “Four thousand dollars?”
“That’s a decent price for this.” Bud shook his head. “I can’t do it right now, but when I can, I’ll be back. It’s a beaut.” He gently laid it back in the felt drawer and then lifted another watch. It looked to me like a silver one. “You also have an Elgin National Watch Company pocket watch.”
I squinted to read the script, noting the timepiece's beauty and polished surface, its bold script complemented by Roman numerals.
“This is a nice one. Thick and heavy,” he murmured. “It’s an older one, probably made in the early 1800s. The classic white dial is lovely.” He took a deep breath. “How much do you want for this one?”
She peered closer and then studied him. “I could let that one go for two hundred.”
“One hundred,” he countered.
“One-fifty,” she said.
He scratched his chin. “I’ll give you a hundred and twenty-five, final offer.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Deal.” She held out a hand, and they shook.
Bud’s grin split his face. He looked like a kid with a new toy.
“I’ll wrap it up for you,” Lisa said.
He reached for his wallet from his back pocket. “Excellent. Thanks.”
I looked at him.
“What?” he asked. “Everybody collects something.”
I was learning more and more about Bud. “See, now I know even more about you. We are friends.”
He lost the smile.
Chapter33
Bud dropped me off at home, and I walked into Aiden’s cabin, stopping short. We had furniture. It took me a second, but I recognized the twin chairs from my Uncle Sean and Aunt Rachel’s basement. The landscape painting was from my Nana O’Shea’s lake cabin, and the sofa tables were from Aunt Yara’s antique store.
“Aiden?” I called out.
“We have furniture,” he called back.
