Crazy as a Quilt (A Harriet Turman/Loose Threads Mystery Book 8) (5 page)

“Did I tell you the wife of my dead husband’s best friend is coming to stay with me during quilt week? The friend that blames me for Steve not getting treatment.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry.” He kissed the top of her head. “Can I do anything to help?” He laughed. “Besides stop asking you to make a decision?”

“Thanks for offering.” She moved out of his arms but held on to both his hands. “I’m not sure why you’re so good to me.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re friends? No matter what happens in the future, we’ll always be friends.”

“I better get going—I really do have to work tonight. Can you tell Mr. Renfro I’ll call him to set up a time for Etienne if everyone on that end of things agrees?”

He pulled her car door open for her.

“I will pass the message along, and if you think of anything I can do to help, let me know—and not just about the boy.”

Harriet got in her car and opened the window, smiling up as he leaned in through the window and gave her a quick kiss.

“If anything comes to mind, you’ll be the first person I call.”

Tom straightened up, and she backed down the driveway, not closing her window until she reached the street.

Instead of heading up the hill to her house, she went downhill toward Foggy Point and the Steaming Cup coffee shop. Her head was swimming after talking to Tom. She knew if she tried to stitch right now she’d likely destroy her customer’s quilt.

With Tom safely two hours away in Angel Harbor, she could pretend she didn’t feel anything for him and concentrate on whatever her relationship was with Aiden. However, as much as she tried to deny it to herself, when she was around Tom, her body reacted to him. Maybe it wasn’t the liquid fire that raced through her when Aiden kissed her, but her toes did tingle at Tom’s touch. There was no denying it.

“I thought you were quilting this evening,” Lauren said from behind her as she stood at the coffee bar waiting for her drink to be prepared.

Harriet’s shoulders sagged. Lauren moved to her side.

“I know that look. Which of your men have you just seen?”

“Do you really want to hear about my sorry love life?” Harriet picked up her cup from the counter.

Lauren glanced at the face of her smartphone.

“I’ve got a few minutes. Lay it on me.”

Harriet led the way to two overstuffed chairs near the fireplace. When they were seated, she gave her friend a short version of her visit to the Renfros’ and the subsequent dinner.

“Do you think I’m hanging on to an impossible relationship with Aiden because he was my first relationship after my husband died?”

Lauren took a sip of her mocha.

“Does this mean Tom is a contender again?”

Harriet leaned her head in her hand, her elbow braced on the arm of the chair.

“I don’t know
what
it means. All I know is I like Aiden, but everything is hard. I like Tom, maybe not in exactly the same way, but I like him—and he’s so uncomplicated.”

“Is uncomplicated another way of saying boring?” Lauren asked her.

“No, it’s not, and that’s what’s so confusing. I really do like Tom, and he’s an interesting guy. He’s definitely there for me when I need him to be. I can’t say the same about Aiden. He’s there as long as his family doesn’t need anything at the same time.”

“But if Tom was all that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Harriet sighed. “That’s why I’m sitting here instead of at home doing my work. I can’t figure out if I’m not allowing myself to fully engage with Tom because I’m not willing to commit to someone who’s really available. Maybe I’m sticking with Aiden no matter how unavailable he is for that very reason. If he’s never available I don’t have to risk losing someone again.”

“Whoa, back up. I thought your husband was a liar and your marriage a sham.”

“I’m not sure where you got that. Steve did keep his health problem a secret, along with his misguided decision to not seek treatment for it. But why do you think it hurt so much? I loved him, and I know he loved me. I may not understand why he did what he did, but I know he loved me. We were happy.”

Lauren set her cup on a table beside her chair and leaned toward Harriet, staring her in the face.

“Do you feel guilty about his failure to get treatment? Like it was somehow your fault? You have to know that’s not true.”

“I do know that. I also know his friends think it
was
my fault. After Steve died, I went to a therapist for a while. A lot of what we talked about was personal responsibility and our inability to ever truly know why other people do what they do.”

“But?”

“In my dark moments, I wonder if, deep down inside, part of me still believes I could have done something different that would have resulted in a different outcome.”

“And that makes you think you don’t deserve to be happy?”

Harriet attempted a weak smile.

“Something like that.”

Lauren straightened in her chair and picked her drink back up.

“Well, guilty or not, I don’t think you’re sticking by Aiden to punish yourself. Anyone can see the way you light up when he’s around. That’s not guilt-driven.” She rubbed her chin with her free hand. “I have to admit, though, you and Tom looked pretty happy when you were driving around in the storm delivering food last winter.”

“So you could see me with either one of them?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t be of any help on this one. I can tell you one thing, though. Aiden may be endlessly unavailable while he deals with his family issues, but I wouldn’t bet on a guy like Tom waiting around forever to find out. He’s no one’s second fiddle.”

“You’re no help at all.”

Lauren shrugged. “I never said I was Dear Abby.”

They finished their drinks in silence, each lost in her own thoughts.

Harriet stood up.

“Now I really do need to go stitch on that customer quilt.”

Lauren pulled her tablet computer from her bag.

“I’m going to do some work before I go home. I was stuck and thought a change of venue might help.”

“Shall we meet tomorrow to work on the mixer?”

Lauren agreed, and Harriet left, her stomach still tied in knots.

Chapter 5

Harriet held out a small red fleece jacket for Etienne.

“Mr. Renfro is a very friendly fellow, and I think you’re going to have a lot of fun helping him build toys.”

The boy slipped his arms into his jacket and turned to face her.

“Do I need to pack a lunch?”

Harriet smiled at him.

“Every time I’ve been to the Renfro house, Mrs. R has made enough food to feed a small army. She bakes a lot of cookies, too.”

Etienne’s eyes opened wider, and he started to smile.

“Only one cookie for you,” Madame deCloutier, the nanny, said in a stern voice. “We can’t be spoiling our dinner.”

The smile left his face, and Harriet bit her tongue to avoid telling Madame what she thought about taking the joy out of everything the kids did. She settled for squeezing Etienne’s hand in a way she hoped conveyed her intention to give him as many cookies as he wanted.

Lainie skipped down the servant’s stairs and into the kitchen.

“I found my bag,” she told Harriet.

“Mademoiselle, you must use the front stairs,” the nanny scolded.

“But your stairs are closer.”

Harriet handed the girl her coat before Madame could launch into a lecture on stairway etiquette.

“Let’s get your brother to the Renfros’ so we can quilt. I’ll bring them back in about…” She looked at her phone screen. “Two and a half…”

She trailed off when Aiden strode into the kitchen from the dining room. He clearly understood which stairs the lord of the manor was to use, she noticed; he would have used the sweeping front staircase to reach the dining room. A blue backpack was slung over one shoulder, and he held the handles of a large duffel bag in his opposite hand.

“Are you going on a trip?” she asked.

Michelle came in from behind him.

“He’s escaping the estrogen. My friend arrives tonight, and he’s feeling badly outnumbered.”

Aiden looked at Etienne and shrugged.

“Sorry, buddy. I’d take you with me, if I could, but I’ll be working.” He turned and looked at Harriet. “I’m not going far. I’ll be staying in my old apartment over the clinic. They never re-rented it, and it’ll actually be convenient this week. We ran a coupon special for discounts on spaying or neutering feral cats, and we have a full schedule.”

The children moved to Harriet, standing one on each side, and she put her hands on their shoulders.

“That sounds like a worthy cause.”

Aiden’s jaw tensed. “It is. We’re making headway with the feral cats, but people have this romantic idea that when they’re tired of their animals or when they have kittens they can’t give away, they can turn them loose in the park and it will be like they’re in a fairy tale forest. Unfortunately, the result is more Grimm than Disney.” He smiled. “Like my sister said, I’m badly outnumbered here, so I’m getting out of Dodge.”

“Aiden doesn’t want to be here when Marine arrives,” Michelle said. “They used to be an item.”

“That is completely untrue,” Aiden protested. “I had a crush on her when I was twelve and she came home from school with Michelle for spring break. It lasted all of a week, and she didn’t even know I was alive.”

“Oh, she knew you were alive, all right. All my friends did. Besides, we couldn’t miss you sneaking around and snooping on us. And then Mom told them to stop drooling over you or she was going to send them away.”

“No, she didn’t,” he countered.

“You can ask Marine. She’ll tell you. Your hair was long that summer, and they took one look at your black hair and crazy white-blue eyes and were goners. It was actually a little creepy.”

Harriet grinned. “He still has that effect on older women.”

Aiden turned to her.

“That’s a total lie. They didn’t know I was alive. They all were hot for some guy named Colt Parker. He was the quarterback of their football team.”

Michelle stepped in front of him and glared at him.

“You little sneak. You were listening in when we were talking in my bedroom.”

Aiden laughed. “You gotta love the vent system in these old houses. The closet in mom’s office was right over your room, and all I had to do was make sure the vents were open in both places and I could hear it all.”

Michelle swung at her brother, but he danced out of her reach.

“I think it’s time for me to leave,” he said. “You kids have fun.” With that, he opened the back door and left.

“We better go, too,” Harriet told Michelle.

“Thanks a lot for taking the kids. Lainie is enjoying her quilting, and Etienne has been talking nonstop about going to make toys. I really do appreciate you arranging that for him.”

“You’re welcome,” Harriet mumbled as she guided the kids to the door. This was possibly the first sincere thing Michelle had said to her, and it was a bit disconcerting.

Aiden was waiting outside by her car when she came out.

“Hey, can you two go get Randy from the kennel? Bring the black leash and collar, too, will you?” The children dropped their bags and ran off in the direction of the kennel, jostling each other in an effort to reach the dog first.

As soon as they turned their backs, Aiden pulled Harriet into his arms and kissed her soundly.

“What was that for?” she asked when the kiss ended and she could catch her breath.

“I wasn’t sure when the next opportunity would present itself, given the hordes of women descending on our town. I figured I’d better take my chance while I had it. I would like to point out that I’ll be alone all week in my lonely apartment should you find yourself available and willing to help save me from dying of boredom.”

“What about all that surgery? It sounded like a noble sacrifice you were making.”

“It is, but I can’t do surgery day and night. Our days are scheduled, but not much more than usual. Mostly, I didn’t want to be around with Marine coming. I didn’t want to say anything in front of the kids, but she was all too willing to initiate a young lad in the ways of women. And I was all too willing to let her.”

Harriet broke free and pushed him away.

“You didn’t!”

“No. No, I wasn’t that willing. She didn’t do anything she could get arrested for, but, boy, could she kiss. We took every opportunity.”

“Was she your first?”

He laughed. “No, that would have been Pammy-Lynn Bates in the third grade.”

“Third grade? Really? You little Lothario.”

“It wasn’t like that. Her girlfriend dared her to kiss me. I was unsuspecting, and after she kissed me, she punched me just to make sure I didn’t get any ideas.”

“I was in love with my horse in the third grade. I cried myself to sleep when I had to come to Foggy Point and stay with Aunt Beth for spring break and Henry had to stay in France.”

Aiden pulled her back into his arms.

“I’d have come and dried your tears, if I’d known.”

“You mean if you’d been born yet?” Harriet grimaced. “Now
I
sound like the creepy lecher.”

He kissed the top of her head.

“You aren’t a creepy lecher, and you know it. At our ages now, the difference is inconsequential and you know that, too.” He let her go as niece, nephew and dog came running toward them. “I thought I was going to have to send a search party to find you, you were gone so long,” he scolded them in a teasing tone.

“It’s Etienne’s fault. We tried to do rock-paper-scissors to decide who got to open the kennel and who got to put the leash on, and he kept messing up so then we had to do eenie-meenie-miney-moe, and we had to start over three times.”

Aiden put his hands into his pockets.

“Sounds like you need a better method for making decisions.” He pulled out two quarters and gave one to each child. “Carry these with you everywhere, and when you need to decide something, you can each choose a side and then flip the coin.” He demonstrated. “See? You’ll never have trouble with decisions again.”

Harriet looked at him as the kids tucked their quarters away and then climbed into the back seat of her car.