Chapter 85 Mr Wigney

Noah's POV:

I'm pretty sure not knowing about the workshop is driving Eden crazy. She's got that frazzled look she gets when she's not in control of everything around her. It's one of the traits that makes her the best assistant I've ever had. She's always ahead of the game and so there's no doubt that my cancelling all my appointments has sent her into a spiral of confusion.

"We'll start straight after lunch," I say to Mr Wigney.

I'm so happy to have found him at such short notice. It had seemed like a great idea when I heard that Eden needed to improve her carving skills but I didn't have the skills to help her and to be honest, even Rob's skills weren't at the level needed for a Clancy Doll House.

So we'd got straight to work, trying to find an artist specialising in wooden carving. It had sounded at the time like it would be an easy task until I realised that it wasn't a medium that most artists work with any more. I'd had one or two people rant about it on the phone over the last two days, how machines were ruining their artistic ventures, but none of those people had the skills needed to actually carve the furniture in a Clancy's house.

When I actually saw what they could do, it was fair to say Rob could do better, not that I told them that.

Mr Wigney on the other hand hadn't said a word about robots or machines or the end of the arts. He'd merely listened to my request and been more than willing to make the short journey to the city to help. That's what he'd described it as... a short journey. When I'd asked where he was coming from, promising to pay for his expenses, he'd laughed, refusing the gesture. He wanted to help even if it meant a three hundred mile round trip from Birmingham.

The slightly greying man sits opposite me at my desk.

"If that's alright," I agree. "Do you have a preference for lunch?"

"Anything will do," he says with a small smile.

I'm tempted to ask him if there's a reason why he's refused the payment for his expenses. If there's one thing I've learned working at Clancy's Comforts, it's that people always return kindness. And when it comes to Mrs Clancy, everyone she meets seems to have a story to share about her kindness. Perhaps that's what this is... Another person grateful to Mrs Clancy.

"How did you learn to carve?" I ask instead.

"My father," the older man says, his voice low. "He was a master craftsman. His carvings were beautiful... Something else entirely. He could make wooden statues that for all you'd know they were real people. Brought new meaning to the story of Pinocchio."

"You learnt from your father?"

"No. I wish I had... He died in the war and I never knew him but I saw his sculptures and I wanted nothing more than to be like him, as good as him, so I tried to learn. Cut my hands to pieces in the process..."

He smiles distantly and I get the distinct impression he's not smiling for me, but for the memories he's recollecting.

"I was terrible. Awful. Couldn't do it, no matter how hard I tried."

"What changed?"

"Practice. That's all. No exciting story unfortunately. I just kept trying until one day my work looked less bad."

I open my mouth to ask him why he decided to come help us but there's a knock at the door, before Eden is making her way in with our drinks.

"Ah, thank you, Eden," I say gratefully.

"Thank you, dear," Mr Wigney says, accepting his coffee.

I notice the way he takes Eden's hand in his, examining them.

"Your hands look sore, dear," he says gently before going on to recommend a moisturiser that he says will help.

Eden thanks him for his advice before excusing herself.

"You want to know why I decided to come?" he asks me, turning his attention back to me. I don't try to refute it. I was literally about to ask him exactly that. "Those hands."

I don't understand what he means.

"The woman you mentioned in your email; it's her, right?"

"Yes," I say, smiling.

"I came because of what you said about her," he tells me. "Her story is beautiful."

"She doesn't know that I know," I hurry to tell him. I have to make sure he doesn't tell her. "She thinks I'm completely oblivious."

"So you're doing this in secret?" His eyes crinkle in delight. "How lovely!"

I'm not accustomed to being described as lovely but I accept it for the compliment it is.

"Should I invite Eden to join us for lunch?" I ask.

"Absolutely. I'd love to meet her."

"Great. You just can't tell her anything about the workshop or..."

"I can keep a secret, Mr Grisham," the older man laughs.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Will you show me the Clancy Doll's houses that her father made?"

"Of course," I reply with a quick nod. "We can go see them now if you like."

"Brilliant," he replies, getting to his feet.

"It's worth saying that the ones in the lobby outside Mrs Clancy's office are not the originals. According to the company, the originals are kept at Mrs Clancy's house."

"Replicas are fine," he says with a shrug.

"The furniture is all still hand carved by the late Mr Clancy. It's just not the first model."

We make our way out of the office. Passing Eden as we go, I ask her to make a lunch reservation for the three of us. She opens her mouth to ask where we'd like to eat. She doesn't like the fact that she knows nothing about Mr Wigney. She wants to know what sort of food he likes but there's little point telling her anything. Mr Wigney doesn't seem to care what he eats. He's more interested in Eden's hands.