Which wasn’t her smartest decision, because every time she’d glance Nora’s way to gauge her reaction, it took her a good thirty seconds to refocus on the seahorse she was supposed to be sculpting.
Still, even with that distraction, she somehow managed to get the shape of the seahorse and its major elements carved out in just over an hour, and she smiled to herself as she powered down her saw and stepped away to inspect her work.
Not bad, Q, she thought as she yanked on the cords of her earplugs to let them dangle around her neck.
There was still some finishing to do, but that would need to be done with her Dremel. She planned on doing that quieter work back at her booth until the market closed for the night and everyone would wander down to the edge of the bay to watch the boat parade.
She nodded her thanks to the crowd that was applauding her effort and lifted a hand as she called, “I’ll be doing the finishing work on this one at my booth over there”—she pointed toward her tent—“if you’d like to watch a bit more, and I have a large collection of handmade ornaments available for purchase.” At a query called out from the back of the crowd, she replied, “Sorry, the seahorse is already spoken for! I’ll be doing similarly sized pieces every evening for the next few days, though, so feel free to drop by if you’re interested. I also take commissions.”
Quinn tilted her head to the left to stretch out her neck and right trapezius before switching things up to take care of the other side as a trio of teenagers in bright red Staff t-shirts hustled to take down the rope barricade. A few people took advantage of the freedom to wander closer for a better look, and she smiled as she thanked them for their compliments and answered their questions. Interacting with her audiences was always a blast, but she was much more interested in the opinion of one particular person, and her gaze kept drifting to where Nora hovered at the perimeter of the crowd.
She breathed a small sigh of relief when the last of the audience members wandered off in search of cinnamon donuts, strudel, and festive hot drinks that were better suited for cooler weather. The polite smile she’d been wearing melted into a much more genuine one when Nora sidled gracefully up to her. Her heart fluttered at the way Nora smiled back at her, and she took a deep breath as she inclined her head toward the rough sculpture beside her. “So…what’d you think?”
“You certainly know what you’re doing with that saw.” Nora bit her lip and reached out to trace the rough curve of the seahorse’s side fin. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
“Yeah?”
Nora nodded.
“Ms. Haavik?” One of the teens who’d been taking down the rope line stepped into her view and waved a hand between himself and his buddies. “We were told to see if you’d like help moving the sculpture to your tent?”
Quinn gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to shout at the kid as she watched the cautiously hopeful gleam in Nora’s eyes flicker out at the interruption. She gave her a small, apologetic smile and tapped the back of her hand in a way that said,Hold that thought, before she turned her attention to the boy. “I think I’d rather move it myself, but if one of you wouldn’t mind carrying my saw over for me while the other two move the carving stand, that’d be great.”
“Sure thing.”
“Awesome. What’re your names?” Quinn asked.
“Oakley.” The kid took the saw from her and nodded toward his friends. “And that’s Chad and Jake.” Oakley grinned as he tested the weight of the saw in his hands and asked, “How long have you been doing this?”
“Since I was ten, actually. My grandfather is a woodworker in Norway, and he taught me everything I know.”
“Cool,” Oakley enthused.
Quinn nodded and glanced at Nora. “I’m just gonna carry this over to my tent so it’s out of the way, if you want to tag along.”
“Sure.”
While fitting for the beach, a seahorse wasn’t the most structurally sound because of the way the sculpture was perched on its curved tail, and Quinn was glad she’d decided to leave the bottom two and a half feet of the stump as a base as she squatted down to loosen the clamps holding it in place. If she’d been on concrete, she could have disengaged the wheel locks on the stand and just rolled the whole thing to where she wanted it, but the wheels weren’t nearly rugged enough to handle the grassy terrain that separated the demonstration area from her booth.
She took a deep breath as she wrapped her arms around the base, and grunted softly as she pushed to standing.
“Oh,hallo…” Nora murmured.
Quinn laughed and hefted the sculpture into a more comfortable position. The good news was that she’d taken off enough to make it easily manageable for one person—she’d needed help getting the log into the base when she’d been setting up. She threw a roguish grin at Nora as she asked, “You liked that, huh?”
She damn near dropped the sculpture when, instead of answering, Nora licked her lips and nodded as hazel eyes openly traced the shape of her biceps.
“So, where do you want this stuff, Ms. Haavik?” Oakley asked.
“Behind the display table in my booth is fine for the saw, and if you could set the stand in the little orange square painted on the grass just in front of it, that’d be great. And you guys can call me Quinn,” she said as she stepped out of the way so Chad and Jake could pick up the carving stand.
“You got it, Quinn,” Oakley spoke for the group as he took off toward her tent with his friends not far behind.
Quinn glanced at Nora and flicked a couple of fingers as best she could with her hands full toward the kids. “Do you want to go first?”
Nora shook her head. “You go ahead. I’ll make sure nobody runs into you.”
Quinn nodded and adjusted her grip, and in an attempt to lighten the mood, teased, “You’re just saying that so you can stare at my ass, aren’t you?” as she started for her booth.
