On Pins and Needles

Chapter Two-1

Chapter Two

Beatrice watched her go with a sigh. “I suppose she’ll find us later when she’s ready to go home. Or else pester someone else to take her back. Let’s see how Meadow and Annabelle are making out.”

By this time, it was seven o’clock. Wyatt said, “Maybe we should just look for them around the festival. From what Meadow said, Annabelle isn’t much of a fan of quilting. They probably still aren’t at the quilting booth by now.”

Beatrice said, “You’re probably right, but this way I can check to make sure that everything is going well. I know we had volunteers from the guild to man the booth, but I should make sure there weren’t any glitches.”

But there apparently had been a glitch because instead of an absent Meadow, there was a very aggravated Meadow at the booth.

“Never showed up!” she fumed. “Isn’t that the height of tackiness? Annabelle told me just as clear as she could be that she’d be here at 6:30 at the booth, and she stood me up.” Meadow’s face matched her red glasses. Along with her dramatic red and white top and black pants, the entire effect was one of an angry volcano nearing eruption.

Wyatt glanced at his watch. “Maybe she’s just running late? It’s just a little after seven.”

But Beatrice frowned. “Annabelle did say she was coming?”

“Clear as day!” said Meadow. “So rude.”

Beatrice gave Wyatt an uneasy look. “That’s actually kind of odd.”

“Odd for her to be running late? Or odd for her to say she was definitely coming?” asked Wyatt.

“No, I can see her wanting to come to a local art exhibit and festival. She was quite a collector of Southern art, although she had a good many other interests, as well. But it’s extremely unusual for her to be running late for anything. Annabelle is the kind of person that you can set your clock by. And heaven help you if she’s waiting on you. I’ve heard her rant at museum directors and even other wealthy collectors if they were running behind,” said Beatrice slowly.

Meadow said, still simmering, “Well, it would suit me just fine if we sent Ramsay over there to do a welfare check. Give her a little jolt by seeing the local police at her door.”

“Why don’t we just keep an eye out for her and then check on her later if we don’t see her?” asked Wyatt reasonably. “After all, she might have gotten held up by Dappled Hills residents. It might just be that she couldn’t walk more than a few feet before people came over to introduce themselves.”

“I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t do to overreact,” she said, although she was unconvinced.

Meadow said, “By the way, thanks again for bringing Miss Sissy here. I suppose she’ll be going from food truck to food truck all night! Don’t worry about bringing her back home—I’ll do it and find her to let her know. Hopefully she’ll be in a good mood after all the fair food. Usually she’s less cranky with a full tummy.”

“Perfect. How is everything else going here?” asked Beatrice.

Meadow said, “Better than all right! Have you ever seen more beautiful quilts?”

The quilters had done an amazing job. There were quilts of different sizes and shapes. There were quilts with different themes: horses, chickens, and cats. The colors were the best: warm and cool colors, light and dark, and peaceful neutrals.

“They’re gorgeous,” said Beatrice.

Meadow frowned. “Now I’m just waiting for Annabelle to come over and be totally charmed by them.”

Edgenora walked up with her friend Savannah and began talking to Wyatt. Edgenora was another new resident in Dappled Hills, but it occurred to Beatrice that she’d had a much better time getting integrated into the town than Annabelle. For one thing, she joined the Village Quilters, quickly becoming good friends with Savannah, who needed one after her sister married. For another, she was the church secretary at Wyatt’s church. Very quickly and despite a rather foreboding presence, she’d gotten to know many people in the town in a short period of time.

One reason Beatrice liked her so much was because she was organized and technical enough to work the church website. Edgenora was able to update the church calendar online and by doing so, prevent the tons of phone calls that Beatrice had been fielding before Edgenora starting working there. Beatrice was, for that reason alone, deeply grateful to Edgenora.

And Wyatt was, too. He appreciated not having a stressed Beatrice at home. He said, “I was just telling Edgenora what a great job she’s doing at the church office.”

Beatrice said fervently, “Indeed you are, Edgenora. I don’t know how to thank you. I now don’t have to deal with ten calls a day on my cell phone asking if the church soccer league practice is canceled due to poor weather or not.”

Edgenora looked pleased. “It’s my pleasure. And now that everything is online, the system practically runs itself.”

“You’re being exceedingly modest,” said Beatrice. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.” She turned to Savannah as Wyatt and Edgenora chatted about church-related business. As usual, she was wearing a floral dress with a high collar. “How are you doing? How are things with little Smoke?”

Smoke was Savannah’s gray cat and her pride and joy. Her eyes lit up. “He’s adorable, of course. Let me show you some pictures.” She pulled out an old phone and swiped a few times, frowning at the device before handing it over to Beatrice. She saw several pictures with Smoke in a variety of cute poses, sometimes wearing colorful bow ties that Savannah’s sister, Georgia, had made for him. He was especially fetching in one picture with his mouth wide open in a yawn, pink tongue sticking out.

“I love that bowtie with the chickens on it,” said Beatrice with a smile. “And how is everything else with you?”

Savannah hesitated. “Georgia always tells me that I should look on the bright side. She’s excellent at doing it. I’m not quite as good at it.”

Beatrice shrugged. “I guess Georgia has a point, but you’re among friends. If you have troubles, you should talk about them because it might make you feel better. Believe me, I was the person who never shared my problems, but I’ve completely turned around now. Things are so much better after talking it over.”

Savannah considered this, frowning. “What made you change your mind?”

Beatrice said, “I found out that two heads are better than one. What do they call it now? Hivemind? Sometimes my problems can be solved when other people take a shot at them.”

Savannah nodded and then said, “Okay. To be honest, it hasn’t been too easy lately. Georgia has been super-busy and hasn’t been able to spend much time with me. And you know how I was used to doing almost everything with Georgia.”

Beatrice said, “I know. And I haven’t seen much of her, either. She must be buried in work.”

“And I haven’t been buried in work. The firm where I do my accounting has really cut back on my hours,” said Savannah.

Beatrice made a face. “Sorry about that. Do you need to find another job?”

“Maybe. It’s more a problem of me just not having anything to do,” said Savannah.

“Weren’t you going to the movies or out for breakfast with Edgenora for a while?” asked Beatrice.

Savannah looked even unhappier. “I was. But now Edgenora is working so many hours at the church that we haven’t been able to do as much.”

Beatrice bit her lip to keep from smiling. Savannah did sound a little like a bored kid. “Maybe you could find somewhere to volunteer. I know the church is always needing somebody to help out with food pantry drives, retirement home visits, tutoring at the elementary school, or helping with vacation Bible school or youth group. If you wanted to, I’m sure either Edgenora or Wyatt could point you in the right direction.”

Savannah considered this for a moment. “That sounds good. Otherwise, I’m just going to quilt all day. That’s what I’ve been doing. But now I’m starting to feel a little burned out on quilting, too.”

“Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing,” said Beatrice. “By the way, how is your sister doing? I know you said that she was swamped.”

Savannah grew serious and glanced around them quickly to make sure no one could overhear them. Wyatt was still talking with Edgenora and Meadow had joined in their conversation. She said, “Honestly, I think Georgia is having a tough time.”

Beatrice frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. What’s going on? Is Tony still taking classes at night?”

Savannah shook her head. “He’s finished with the classes and is looking for a programming job in Lenoir. There’s nothing available for IT workers here in town.”

“That’s really hard. What about Tony’s house? I know they were trying to sell it and it was taking a while,” said Beatrice.

“The good news is that he did sell his house so they don’t have two payments each month. I’ve been helping them chart their expenses and budget.” Savannah paused, looking pleased at being able to help. Then she knit her brows together. “It’s just hard. Georgia is thinking about taking on an extra job. Tony had a lot of school debts and a few others, too. He was hoping to find a better-paying job right away, but it just hasn’t come through yet.”

Beatrice raised her eyebrows. “But being a teacher is like three jobs at once! I hope things start looking up for them soon.”

Wyatt came up and Beatrice asked, “Wyatt, off the top of your head, do you know of any area at the church that could use some volunteers? Savannah was looking to see if she could help out.”

Wyatt smiled at her. “We can always use some extra hands there! That’s nice of you, Savannah.”

Savannah blushed a little and smiled.

“How about the nursery?” asked Wyatt. “If you wanted to go there tomorrow, there’s a nursery for several exercise classes. Unless you’re going to be exercising, too? I know a lot of the women from the guild are trying the yoga class tomorrow.”

Beatrice winced. She’d forgotten that was tomorrow. And she must have been a little crazy to agree to it in the first place. She knew nothing about yoga and wasn’t even sure she had the right thing to wear.

Savannah replied eagerly, “No yoga for me. I’ll help out in the nursery, then. Is it every Saturday?”

“Every Saturday starting at noon. We’d love to have you help out as often as you’d like. Sometimes it’s hard to round up volunteers on the weekend,” said Wyatt.

“Perfect!” said Savannah with satisfaction.

Wyatt glanced across the festival grounds and said, “Oh good. Piper and Ash have just arrived and look as if they’re heading our way.”

Beatrice smiled. This was one way to put Meadow in a better mood. Piper was already grinning and waving. She was wearing a white top with black Capri pants that set off her dark pixie-cut hair. Ash was quite a bit taller and stooped frequently to hear what Piper said over the noise of the festival crowd. He wore a pair of long khaki shorts and a golf shirt. He waved when he spotted them.

Meadow beamed. “They’re the best, aren’t they?”

“The best,” said Beatrice. “No arguments there.”

Meadow said with an impatient note in her voice, “At this point, I think I’ve waited long enough for Annabelle, don’t you agree? She has my phone number, after all, and can call me if she still wants to meet up.”

Beatrice said, “I don’t think you have any obligation to wait around any longer for her. She’s running seriously late at this point.”

“Good. Besides, I want to finally have the chance to hang out with our precious kids!” Meadow beamed at them.

Piper and Ash walked up, hand in hand. Ash was holding a couple of tote bags in his other hand. They hugged Beatrice and Meadow and then Piper said to Ash, “See this quilt? This is the pattern that I was talking about.”

She pointed to a chain quilt with a pattern that looked like a mirror image of itself and had a certain symmetric appeal.