Page 52 of The Sound of Harmony

Footsteps on the stairs. Were the doors open already? But it was only Mitch. He jerked a thumb into the hallway. “I’ve been talking to tall Dave. He wants Emma upstairs, Kendrick downstairs, and me in the driveway and garage.”

“Let’s go,” Kendrick said.

“Good luck, Emma,” Mitch said.

“Emma who?” Kendrick asked. “I’m not thinking about her.”

“You’re not?” Mitch asked.

“No.”

“I am.”

“Don’t.”

They got downstairs just as tall Dave was letting in the first ten people. The sale had begun.

A rush of customers came in the first two hours. Kendrick tried to figure out what someone was likely to buy based on how they looked, but he was terrible at it. A small older man bought a lot of jewelry, a woman about his mom’s age bought an armful of tools, and a young man bought a bag of books. Kendrick put end tables in the back of one woman’s hatchback, and helped load the dining set into another woman’s truck. Short Dave gave him bubble wrap and boxes, and he wrapped up a complete set of china for a middle-aged couple and four coffee mugs for a young man.

He watched people go upstairs and wondered how Emma was doing. He took small breaks on the wing chair in the front parlor until somebody bought it. After that, he stood.

Crowds dwindled around ten. Tall Dave told him it was always like that. “The professionals have come and gone. This afternoon, it will be locals and bargain hunters.”

By noon, people were trickling in the door one and two at a time. Short Dave started consolidating tables. Tall Dave ordered pizza and gave everyone staggered lunch breaks.

When Kendrick returned from lunch, he spotted Mitch talking to a short, curvy woman wearing a bright purple shirt with a yellow scarf, which set off her blond hair. Mitch leaned forward, maintaining eye contact, and mirrored her gestures. Come to think of it, hadn’t Mitch been talking to her before Kendrick took his break? How long had she been here?

Tall Dave caught Kendrick’s eye. He tilted his head toward Mitch. “That’s not going to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

Dave crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Been doing this business a fair number of years. I’ve learned how to read people. Within thirty seconds of someone walking in the door, I can tell if they’re buying or browsing. She’s not buying.”

“The merchandise? Or Mitch?”

“She’s not interested, is what I’m saying. And isn’t Mitch supposed to be in the garage? That snowblower is going to walk away if he’s not out there.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Kendrick snaked through the tables and over to Mitch. He maintained a polite distance, but stood close enough to be included. At least, that’s what should have happened, but Mitch was too wrapped up in this woman to notice him. They seemed to be talking about art.

“There was a whole exhibit of those sculptures at the Wexner Center in Columbus,” she said. “I think it toured around the country. It made a big splash.”

“I don’t know much about art,” Mitch said. “But I know what I like.”

“Aren’t you needed outside?” Kendrick asked him.

“Ope, I didn’t see you there. I was talking to this lovely lady.” Mitch turned back to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name. I’m Mitch, by the way. This is Kendrick.”

“Hello,” Kendrick said. “Are you a neighbor? I’m moving in on Monday.”

“Oh!” The woman’s eyes widened. She looked back and forth between them as she flicked her thumb over her fingers in an odd gesture. She turned to Mitch. “You said your grandmother had owned this house, so I assumed you were the one moving into it.”

“No. Him,” Mitch said. “It was his grandma’s house too.”

“We’re cousins,” Kendrick said. “Not that you can tell, because Mitch got all the handsome genes.”

“And what did you get?” she asked Kendrick. “The brains?”