Page 14 of Tempting Sebastian

“I am too, honestly! The way the man described it, you could tell he takes great pride in it. I’m hoping he took great care of it, too.” Jackson talked the whole way out to the car. “He’s an old military veteran and lives out on a farm. He says he has an entire barn of stuff. Can you imagine what’s inside? One man’s junk… or whatever they say. I would love to go through it all.”

He was talking a mile a minute. “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. It’s true. I’m glad I could go on this trip. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one. I’ll step on it to get us there before it gets too dark in case the guy wants to show us the barn too.”

Jackson grinned from ear to ear. The excitement in his voice and his smile made me smile and I felt like I hadn’t smiled like that in years. I remember when I first started the business, I used to be happy just like Jackson. My business isn’t huge, but it’s big enough that the administration takes away from the time that I used to spend picking. I wished that were all I had to worry about.

The drive wasn’t bad, and we kept the conversations mostly about work. Finally, we were pulling onto the long gravel driveway leading to the big white farmhouse that Jackson had mentioned. The driveway was lined with maples on both sides and a wooden fence bordered the yard. It wasn’t dark yet so we could see most of the property. It was beautiful. There was an older man with a long white beard, holding a cane, and wearing coveralls sitting in his rocking chair on the porch. He waved as we pulled up.

Jackson and I got out and walked up to the man. He shook our hands and said, “Nice to meet yas.”

Jackson spoke first. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Talbot. We’re pretty excited to see your Lionel Train set.” Then he motioned to me. “This is Sebastian Moore. He’s the owner of the business.”

I shook Mr. Talbot’s hand before he smiled and welcomed us in. “Ah, yes. Come on inside. I keep that pretty thing inside the house, not in the barn. Although, there’s probably some other jewels out there. You’re welcome to go poking around out there if you’d like.”

Jackson was grinning wide again. I said, “Well, let’s take a look at the train and if we have time, maybe we can do that.”

The man led us further inside the home. Wall to wall antiques and beautiful items that spanned many decades of his life lined the walls. There was a black and white photo of him and a woman on the wall. They were standing in front of the house under one of the now much larger trees. “That’s my Alina Sue. She’s gone now but this home was her canvas. Everything in here, she picked out alongside me.”

I smiled at his adoration of her. “She was beautiful.”

He laughed. “That she was. There wasn’t a person she didn’t get along with on the face of the earth. Say, she would be real happy to know I called y’all to come get some of this stuff.”

Jackson and I laughed. I said, “Well, let’s see this train set!”

“Right this way,” the old man gestured, pointing to a large table in the living room.

Jackson was right. Mr. Talbot’s train was in mint condition. It was stunning. I held it and turned it left, then right, then looked at the nose of the train. Everything was in perfect condition. There wasn’t a piece out of place. I was entranced, and asked “What are you looking to get for it?”

“Oooh, I don’t know.” He scratched his beard before saying, “What about eight hundred dollars.”

The man deserved more than that for such a beautiful piece. “I’ll do you one better.” I knew I could get about two thousand to twenty-five hundred for it and it would be a quick sale. Besides, I didn’t want to take advantage of him and ruin a good relationship. I knew plenty of train collectors. I wasn’t worried at all. “I’ll give you twelve hundred for it.”

Shocked, Mr. Talbot said, “Well, you got yourself a deal. I’ve never had anyone come in here and offer me more. I appreciate that.” He was all smiles.

I laughed. “Let’s just say, I can hear Alina in my ear telling me I better do right by you.”

We all chuckled and then Mr. Talbot asked, “Do you got time to peek out in the barn?”

Looking at Jackson, still full of smiles, I said, “Yeah! Let’s head out there.”

The barn was like an extension of his home. I’d never seen a barn so well organized. There were tables and shelves everywhere with walking paths. I felt like I was walking through an organized antique store like ours.

Jackson chimed in, “Look at this vintage pumpkin.” He held up a giant pumpkin decoration with a corded light inside.

I walked over to him and said, “This is a blow mold.” I grabbed it from him to inspect it. “I don’t see a barcode, so my guess is it’s from the seventies or earlier. Especially with this color and styling.” I turned to Mr. Talbot, and asked, “How much would you like for this?”

Mr. Talbot stood there and groaned, “Oooh, I don’t know. Alina loved Halloween, but I don’t know where she got that thing or what it’s worth.”

I winked at Jackson and offered, “How about I give you a hundred and fifty dollars for it?”

Mr. Talbot chuckled and said, “Really? A hundred and fifty dollars! Sure, why not? It’s yours.”

Jackson was elated, and said, “Yes!”

I made my way down each aisle, and as I got to the very end of the far-left row. That’s when it caught my eye. Something that had me on the hunt for what seemed like years. It was a vintage Railroad Lantern. Picking it up, I examined every aspect of it. There was still a readable tag on the bottom that read,Indian Railway Lamp.If my memory served me correctly, and it did, it was an early 1900s Adlake Style lamp, an electric plug-in with redandgreen signal lights which were hard to find anywhere in our neck of the woods. I wondered if it still worked.

“Whatcha got there, son?” Mr. Talbot asked from behind me. His chin tilted upward as he examined the lantern in my hands. “Ah yes, the Indian Railway Lamp.”

“I can’t believe you have one of these. I’ve been looking for one of these for years.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the lantern as I spoke.

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