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For a man who’d spent the last two days telling himself he had a job to finish, I was becoming remarkably easy to distract.

When I finally straightened, Goldie was smiling.

“I was wondering whether we’d get around to that,” she said. “I didn’t want to interrupt you while you had the mechanism apart.”

“You’re being very considerate of my machinery.”

“I have a professional interest in keeping it functional.”

I laughed and retrieved the washer. “Then you’d better help me finish this before I decide we can operate the whole haunted house with cardboard and fishing line.”

Goldie settled back on the stool, although she kept her knee resting lightly against mine while I worked.

With the guide plate removed, I could see where the edge had developed a burr. The piece controlled the travel of a sliding inspection panel in Raw Materials. It didn’t have to support much weight, but it needed to move smoothly every time the performer operated it. If it caught halfway through a show, somebody would eventually try forcing it.

I wasn’t interested in letting that happen.

I clamped the guide into a padded vise and took a fine file to the damaged edge, removing only enough material to smooth the surface. Goldie adjusted the lamp whenever I changed position, keeping the light where I needed it without making me ask.

“Does that have to be perfectly smooth?” she asked as I checked the edge with my thumb.

“Smooth enough that the carriage won’t catch. I’m not polishing it for appearance. I just need to remove the raised metal without changing the fit.”

She leaned closer to examine the piece. “And then the performer can move the panel manually?”

“That’s the idea. There’s nothing complicated about it once the guide stops binding.”

I reassembled the plate with a fresh washer and moved the carriage through its full travel several times. The first pass had a little resistance near the end. I loosened one mounting screw, shifted the guide a fraction, and tried again. The movement was clean.

Goldie took the little notebook from her work bag and made a note beside the Raw Materials heading.

“What are you writing?”

“That the operator needs to move it from the designated handle, not push on the panel itself. You mentioned that yesterday, and I want it in the final crew notes.”

I looked at her for a moment before returning to the work.

Most producers I’d known were interested in whether an effect looked good when the audience saw it. Goldie cared about that, but she also wanted to know how the crew would operate it for five hours without breaking anything or hurting themselves. It made working with her considerably easier.

I put the repaired guide in a shallow padded case and reached for the second assembly, a small release catch from one of the freight-crate effects in Packaging and Shipping.

“This one’s simpler,” I told her. “The spring isn’t returning the latch consistently. I’ve got a replacement, but I want to check the alignment before it goes back.”

Goldie shifted her stool to give me more room and watched as I removed the old spring.

Outside, wind stirred the trees around the building. The workshop windows reflected the bright work lamps against the darkening yard.

I’d spent plenty of evenings working alone out here, especially during the first few years after coming home. The hours had often stretched long past the point when I accomplished anything useful. Tonight, with Goldie beside me, the time passed differently.

She asked sensible questions, helped when she could, and didn’t fill every quiet moment with conversation.

When I needed a screwdriver, she passed it over. When I stopped to examine the spring seat, she waited without asking whether something was wrong.

And every so often, I’d catch her looking at me with an expression that made me want to abandon the whole damned project.

I fitted the new spring, checked its seating, and tested the latch. It released cleanly and returned to position without snapping back hard enough to catch a performer’s fingers.

“That’s better,” I said, cycling it again. “I’ll install it when we get back and have the operator run it a few times before guests come through.”