The Quilt Before the Storm (10 page)

“Are you twins?” Lauren asked. “Believe me, I know twins, and you’ve got to be Marjory’s twin.” In fact, Lauren
was
a twin—Harriet had met her brother Les in Angel Harbor when she and the Loose Threads attended the folk art school.

“No, we aren’t
twins
,” Pat said, spitting the last word out as if it were a piece of spoiled food she’d eaten by mistake.

“She is your sister, though.” Aunt Beth said. “And I’m guessing you know where she is better than we do.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Pat said, her spine stiffening and her cheeks coloring.

“You did report your mother’s car as stolen, didn’t you?”

“I did notice it was missing from the driveway. What was I to think, her living near that park and all? The car was missing, I assumed it had been stolen.” She stared rather pointedly at the homeless trio.

The looks that passed among the homeless group and the new arrivals were dangerous. Even the usually mild-mannered Joyce was glaring. Carla’s eyes widened, and Lauren’s jaw tightened. Harriet gently tugged on both their sleeves.

“Let’s let Robin handle this,” she said in a stage whisper.

“Harriet’s right,” Connie said. “We’ll let Marjory’s
attorney
take care of this.”

“Let’s get back to work,” Harriet said, but she hung back as the others went past her and back to their jobs.

“Why are you here?” Robin asked Pat.

“I tried to call Marjory, and she didn’t answer. We heard it might flood downtown and thought we should come by and check on her store.”

“How did you propose to get in? Did she give you a key?”

“What are
you
people doing here if she’s not?”

“Looking out for her interests,” Robin said. “Now, what are you here for?”

She let the silence stretch to the breaking point.

“We need the key to her house,” the bald man said finally.

“And who are you?” Robin asked.

“I’m Richard Reigert, Pat’s husband. This is our daughter Lisa. Marjory invited us to come stay with her, and now she’s gone, and well, we need to get into her house. She was to have been there when we arrived, but now it looks like she isn’t going to be and here we are.”

“Marjory’s an early-morning person,” Robin said. “Everyone knew she was going to Seattle today. You probably thought you’d be here before she drove off into your stolen-car trap.”

“If you could just give us the key to her house, we’ll get out of your way,” Pat said in a conciliatory tone.

Robin put her hands on her hips, a grim smile on her lips.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that. I don’t have a key.”

Harriet noticed that the lawyer in Robin worded her denial carefully, in case Carla or one of the other Threads had one.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Pat demanded.

“I suppose you’ll have to stay in a motel until the slide is cleared.”

“But we didn’t bring the sufficient funds with us for a prolonged stay in a hotel,” Richard protested.

“The Methodist Church has beds available for people left homeless by the storm,” Robin said as she ushered them toward the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’ve got work to do.”

“I’ll bet they reported the car stolen before they got to Marjory’s and realized she’d left already,” Harriet said when they were gone.

“Yeah, and I hope Marjory deliberately didn’t leave them a key. She probably thought they were only going to be left cooling their heels for the day while she was gone.” Robin said.

“Sticking them in the church shelter is perfect,” Lauren said, joining them. “Not that it isn’t nice for people who need it,” she added.

A blast of wind grabbed the door from Robin’s hand and slammed it open against the side of the wall. She wrenched it shut and turned the deadbolt for good measure.

“We better get finished and get out of here before it gets any worse,” she said.

“We can’t just let Marjory sit there in the hospital,” Carla said.

“I’m afraid we have no choice,” Robin told her softly. “We really can’t do anything else for her right now. Anyway, with relatives like hers, she’s probably better off riding the storm out where she is.”

“Come on, people, enough with the chitchat,” Lauren said. “I need to get home and pack for Harriet’s.”

A plastic child’s wading pool sailed past the window on a heavy gust.

“Lauren’s right,” Harriet said and headed to the attic stairs.

The group worked for another two hours, carrying bolts of fabric three and four at a time. Carla went into the kitchen and emptied the cabinets below counter level, placing the coffee filters and other supplies into black plastic garbage bags and carrying them upstairs. When she’d delivered the coffee and teapots to Lauren’s waiting arms, Mavis stopped her from returning for more.

“Honey, I think you’ve done enough,” she said. “You better get Wendy home.”

They both looked at the toddler, asleep in a nest of blankets under the small kitchen table.

“Are you okay to drive?” Tom asked Carla, joining the group in the kitchen and rinsing his coffee cup at the sink. “I could drive you, if you want.” He turned to look at Harriet, who was standing in the doorway. “Would you be willing to follow and bring me back to get my car?”

Harriet was going to protest but then noticed the look of relief on Carla’s face.

“I’d be happy to, and I agree—it’s probably time to call it a day, not only for Wendy but for everyone. The attic is full in any case.”

“Where’s Terry?” Lauren asked, referring to Carla’s boyfriend.

“He was called in to help secure the base.”

Terry was a Navy SEAL who worked in some sort of special investigative unit he never quite explained, in spite of Harriet’s numerous questions about it. The naval base he worked from was also home to several nuclear-powered submarines. She knew the navy preferred its ships ride out storms in open ocean so he was very likely out to sea, but she wasn’t going to mention that to Carla.

“I’ll grab my bags then go pick up Mavis,” Beth announced and looked pointedly at Lauren.

“I guess I’ll be going by the homeless camp before I go get Carter,” Lauren said. “Unless you all want to go to the church, which is what I’d do.”

“Our camp will be fine,” Joyce said firmly.

“I’m going to stop by the vet clinic after I drop Tom back here,” Harriet announced to no one in particular.

“It’s kind of spooky in here without all the fabric,” Carla said and shivered, pulling her sleeping child closer to her chest.

The group filed out in silence, Robin locking the door and returning the key to Carla when the last person was out.

“Take care, everyone,” Harriet said as they parted.

“I couldn’t help but notice that Aiden hasn’t checked in all day,” Tom said when he and Harriet were driving back to the fabric store. “I know it’s none of my business, but—”

“It isn’t your business,” Harriet agreed. “And we aren’t going to discuss my relationship with Aiden.”

“I’m sorry. I said I wouldn’t pressure you, and I won’t. I’m just surprised he isn’t checking to be sure you’re okay, or have a plan or anything.”

“He knows I’ll be with my aunt and we’ll be okay.”

“If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be riding out a major storm with only your aunt for protection.”

“Now, that’s insulting,” Harriet said. “My aunt and I can take care of ourselves, thank you very much.”

“I’m doing this badly. I’m just saying, if I had the chance, I’d be there to make sure you were okay. I know you can take care of yourself, but you don’t have to always do that alone. You can let someone else help sometimes.”

A gust of wind hit the side of the car, causing it to swerve before Harriet fought it back to her lane.

“Can we not do this while I’m driving?”

“Okay. Just don’t be surprised if I come calling. The people I’m staying with live near you, I think. Don’t you live on the hill above town?”

Harriet sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Okay.” Tom pulled a card from the pocket of his jacket and wrote something on the back of it. “Here’s my phone number and the name of the people I’m staying with. Your aunt knows them. If you need anything call…please.”

She sighed again.

“Thank you, I do appreciate your concern, but we’ll be fine.” She pulled to the curb in front of Pins and Needles.

“I guess I’ll see you on the other side, then,” Tom said, and got out.

She watched until he had turned on his lights and started the engine before she drove to the vet clinic.

“Are you looking for Aiden?” Shannon, the receptionist, asked when Harriet entered the waiting area.

“Yes, and I wanted to check on Scooter one last time, if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” the young woman said. “I think he’d like that. We’re closing down early so we can all get home before the winds pick up.” The plate glass front window rattled hard in its frame. “Well, before they get worse.” She gave a nervous laugh. “Do you want to go ahead and go back to the socialization area?”

Harriet followed her to the converted storage room and sat in one of the rocking chairs, shrugging out of her coat as she lowered herself to the seat. Shannon brought Scooter and set him in her lap.

“The vet techs all took off already,” she explained as she draped a soft blanket square over him. “I told Aiden you’re here. I’m going to be leaving, so he’ll have to let you out.”

Scooter shivered in that way little dogs do, more a nervous reaction than from a lack of warmth. Harriet carefully settled him closer to her chest.

“Don’t worry about all the noise outside,” she told the little dog. “It will all be over before you know it. You’ll be all set. Aiden said they have a generator here so you’ll have all the heat and lights you need. Don’t expect that when you come to live at my house. We’ll be using oil lamps and wearing sweaters.”

“Did Carla go home?” Aiden asked without preamble as he came into the room.

“Yes, Tom drove her and Wendy home a little while ago.”

“What’s he doing hanging around here in this weather?”

“He’s hardly ‘hanging around.’ He was visiting friends of his mother and got trapped by the slide.”

“And he just happened to take Carla home?”

“If you must know, he and a number of other people helped us move Marjory’s fabric up to her attic. The weather people are predicting the Muckleshoot will jump its banks within the next twenty-four hours and that could flood Marjory’s store.”

“Convenient.”

“What is wrong with you? Everything was fine, and then all of a sudden you’ve got an excuse every time I want to see you, and now you pull this jealous routine? You’re giving me whiplash.”

“I’ve been busy. You know how my job is.”

“It’s never caused you to freeze me out in the past. Something else is going on. I can feel it. This isn’t you.”

“You don’t know me. You may think you do, but you don’t. I’m not who you think I am.”

“Where is this coming from? Is it your sister? What has she done to you?”

“Are you done with Scooter? I need to lock up and get out of here.”

“That’s it? We’ve spent almost every day together for nine months, and now I don’t know you?”

The muscle in Aiden’s jaw pulsed with tension. He picked Scooter from her lap and was out the door almost before his intention registered. She waited a few minutes, but he didn’t reappear. She knew employees left by the back door when the clinic was closed.

She put her coat back on and went into a hallway, through the employee locker room and out into the storm again.