Thursday, February 14, 2013

Hearts on Fire

Love is in the air and in West Virginia the groundhog did not see his shadow, so an early spring is expected. This is good news for James and Carolyn, because they love to walk along the Cheat River and it's been way too muddy. While waiting for the mud to dry up, the couple needs to find another way to entertain themselves.

James and Carolyn (like any new lovers) want to spend some time alone.

Carolyn has never been to an auction. James is very excited. Usually it's her that introduces him to new adventures, this time it will be him. Auctions may not be the best place to buy antiques, but sometimes there comes along a great value and maybe even something hidden within something else. Such as a valuable painting under a cheaper print. Once James' mom had bid pretty high for a frame she wanted and she got the bid. The print was a dark, slightly damaged picture of an old barn with a wagon sitting in front of it. Under that print was a sketch by Grant Wood.

A  very good reproduction of a William and Mary Antique end table was up for auction. It was a very dark wood. It was a little over two foot high by almost the same width. The auctioneer suggested  perhaps it could be used to hold cocktail supplies, in a spare room or even at a summer cabin. William and Mary style furniture was known for the dovetail design and for the lightness to the pieces. With this type of carving and construction the furniture was made in a slimmer, sleeker style than ever before. It started out at twelve.

Carolyn raised her hand. The auctioneer nodded, stated he had twelve and went on with twelve-fifty. The auctioneer continued barking. He yelled fourteen, do I hear fourteen-fifty. The crowd was electric, the auctioneer was excited and James felt a little worried. It was a nice piece of furniture, but it was getting into pretty high numbers. He hadn't known Carolyn that long, but he couldn't see her spending that much on an end table, no matter how nice the piece of furniture appeared to be. He leaned close to her and whispered, "Do you think that table is worth Fifteen Hundred Dollars."

She pulled her arm in close to her body and her voice squeaked, "Fifteen hundred?"

After they left the auction empty handed, James suggested they grab a bite to eat. They entered the little diner, seated themselves and snuggled together in the back booth. The waitress seemed hesitant to interrupt them to ask if they'd like to order something to drink. James never mentioned the auction and neither did Carolyn.

Read more about James and Carolyn in
Stamp Out Murder Go to "Stamp Out Murder" page

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