does,” Maggie said, caught in an ethical quandary. “Okay, my lips are sealed. I won’t tell you what I overheard. That’s the high road, right, Dana?”
“The high and boring road,” Lucy said.
“Oh, you’ve tantalized us now. Just make sure we all promise not to repeat anything. I think I can live with that.” Dana sighed and sat back in her seat.
“I can, too,” Maggie decided. “People are fascinating. The things they say, their grievances and passions. What makes them tick. I’m sorry, I just can’t help listening in at times.”
“Don’t apologize to me.” Dana patted Maggie’s shoulder. “I make a living at it.”
Maggie laughed. Perhaps she should have gone back to school after her career as an art teacher and become a therapist. But she was better off running her shop and teaching knitting, she decided. More of a fiber therapist. She was helping people, too, she thought. A different path, to the same end.
That night, Maggie was the last one to arrive at Dana’s house for their meeting. Dana greeted her at the door with a hug and hung her coat in the hall closet—tidy as a pin, Maggie noticed, with plastic boxes on a shelf above the rack, bearing labels such as “Baseball Caps,” “Umbrellas,” and “Waterproof Gloves.”
“Where’s Phoebe? Does she have a classtonight?” Dana asked.
“She has a paper due tomorrow and put it off until the last minute, as usual. She has to hunker down and pull an all-nighter,” Maggie explained. “She did ask me to bring her some dessert.”
“No problem. Lucy made a flourless chocolate cake. It looks like a killer.”
“A slice of that should cheer her,” Maggie agreed.
Lucy and Suzanne looked up from the knitting to greet her as she entered the great room adjoining the kitchen, at the back of Dana’s house. They were seated on the cushy leather sectional that circled a large slate table. A fire flickered in the sleek, black marble hearth.
Lucy had started a new project, Maggie noticed, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was. She’d put aside the shrug she’d begun for herself, right after the wedding. Understandably. It was an unhappy reminder of the newlyweds’ tragedy and was a bit unnerving for everyone to look at it.
Maggie sat next to Lucy and took out her own knitting, and wondered how long it would take for anyone to ask her about it.
Lucy peered over at her project. “What are you working on now? I can’t figure it out.”
“An amigurumi,” Maggie replied, knowing that was no explanation and no one in the room probably had the vaguest idea of what she meant.
“An ama—what?” Suzanne looked at her across the table. “Sounds like an appetizer at a Japanese restaurant.”
Dana laughed. “I know what it is. Alittle stuffed toy, right?”
Maggie nodded. “Exactly. There are loads of different patterns. But I’m focusing on a spring theme. I’m going to knit up a bunch of birds and such and put them in the window for a display . . .” She dug around in her knitting tote. “Here’s a picture.”
She put a photo of the cute, colorful amigurumi birds and beasts on the table. Everyone immediately oohed and aahed.
“Oh, these are adorable. You’ll have people asking right away how to make them.” Suzanne picked up the picture to take a closer look.
“That’s my hope. Business has been a bit slow lately. I was thinking of running a special: Birds of a Feather Knit Together. A two-for-one class.” Maggie looked around, trying to gauge their reaction. “And maybe a contest of some kind? Win a free basket of yarns and needles and such. And a lesson or two?”
“That all sounds good to me,” Lucy said. “Maybe everyone is just making that transition from winter knitting to spring and summer?”
“Could be,” Maggie mused. “The birds were a fallback plan. I had really wanted to do a spring wedding theme for the window using Rebecca’s gown and the bridesmaids’ shrugs that you all made. Maybe use
“The high and boring road,” Lucy said.
“Oh, you’ve tantalized us now. Just make sure we all promise not to repeat anything. I think I can live with that.” Dana sighed and sat back in her seat.
“I can, too,” Maggie decided. “People are fascinating. The things they say, their grievances and passions. What makes them tick. I’m sorry, I just can’t help listening in at times.”
“Don’t apologize to me.” Dana patted Maggie’s shoulder. “I make a living at it.”
Maggie laughed. Perhaps she should have gone back to school after her career as an art teacher and become a therapist. But she was better off running her shop and teaching knitting, she decided. More of a fiber therapist. She was helping people, too, she thought. A different path, to the same end.
That night, Maggie was the last one to arrive at Dana’s house for their meeting. Dana greeted her at the door with a hug and hung her coat in the hall closet—tidy as a pin, Maggie noticed, with plastic boxes on a shelf above the rack, bearing labels such as “Baseball Caps,” “Umbrellas,” and “Waterproof Gloves.”
“Where’s Phoebe? Does she have a classtonight?” Dana asked.
“She has a paper due tomorrow and put it off until the last minute, as usual. She has to hunker down and pull an all-nighter,” Maggie explained. “She did ask me to bring her some dessert.”
“No problem. Lucy made a flourless chocolate cake. It looks like a killer.”
“A slice of that should cheer her,” Maggie agreed.
Lucy and Suzanne looked up from the knitting to greet her as she entered the great room adjoining the kitchen, at the back of Dana’s house. They were seated on the cushy leather sectional that circled a large slate table. A fire flickered in the sleek, black marble hearth.
Lucy had started a new project, Maggie noticed, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was. She’d put aside the shrug she’d begun for herself, right after the wedding. Understandably. It was an unhappy reminder of the newlyweds’ tragedy and was a bit unnerving for everyone to look at it.
Maggie sat next to Lucy and took out her own knitting, and wondered how long it would take for anyone to ask her about it.
Lucy peered over at her project. “What are you working on now? I can’t figure it out.”
“An amigurumi,” Maggie replied, knowing that was no explanation and no one in the room probably had the vaguest idea of what she meant.
“An ama—what?” Suzanne looked at her across the table. “Sounds like an appetizer at a Japanese restaurant.”
Dana laughed. “I know what it is. Alittle stuffed toy, right?”
Maggie nodded. “Exactly. There are loads of different patterns. But I’m focusing on a spring theme. I’m going to knit up a bunch of birds and such and put them in the window for a display . . .” She dug around in her knitting tote. “Here’s a picture.”
She put a photo of the cute, colorful amigurumi birds and beasts on the table. Everyone immediately oohed and aahed.
“Oh, these are adorable. You’ll have people asking right away how to make them.” Suzanne picked up the picture to take a closer look.
“That’s my hope. Business has been a bit slow lately. I was thinking of running a special: Birds of a Feather Knit Together. A two-for-one class.” Maggie looked around, trying to gauge their reaction. “And maybe a contest of some kind? Win a free basket of yarns and needles and such. And a lesson or two?”
“That all sounds good to me,” Lucy said. “Maybe everyone is just making that transition from winter knitting to spring and summer?”
“Could be,” Maggie mused. “The birds were a fallback plan. I had really wanted to do a spring wedding theme for the window using Rebecca’s gown and the bridesmaids’ shrugs that you all made. Maybe use
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