Studio manager appeared worried.
Thea muttered something to herself about K.D. being so hardheaded before she turned to me. âIâm surprised you didnât hear about it. Audrey Stewart is part of our celebrity circle who meet at the yarn store. And she shoplifted one of those sets of jeweled silver knitting needles you were admiring.â Thea paused for a moment, shaking her head as she thought it over. âShe claimed it was an accident. That she just happened to drop the satin roll of needles in her knitting bag and forgot to pay.â
The three of them seemed to be at a standoff, and Thea let out a sigh. âI thought we should let her pay for them and forget about it, but K.D. sort of snapped. She took it way too personally and insisted we press charges against her. Iâm guessing that Audrey and her lawyer are trying to change K.D.âs mind.â As Thea said that, things seemed to get worse between the three across the room. Audrey appeared angry and actually stamped her foot. âI tried to talk K.D. out of it, but she absolutely wouldnât listen. Audreyâs lawyer is wasting his time.â
âI donât know about that,â I said, feeling protective. âI know Mason Fields, and he is very persistent.â
âWhat a mess,â Thea said as Audrey stamped her foot again and Mason grabbed her hand and led her away. She seemed unhappy with him and pulled free. He glanced back for just a moment, and this time he saw me. His face broadened into a smile. He stopped, and I thought we were going to have that movie moment, but then he saw Audrey marching toward the door. He held his thumb and forefinger to his ear, mimicking a phone call, and then pointed at me before rushing after his client.
âIt was mission definitely not accomplished,â Thea said before going back into her booth.
âPink, our booth has been vandalized,â Adele said, arriving back just as I walked into the interior. She appeared horror stricken as she stared at the front table. âTheyâve stolen our logo and taken our banner.â Joshua Royal had his tools all packed up and left quickly. Iâm sure he didnât want to be there when Adele heard what happened.
âNot exactly,â I said, pulling out the box where Iâd stowed the things before explaining why.
âNo,â Adele said in her most dramatic form as she grabbed the pair of crochet hooks and held them against herself in a protective manner. âThatâs just nonsense. We have every right to put what we want in our booth as long as it isnât offensive,â my coworker said.
The problem was that K.D. found Adeleâs handiwork offensive. I was trying to find a way to explain it when we were interrupted. Rain, the woman whoâd tried to claim we were in her space, had returned. She was holding a dress form wearing a white knitted jacket. A sign hung around its neck with her business name and a number on it.
âI wonder if I could leave this here. So people looking for my booth will know where I am.â She said it in a polite way, but this was not the time to wave anything knitted in front of Adele or ask for any help.
âHave you seen the schedule?â Adele said to me. âItâs one knit fashion show after another with a bunch of knit demos in between. Thereâs brioche knitting and intarsia, whatever that is. Do we really need to help the enemy by having a dress form modeling a knitted jacket in front of our booth? We are the beacon of crochet in the knitted darkness.â Before I could mention that what Adele had said didnât quite make sense, sheâd plunked her crochet logo on the table, before pulling over a chair and rehanging the banner. âThatâs it. Iâm going to go talk to K.D. Kirby and tell her these things are staying.â Both Rain and I stepped back as Adele rushed out of the booth.
âYou can leave the dress form,â I
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