Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“I think when it comes to West,” Sterling began, and then stopped. “Hey, look.” A few feet ahead was a booth draped in rust-colored fabric, trays and cases laid out, filled with bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and rings, all in a nature theme. My heart kicked in my chest. I pulled out my phone, scrolling through to find the picture of the gold oak leaf necklace Quinn had found in what used to be our father’s hunting cabin.
As we neared the booth, I looked from the picture on my phone to the stock the jeweler had displayed. It wasn’t an exact match, but it was pretty fucking close. I scanned the booth and found a woman about my age hovering by a display of earrings, dressed all in black, her copper-colored hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. She smiled as I approached. I stopped at a tray of necklaces similar to the picture on my phone.
No oak leaves. I spotted a beautifully crafted tree branch and a goldfinch. Then I saw it—a maple leaf. Not an oak leaf, but it was a gold charm hanging from a chain—almost exactly like the one in the photograph.
“Can I help you find something?” the jeweler asked.
I glanced at Sterling, whose eyes were on the maple leaf necklace. She didn’t say anything, so I took the lead. “Actually, yes.” I tapped my finger on the maple leaf and showed the artist the picture of the oak leaf necklace on my phone. “Is this your work?”
“I, uh,” she took a step back, shaking her head. “I recognize it, but—I mean—I don’t know. Where did you find it?”
“It belonged to a friend,” Sterling lied easily. “We’ve been admiring it, and she couldn’t remember where she got it except that she knew it was around here somewhere. She got it a few years ago. Could it have been yours?”
Sterling blinked her big blue eyes up at the jeweler. Sterling was dazzlingly beautiful. Long golden curls and those Sawyer blue eyes. Her smile had been known to turn people to mush—male or female, it didn’t seem to matter. The jeweler didn’t fall under her spell, but she eased slightly. I kept my mouth shut. Between the two of us, Sterling was more likely to get information. I was too upfront, too demanding. Not assets in a conversation where someone had something to hide.
The jeweler shook her head again. Sterling fluttered her lashes and gave a smile so sweet it made my teeth hurt. “Are you sure? It looks so much like this maple leaf here, but we really wanted an oak.” She looked at me and back at the jeweler. “For all the oak trees by our house, you know? And this one—” She tapped on the screen of my phone. “It’s just so pretty. Are you sure you didn’t make it?”
“I’m sure,” the jeweler said shortly. “I’ve made a couple of leaves like that one there,” she pointed to the maple in the case. “But no oak leaves—not a couple of years ago.”
“Okay, well, if you’re sure.” Sterling let her shoulders sag in disappointment.
“I’m sure,” the jeweler said again shortly and turned to another customer hovering at the edge of the booth.
We walked away. As soon as we were out of earshot, Sterling said, “That was weird, right? Because that maple leaf—the style of it—the way she pressed the pattern of veins into that leaf...”
“I know,” I said. “It looks exactly like the oak except it’s a maple. But, yeah, the style, the execution, everything. Why wouldn’t she just tell us?”
“I don’t know.” Sterling glanced back over her shoulder. “I don’t think she’s going anywhere. We can keep looking and see what we find.”
We did. I ended up buying a pair of fingerless gloves with a matching hat because the knitter had embroidered hops at the wrists and on the hat brim, and I couldn’t resist. Sterling walked away with a small stone sculpture she said was for Forrest. We saw more jewelers. Beautiful work. More nature-inspired pieces, but nothing like the maple leaf necklace or the oak leaf on my phone.
When we were done, Sterling turned back towards the first jeweler’s booth. “I want to talk to her again,” she said. The jeweler spotted us as we approached, her spine going stiff, her hands fidgeting as she straightened a tray. The maple leaf charm was gone.
“Hey,” Sterling said in a friendly, ditzy-sounding voice. “You still have that maple leaf?”
“Sold. Sorry,” was the terse reply.
Something told me she was lying. I didn’t know if it was her quick response or the way she couldn’t meet Sterling’s eyes, but I would have bet that maple leaf pendant was still somewhere in this booth.
“Oh, that’s such a shame. It’s not the oak leaf we wanted, but we thought— Are you absolutely sure you didn’t make the necklace we showed you earlier? Maybe you just forgot. It looks so much like your work.”