Read Online Monica Ferris_Needlecraft Mysteries_03 by A Stitch in Time - Free Book Online Page B

right.”

    Toward one, June Connor came in, her shoulders covered with snow. It had started in around noon, falling in thick, heavy flakes.
    June was an attractive young woman who did wonderful counted cross stitch. “Whew!” she laughed, pulling off a knitted cap and reopening the door just enough to shake it off outside. “It’s coming down out there! How are you, Betsy?”
    â€œFine, Mrs. Connor. How are Steven and David?”
    â€œVery well, thank you. Impatient for Christmas to arrive, of course.”
    â€œI bet I know what brought you out in this,” said Godwin with a smile. “I warned you to buy six hanks of that wool, not five.”
    June laughed. “No, five was enough. Barely, but enough. I came to pick up my angel—you know, the one that was being finished as a pillow.”
    Betsy had a sudden sinking sensation. She’d gone through the box several times to find finished projects for other customers and didn’t remember seeing June’s wonderful angel pillow.
    On the other hand, she remembered writing up the order and packing it for the finisher, so perhaps she’d just overlooked it.
    But while June’s name was on the list, the pillow wasn’t in the box.
    When she saw the dismay on June’s face, she picked up the phone and dialed the finisher’s phone number. “Hello, Heidi? Betsy Devonshire at Crewel World. Fine, thank you. But we have a problem. A pillow with an angel on it, a big one, counted cross stitch—yes, the Mirabilia. You do? Oh, no! Well, can you—Oh, I see. All right, I’ll call you back.”
    â€œWhat?” asked June.
    â€œIt’s finished, and it’s fine,” said Betsy, to June’s relief, “but it’s still there. She overlooked it when she packed our other finished projects. And she says she can’t bring it in until late tomorrow, she’s swamped trying to finish other last-minute projects.”
    â€œBut we’re leaving for Florida at noon tomorrow!” wailed June. “And that pillow is a gift for my mother-in-law!”
    June was a very loyal customer who spent a lot of money in Crewel World. Betsy, feeling she could ill afford to lose a good customer, said impulsively, “I’ll go get it today. I mean, when the shop closes, of course. It’s not that far to Heidi’s place.”
    June said doubtfully, “It’s coming down kind of hard.”
    â€œYou drove in it to come here and pick the pillow up,” Betsy pointed out. “Besides, I heard it’s supposed to stop in another hour or two. You can pick it up in the morning on your way to the airport.”
    â€œWell ... thank you, Betsy.”
    But the forecast changed an hour later. The front had stalled, the snow wouldn’t stop now until early evening. The wind was picking up, making driving hazardous.
    Godwin said, “I think you shouldn’t go, Betsy.”
    Betsy said, “Hey, I grew up in Wisconsin. I learned to drive on ice and snow! And I’ve been doing fine so far.”
    But the Monday Bunch was more alarmed than June or Godwin.
    â€œBetsy, it’s really very bad out there,” said Alice. “Already the plows aren’t able to keep up, and the radio is saying road travel is not recommended.”
    Betsy looked out the window. In the gap she had cut in the snow lining the sidewalk, she could see cars passing by. “No one is staying home yet.”
    â€œThey’re not driving out in the country on winding roads in the dark,” Martha Winters pointed out.
    â€œAnd the roads around here can be very confusing to an inexperienced driver,” added Patricia.
    â€œNow just a goldanged minute,” said Betsy. “I’ve been driving for nearly forty years! Heidi lives less than five miles from here. Besides, it’s for June Connor, and she has spent hundreds of dollars in the shop in just the past three months. The pillow