which a man was sitting beneath a bright light, studying a porcelain bottle through a jeweler's lens. He looked over the countertop at Bethany and Charlie, saying, "Sorry. Some folks take her amiss. It's just her way of saying hello. You go back to sleep, Mugs." The dog apparently understood. She sank her head back to her paws and sighed deeply. Her eyelids began to droop.
Charlie scanned the man's face, seeking a likeness, hoping to see projected on its elderly features an Eric who would never be. He was the right age to be Eric's dad: He looked about seventy. And he was wiry like Eric, with Eric's frank gaze and an Eric energy that expressed itself in a foot that tapped restlessly against the rung of his chair.
"Make yourself to home," the old gentleman said. "Have a spec around. You looking for anything special?"
"Actually," Charlie said as she and Bethany approached the counter, "I'm looking for a family. My husband's family."
The man scratched his head. He set the porcelain bottle down on his desk and placed the jeweler's lens next to it. "Don't sell families," he said with a smile.
"This one's called Lawton," Bethany said.
"Marilyn and Clark Lawton," Charlie added. "We were... Well, I was hoping that you might... Are you Mr. Lawton, by any chance?"
"Henry Leel," he said.
"Oh." Charlie felt deflated. More, the knowledge that the man wasn't Eric's father struck her more forcefully than she thought it would. She said, "Well, it was always only a chance, driving out here. But I hoped... You don't happen to know any family called Lawton in town, do you?"
Henry Leel shook his head. "Can't say as I do. They antiques people?" He gestured at the shop around him, crowded to a claustrophobic degree with furniture and bric-a-brac.
"I don't..." Charlie felt a slight dizziness come over her, and she reached for the counter.
Bethany took her arm. She said, "Here. Take it easy," and to Henry Leel, "She's just getting over the flu. And her husband... He died about a week ago. His parents don't know about it and we're looking for them."
"They the Lawtons?" Henry Leel said, and when Bethany nodded, he cast a sympathetic gaze on Charlie. "She looks mighty young to be a widow, poor thing."
"She is mighty young to be a widow. And like I say, she's been sick."
"Bring her behind here then and sit her down. Mugs, get off that chair and give it to the lady. Go on. You heard me. Here. Let me get the pillow off, Miss... Mrs... What'd you say the name was?"
"Lawton," Charlie said. "Forgive me. I haven't been feeling well. His death... It was sudden."
"I'm sure sorry about that. Here. I'm making you some tea with a tot of brandy in it. It'll set you up. You stay where you are."
He locked the front door of the shop and disappeared into the back. When he returned with the tea, he brought a local telephone directory with him, eager to be of help to the ladies. But a search through its pages turned up no Lawtons in the area.
Charlie quelled her disappointment. She drank her tea and felt revived enough to tell Henry Leel how she and Bethany had come to choose this shop in Temecula as the jumping-off point to find Eric's family. When she'd completed the story and brought forth the wedding picture of Eric's parents, Henry gazed at it long and hard, his brow furrowed as if he could force recognition out of his skull. But he shook his head after a minute of study. He said, "They look a touch familiar, I'll give you that. But I wouldn't want to say that I know them. Sides, I sell old pictures not much different from this, so after a while everyone in a picture looks like someone I've seen somewhere. Here. Let me show you."
He went to a dark far corner of the shop and brought out a small bin that stood on the shelf of a kitchen dresser. He carried this back to Charlie and Bethany saying, "I don't sell many. Mostly to tearooms, theater groups, frame shops wanting to use them for display. That sort of thing. Here. Have a look-see yourself." He plopped the bin on the desk. "See. This here one of yours... it fits right in with this last bunch in the bin. A little more recent, but I've got some that age. Looks like... let me see for a second. Yep. It looks