Chapter 20

“I appreciate your concern,” he said. “I only wish all my customers were as conscientious as you.”

Her tense shoulders relaxed a small fraction, but her gaze continued to flit past his shoulder to the door.

“I’m afraid I have to close early today,” he continued, stepping slightly to the left to clear her path. “I’ve had an emergency come up that I have to deal with.”

“Oh, dear. I hope it’s not too awful.”

The trio were already fluttering toward the exit. Joe trailed a few feet behind. “No, it’s not too bad. But I’ll make it up to you when you come in next week. I have a new shipment coming in that I think would be perfect for you.”

She murmured something he couldn’t quite catch, but he smiled and nodded as if he did, holding the door open for them until they had all filed out onto the street. He waited until they were out of view to lock up and flip the sign in the window. Nobody passing by gave him a second look.