Stitches in Time (4 page)

I
woke the following Monday morning and couldn't identify at first the shrill sound disturbing my sleep. I opened one eye and then the other before I groaned. My alarm clock. I slammed my hand on top of the clock to silence it and saw it was five a.m. The first delivery of muffins and coffee was scheduled for seven thirty.

I showered, applied my makeup, and got dressed. Pulling a Nirvana T-shirt over my head, I smiled. Yarrow had ordered a bunch of them for me to wear—black with a white steaming cup and Nirvana Tea and Coffee logo in the upper corner. I put on a pair of white cropped pants to complete my uniform.

Walking toward the kitchen, where the aroma of brewed coffee filled the air, I was surprised to see Chloe up so early. Basil came running to greet me.

“You didn't get up this early because of me, did you?” I asked.

“Well, I wanted to make sure you had a good breakfast before setting off for your first day on the road.”

I accepted the mug she handed me. “Thanks, but you shouldn't have.”

“How about a ham and cheese omelet and grits?”

“Sounds wonderful. Can I help?”

“Just enjoy your coffee. I'm all set. What time did Yarrow say she'd arrive with the muffins?”

“A little past six thirty. That'll give us time to fill the baskets and get the coffee brewed.”

“How will you keep the coffee hot between your drops?”

“Oh, Yarrow got some thermos dispensers. So I'll fill the Styrofoam cups before taking them in.”

“Sounds like a plan. How many stops do you have to make?”

“Well, she worked it out that the last customer will have their coffee and muffins by ten thirty. So that's three hours of deliveries, but if traffic is light it might go faster. Also, a few of the deliveries are either in the same office building or a few doors away from each other in the same complex. Yarrow did a good job with the logistics.”

“I'm not surprised. She's good at that. I hope you'll enjoy doing this. I know she really appreciates your help getting the delivery service off the ground.”

“Actually, I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be fun meeting different people and getting to know them a little each day. She did say if it works out well, she plans to hire a couple more people and increase her route.”

“Are you delivering on Saturdays too?”

I shook my head. “No, but I told her I wouldn't mind. She insisted she wanted me to have the weekends off. However, I think if this works out and she expands her route, she'll hire somebody to do Saturdays and a few days during the week.”

“So do you see yourself doing this permanently or do you plan to look for other work?”

I let out a sigh before swallowing my last sip of coffee. “I'm not really sure. As much as I appreciate staying here, I'd love to get a place for Haley and me. So having a full-time job makes sense.”

Chloe nodded.

“How about you?” I asked. “What are your plans after you and Henry get married? Will you still be staying here?”

I watched her spoon grits into a small bowl before placing my omelet onto a plate and bringing it to the table.

“Well, I think for a while, we'll continue what we've been doing. A few nights here, a few nights at Henry's condo. I think it would break Mavis Anne's heart to have this house empty.”

“Hmm, true.” I took a bite of my omelet. “Oh, this is delicious. Thanks, Chloe.”

“Well, you gals are up early.”

I looked up to see Henry walk into the kitchen, followed by Delilah. He went directly to Chloe and kissed her.

“Good morning,” she said. “Yeah, I wanted to send Isabelle off to work with a good breakfast on her first day.”

“You're a good mom,” he said, giving me a wink.

“It was very nice of her to do this, but from now on, please get up at your normal time.”

I finished up my breakfast while listening to them discuss plans for their day. The yarn shop was closed on Mondays and so was the florist shop where Chloe's friend Maddie worked.

“Maddie will be here at ten with books so we can choose the flowers for the wedding,” Chloe said. “Even though it's a small wedding, there seem to be a million things to do.”

I laughed. “Oh, yeah. Weddings have a way of growing out of control. It'll be so pretty having the ceremony outside by the fishpond. Are you having a reception here?”

Chloe nodded. “Yes, the ceremony is at five, followed by dinner. David and Clive insisted on helping Henry with that part of it, so they're booking a caterer and getting a canopy for the garden area.”

“And have you decided on a dress yet?”

“Not yet. It's on the list along with those million other things.”

I laughed as I got up to put my plate into the dishwasher. “Well, you know I'd love to help with anything that I can.”

“And I'll hold you to that.”

I glanced at my watch and saw it was just past six thirty. “Well, I'm heading over to the tea shop. You guys have a good morning and I'll see you when I get back.”

* * *

I walked into the side door of the tea shop to see Yarrow already busy at work.

“Hey, good morning,” she said, looking up.

“Good morning. What can I do?”

“Take the coffee carafes and begin filling those dispensers. Then make two more pots—that should be enough for the orders.”

“Okay,” I said as she continued filling baskets with plastic-wrapped muffins. She then added small napkins, creamers, sugar packets, and a typed list of items and prices.

Baskets and coffee dispensers were all filled just after seven.

She let out a deep sigh and nodded. “Okay. I'd say you're ready to hit the road. Here's the order of the deliveries. As you know, some are in the same building or complex. The addresses are listed on here too,” she said, passing me a typed piece of paper. “Got your cell phone?”

I nodded.

“Okay, if you have any problems just call me here. Any questions?”

I shook my head. “None.”

“Great. Okay, come on. I'll help you load up the car with these baskets and coffee.”

I backed out of the driveway ten minutes later as Yarrow gave me a wave and a thumbs-up.

I headed up Granada and took a left on Williamson Boulevard, my first stop, which was a medical office building next door to the hospital.

I was glad Yarrow had come up with the idea of a folding cart to use when I had multiple deliveries at one location. I filled the cart with baskets and coffee dispensers and headed to the door.

“Good morning,” I said, walking into the first office with my basket. I felt a bit like Little Red Riding Hood. “I'm Isabelle and I have your coffee and muffins.”

The girl behind the desk jumped up to help me unload the goodies. “Nice to meet you. I'm Rochelle, and you're going to be our new best friend.”

A nurse and two office workers came from the back of the office and laughed.

“She's right,” one of them said. “This is such a great idea. I'm Carol and this is Ann and Pat. And we really look forward to your morning visits.”

The one named Carol laughed. “Yeah, even if our scales might not.”

Rochelle waved her hand in the air. “Hey, come on, girl. We'll have salads for lunch.”

This caused more laughter. “Right,” Pat said. “Like that's gonna happen.”

I joined their laughter. I could easily see they worked well together. Each one paid; I placed the money into a zippered bag and headed to the other offices. I encountered more friendly workers, and the same warm welcome from all of them.

Heading back down Granada, I felt a smile cross my face. This
was
fun. And after months of being secluded in my Atlanta house, this was good for me. Being out and being productive. Accomplishment was always the first step in bumping up one's self-esteem. I hadn't given much thought to it before, but I could now see that when Roger left me for somebody else, it didn't just break up a marriage. It had broken my confidence.

I turned the car radio on and hummed along to a Madonna song as I headed to my next stop, a yoga studio. I received the same warm reception and even an invitation to join one of their classes.

The rest of my deliveries brought more friendly people who welcomed me. Food was the universal ice breaker and since I was the one supplying that food, I was also part of their happiness. I returned to the tea shop just after ten thirty to find a nervous Yarrow waiting in the patio area.

I got out of the car and asked, “Everything okay?”

“Yes, fine here. But how did it go for
you
?”

I walked to the patio, petted Merino between his ears, and gave her a huge smile. “It went fantastic!”

“Really?”

“Really,” I assured her. “I felt like the candy man dispensing love and happiness with those muffins. The customers couldn't have been friendlier, and I enjoyed meeting them and getting to chat for a few minutes. You had a brainstorm of an idea, Yarrow. You really did.”

She collapsed into a chair and whooshed out a breath of air. “Thank God.”

“Did you really have doubts? I thought you were pretty confident about this business venture.”

“I've always been a good actress. Yeah, I was concerned people would change their minds, think it was silly to have muffins and coffee delivered every morning, that you'd run into problems and not want to continue doing this or—”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it before she could continue. “None of that happened. It went perfectly, so congratulations to you. It was a brilliant idea.”

Yarrow jumped up and hugged me. “Thank you and thank you for your help. Come on, we both earned ourselves a cup of tea
and
a pastry.”

H
aley and I had spent the previous afternoon getting her registered and set up to begin classes at her new school. She seemed to be enthusiastic, and my fingers were crossed that she'd be much happier and make new friends.

I looked up from my coffee and newspaper as Haley came into the kitchen. Wearing a pullover sweater and jeans, hair pulled back in a ponytail and nails painted a bright blue, she looked like the quintessential fourteen-year-old girl.

“You look great,” I told her. “All set for your first day?”

She nodded as she reached into the fridge and removed a container of yogurt. “Yeah. I think I'm going to like the kids at this school much better.”

I had noticed that while we were being shown around by one of the volunteers, many of the girls flashed Haley a smile and welcome greetings. It didn't escape my notice that a fair number of the fellows also gave my daughter appreciative glances.

“That's good, Haley,” I said. “I really want you to be happy here and that means enjoying school and being involved.”

“How about you?” she questioned.

“Me?”

“Are you happy here?”

I hadn't really thought about being happy. It seemed for the past couple of years I had been on autopilot. Getting through my days doing what was required of me, attempting to make a life for Haley, and pretty much just existing.

“Well, yeah . . . I guess I'm happy. I think moving here will be good for both of us.”

“I think so too, but I want you to also be happy. You know, meet new friends, go out, do things. Maybe even have a new guy in your life eventually.”

I smiled and thought my daughter sounded like Dr. Phil. “I'm fine, Haley. Except for the new guy, I plan to get involved doing things too. I just don't think I need a man complicating my life again.”

“It isn't always that way. Look at Chloe and Henry.”

I certainly didn't want to sour my daughter on love. “You could have a point,” was all I said.

Haley tossed the yogurt container in the trash. “Oh, did you see the signs all around the school yesterday? About the spring musical they're having in May? It said that sign-ups would begin today. I'm hoping maybe they'll need somebody to help out with the costumes.”

“Oh, that would be great. Be sure to check that out. Not only would you be good at something like that, but I know you'd enjoy it.”

“I would. Well, I have to head to the bus stop.” She leaned over to place a kiss on my cheek. “Have a good day, Mom, and I'll see you this afternoon.”

“You too,” I told her, and watched my mature daughter head to the front door, but not before bending over to pat Basil good-bye.

This reminded me of my promise to her about getting a dog. But I still had a reprieve on that because the deal was it would happen when we got our own place. We'd only been here five days, so plenty of time to think about a dog later.

* * *

My morning deliveries had gone well and I returned to find the yarn shop more crowded than usual.

“Tuesday is knitting for charity,” Yarrow explained. “Want some tea or coffee?”

“Yeah, coffee would be great. So the women gather on Tuesdays to knit items and then donate them?”

Yarrow nodded as she filled a mug and passed it to me. “Yeah, they knit chemo caps and some make baby items to donate to the local organizations for mothers who need them. I'm working on a baby blanket at the moment.”

I took a sip of coffee. “That's a nice thing to do. I'm not a great knitter, but . . . maybe I could make a blanket too.”

“That would be great,” Yarrow said. “Go speak to Fay. She's the one who handles all of it.”

I had met many of the regulars the previous summer and I knew that Fay was the woman with white hair sitting beside Chloe.

“Hey, Isabelle,” Chloe said as I walked to the table. “Did your deliveries go well?”

“They did. I'm really enjoying this little part-time job.”

“That's great,” Mavis Anne said, looking up from a baby bootie she was knitting. “And Haley got off okay for her first day of school?”

“Yeah, I think she was actually excited. She liked it there when we got her registered yesterday.”

“That's wonderful.” Mavis Anne nodded. “She's such a sweet girl.”

“I was thinking about . . . is there any chance you could use another baby blanket, Fay?”

A smile covered her face. “Oh, definitely. So many of these women have very little. That would be great. Would you like to join our group on Tuesdays?”

“Yeah, I would,” I said. “I need to get some yarn, a pattern, and needles.”

Chloe jumped up. “Right this way.” She headed to a bookshelf filled with various books and pamphlets. “Everything on the first two shelves is baby related. So browse through those and see what you'd like to make.”

I pored through various books and finally decided on a blanket that looked fairly easy.

“How's this?” I brought the book over to Chloe. “But those pretty holes along the edges. I'm not sure I can do that.”

“Of course you can. Those are simple yarn overs. I'll show you how to do them, and the rest of it is basic knit and purl.” She pointed to an area of the wall where the cubbyholes held various skeins of yarn. “The baby yarn is down there at the end. So choose what you'd like and I'll get your needles.”

I gazed at the pretty colors and found myself reaching out to touch each one. They were so soft and the colors so appealing that I began to get excited about working on the blanket. I had previously made a half-hearted attempt to make a couple of scarves and my knitted top was close to being completed, so my knitting ability was growing. It wasn't easy choosing, but I finally decided on Plymouth Dreambaby in the Egg Cream colorway. Since I wasn't sure if it would be for a girl or boy baby, this was a nice neutral color.

“Perfect,” Chloe said, when I returned to the table. “And I have size six needles here for you. So pull up a chair, cast on, and join us.”

It was really such a simple invitation, but it made me feel like I belonged. I took an empty chair next to Mavis Anne and followed Chloe's instructions, casted on and looked back at the pattern.

“This says to knit three and then
yo
? I guess that means yarn over?”

“Exactly,” Mavis Anne said as she leaned over to explain the stitch. “See, simply wrap the yarn around the needle to the front, and knit the next stitch as the pattern says.”

I did as she said. “That's it?”

She laughed. “That's it, honey. You did your first yarn over. I think sometimes knitters make the stitches sound more intimidating than they are. So you'll follow the pattern across the row and do the same thing at the end, just like the pattern says.”

I worked along quietly as I listened to the conversation around the table. June was telling a humorous story about her grandson, Charlie, that brought forth laughter. Maddie told us how she dreaded the following week because Valentine's Day would be on a Sunday this year, which meant Friday and Saturday would be exceptionally busy for her.

“I really have to hire a helper,” she said. “But the thing is, I really don't need anybody permanently. I can usually handle the business, except during a holiday.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Unfortunately, most people looking for a job want something permanent even if it's only part-time.”

I had no idea why, but Haley popped into my head. “You know,” I said, looking up from my knitting, “I think Haley would be more than happy to help you out. She doesn't have florist experience, but she's very good at following directions, and she's reliable.”

“Really?” A smile crossed Maddie's face. “Gosh, what I need doesn't really require florist skills. It would be more like answering the phone and taking down the orders. Separating flowers, putting bows on, which I could teach her to do. Do you really think she'd be interested? Of course I'd pay her. She's such a nice girl. I'd love to have her in the shop.”

“I bet Haley would really enjoy that,” Chloe said.

“I'll definitely ask her when she gets home from school and I'll have her call you if she's interested.”

* * *

The knitting group broke up around one and I went back to Koi House to have lunch. I had just finished a tuna sandwich and was pouring myself a glass of iced tea when my cell phone rang. I saw Petra's name and smiled.

“Hey, girlfriend. What's going on?” I said.

“That's what I was calling you to find out. Haven't heard from you since you got there last week. Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything's going really well. I'm sorry. We were busy unpacking and settling in over the weekend.”

I brought her up to date on my delivery job, Haley starting school, and me joining the charity knitting group.

“Oh, Isabelle. I'm really happy for you. It sure sounds like you made a great decision moving there. I haven't heard your voice sound this happy in ages.”

I recalled what Haley had asked me that morning about being happy, and I smiled. Maybe I was happy after all.

“Yeah,” I told her. “Yeah, I think both Haley and I are happy here. So what's up with you?”

“Nothing new here. Have you heard from your mother?”

“No, but I think Haley has. I think they call each other but Haley is careful mentioning her name, which is fine with me.”

When there was silence on the line, I said, “What? You know I'd rather avoid talking to her if I don't have to.”

“Yeah, I know. I just wish it could be different for the two of you. But I won't hound you about it. So the plans are coming along well for the wedding?”

“Yes, and I wanted to give you a heads-up. Chloe mentioned the other day she'd love to meet you, so she hopes you'll come visit before, but she's definitely sending you an invitation.”

“Oh, how nice. I never turn down a chance to get glammed up and attend a wedding. I'll circle the date on my calendar. May first, right?”

“Right. That's a Sunday. Maybe you could come down on Friday and spend a few days here.”

“Sounds great, but I will try to get down there sooner.”

After another ten minutes of conversation, we hung up. I got my tea and headed outside to the patio to work on my blanket. I was so engrossed in knitting, I was surprised to look up when I heard Basil barking and see Haley had returned from school. She scooped him up in her arms, showering him with kisses.

“So how was your first day?” I asked.

“Really good,” she said, and I saw the smile on her face. “I made a new friend. Well, I think I made a few new friends, but one in particular I really liked. We just clicked. Her name is Tina and we have all the same classes together. Plus, she's going to be in the spring musical. She likes to sing and she's trying out for a solo and she got me to go with her and I signed up for costume and design. We'll find out on Friday if we got accepted.”

Just seeing my daughter so happy made
me
happy. It had been a while since I'd seen her so excited. Especially about anything related to school.

“Oh, Haley. That's super. I have no doubt that you'll both be accepted. And . . . I just might have some more good news to finish off your day for you.”

I explained about Maddie and her request for assistance at the florist shop.

“Really? She'd like to have me helping her out? Oh, wow, yes. I'd love to. You know I love flowers, and she's so creative with her arrangements. It might even give me ideas for some of my designs.”

I passed her Maddie's business card. “Well, she said to give her a call.”

Haley jumped up to go inside and do just that.

“Yarrow made a nice fruit salad for you,” I said. “It's in the fridge, so help yourself.”

“I will,” she called back as she ran into the house with Basil at her heels.