Page 29 of Timeless

“And now, he has another one.” Abby smiled at her.

“Yeah. And I’ve got all sorts of stuff like that in this place. Sometimes, I find something online myself that I know someone else will want, and it might take a minute, but I know I can sell it for a profit later. Other times, someone dies, and I go to their estate sale and find something there. Most of what I sell is online, so it sits here until I can inventory it, take a bunch of pictures of it, and list it. I have a photo booth that I can set up back there, too. It’s small, so I can’t use it for the bigger items, but it works well enough to keep me in business.”

“Okay. Can I ask you somethingelse?”

“Why do I even keep the storefront?”

Abby laughed and said, “You’ve gotten that one before, I take it?”

Quinn was jolted by the laugh at first because it felt so new yet so familiar to her at the same time, like she’d heard that laugh a million times before. She wanted to reach out and take Abby’s hand at the sound of it, but she had to remind herself that the laughwasnew and not familiar at all and resist the temptation.

“I hear it every time I call my mother,” she replied. “I own the building outright, so that helps me justify it.”

“You’re not leasing?”

“Nope. This building was in the previous owner’s family, and when they wanted to let it go, I happened to be here to scoop it up. They gave me a fair price. Long story short, with what I had saved and some help, I’ve paid it off. Then, because I’m my only employee, I don’t have any payroll, and I have very few overhead costs. I do sell more on the weekends, though.” Quinn looked around the shop. “I know I’d be more profitable if I shut it down and maybe just used it for inventory storage or something. I could also sell the buildingor, at least, lease it out for a profit, and maybe that’s the best financial decision, but I don’t want that. I don’t want to sit at home on my computer all day. I like being here. I love this old gal.” She patted the counter. Then, she looked at Abby, who was watching her with an expression that Quinn wished she could understand. “I don’t think I asked you last time, but… You did give me your full name, so I was able to look you up online.”

“Ah… You internet-stalked me?”

“A little.” Quinn chuckled. “Is that weird?”

“No, it’s fine. What did you find out?”

“Just that you’re the town’s favorite daughter.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true.”

“You’re a very successful author; bestseller and all that.”

“Yeah, which means I sit at home and work on my laptop all day.” Abby laughed a little.

“Better you than me,” Quinn joked. “But you grew up here, right?”

“I did. My family’s still here, too.”

“Can I ask what brought you back to town? Just here for a visit?” she asked and swallowed, hoping that the answer was no.

Abby looked down at the display case counter then, and Quinn took the opportunity to breathe in the scent of honeysuckle once more without her noticing.

“I got tired of living in LA. The cost of living alone is ridiculous, but then, there are the earthquakes, too, and I don’t know about you, but I’m more of a tornado girl than an earthquake girl.”

When she met Quinn’s eyes, there was something in them. Abby looked almost confused that she’d just said that, like she hadn’t planned to, or that she shouldn’t have said it, maybe. Quinn wasn’t sure, so she left it alone.

“You have a natural disaster preference?” she asked instead.

“Have you ever been through an earthquake?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“They’re awful, terrifying, and they just sort of appear. At least, with tornados, you usually get some kind of warning, so you can hide in the basement.”

“True,” Quinn said.

“Have you always been into antiques?” Abby asked.

“No.” She shook her head and laughed. “I was a nursing student for a minute, but I realized that I didn’t really want to be a nurse.”

“Well, this is quite a career change,” Abby noted.

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