Read Online Barbara Graham - Quilted 03 - Murder by Music by Barbara Graham - Free Book Online

almost nothing: pajamas, slippers, T-shirts. The most weight was in the jar of prenatal vitamins. She added a large, extra strong garbage bag filled with one quilt in progress, the large wooden hoop she used while working on it and a small fabric bag holding her thread, thimble and extra needles. Thinking she might want to rest and read for a while, she added a book. Realizing she almost forgot the box holding the embroidery supplies required by Scarlet LaFleur for her mini-class in Armenian embroidery, she waddled off to get it.
    Just in case she ran out of projects, she added the bag holding Tony's Christmas present. She was making him a new lap quilt and still had a couple of months until the deadline. Even so she hoped to get the binding done this weekend. Once the twins arrived, she might never have another free moment. The top was alternating stars and snowball shapes pieced with fabrics printed with cowboy, and the back was a flannel barbed wire print. Theo had sewn it extra long so it would cover him from nose to toes when he napped in his recliner.
    Needing a little rest, Theo sat and propped her feet up. She closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.

C HAPTER S EVEN
    Theo relaxed in the Blazer's passenger seat, relieved to let Tony deal with the drive. The road to The Lodge was ten miles of inclines and switchbacks. At night the dangerous drive seemed much farther. At noon, even at this time of year, it was a beautiful drive. In the protected valley where Silersville sat, the fall foliage was fading, but some colorful leaves remained on the trees. Not up here. The Lodge was not only at a much higher elevation but perched on the side of the mountain overlooking the national park. Up here, all of the deciduous trees were stripped of their leaves, leaving stark gray or brown limbs twisted against the dark of the evergreens. The even higher peaks of the Smokies were swathed in a deep blue haze.
    After next weekend, when The Lodge would be filled with wedding guests coming for Patrick's wedding, The Lodge would close for the season. Because the quilters normally came on the last weekend of the season, they were charged only a minimal rate for their rooms and meals. This would be the third year for their event, and while some of the ladies were repeats, it would be the first year for Melissa, Susan and Eleanor. Fresh young faces and a harpy. What a combination!
    The tiny sign reading “The Lodge” with its faded red arrow pointing toward a gravel road was almost hidden under the drooping foliage of an overgrown mountain laurel. If she had not been up here many times, Theo would have hesitated to make the turn, unsure if this was really the correct road. As Tony guided the car around the sharp bend, she wondered how many first-time visitors either missed the sign or didn't believe it. Heavily wooded on both sides, the road could lead anywhere. A fanciful imagination could see a witch's house through the trees. Theo anticipated the end of the driveway, and Tony slowed the Blazer even more.
    Suddenly, The Lodge was directly in front of them. Its native stone edifice fitted onto the side of the mountain as if it had grown there, much like lichen on a rock. Shaped in a V, the point aimed at the bigger mountain to the south. The lobby filled the ground floor in the point of the V. A covered veranda, open from front to back, made up the upper level point. Peeled log rails prevented tourists from leaning out too far while admiring the various magnificent views. The veranda was designed and decorated to be a wonderful area for relaxing. The flowers in the whiskey-barrel planters were faded, but there were still evergreen topiaries and clusters of locally made ladder-back chairs arranged around small tables, forming conversational groupings.
    On the ground level, a flagstone terrace surrounded the whole hotel. Except for a postage stamp−sized grassy area near the front, shrubs and trees—rhododendron, dogwood, mountain