Just One Look (Castleton Hearts)

“Maybe. Would a donut help?” I asked, smiling, and her mouth twitched just a little. She regarded me for another moment before sighing.

“What flavor?”

I told her that I had plain glazed, chocolate frosted with hazelnut cream, and lemon-filled blueberry.

Theo selected the plain glazed, which didn’t surprise me. She seemed like a fan of classics.

“Come on,” she said as she took a bite out of the donut. Scout started whining and Theo snapped her fingers at Scout to follow her into the showroom and then back to the office.

She sat down behind a desk and I took one of the seats in front of it. Scout made his way to a plaid dog bed in the corner and laid down with a sigh.

Theo set the donut down on the desk and I gave the office a once over. Everything was neat and clean and orderly, with framed pictures of who I assumed was Ralph on the wall, and several of his pieces. There were also what looked like magazine articles.

Theo tapped some keys on the computer.

“So, what do you want?”

I stopped myself from telling her that she needed to work on her customer service skills.

“Well, I have a list,” I said, pulling it up on my phone. I caught Theo making a face. “What’s wrong with lists?”

“Absolutely nothing,” she said. “Let’s hear it.”

I listed off the exact pieces I wanted, with their item numbers, and specifications. Theo clicked as I listed and nodded to tell me she’d gotten everything.

“Do you know how much this is going to cost?” Theo asked, raising an eyebrow at me once I’d finished.

“I mean, no, because you didn’t list prices on your website. I was hoping you could give me a ballpark.”

Theo’s eyes flicked from the computer to me and back. “You know this isn’t an Ikea, right? Every piece here is custom-made to order. It takes hours of work to make even the simplest table.”

I nodded. “I know, I really respect the craftsmanship. Plus, I wanted to support a small business.”

Theo looked at me as if I had seven heads.

“Do you want to support a small business this much? We require a 50% deposit before we make anything, and then the rest on delivery.” She wrote an amount on a piece of paper and then shoved it at me.

I gulped, but it had been in line with what I’d expected. Custom didn’t come cheap. I could hear my mother’s voice in my head, telling me that Memma had saved this money for me. I could hear Memma’s voice, from the last visit where she was coherent, telling me that I deserved to have a wonderful life. That I should live without regrets as she clutched my hands with her frail ones.

“That’s what I thought,” Theo said, her voice almost a growl when I didn’t respond right away.

“No, no. That’s fine.” I handed the paper back to her.

“You can’t be fucking serious,” she said. “There’s no way you can afford this.”

Sure, I bet I didn’t look like a person who could afford to spend that much money. Still, it hurt that Theo immediately dismissed me. Instead of fighting with her, I got out my checkbook. With slightly shaking fingers, I wrote out the amount, signed my name and then asked, “who should I make this out to?”

“Hamon Designs,” she said in a tight voice.

I filled out the rest of the check, tore it out, and handed it to her.

“You know I’m going to deposit this,” she said, holding it up.

“I know. That’s why I gave it to you. Can we talk delivery timeline?”

Theo stared at me and then the check and then back. “If this bounces you’re fucked.”

“It won’t bounce,” I said. “How about this? We wait for the check to clear, and then we can discuss. Would that make you more comfortable?”

I was new to this whole “having a lot of money” thing, so I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do, but I wanted Theo to trust me for some reason. She was going to be crafting a lot of furniture for my house, so it was imperative that we had a good working relationship.

“So I’m going to take this check to the bank, it’s going to clear, and then we’ll work on delivery timelines,” she said.

“Sounds good. Let me give you my number,” I said, pulling out one of my old business cards from the fitness studio. I scribbled out the studio number and wrote mine on it.

“Call me if you have any questions. I want to make sure everything is right, for your sake and for mine.” I handed the card over and gave her what I hoped was a warm smile.

“Well, thank you, Theo, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you and I hope you’ll be in touch.” I stood up and stuck out my hand. Theo still seemed a little stunned.