Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47

" W e talked to Serena," Max said to me as he came into the shop.

I stopped polishing my third tabletop. "And?"

"And we've stalled her for today," he said, looking at the teacup display I'd made. "What's with all the teacups?"

"Mrs. Baumgarten, Betty, buys them. And after today?" I asked, getting back on topic.

"I'm not sure what she'll do tomorrow."

"That's not a help." I leaned against my nice clean table, about to be filled with salt and pepper shakers, some of them made from old shells (the gun kind) because I couldn't convince Ozzie that people didn't want weaponry on the breakfast table. I'd been wrong of course, they'd sold like crazy to the few people who'd wandered in here, so he'd kept making them. Fortunately, we also had a lot of ugly-cute sets so I could hide the military-grade shakers among them.

"It'll give us a break," Max said, ignoring the shakers.

"I could use a break. I've had an exasperating morning."

He came over and put his arms around me and the morning improved. "You didn't find any money?"

I leaned against him just because I could. "No, but I had a lot of interruptions. I think the news about the will is all over town. Lot of people volunteering to help me find the money. I told them all you were coming back. You are not popular now since you're a cash-blocker."

"I've never been popular." He began rubbing my back in sympathy. "Where did you look?"

"This part of the shop for now, cleaning as I went. I was waiting for you to get back before exploring Ozzie's spaces. He might have boobytrapped things."

Max shook his head. "I thought about that. He wouldn't do it in a house he lived in. Not with Poppy growing up here." He looked around. "Let's try the top and bottom first. Roof and basement?"

"Sure," I said and went to the heights and the depths with him. I'd never been on the roof—might make a nice roof garden some day—and I'd been in the basement more than enough, pawing through stuff that Ozzie thought was too good to sell, like a three-quarter size Venus de Milo he'd picked up somewhere. We stopped halfway through for lunch, having found no money, but nobody tried to kill us, either.

I take my wins where I can get them.