Read Online A Wild Goose Chase Christmas: Quilts of Love Series by Jennifer Allee - Free Book Online Page B

so I’d bring her treats. Those were her favorite.” She didn’t think it was necessary to tell him that, despite witnessing him devour a Mallo Cup yesterday, she’d checked with the duty nurse first to make sure he was allowed to have sweets. No need to make him think she was part of the Big Brother syndicate.
    “Bravo for getting them past enemy lines.” He winked and put the bag on the table beside him. “I’ll eat them after dinner, if I can wait that long.” He sat back, interlocking his fingers across his stomach. “How’s your mother feeling?”
    “Not great. But she’ll survive.”
    Virgil smiled. “And so will you.”
    “I don’t know,” she said with a chuckle. “We haven’t lived under the same roof in a very long time. Once she moves in, you may hear the explosion all the way over here.”
    “It can’t be that bad. Besides, Thanksgiving is just a few days away. That should help smooth things over.”
    “It’ll probably just make it worse. This will be our first Thanksgiving without Gran.”
    “I take it she presided over the holidays.”
    Sadness pinged through Izzy’s heart. “She did. She and my mom barely spoke the rest of the year, but on Thanksgiving, we all got together, no matter what. Gran cooked a big meal and afterward we decorated her Christmas tree.” The thought of being in the house on Thanksgiving without Gran pushed all the air from her lungs. How would she do it this year? “It’s all on me now. And I’m a terrible cook.”
    Virgil patted her hand. “You’re probably better than you think. But you could always resort to having a traditional Logan family Thanksgiving celebration.”
    “And what’s that?”
    “Heading over to Denny’s.”
    Her eyes grew wide. “You’re not serious.”
    “As a heart attack.” He nodded sharply. “On Thanksgiving, that’s exactly where you’ll find Max and me, enjoying a hearty turkey dinner with all the fixin’s.” He winked. “And none of the cleanup afterward.”
    No cleanup. The idea had merit. But then she remembered her mother’s tirade about the hospital chicken and decided against it. No one else deserved to be subjected to that at Thanksgiving.
    A knock sounded at the door. Virgil looked over his shoulder and called out. “Come in!”
    The door opened and a young nurse with a perky blond bob poked her head through. “Excuse me, Virgil. I heard Izzy was with you.”
    “She’s right here, Laura. Come in.”
    “That’s OK. I don’t want to interrupt.” She shifted her gaze to Izzy. “Whenever you’re ready, come get me. I can give you a hand.”
    “Thanks.” Izzy smiled as Laura backed out and shut the door behind her.
    Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t come here just to see me, did you?”
    “You caught me. I have to clear out Gran’s room.”
    He nodded slowly. “I see.”
    “But I really did want to talk to you. And before I go, there’s something else I want to ask you.” She leaned forward, elbow to knees. “It’s about the quilt.”
    “What do you want to know?”
    “Everything.”
    Virgil laughed. “I don’t know if I have the strength for everything. Remember, I’m not as young as you are. Why don’t you tell me what you want to know first?”
    Izzy leaned back, thinking. “I don’t understand how Gran could have owned something like that and never showed it to me. Do you have any idea how she got it?”
    “I do.” Virgil nodded slowly. “It had been in her attic for years and years, only she didn’t know it.”
    “When did she find it?”
    “A few months before she moved in here.”
    “That was right before she added my name to the house deed.”
    “She didn’t want to burden you with a bunch of her old things when she was gone. So she hired a man from her church to help her sort through them. She had no idea the trunk was in the attic until he brought it down.”
    “And that’s where she found the quilt?”
    “Exactly.”
    Izzy nibbled on the inside of her