quick tour of the downstairs. He found her curtained-off workroom far more interesting than the storage closet and display areas, because it reflected more of her character. The right and left walls sported shelves and cubbyholes that held yardage, trims, and other sewing sundries, all tidily arranged. A new-looking Singer sewing machine held court at the back of the room, its gleaming walnut stand draped with what appeared to be a woman’s dress in progress. A roomy square table took center stage. Scissors, a neatly wound measuring tape, a sketch tablet, and a wine-red pincushion adorned its smooth surface.
She rested her slender fingers on the black scissor handles, making Gabe wonder if she planned to stab him. With a quick search of her expression, he chased away the thought. Nan didn’t have it in her to deliberately harm anyone, not even a man who had forced her into matrimony.
“This is where I work,” she said shakily. “I also consult with my customers in here.”
“That is a beautiful sewing machine. It must have cost a small fortune.”
Pink slashed her pale cheeks. “A necessary purchase. I’ve doubled my sales since buying it.”
She brushed by him to exit the room and turned toward the door that led to the upstairs living area. Gabe stopped her short. “Shouldn’t we lock up? Even with the closed sign showing, curiosity seekers are liable to walk right in.”
Nan glanced down at the key he still held in one hand. “Laney will be home soon, and her only way in is through the shop.” She held out a slender hand for the key. After taking it from Gabe, exercising care as she did to avoid a touch of their fingertips, she slipped the instrument into her skirt pocket. “As for the gossipmongers, as sharp as their tongues can be, most of them are honest to a fault. I doubt any of my customers would steal.”
Gabe didn’t share her faith in the goodness of most people, but then, when he thought about it, he decided that his opinion of others might be more than a little biased. He’d spent much of his life seeing the dark side of human nature, and as a kid, he’d suffered cruelties that not even Nan, emotionally injured by her father though she had been, could probably imagine. Maybe his perspective had come to him through a narrow lens, focused on the gutter scum, while Nan had seen the world through a multifaceted prism, allowing her to glimpse more brightness and hope.
Remaining two steps behind her, Gabe followed her up a steep, narrow staircase, the kind he called a neck breaker. One misstep could cause a person to take a very nasty fall, and if that occurred on one of the top risers, a somersault to death could easily result.
“You need some nice, sturdy handrails,” he observed.
“I know,” she admitted as she paused to push open the door to the apartment. “Hiring a carpenter is expensive, though. I recently enlarged the shop and our quarters after buying the place next door. The renovations, simple though they were, cost me dearly. I also paid a lot extra to put in a kitchen water pump and some drainpipes. Handrails in this stairwell must wait until next year.”
Gabe made a mental note to visit the lumberyard and the hardware section at the general store. He didn’t want Nan or Laney to take a tumble.
After passing through the doorway to enter the room beyond, Nan stood in its center with her hands clasped at her waist, the fingers of her right hand twisting the wedding band around and around as if the circle of gold seared her flesh. She waited for him to join her. He noticed that her pointy little knuckles were white, a telltale sign that she still expected him to jump her at any second. Recalling the scenes of her life that he’d been shown by the angels, most particularly the obscenely fat Horace Barclay’s sexual assault upon her person, he felt a little sick to his stomach. Nobody who’d seen all that could blame this woman for fearing men.
Most nauseating of all to
She rested her slender fingers on the black scissor handles, making Gabe wonder if she planned to stab him. With a quick search of her expression, he chased away the thought. Nan didn’t have it in her to deliberately harm anyone, not even a man who had forced her into matrimony.
“This is where I work,” she said shakily. “I also consult with my customers in here.”
“That is a beautiful sewing machine. It must have cost a small fortune.”
Pink slashed her pale cheeks. “A necessary purchase. I’ve doubled my sales since buying it.”
She brushed by him to exit the room and turned toward the door that led to the upstairs living area. Gabe stopped her short. “Shouldn’t we lock up? Even with the closed sign showing, curiosity seekers are liable to walk right in.”
Nan glanced down at the key he still held in one hand. “Laney will be home soon, and her only way in is through the shop.” She held out a slender hand for the key. After taking it from Gabe, exercising care as she did to avoid a touch of their fingertips, she slipped the instrument into her skirt pocket. “As for the gossipmongers, as sharp as their tongues can be, most of them are honest to a fault. I doubt any of my customers would steal.”
Gabe didn’t share her faith in the goodness of most people, but then, when he thought about it, he decided that his opinion of others might be more than a little biased. He’d spent much of his life seeing the dark side of human nature, and as a kid, he’d suffered cruelties that not even Nan, emotionally injured by her father though she had been, could probably imagine. Maybe his perspective had come to him through a narrow lens, focused on the gutter scum, while Nan had seen the world through a multifaceted prism, allowing her to glimpse more brightness and hope.
Remaining two steps behind her, Gabe followed her up a steep, narrow staircase, the kind he called a neck breaker. One misstep could cause a person to take a very nasty fall, and if that occurred on one of the top risers, a somersault to death could easily result.
“You need some nice, sturdy handrails,” he observed.
“I know,” she admitted as she paused to push open the door to the apartment. “Hiring a carpenter is expensive, though. I recently enlarged the shop and our quarters after buying the place next door. The renovations, simple though they were, cost me dearly. I also paid a lot extra to put in a kitchen water pump and some drainpipes. Handrails in this stairwell must wait until next year.”
Gabe made a mental note to visit the lumberyard and the hardware section at the general store. He didn’t want Nan or Laney to take a tumble.
After passing through the doorway to enter the room beyond, Nan stood in its center with her hands clasped at her waist, the fingers of her right hand twisting the wedding band around and around as if the circle of gold seared her flesh. She waited for him to join her. He noticed that her pointy little knuckles were white, a telltale sign that she still expected him to jump her at any second. Recalling the scenes of her life that he’d been shown by the angels, most particularly the obscenely fat Horace Barclay’s sexual assault upon her person, he felt a little sick to his stomach. Nobody who’d seen all that could blame this woman for fearing men.
Most nauseating of all to
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