Chapter 10
A year after I met Elijah Sterling, I returned to his store.
Priya had invited me to see the renovated showroom. I came on my day off, wearing my warehouse jacket and the shoes I used when I knew I would be walking a lot.
She met me at the door and hugged me.
“Come see the repair desk,” she said.
It stood in clear view of the showroom. Customers could watch staff photograph an item, record its details, and seal it for the workshop. A sign explained when they would receive updates and whom to call.
Priya demonstrated the process with her own watch. She had helped design it and wanted me to see every step.
“You should be proud,” I told her.
“I am.”
A woman came in while we were talking. Her coat was damp, and she carried a small box tied with string. Priya greeted her before she had reached the counter.
“What can we help you with?”
The woman wanted to know whether a bracelet could be repaired. Priya untied the string with her and took a look.
I moved aside. I was there to visit, and Priya had work to do.
Mr. Sterling came from the back room a few minutes later. He wore a dark coat over a shirt with one cuff partly unbuttoned. He stopped when he saw me.
“Claire. Priya told me you might come.”
“She wanted to show me the changes.”
“She helped make them.”
“I can tell.”
He glanced toward the counter, where Priya was explaining the bracelet repair. We waited until the customer had finished asking questions.
“My warehouse team is growing,” I told him. “I’m training two new people.”
“Do you like it?”
“I do. I like helping them learn the work.”
“And the center?”
“Family night is next Friday. The children made invitations.”
“Maya said she’s coming home from college for it.”
He smiled at the thought of her. I had seen her twice that year, always with a new story about school. She still wore Ruth’s necklace for days that mattered to her.
Mr. Sterling and I stood near the same front window where he had waited while his necklace was repaired.
“I’m glad you came to see the store,” he said.
“I’m glad Priya invited me.”
I looked at the glass door. I could remember exactly where I had stood when I pointed him toward it. I hoped I would always remember. It made me stop and listen when I felt ready to decide something about a stranger.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you,” I said.
He met my eyes.
“I know.”
There was more kindness in those two words than I had expected when I walked in. He had watched what I did after losing my job. He had given me work at the center when he knew I could handle it.
Priya came over after the customer left.
“Mrs. Brooks called,” she told us. “Her grandson and his wife had a baby girl.”
Mr. Sterling laughed. “We should send congratulations.”
“She already asked if I knew what kind of tiny bracelet a baby can wear.”
“Ask what she wants before showing her one,” he said.
Priya looked at me and grinned. “I can do that.”
We walked to the door together. Outside, the rain had stopped. I thanked Priya for showing me the store and headed to the community center to drop off the family night schedule.
By the time I arrived, children were finishing their homework at the tables Ruth had once helped set up. Mom was handing out pencils. Andre had stopped by on his way home from work and was helping a boy untangle the string on his jacket.
Maya called me over to the art table. She had come home a day early and was showing the children how to make paper necklaces. A little girl had drawn a bright blue stone in the center of hers.
“Like yours,” the girl told Maya.
Maya touched Ruth’s necklace. “My grandmother wore this one.”
The girl held up her paper version. “I’m making mine for my mom.”
“That’s a lovely gift.”
Mr. Sterling arrived soon after me. The little girl asked him to help tie the paper necklace, and he bent to fasten it. He took his time so it wouldn’t tear.
I stood beside Mom and watched the children show their families what they had made.
Mrs. Brooks came in with a photograph of the new baby. Priya arrived after closing the store. Andre found another chair so we could all sit around the art table and look.
The little girl with the paper necklace climbed into her mother’s lap. Her mother kissed the top of her head.
May you like
Mr. Sterling took a seat beside Maya. She rested her head briefly on his shoulder, the blue stone shining at her throat. He looked at Ruth’s photograph on the wall, then back at his granddaughter.
I passed Mrs. Brooks’s photograph to Mom and pulled up a chair. Around me, people made room for one another. I was grateful to be there, and I knew how to help keep that welcome open for the next person through the door.
