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"No It’s just that I’d rather end our relationship on a positive note I’ll understand if you decline but I’ you won’t"

Colette saw the sincerity in his eyes "I’ood idea"

"You’re probably right," he said, his voice low and controlled "But if you do agree, I’ll give you ain"

The silence between them crackled with tension She told herself she should run away from him, run in the opposite direction, and discovered she couldn’t Even knowing that he was involved in illegal activities and likely to be arrested, she couldn’t refuse hiht," she said reluctantly

Colette was terrified of spending an evening with hiht say--and because of what she couldn’t

CHAPTER 12

"If more people knitted and crocheted, the world would see fears and a whole lot less road rage"

Lily Chin, lilychinsignaturecollectioncom

Lydia Goetz

The prayer shawl class was going well Susannah, in particular, was learning quickly, full of enthusias Before she’d even finished her first project, she’d already purchased a pattern and yarn for a sweater she planned to reat help toeffect She was more relaxed, ative about the wedding in at least a couple of weeks

Colette h I have to admit she didn’t take to it as easily as I’d hoped It’s like that so knitters Almost always, a new knitter will catch on after a few si all their lives Then there are others who struggle with each step and get discouraged when they see ho they are compared to everyone else In the previous class, I’d explained to Colette that each person learns at his or her own pace, re her that it isn’t a competition I felt confident that as she continued to knit she’d becoaret joined the class, too I’d hoped sitting doith the others and forht concentrating on the act of knitting would soothe her, especially since she’d stopped doing any handiwork at all The attack on Julia had been o, andelse, on finding the man responsible I can’t tell you howfor an update on the case

So her behavior Out of the blue, she’d get restless and angry and reach for the phone The way she talked to the police embarrassed me; no matter what she said about Detective Johnson, I couldn’t believe the man was a slacker

I’d tried hard to be patient with her and while I understood how she felt, I honestly thought it would be best for Julia if aret refused to do that, refused to rest until the ed in a court of law

The knitting class took place late on Wednesday afternoons, when Chrissie could fill in for Susannah and Colette at the flower shop She’d visited A Good Yarn recently, and I’d enjoyed our conversation; Chrissie had a quick huence of traditional women’s crafts She’d chosen this as the subject for her Art History essay, and I found that exciting Knitting was soart

That afternoon in late March, Susannah and Colette arrived together, toting their yarn and needles They immediately sat down at the table, in the same chairs they used every class, and pulled out their projects I noticed that Susannah was almost finished, while Colette had only about a third of hers done

"We got the biggest flower order last week," Susannah toldwith enthusias order--ten dozen roses, to go to the same address every Friday For a year!"

"Now that’s love," I said, joking I have a wonderful husband, but I couldn’t i me one dozen roses, let alone ten Let alone for a year

"It really helps," Susannah said "Revenue was down for March and this new orderflowers are starting to coenuinely pleased for Susannah and wanted her to know that

During our conversation Colette had remained suspiciously quiet I s I saw that the tension in her work had loosened in the past week and praised her effort She returnedmore I rarely saw her outside class these days and Ichats over tea I understood her reluctance to join aret made it difficult, especially now that she was in a perpetual bada customer choose yarn for a baby sweater I could only hope her de woman, as new to my store

Alix was the last to arrive, breathless after racing across the street "I was late getting out of the kitchen," she said as she sat down in her usual chair She took her knitting out of her backpack and set it on the table

Now that all my students were present, I checked their work and coress Susannah and Alix hadwell and I took pleasure in co their efforts Actually, the pattern’s relatively easy, even for a novice knitter, and Alix, of course, was equal to the challenge of her more co ould knit a prayer shawl and why My little group of knitters was teaching me

I pointed out that the border was knit in a seed pattern of knit three, purl three "Does anyone have a comment on the pattern?" I asked, curious about what the women would say