person produce?”
“It depends. Custom-designed, hand-sewn quilts like that one—” she gestured to the in-progress blue-and-green number he’d noticed earlier “—are very high-end, very time-consuming…and very expensive. My grandmother used the income from them to supplement her Social Security, but I need to earn a living. So I also do machine-quilted commissions. And I’ve turned lots of my designs into smaller items that could even be outsourced and mass-produced.” She gestured to the sheet of paper in his hand. “Now you’d better start prepping. The interview is in an hour and a half. Where are you meeting the reporter?”
“At St. Francis.”
“Good choice. Have him get a few quotes from Father Joe, too, if you can.”
“Luke.” Hannah hissed at him from between two of the quilts that separated the shops. “Are you eating here or not? We’re down to our last piece of asparagus quiche.”
“I’ll be right over.”
“Okay.” Her head disappeared and the quilts fell back into place.
He refocused on Kelsey. “It sounds like my sister has made herself at home here. She mentioned sitting in on a quilting class this afternoon.”
“Yes. It’s a beginner class that will meet every afternoon this week. By Friday, everyone will have designed and stitched a small wall hanging. If she decides to continue to help at Tea for Two, the timing will work out great. And you won’t have to worry about who she’s with. Or what she’s doing.”
“I think I’ve gotten past that.”
“I’m sure Hannah will be relieved.” Kelsey’s mouth twitched, drawing his attention to her lips.
With an effort, he dragged his gaze back to her eyes. Some wariness still lurked in their depths, but a flash of humor gave him an intriguing peek at her playful side. He’d spotted it for a moment yesterday, too, when Hannah had ribbed him at Pumpernickel’s about drawing admiring glances. Kelsey had seemed poised to join in the fun, but then she’d backed off. At the time, he’d been grateful. Now, he wished she’d followed her instincts. He had a feeling he’d have enjoyed being teased by her.
And this line of thought was not going to help him prepare for the interview.
He lifted his hand and waved the paper. “Wish me luck.”
“You’ll do fine. Just speak from the heart.”
“Right.”
Retracing his steps to the front of the shop, he crossed into Tea for Two and let Hannah show him to a table. As he ate his meal and jotted notes on the sheet Kelsey had prepared for him, he replayed her final instruction in his mind.
Speak from the heart.
It might not be easy, but he could do that. This was his final, self-imposed mission, and he didn’t intend to fail. Letting Carlos down wasn’t an option. If he had to reach deep for the emotions locked in his heart, he’d do so. The outcome mattered too much to let his usual self-contained manner and self-control get in the way.
And there was another outcome that mattered, too—finding out what made his wary neighbor tick.
But he was far less clear on his motivation for that mission.
“Today was so cool, Luke!”
As he spread mayo on their turkey sandwiches, Luke smiled at Hannah while she put the cutlery and condiments on a tray. “My sister, the waitress. And here I thought you wanted to be a lawyer.”
“Very funny.” She wrinkled her nose and pointed a fork at him. “Dorothy is great, and I had a lot of fun. Tomorrow she said she’d let me bake a batch of the scones and give me tips along the way.” She set the fork on the table, and her tone grew melancholy. “You know, she kind of reminds me of Grandma Turner.”
His father’s mother had died three years ago, and while her passing had saddened Luke, he’d never had the relationship with her Hannah had enjoyed. Margaret Turner had moved in with the family six years ago from her home in North Carolina, and from everything his mother had told him, she and Hannah had hit it off from
“It depends. Custom-designed, hand-sewn quilts like that one—” she gestured to the in-progress blue-and-green number he’d noticed earlier “—are very high-end, very time-consuming…and very expensive. My grandmother used the income from them to supplement her Social Security, but I need to earn a living. So I also do machine-quilted commissions. And I’ve turned lots of my designs into smaller items that could even be outsourced and mass-produced.” She gestured to the sheet of paper in his hand. “Now you’d better start prepping. The interview is in an hour and a half. Where are you meeting the reporter?”
“At St. Francis.”
“Good choice. Have him get a few quotes from Father Joe, too, if you can.”
“Luke.” Hannah hissed at him from between two of the quilts that separated the shops. “Are you eating here or not? We’re down to our last piece of asparagus quiche.”
“I’ll be right over.”
“Okay.” Her head disappeared and the quilts fell back into place.
He refocused on Kelsey. “It sounds like my sister has made herself at home here. She mentioned sitting in on a quilting class this afternoon.”
“Yes. It’s a beginner class that will meet every afternoon this week. By Friday, everyone will have designed and stitched a small wall hanging. If she decides to continue to help at Tea for Two, the timing will work out great. And you won’t have to worry about who she’s with. Or what she’s doing.”
“I think I’ve gotten past that.”
“I’m sure Hannah will be relieved.” Kelsey’s mouth twitched, drawing his attention to her lips.
With an effort, he dragged his gaze back to her eyes. Some wariness still lurked in their depths, but a flash of humor gave him an intriguing peek at her playful side. He’d spotted it for a moment yesterday, too, when Hannah had ribbed him at Pumpernickel’s about drawing admiring glances. Kelsey had seemed poised to join in the fun, but then she’d backed off. At the time, he’d been grateful. Now, he wished she’d followed her instincts. He had a feeling he’d have enjoyed being teased by her.
And this line of thought was not going to help him prepare for the interview.
He lifted his hand and waved the paper. “Wish me luck.”
“You’ll do fine. Just speak from the heart.”
“Right.”
Retracing his steps to the front of the shop, he crossed into Tea for Two and let Hannah show him to a table. As he ate his meal and jotted notes on the sheet Kelsey had prepared for him, he replayed her final instruction in his mind.
Speak from the heart.
It might not be easy, but he could do that. This was his final, self-imposed mission, and he didn’t intend to fail. Letting Carlos down wasn’t an option. If he had to reach deep for the emotions locked in his heart, he’d do so. The outcome mattered too much to let his usual self-contained manner and self-control get in the way.
And there was another outcome that mattered, too—finding out what made his wary neighbor tick.
But he was far less clear on his motivation for that mission.
“Today was so cool, Luke!”
As he spread mayo on their turkey sandwiches, Luke smiled at Hannah while she put the cutlery and condiments on a tray. “My sister, the waitress. And here I thought you wanted to be a lawyer.”
“Very funny.” She wrinkled her nose and pointed a fork at him. “Dorothy is great, and I had a lot of fun. Tomorrow she said she’d let me bake a batch of the scones and give me tips along the way.” She set the fork on the table, and her tone grew melancholy. “You know, she kind of reminds me of Grandma Turner.”
His father’s mother had died three years ago, and while her passing had saddened Luke, he’d never had the relationship with her Hannah had enjoyed. Margaret Turner had moved in with the family six years ago from her home in North Carolina, and from everything his mother had told him, she and Hannah had hit it off from
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