Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (8 page)

Ma
ggie
lifted
her head
,
rubbing
the back of h
er gloved hand across her face
,
leaving a smear of dirt behind.

I told her, and
ran
my fingers along my
cheek
mirroring the streak
.

“
Part of t
h
e charm of my favorite hobby
.
”
Smiling, she
stood
and stretched
her back. “
We should
get re
ad
y for Thelma’s qu
ilting class—s
he w
on’t be pleasant if we’re
late.
”

We changed and roared out
of the driveway in Maggie’s
convertible
.
I balanced my
hat
on my knees
as the wind
lifted and rearranged
my hair
to its liking
.
I kicked pride aside and surrendered.
“Y
ou’ve
almost
persuaded
me to trade in my SUV for a convertible.”

“It’s a fun ride, especially in a seaside town.”
The church came into view and Maggie pulled into the parking lot.

S
igns
labeled
Q
uilti
ng C
lass
directed us
to
the designated room.
Q
uilts
in vivid
colors
were draped on portable racks
.
I used extra care
to ke
ep Goldie away from the fabric masterpieces
.
Thelma adored my little girl,
but
she would
n’t
appreciate a trail of fur on her beautiful works of art.

Maggie
tapped
my arm.
“I’d like you to meet R
achel Hernandez—we
went to school together.” In return
,
she introduced me as Anne’s daughter, and after acknowledging each other
,
we continued viewing the display.

R
achel pointed to one of the
designs
.
“Thelma
made this
story quilt
for her daughter. Here’
s
her baby block—i
f you follow the path
,
it ends with her wedding
.”

“Aw
,
her first step
.” I studied the
little squares
. “
Fits with the uniqueness God placed within each of us.”
T
he scripture
,
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb
,
came to mind. I recalled
how
Miss Emmy
helped
me memorize verse after verse.

Maggie
looked back at me
. “Good analogy
.
”

“I
’d make a story quilt, but w
hat a warpe
d tale
it would be
.”
I hated it when I voiced negative
tho
ughts out
loud.
S
omeone touch
ed
me and
I
tu
rned.
Julia stood
right behind me.

“
Sweetie, w
hat if
the story
isn’t ready to be
told
—it’s still being fashioned?
”
Julia gave me a hug.

“Who’s
minding your shop?”
Mag
gie had taken me to
Julia’s
coffee
shop
on my
first venture into town
after my accident.

“
Honey,
I
simply
hung the closed sign on the door
.
M
iss
ing
this
class—not about to happen
.” At that moment,
Thelma
arrived
in her usual take-charge fashion
. “Ladies, let’s get started.” Her arms waved through the air as she directed
everyone to
find a seat
.

M
aggie
and I hurried to grab
chairs
in the front
row so I had a clear view of the
instructor
, and
room for Goldie at my feet.

Thelma
led the group in prayer
and
segued
straight
into teacher mode. She
used a
square of fabri
c pulled tau
t inside a hoop
to
illustrate
the placement and bas
ting of the appliqué
s,
a
long with the
“
needle
tuck
”
method
of stitching them down
.
“All it takes is
patience
and practice. Like most worthwhile things in life
.”
She
drew
her
presentation
to an end
with
printed instructions for the class
to take home. “I
f you have a problem,
you know wher
e to find me. Refreshments
are in the back of the r
oom
. But don’t even think about going near one of my quilts with food.”

I took a closer look
at the piece she’d used for teaching
, and
m
y
fingers itched
to try. I grinned
at the visual
of me imitating her precise
stitche
s
.

“What’s
so
amusing
?”
Thelma’s
lips curved into a
perceptive smile.

“
I want to learn
.”

“Do you s
ew?
”

“
No. But it looks intriguing—an art form.
” I refrained
from saying
my mother
would have frowned upon learning to use a needle and thread
.
S
he came from money
,
but my father was
a successor of old
wealth
.
I
n their world
,
a se
nse of entitlement
correlate
d
with
money.
Times had changed. N
ot many
we
althy women took pride in acquiring
excellent needlework skills.

“
Give it a try.
I’
m
available if you need help
. By the way, how are you feel
ing?”

“
Good.
”
A
line had formed behind me
, keeping our
conversation short
I
moved to make way for
the other women
. I found Maggie
admiring more of Thelma’s piecework designs
.

“You ready to raid the refreshment table?”
Maggi
e gestured toward
an assortment of homemade cookies
.

We made our way to the back of the room.
I
hadn’t counted on r
unning into one particular lady
—the one
with eyes
oddly empty of expression
. “Lilyan’s here.”
Chills crept up
my spine.
Why?

Maggie
quickly turned toward me
.
“When did you meet
Lilyan
? I have a feeling this is
so
not good.”

“
S
he dropped by
the bookshop
several days ago
. Wanted to inform me t
hat she and
Logan
are a couple
.”

“
Not true.
Sh
e and my brother are not together
and never have
been. This isn’t the first
time she’s fabricated
these stories
.”

I
felt
her eyes on me
. I turned. Lilyan
gave me one final look and
left
through the
side door. “B
e right back.”
I
hurried out the same exit
.
“
Lilyan
, do you have a minute
?”
With a
few
short stride
s
,
I closed th
e gap between us.
Goldie moved
closer to me.

“I
’ve already
tried talking to you. But you’
re determined. I
know what’s going on.
”
She
shook her
finger in
my face
.

I clutched
the packet of quilting instructions against my chest.
“What do you think I’m doing?”

“You’re
all chummy with Maggie so you can steal
Logan
.”
Her br
own eyes bore into me
with
enmity
.

“I told you
, I’m here to settle
Anne
’
s estate.
”
Despite the urge to be rude
,
I
tried to
calm
my tone
,
but
not being able to hear my voice
,
I wasn’t sure I had succeeded
. “
Logan
claims
the two of you have never dated
.
”

“
I know all about
Anne
—
y
ou’re exactly
like her
.
T
hese are my friends and
y
ou need to back off
.
”
Her flushed face
,
along with her defiant stance
,
exuded anger.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and
out of habit I turned
.
Maggie
stood
next
to me.
I pivoted
back around as
Lilyan
sprinted away.

“
Bizarre.
” Maggie
scanned
the sidewalk
until Lilyan turned the corner
. “
Ready? I need to get back to
the
shop
. Linda leaves soon
.
”

We followed the walk
wa
y leading
to the parking lot, not making it
very far before
t
wo people
approach
ed
us
from the opposite direction.

Maggie
waved as we met up with them
. S
he motioned
toward me.
“
I’d like you to meet
Samantha
Forrester
.
Samantha
is Anne’s daughter
.
Sam
,
this is Pastor Jim
Williamson
,
the
shepherd here at
Serenity
Cove
Community Churc
h.
”