He couldn't hide the curve of his lips when he glanced at the clock above the counter and realized it was almost time. With a quick peek at the leaves tumbling down the street beyond the shop door, he flicked the sign over and stepped away. Then he turned his attention to his shirt sleeves.
One of his cuffs was missing.
Sucking in a breath, Gold ducked beneath the counter, careful not to pepper his trousers with the dust collecting on the floor. His fingers skimmed along the floorboards, and although he couldn't see into the darkness, his knuckle brushed against cold metal.
He sighed, relieved. With trembling hands he straightened the left sleeve of his navy shirt and fastened the cuff. In the half-light of the room it glinted silver, like a star against the night sky. Perhaps he shouldn't wear them tonight, after all. His shop was crammed full of beautiful things, trinkets and baubles and all manner of curiosities. But if he'd learned anything at all in his years of collecting, he knew you should always treasure the things you held most dear. His dealings as the Dark One had only made that message clearer. People were so willing to relinquish their sentimental ornaments for magic. And what for? For lands or titles or riches. Eventually all these things lost their meaning.
Don't be ridiculous, he told himself. What harm could come to them?
Still, the missing cuff seemed like a bad omen. He thought it over again, then remembered Belle's expression last time he wore them, and made a solemn promise to himself that he was done second-guessing his decision to keep them on.
Last but not least, he padded back behind the till and opened the safe, tucking the brown paper package into the inner pocket of his coat. By now, the sun was beginning to set and the sky beyond the shop window showed a dusky pink, shot through with strands of gold , like the inside of a shell. Gold stared at it, remembering the way the sunsets in the Enchanted Forest sometimes looked, the way the smell of hay and bonfire smoke would creep into the air at the end of the day when the year drew to a close. Bae's face would light up at the sight of it. If Gold closed his eyes he could still picture the soft shadows cast on his son's cheeks, the infectious grin and childish wonder.
His vision blurred for a moment. Not a single day went by without him thinking of Baelfire and all the years spent trying to find him. Because he'd given in to the darkness and let it consume him, instead of taking his son's hand when he needed him most. And for that, he would never forgive himself, because every day he remembered that his son had grown into a man without his father. Gold had wasted all those years.
The clock behind him chimed the hour, jolting him out of his reverie. He pressed a hand over his heart, where the paper wrapped package nestled in the lining of his coat, before he strode over to the door.
His past might have been filled with mistakes, but he would make sure his future with Belle was a fresh start. He refused to waste any more time on the darkness dwelling within him.
Besides, he thought, locking the shop door behind him, she deserved so much more than that.