Time Thieves (11 page)

“Well I did, obviously.”

“But why not enjoy your money over there? Why not invest it in the business or in the house or for the comforts you wanted?”

“Not there. Not in
that
house,” she snapped. “I wanted
my
life back.”

Sari shook her head. “So what – Father was a one-night stand and you ended up pregnant? Felt you had to marry him or something? You had money. You could have come home.”

“Not without a husband. My parents would have cut me off. I’d have had nothing. Not a penny. But your father wouldn’t listen to reason. He wouldn’t move. He kept saying we didn’t need anything but ourselves. That it would all work out. That we were happy and that was all that counted.”

“And he was right.” Sari remembered her father’s joyous attitude to life. He’d been an optimist but not necessarily a good businessman. He’d help out a neighbor in need and hand over the food in his cupboards to anyone who needed a meal. “His heart had been in the right place.”

“He was a fool. Our house could have been so much more. Our life could have been so much more.”

“No, Mom, we had all we needed. Only for you, it was never enough.”

“No, it was not. There was so much more we could have had. He refused. He didn’t want to live at my parents’ home.”

Sari choked up at that. “Of course not. He was a man with a home – a family – of his own. He wouldn’t want to live here. He had a business, a life there. He didn’t even speak French.”

“So, he could have learned. He was smart, capable.”

“He was a man. And you were his wife.”

“You make that sound like a prison sentence.” She snorted. “And I guess it was. I couldn’t make him change, but neither could I stay and live that way.”

Sari hated the thoughts that filled her head. Her tongue had no such problem. It blurted out, “Then his disappearance was a blessing.”

That earned her a grim look. “Don’t you say that. A divorce would have been a better answer. I could have taken you and come home. My parents might not have been happy, but they would have provided for us.”

“Is that all you’ve wanted out of life? To be provided for? Did you never want to do something with your life? Be something?”

Lisbeth snorted. “I am someone. I don’t need to go to school or to do anything to become someone. I am someone just the way I am.”

Her mother had never lacked self-confidence. And seeing that lightened the mood for Sari. Her mother was who she was. And in truth, she did love her. She felt sorry for her father though. And for the first time, she wondered what would have happened to the family unit if her father hadn’t disappeared. “True enough. And now I need to go to bed.” She stood up. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Lisbeth smiled and stood to hug her daughter lightly. “Sleep well.”

“You too.” Sari smiled and walked up to her bedroom, the same bedroom she’d had since they’d arrived so long ago.

She stared at the childish room, wondering why she’d refused her mother’s offers to redecorate. The same pink walls and frilly curtains from decades ago framed the pink bedding and teddy bears that decorated the pillows.

Then of course she knew. Changing her room would have been saying goodbye to her childhood, and that would have meant saying goodbye to her childhood dream – the return of her father.

And that was something she could never do.

S
ari unlocked the
door to her home gratefully. It had been a short and emotionally draining trip.

“Hey Sari.”

Startled, she spun around, almost dropping her bag.

“Whoa. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Ward raced up the last step to take the leather satchel from her arms. “I was coming to update you on the case when I saw you arrive.”

“I just flew in.”

“I would have picked you up.” Ward pushed the door open for her. She stepped across into the hallway, and he picked up her overnight bag to bring it inside.

“Thanks. You can just leave the bag there in the hallway.” She smiled at him over her shoulder.

He placed the bag at the bottom of the stairs. “How was your trip?”

“Both good and bad. I picked up a couple of gems in London and then went to see my mother.”

He glanced over at her. She smiled wryly. “My mother is a piece of work. She wouldn’t give me my father’s possessions if I didn’t fly there and get them.”

“Sounds like a normal mother.” He grinned.

“I guess.” Sari grimaced. “Maybe she is at that. I haven’t been close to many other mothers to know if they also coddle and contrive situations to suit themselves.”

“That’s exactly what they do.” He chuckled. “At least mine does.” He pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table. “They aren’t all bad. They usually do it out of love.”

“It’s that
usually
part.”

He studied her intently. Even as she turned away to put on a much-needed cup of coffee, she could feel the intensity burning her back.

“Do you not get along with your mother?”

She sighed, staring out the window over the sink. “I don’t know if we ever did. I was very close to my father. And since his disappearance…well, you’d think she and I would have pulled together to get over it, but…”

“But instead it’s divided you further, correct?”

She spun around. At his compassionate look, her lips quirked. “Yeah, something like that. I’m more like my father and she’s so very different.”

“Which is maybe a good thing.”

“Maybe.” She straightened, turning to open the cupboard door to pull out coffee cups. She placed them on the table. “Do you take cream? I haven’t been shopping in a while, so I’m not sure what I have.” But there was a small carton of cream. She opened it and sniffed it experimentally.

“Smells sweet.” She handed it over to him. He grinned and poured it into his coffee.

“Did you find anything special on this trip?” he asked, stirring his cup.

“Not shopping wise, but I did get a watch of my father’s that my mother has been hoarding all these years.”

“Oh, interesting.” He studied her across the table. “Any idea why she didn’t let you know about it before this?”

“Yeah, she says I was devoted to him when he was alive and became obsessed after his disappearance.” She met Ward’s compassionate gaze. “She didn’t want to add to it.”

“Back to that whole mother thing again. And what they do in the name of love.”

She smiled crookedly. “Especially as I’ve been hunting for watches similar to the ones my father loved.”

“What do they look like?” he asked.

Never sorry to show off her passion, she raced to her bags at the front stairs where he’d dropped them.

“You could have waited until tomorrow,” he said, laughing by her side as he watched her dig through her carry-on bag.

“I’m happy to show you. I wanted to take a closer look as it is.” She shrugged. “I didn’t even take a look at my mother’s place for fear she’d catch me and try to snag it away from me.” She grinned as she pulled the bag free.

“Do you have a place to keep this stuff safe here? Considering you’ve already had one break-in.”

Pointing toward the office, she said, “In my safe. And thanks for the reminder. That damn security system isn’t fully operational yet.” She rubbed her temple. “I’ll need to check in with them immediately.” She glanced around at the old but lovingly used room. “Now I have to admit I wished I had it installed before. But with the roof, window, and attic, I had a lot going on already.”

She started back
toward the kitchen when she realized Ward wasn’t following her. She glanced behind to see him studying the door handle to the shop. She froze, her pulse jolting. “What’s the matter?”

“It looks like someone was trying to get in here.”

“What?” She ran back and saw the gouges around the knob and the dented metal of the actual lock. As she watched, Ward grabbed the handle and tried to open the door. The lock held.

“Oh thank heavens,” she murmured. She quickly unlocked the door and walked in, taking a quick look around. “It doesn’t look like the intruder made it in.”

“Is everything insured?”

She winced. “Yes and no. There’s a top dollar amount for the plan I’m on, but my goods come and go on a regular basis so that amount could be high or low depending on the day.” At his raised eyebrow, she added, “We’re not talking hundreds of thousands here. Closer to thirty thousand maybe on a regular day.”

“Hmmm. Do you want to take a closer look to see if anything is missing?” He looked around the shop. “Has anything been disturbed?”

“I have no idea.” She groaned. “I’ve only begun to find out what is here in the first place.” She walked over to the far desk and bent down to find her safe closed and locked. “I need to make an inventory, but I haven’t got there yet. The safe is locked but that doesn’t mean much. Anyone who knows safes could break in.” She quickly twisted the dial first one way, then the other. When she finished, an audible click sounded. She twisted the handle and popped the door open.

She peered inside. “It’s all here. Or appears to be.” She rustled inside, sorting through the items she’d placed in there before she left along with the small bit of cash and gems. She stood up and opened the bag she’d taken from her luggage, tumbling the contents into her hand. Looking at it carefully, relief swept through her as she noted some of the similar markings on the watch she’d seen in her father’s notes. “It looks right, at least from first glance.”

Holding it out for him to see she grinned at the look on his eyes. “See, isn’t it beautiful?”

“This is valuable?”

Her gaze widened as she whispered, staring at the watch, “Very.”

“Interesting.” He shrugged. “I’ll write this up and add it to your file. I’ll send someone over to fingerprint the door, but chances are good they used gloves. The first intruder did. What’s the chance he came back for a second look around?”

“Quite likely. Yes, please do what you need to do.” She stared down at the watch in her hand. “I want to keep this safe.”

*

“Okay, but it
looks like any other pocket watch to me.” He grinned at the look of disgust she shot his way. “I really don’t know anything about them.”

She laughed as she carefully repackaged the watch and set it beside them on the table. She gave him a big fat grin. “It is. And it’s a great find. But I’ll need time to take it apart and photograph and catalogue the insides. There are a lot of similarities to my father’s piece, but I suspect the internal markings are different.”

“Do the markings identify the maker?”

“His signature marks are here, but the other marks are an identification system I haven’t been able to figure out yet.”

“Must be fun.”

“It is, actually.” She gave a deprecating laugh. “My life might have gone in a different direction if my father had lived, but as it was, I became obsessed with his passion.”

“You most likely would have if he’d been there all your life anyway. You were close back then – I doubt that would have changed.”

He hoped that was true, because he’d been very close to Sari and he really didn’t want
that
to change. He wanted to get to know her again. So far, so good. He did like that she hadn’t had a recent relationship. He hated the idea of her having any. Still, she was here and they were both single. It was their time.

“So what did you say about updating me on the case?”

He stared blankly at her. “What? Oh,” he flushed slightly. “I was just looking for an excuse to come by to see you.”

She smiled sweetly. “You don’t need an excuse. Just stop by anytime.”

He couldn’t help the self-conscious grin. “Thanks. I’ll remember that. However, I do know that we are working on the case, but there’s no sign of the guys.”

She nodded. “I’m not surprised. I’m sure they’re long gone. And thanks for coming by.”

He took that as his cue. She was itching to get at the watch, obviously. “I’ll head out and get this started.” He motioned in the direction of the shop. “Take care of yourself. And I’m glad you’re home safe.”

“Dinner tomorrow, maybe?”

He raised an eyebrow, barely holding back a cheer. “Sure, that sounds great.”