Chapter 12

G et something useful? The words rolled around in the back of her mind, until she figured out a way forward. Now with her phone calls done, she started researching good working-man watches. That made her feel so much better when she realized the price was something commensurate with a working man’s wage. She thought that Mack might like a fancier watch, yet she was afraid it might bring up something she hadn’t even considered—which was now the vast difference in money they each had, or she would have when it all came home to roost.

She wasn’t even sure when that would happen. Yet it did seem like eventually it would happen, and, therefore, it might be something that would cause Mack to second guess having a relationship with her. That wouldn’t make her happy at all. That made her sound as if lots of things in life didn’t make her happy, and she didn’t mean that. She really didn’t. There were so many good things about her world these days. And the money didn’t matter, but having experienced not having any, as compared to having some, she didn’t want to be without again if she didn’t have to be. She knew Mack would agree totally. So the last thing she wanted to do would be to get him a gift that would highlight what he didn’t have.

Wondering just what she was supposed to do about that, she contacted the jeweler in town, the one she’d had the occasion to work with, and asked if they had any good working-man’s watches.

With a note of humor in his tone, he replied, “Sure, Doreen. Come on down and let’s take a look and see what you call a working-man’s watch.”

She winced, sensing a pitfall coming ahead of her. “I just mean a watch that Mack would wear daily,” she explained, “and not one that he would feel as if he couldn’t put on his wrist.”

“Right.” She heard the humor in his tone. “We have a huge selection of watches, so come on down and take a look. Let’s see what Mack would like.”

“How do you know that though? Have you taken a look at the watch he has?”

“Yeah, the band has been repaired multiple times, and he told me that there’s no point in doing much more than that because it will just keep getting ruined because of his job, and that’s a really good point. We need something that he can put on and wear every day and not worry if it gets banged up or scraped up somehow.”

“Or torn off because of snagging it on a fence or something,” she added. “I mean, he works really hard and may well be hard on his watch, but he still needs to know that he’s on time or not.”

“Right.”

And again she heard the amusement in the jeweler’s tone. “I sound silly over this, don’t I?” she asked. “I’ve got to tell you that I’ve never really had Christmas, and I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do about it, but I get the impression that I’m supposed to do something.”

“It’s really more about doing something because you want to do something,” he said gently.

“I want to do something, but I don’t know how one decides what that something is,” she muttered.

“I suggest you come down, and we’ll take a look. We’ll see if you like the look of something that you think Mack would enjoy. Besides, you can bring the animals with you. We haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Oh.” She looked down at Mugs, who was slumped at her feet. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Then come on. I’ll put on the teakettle.” And, with that, he ended the call.

She groaned as she looked down at her animals. “Apparently everybody seems to think I do nothing but drink tea.”

It wasn’t that she did nothing but drink tea, but more so that everybody else seemed to drink tea and assumed she would as well. But there was no time like the present, and she needed to sort out Mack’s gift early, so she would quit worrying about it.

She quickly packed up the animals and drove down to the jewelry store. As she walked in, Thaddeus immediately flapped his wings and cooed, “Thaddeus is here. Thaddeus is here.”

The jeweler—his name was Danny—walked over to say hi. “Hey, Thaddeus. I haven’t seen you in a while, buddy.”

Thaddeus chuckled. “ He, he, he, he ,” and that went on several more times, making Danny laugh.

When they were finally done greeting each other, he looked over at Doreen. “Okay, so you’re thinking about getting Mack a new watch for Christmas.”

“I was thinking it might be a gift that he could use,” she clarified, a little unsure of what to expect here. “He has a very practical spirit, and he’s not really into unnecessary expenses. Yet I don’t know that he’s ever had a fancy watch either.”

“Maybe for the moment, let’s just focus on something that you think he would like that’s practical. It’s easy enough to step it up on another day.”

“Right,” she agreed, as she took a look at the nearby watches. Her eyebrows shot up. “These are pretty fancy.”

“Some of them are, and some of them aren’t,” Danny explained. “Watches come in a wide range of selling prices. Just like women wear bracelets, men wear watches.”

“Oh, that makes more sense. My husband had a huge collection of watches.”

He asked her, “And you’re thinking about giving Mack one of those for Christmas?”

“I would consider it, except that I’m really not sure they’re the watches he would wear.”

“And why is that?” he asked curiously.

She looked over at him and winced. “I think my husband paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for them.”

He looked at her, blinked several times, and then nodded. “That’s a very good point. I’m not sure that’s necessarily what Mack is looking for. Yet that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have two watches. Still, if you have that level of a watch at home, it’s not the same watch that he might wear to work.”

“That’s the problem,” she pointed out. “I really want him to have something that he’ll use, not just put away, the way my late husband did.”

“Did he really have many of them?”

“Multiples, so many of them,” she said, “but I don’t really know much more than that. We’re doing a full accounting on them now.”

“Right, he’s since passed on, hasn’t he?” Danny asked.

“Yes, he has, and I’m inheriting the estate, which means that the watches are coming my way too.”

“Of course,” he noted, with a nod. “If you ever decide you want to sell them, I would be happy to take a look at them.”

“And I might have to,” she said, with an eye roll. “I really don’t even know what’s there yet, so hold on to that thought a little bit longer.”

“You know, Doreen, that is something to be seriously considered,” he shared. “If he paid that much, some of those watches could even be collector’s items.”

She winced. “With my luck they will be.” When he looked at her in astonishment, she sighed. “I know, it makes me sound very ungrateful, and I certainly am not,” she said, holding up a hand. “It’s just that,… once again, it’s a field I don’t know anything about. So I’m not sure what I should be doing or how I should handle it.”

“That’s why you hire professionals to handle it,” he said, with a gentle smile. “You’re doing everything right. You just need to give yourself time for the process to work.”

“ Right ,” she muttered.

“Now,” he began, “let’s focus on Mack and a watch that he can use for work. Do you know what color his is?”

“Silver,” she said.

He nodded. “That’s the bulk of them. Do you know what color the watch strap is?”

“Silver,… but I don’t know but I think it’s silver. I don’t honestly know if it started that way or if it’s just from wear. It’s irritating his wrist now too, so whatever coating was on there is long gone.”

“Does he ever mention what he likes in a watch?”

She shook her head. “That’s one of the reasons why I don’t even know if I should be looking at a watch. I mean, honestly, it all just feels very awkward.”

“And that’s okay too,” Danny noted. “In our case, your purchase would be something he could bring back in and exchange, if he didn’t like it.”

“Oh,” she said in delight. “That would make sense.”

“Then you’re not locked into making the wrong decision.”

“No, I’m still locked into making the wrong decision,” she clarified, “but he’s not locked into having to like my wrong decision.”

Danny burst out laughing at that logic. “Okay, I can live with that too.”

It took a bit, but she did find a watch that she thought Mack would really like. By the time she had it on her credit card and clutched her purchase in her hand, she felt mighty proud of herself.

As she went to leave, Danny added, “And, if you do want somebody to go over those watches from your ex, you let me know.”

“I’ll think about it. That’s a whole ball of wax that I don’t even think I’m ready to open yet.”

He nodded. “Some of these things take time, particularly when a death is involved. Don’t rush yourself. Pack everything into a safe or put it away for a bit, and then you can always decide later.”

She thanked him for his consideration, and, with the animals in tow, she moved toward the door. Then she stopped and asked, “Did you know Brandon Phelps?”

He frowned at her. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“He was the guy who was killed in a semi-truck accident last week,” she shared.

He shook his head. “It’s not a name I know, but my condolences to the family. It’s a tough time of year to lose somebody.”

“Right, it just seems even more heartbreaking when it’s Christmastime.”

He nodded.

“He knew somebody named Pengo or Potter or something odd.” She frowned.

“Oh, him.” Danny winced. “Yeah, he’s not somebody I even want in my store. I don’t have any proof, but I’m pretty sure he stole from me way back when. It was one of the reasons I upgraded the security systems.”

“Ah, that makes more sense. Brandon apparently did time based on something that the other guy did instead.”

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Pengo did that. I don’t think he’s necessarily dangerous though,” he added quickly. “He was just slimy, you know? A shyster.”

“That isn’t good either,” she muttered.

“No, it sure isn’t, and it causes all kinds of destruction in the business world,” he added, with a smile.

“It is frustrating,” she muttered. “I mean, people can do so many good things with their lives, and yet what do they end up doing? They end up robbing people who are just trying to make an honest living. Have you seen this Pengo guy lately?”

“No, I don’t think so, not in a very long time.” Danny eyed her curiously. “Is this another case?”

“Everybody keeps asking me that,” she said, with a smile. “It’s not really a case. I was just thinking how sad it was that Brandon died before he could get the Freedom Project to take his case and to help clear his name.”

“If it was something that he didn’t do, you would think that they would do it, even in absentia .”

“I did talk to them, but they have very limited man-hours and money, so must choose the cases they take on very carefully. They were certainly sympathetic,” she noted, “but it wasn’t something that they could see themselves picking up and moving forward with. She pointed out that they had thousands of cases waiting to be dealt with. That is quite a hefty wait list.”

“Ouch.” Danny shivered. “I don’t know anything specifically about the man in question. I just know that Pengo’s not somebody I want back around here again.” Then he held up one finger. “I think his sister, Miriam, works at that fancy restaurant next to the food court shops in the mall.”

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Doreen noted, turning to look at him.

“Oh, no. You’ll go off and talk to her, won’t you?” he asked, with a laugh.

“I probably will. I guess nobody else cares, but it does bother me that this Brandon is dead and gone and served time for a B&E he didn’t do, and nobody will ever know the difference.”

“Not to mention the fact that the other guy got away with the crime.”

“Exactly.” She nodded, appreciating the fact that Danny at least understood. “I’ve never really been a fan of people getting away with things, especially with blaming other people for something they did and somehow managing to walk.”

“Right? That’s always the worst,” he muttered. “I think she might even own her restaurant.” He stopped for a moment and thought about it, then added, “I don’t remember what it’s called, but it’s a nice restaurant, next to all the food court shops, as you walk in.”

“Oh, I think I’ve been in there.”

“It’s expensive, so …”

“In that case, I haven’t been there,” Doreen corrected, with an eye roll. “I haven’t exactly been shopping much.”

“At least now you can look forward to buying what you need, when your ex’s estate is settled,” he pointed out.

“Maybe so. Anyway, thanks for your help.” And, with a smile, she waved and headed back to her car with the animals. They’d been incredibly well behaved while she’d been in the store, but she wasn’t sure she could count on their cooperation much longer. So she headed over to a small park close by and let everybody get out and wander a little bit. If nothing else, this break would keep them pacified, as she ran her errands.

As they were wandering, she saw several other people walking around too. It was just that kind of a day, cold but refreshing.

Another woman smiled at her and laughed when she saw the animals. “I haven’t ever seen you here before,” she said, as she walked over with her dog.

Mugs and the dog sniffed each other several times and then, almost by mutual agreement, seemed to walk away from each other, as if that was it. They’d had their conversation and had now moved on.

Doreen laughed. “I don’t quite understand how they sort out who they should talk to longer and who to ignore, but it sure seems as if they do it mutually.”

“I know,” the other woman confessed. “I’ve tried to figure it out but finally just gave up.”

Doreen nodded. “Giving up figuring out our animals would make more sense, yet my curiosity is always there, telling me that I’m missing something and that, if I would just pay more attention, I would understand them better.”

“If you say so,” she replied, laughing. “The more I try to figure it out, the more confused I get.”

Doreen continued to watch as the animals wandered around, seemingly having a happy little visit with each other and with whatever trees and bushes seemed to attract their attention.

The other woman looked over at Doreen and asked, “Do I know you?”

“I don’t think so,” Doreen replied absentmindedly, still focused on that expensive restaurant in the mall that Danny had mentioned. Doreen smiled at the lady with the dog. “I’m Doreen.”

The woman’s face lit up. “Oh, in that case, I do know you.”

“Oh? In a good way or a bad way?”

The other woman went off in peals of laughter. “In a good way. I’ve certainly heard about the animals.” Then she turned and looked at them. “Are these the ones forever getting in trouble?” she asked in fascination.

Doreen winced. “Yes, here they are,” she replied glumly. “Lots of people don’t particularly like to see me coming because the animals get into trouble.”

“Oh, but you come from the heart, and you help a lot of people by solving these cases,” she noted, with a smile, and then she looked around. “Are you on a case right now?” She had lowered her voice, as if afraid somebody would hear her.

Doreen winced. “No, I’m just out walking the animals.”

“Right.” Still, the woman had a knowing grin on her face.

Doreen figured the woman would likely go home and chat with her friends about seeing Doreen and her animals. “Honestly, I’m just here getting a little fresh air.”

“Good.” The woman smiled. “That’s important too.”