Page 39 of Forged

“Hi, Lauren,” he greeted her. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve just got a few more things to set up for the class, but feel free to look around while I do. Just don’t touch anything until after the safety briefing.”

“Sure, sure,” Lauren said. She followed him as he moved to the shelves and cabinets at the back of the forge. “Need any help?”

He wanted to say no and to add that if Joann had sent her to woo him, it wasn’t going to happen. He was spared from having to hurt anyone’s feelings when two other students showed up.

“Welcome,” he greeted them, avoiding Lauren’s offer. “Make yourself at home. Look around, but don’t touch anything until after the safety briefing.”

Lauren didn’t seem offended by his lukewarm reaction to her. Maybe she was just there because she was interested in forging.

He put his worries as far out of his head as he could as the new students settled into the forge. Not only did he have to set out the tools and instruments he would be introducing everyone to, now he felt like he had to keep an eye on everyone to make sure they didn’t do the one thing he’d told them not to do and touch stuff.

It was a lot like being a dad to toddlers, actually. People seemed to think women were better at multitasking than men, but Nick was pretty sure multitasking was something everyone had to learn when they became a parent so that the nextgeneration didn’t accidentally kill themselves. That went for students as well as kids.

His new class seemed like they were going to be pretty responsible. The two new arrivals were college guys who Nick immediately pegged as the kind who played D&D, especially when one of them asked if they would be learning how to forge swords.

“No,” he answered with a laugh. “This is basic blacksmithing. You’ll be learning how to make a rod of iron into a square-sided spike and, if you really get the hang of it, how to make a horseshoe.”

“Oh, good,” a new, chipper voice said. “I’ve always wanted to learn to make my own horseshoes.”

Nick turned around and his heart sank as he saw Bax’s friend Callum striding into the forge.

Even dressed in heavy dungarees and work boots, Callum managed to be a picture of sartorial elegance. He wore a tweed newsboy cap, but his hair was perfectly coifed under that. He smiled broadly at Nick as he walked right into the forge, shrugging out of his long wool coat, and hung it on one of the pegs at the edge of the forge as if he owned the place.

Inadequate didn’t begin to describe how Nick felt in Callum’s presence.

“Callum,” he greeted the man. “Are you taking this class?”

“If that’s alright with you,” Callum said, the picture of old fashioned friendliness.

“Er, of course,” Nick said, shuffling slightly.

He fumbled the pair of wolf jaw tongs he’d been about to put on the demonstration table, dropping them on the toe of his boot. The clumsy gesture had him hissing and bouncing back on one foot for a second before he could bend and pick the tool up. As he stood, he bumped his head on the side of the clamp he’d fastened to the edge of the table earlier.

“Haven’t had our coffee yet, have we?” Callum joked with him.

“No,” Nick laughed in reply, even though he felt a thousand times more embarrassed than clever.

“No worries,” Callum said. “You’re still the expert here. Head bumps or no.”

Nick couldn’t tell if Callum was making fun of him. He couldn’t tell if Callum was genuine in his appreciation as he looked around the forge or if he really was as fascinated with everything as he pretended to be. He was one of those people who was just so vibrant in everything they did that it was impossible to tell if they were naturally exuberant or mocking you so subtly you couldn’t tell.

Worse still, Callum looked good no matter what he was doing, whereas Nick already had a smudge of soot across his face somehow, before he’d actually done anything that could be considered blacksmithing.

“Welcome to Introduction to Blacksmithing,” he greeted the class more formally once everyone was there. “I’m Nick Turner. I’ve been working in a forge since I was seventeen. If you’ve had a chance to look around, you’ve been able to see that not only do I make things like hinges and horseshoes—” he picked up an old horseshoe he’d made from his demonstration table, “I sculpt in metal as well.” He held out a hand to Raina’s unicorn.

“That’s magnificent,” Callum said brightly. “Your attention to detail is spot-on.”

Nick stood there frozen and flummoxed for a moment. Did he mean that or was he somehow taking a dig at him?

He shook his head and went on. “Since this is an introductory class, we’re going to spend most of our time learning technique instead of making anything elaborate. Apologies if you thought you would have your own samurai sword by the end of May.”

The class chuckled. Callum laughed freely.

The joke wasn’t that clever.

“Now, before you do or touch anything, we need to run through what all of the tools are, how they’re used, and most importantly of all, we need to talk about forge safety. So grab yourself an apron, a pair of gloves, and some goggles, and we’ll get started.”

The class followed his instructions, collecting the required items from storage at the side of the room. Nick couldn’t help but watch Callum as he slipped gracefully into an apron, picked out gloves like he was in some London shop, and smiled at Lauren as they both chose goggles from the shelf. Even preparing for hard, sweaty work, Callum was his own work of art.

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