The early morning crowds began arriving and Beau and Justine excused themselves to go check out the other booths and visit with friends. He was using a soft cloth on the stainless steel bust when he heard a feminine gasp from behind him. He turned and smiled at Summer Webster as she walked up.
After returning her hug and greeting her, he said, “You setting up a booth, too, Summer?”
“No. I decided to be a shopper this time around.” She approached the bust on its pedestal and then looked at him with wide eyes. In a soft voice, she asked, “Did you make this?”
“Sure did.”
She looked around at the other pieces before turning back to the bust and running a fingertip along the upper arm, which was crafted from stainless steel teaspoons and butter knives he’d found at a junk store. He caught sight of Charity getting Val’s attention and whispering to him. Then she gave Justin an enthusiastic thumbs-up before moving away to talk to another man and his wife who were admiring the dragon.
Summer bit her lip and craned her neck, waving at Kemp and Ace as they made their way down the aisles between booths and then she turned to him. “How much?”
He quoted her the price on the tag and added, “But I’d give you a friend’s discount, Sum—”
She shook her head and then put her finger to her lips as Kemp and Ace walked up. Ace’s eyebrows rose as he noticed the piece she had her hand on and he nodded in admiration. Kemp stuck his hands in his pockets, looked at it, and then turned his gaze to Summer. Warmth filled his eyes as he noted her determined expression and then turned to Justin. “You welded this?”
Justin nodded and grinned when Summer winked at him but said nothing as the men looked at it.
Finally, Ace asked, “Where would you put it, kitten?”
Without hesitation, she said, “By the front door at Discretion. Customers will love it.”
Ace surveyed the sculpture once more, looked at her until she smiled and nodded happily and then turned to him and said. “Sold.”
While they were handling the transaction and making arrangements for delivery at her shop, Summer mentioned that she would be sure to tell customers that he’d created it and asked if he had any business cards she could hand out.
“I hadn’t really thought about that, Summer, but I can get you some, if you have room for them.”
“Bring me a stack of them when you get them.”
He added a “Sold” tag to the piece and was grinning ear to ear as they walked away, leaving him with a check in his hand. He looked down at it and chuckled. The money he made from selling his metal art he’d earmarked for use to fix up the house. Up to that point he’d only sold small pieces. This was the first big one.
Looks like we’re getting that house renovation this summer all right.
Just then, Charity danced up to him, giggling and waving a check in her hand. “I sold your dragon!”
Justin took her in his arms and hugged her as he watched the stainless steel dragon being carted up the aisle on a dolly by Val, who looked back and grinned before following the buyers to their vehicle. Justin almost hadn’t brought that piece, thinking it probably wouldn’t sell since it was so fantasy oriented. He’d been wrong.
“I sold a piece, too,” he said, handing her the check.
She crowed with happiness and threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. “I’m so proud of you, babe. I knew they would love your work.” She gave him a kiss and her bright smile lit his entire world.
The scent of blooming mountain laurels filled the air as the day warmed up and the morning progressed. More people perused his work and he was kept busy answering questions about the various pieces. He sold several more sculptures, a little blown away by the complimentary things people said to him. Every so often he’d catch Charity watching him as she talked to customers, too, and she’d wink at him before going back to her sales pitch. He grinned, pondering how a blue-collar guy like him could make good money as an artist, wielding the tools of his trade as a welder.
Just then, Charity walked up to him with a friend in tow. “Babe, do you remember my friend, Violet? She owns Violet’s Emporium,” she said as she pointed across Central Park to Violet’s place of business located on the square, smack in the middle of Divine’s historical shopping district.
After exchanging greetings he said, “Of course I remember. The bookstore, right?”
Violet nodded, which made her pale blonde ringlets bounce as she handed him a business card. “I’ve been utilizing a small portion of the space as a bookstore, but it’s going to be so much more. I inherited the building from my uncles, which they operated as the True Value hardware store for several decades.”