Read Online Yarned and Dangerous by Sadie Hartwell - Free Book Online

Now it’s time for me to go. I’ll just find Eben and say good-bye. Meet me at the general store tomorrow morning, and we’ll get to work.”
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    Evelyn never did say good-bye to Eb, who was hiding out somewhere and was apparently prepared to wait her out. But the next morning she was as good as her word. Josie found her sitting at a table in the back of the general store, sipping from a mug. Half of a toasted, buttered bagel lay on a plate in front of her. Evelyn waved her fingers at Josie and set the mug down. Josie greeted her, then headed for the counter.
    Josie handed Lorna the morning’s eggs, then unbuttoned her coat and unwound the ocean-blue scarf Cora had given her. “Morning, Josie,” Lorna said. “Coffee?”
    â€œYes, please. Working in a chicken coop in February is cold work.”
    Lorna laughed. “I never would have pictured a famous New York fashion designer like you managing poultry.”
    â€œYou and me both,” Josie said. “And I’m not famous. I’m not even sure I’m a fashion designer, though I work for one.” She looked around the store. That Master of Fine Arts degree Otto had insisted she get—and pay for herself—was dead useless in Dorset Falls.
    Lorna handed her a steaming mug. “Cream and sugar are right here. You make drawings of dresses and things, right? So that makes you a fashion designer.”
    Her words were meant to be encouraging. “I suppose so. But I’m beginning to suspect I’m not a very good one. Lately every design I turn in has something wrong with it.” She gave her coffee a stir.
    â€œWell, and of course this is none of my business, and we’ve barely gotten reacquainted since you’ve been back. But maybe you’re designing the wrong things.” Lorna sprayed something, probably disinfectant by the astringent smell of it, on a paper towel and began to wipe down the counter.
    Josie hadn’t ever thought about it that way. Maybe she was. But there were more pressing things to address now. “Thanks for the coffee, Lorna. I’ll probably be in later for lunch. There aren’t any restaurants in this town, are there?”
    Lorna chuckled. “Businesses don’t tend to last long around here. There’s nothing to bring in out-of-towners other than the occasional lost leaf-peeper in the fall. And the locals go to Litchfield or Kent when they want to eat anything fancier than what we’ve got here at the g.s.”
    â€œI’ve been meaning to ask. How is it that Cora kept the yarn shop going? The old ladies in this town can’t have bought enough yarn per month to make the rent, let alone all the other expenses there must have been.”
    Lorna wiped down another section of counter. “Well, Cora had some money. Her first husband was a Margate—they owned the sweater mill, before they sold out in the sixties to new owners who ran it into the ground within a year. The yarn shop kept her busy, and she didn’t live extravagantly.”
    Josie wondered what a woman like Cora had seen in someone like Eb, but decided it didn’t matter as long as they’d been happy for the short time they had had together. Which she assumed they had. Her great-uncle was no Richard Gere, but he had a cranky sort of charm. Maybe Cora had thought of him as a project, same as any ball of yarn in her shop. Something with potential, that could be twisted and turned into something new.
    â€œYou’d better get on over to Evelyn.” Lorna nodded in Evelyn’s direction. Evelyn was clacking away, rhythmically wrapping a cherry-red strand around one needle and pulling it off with the other. “This is her afternoon to babysit her grandson, so she’ll need to be home on time.”
    â€œThanks, Lorna,” Josie said. “I’ll see you later.” She made her way to Evelyn’s table and set down her coat and coffee. The older woman