“Okay by me,” Charles responded. “As Sarah said, I doubt we’ll be spending much time up here anyway. What else do we have on our agenda?” he asked, slipping his arm around his wife.
“I think we should go to the Heard Museum tomorrow afternoon. We’ll be sitting on the bus all morning and ready for a stroll, and I think Sophie and I will enjoy the displays of their handwoven blankets, serapes, and other textiles. The Southwestern colors are extraordinary, and we might get ideas for a quilt—maybe something Southwestern to remember the trip.”
“Oh, look!” Sophie squealed. “Here are brochures, and this one is for the Heard Museum gift shop. Just look at the silver jewelry! I’m going home with a silver necklace around my neck. Look at this one. It’s a squash blossom necklace made with silver and turquoise. It was made by the Navajo. This is the one I’m wearing home!”
“Did you see the price on that one?” Sarah asked.
“No. Hand me my glasses.” There was a long silence while Sophie digested the price before saying, “Well, I think this is too massive for my short frame. Maybe I’ll look for something in beads.”
While Sophie was in the bathroom arranging her toiletries, Charles took the brochure to Sarah and pointed out the squash blossom necklace that Sophie had admired. $25,000. They both chuckled, and Sarah said, “I agree it’s too massive for her short frame.”
“So, that takes care of our first full day here,” Charles announced when Sophie returned to the room. “The next day is the beginning of the antique show, and I think we should get there early. We don’t know exactly what we’re looking for,” Charles said.
“Quilts. That’s what we’re looking for. Quilts,” Sophie announced.
“Yes, but what if we find that everyone has quilts. We don’t know which vendor is the one Josie told us about.”
“So we just look around,” Sophie responded with a shrug. “Maybe we should go early.”
Charles sighed and shook his head. “Yes, good idea.”
They decided to order room service the first evening since all three of them were worn out from the trip.
Their first full day in Phoenix was spent sightseeing as planned and ended with the three friends being even more exhausted than the night before, but they decided to have a light dinner in the hotel’s café. They had sampled the food at every stop along their sightseeing tour.
Chapter 27
Early the next morning, Sarah ordered breakfast while Sophie showered, and Charles went down to the gym. By opening time, the three friends were standing at the entrance to the fairgrounds waiting to purchase their tickets. Sophie was wearing her new, brightly colored beads.
“Have you talked to Norman this morning?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, I called him from the balcony before you two woke up.”
“Did you ask how things are going with Barney?”
“He and Barney are doing just fine. Norman decided to take you up on your offer for him to stay at your house. He was worried about Barney being alone if he just dropped by every few hours. He seems to be enjoying having the animals around. I think he misses having a dog.”
“That high-end building of his doesn’t allow pets?” Sarah responded with surprise.
“Oh, they allow them. He just wants to wait until he’s fully retired and living in his cabin in Kentucky.”
This was the first Sarah had heard about any plans for moving. She wondered if Sophie would be going with him. Her heart ached at the thought of her friend moving away, but she was beginning to see that it was inevitable. Her friend was in love, and Norman was a good man. Sarah smiled to think of her friend finding the happiness she had with Charles.
“Where shall we start?” Sophie asked, interrupting Sarah’s thoughts.
“Let’s go to the far right-hand side of the arena and do each aisle in order. Are you going to be okay with this much walking, Sophie?”
“No problem. Besides, I saw carts by the entrance. You can get me one if I can’t make it.”
The first two aisles displayed home furnishings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but at outlandish prices, according to Sophie. “Who would pay these prices?”
Sarah occasionally asked a vendor if they carried antique quilts, but was consistently told no. One vendor directed them to a large display in aisle four, which featured rugs and fabric items. They passed by the china displays without slowing down, but when they arrived at the fourth aisle, they moved more slowly.
“Do you have quilts?” Sarah asked sweetly.
“I sure do, but you folks got here early. I’ve hardly started unpacking the cloth.” The man disappeared behind a divider and returned with a pile of crocheted and embroidered table cloths and napkins. “If any of this stuff appeals to you, just dig into the pile,” the man said as he disappeared behind the divider again.
When he returned, he had dresses from the 1800s. He placed them on a rack he must have had specially made for them. “They’re so small,” Sophie commented. “Were people really that small back then?”
“They must have been. Charles and I went to a church built in 1820, and the seats were so narrow we hardly fit.”
“Don’t know why that is,” the man said, obviously listening in. “Probably nutrition or medicine. Try on one of those women’s hats over there. I’ll bet they’re way too small. That’s just the way it was,” he added as he headed back behind the divider.
He returned with a tall stack of quilts. “This what you gals are lookin’ for?” he asked.
“Exactly,” Sarah responded excitedly, but then had second thoughts about displaying her excitement. “I’m decorating my whole house with items from the nineteenth century, and I need quilts for all the beds. Do you mind if I pick through this pile?”
“Not at all. That’s what they’re here for.”
Sarah poked Sophie and whispered that she should remain calm and make no accusations if they found one of their quilts. “Just wait for Charles to come.”
“Where is he anyway?” Sophie asked as she moved the first four quilts to the side, where she had started a rejection pile.
“He decided to scope out the whole fair to save us time. He’ll be back with a list of vendors with quilts.”
“So you’re looking for lots of quilts?” the man asked, obviously overhearing their last comment.
“Perhaps ten or so, I think,” Sarah responded coolly. She wondered how she could lie so easily. Maybe because I’m talking to a potential criminal, she thought. It’s okay to lie to a criminal. She remembered someone saying that on a crime show.
By this time, they had most of the quilts moved to the rejection pile. “They don’t even come close,” Sophie said, having surreptitiously checked the pictures on her cell phone.
“These aren’t quite what I’m looking for. Do you have any others?”
“Sorry, miss. That’s it. There’s not much money in quilts, so I don’t often carry but a few. I haven’t sold one in the past year. I might just give up on quilts.”
Sarah thanked the man for his time, and she and Sophie moved on. At the end of the aisle, they ran into Charles, who had a broad smile on his face. “I found our guy,” he announced proudly.
“And? Does he have the quilts? Wait. How do you know he’s our guy?”
“Breathe, Sarah,” he replied to his overexcited wife. “I didn’t ask about quilts. That’s for you and Sophie to do. I just saw his pile of cards and picked up one and casually stuck it in my pocket.” He pulled the card out and handed it to Sarah. “Have you ever seen that card before?”
“It’s our guy,” she exclaimed, immediately recognizing the card color and style.
“Same card, same website,” Charles pointed out. “Not sure what that means, but get your 3˝ by 5˝ cards ready, Sophie. We have ourselves a thief.”
But before approaching the vendor, the three sat down at a picnic table in the food vendors’ area and discussed strategy. Charles was emphatic about not making any accusati
ons or displaying any telling responses when they saw one of their quilts. “I will quietly call the police from my cell phone,” he said. “There are two officers standing by.”
“How did that happen?” Sarah asked.
“Hal set it up, and the officers are waiting for my call.”
Sophie looked at Sarah. “I’m a little nervous, but I guess we’re safe. Don’t you think, Sarah?”
“We’re safe. We have Charles, and he has backup. We’re fine.”
“Okay, then, this is it,” Charles responded.
“Ready, captain,” Sophie announced with a quick salute.
“Remember, Sophie. No matter what you see, or how excited you get, don’t let on,” Sarah whispered.
“You already told me that,” Sophie grumbled.
“Good morning, ladies. What can I do for you today?” The man at the booth appeared friendly and had a compelling smile as he greeted Sarah and Sophie. Charles was stationed at the end of the aisle, where he pretended to be carefully examining a harp-back side chair when, in fact, he hadn’t taken his eyes off the two women.
“I came here hoping to find a few quilts for my new home, but I’m not having much luck. Are these the only ones you have?” she asked with a dismissive gesture toward the few quilts folded on the table. She and Sophie had already looked at them, and they were not from Middletown.
“Oh no, I have several dozen,” the man assured them. “I’ll run out to my van and get them.” Calling across the aisle, he said, “Larry, can you keep an eye on my booth? I need to run out to the van.”
“Sure,” the man named Larry responded.
“I’ll be right back,” he vendor said, turning to Sarah and Sophie. “I usually don’t get many calls for quilts, so I just put out a few until I get a request. It will just take a minute,” he added as he headed for the side door. A few minutes later, he returned with an armload of quilts and began spreading them out on the counter. “Now, these are probably what you’re looking for,” he said. “They’re in mint condition.”
Curious to know what the man would charge for “mint condition,” Sarah turned the tag over and read $1,800.
“Oh my,” she responded.
“Everything in my booth is negotiable,” the man added quickly. “But look at the quilting. See how close those stitches are, and the pattern of the quilting adds to the worth of the quilt, as you probably know. This is a very intricate pattern. Now, if you don’t want to go that high, take a look at these, but I have to tell you, there are flaws. See this binding?”
“It’s badly frayed,” Sarah remarked. “How about that one over there?”
While Sarah kept the man occupied, Sophie was going through all the quilts and occasionally glancing at her cell phone. When Sarah saw the vendor notice her looking at the cell phone, she said, “Hasn’t Laura called yet, Sophie? I wonder where she is. She was supposed to meet us at the gate.”
For a fleeting moment, Sophie looked confused, but she quickly caught on. “Well, if she’s standing there waiting, she can just wait. I told her to call my cell.” The man lost interest in the conversation and pulled a few more quilts to the top of the pile.
“You might like one of these. They are in the $500 to $700 range. No flaws to speak of, but the quilting is simpler.”
“These look like they might be Amish,” Sophie said to Sarah.
“They are,” the man confirmed. “You have a good eye. I bought those last spring when I was up in Lancaster. Excellent work. Now the Amish tend to use solid colors with a good bit of black, as you can see. But just look at those tiny stitches.”
Turning away from the table, Sarah said, “Let me see if Laura called on my phone. I’m getting worried about her,” and she quickly scanned through her pictures of Ruth’s Amish quilts.
“Is this all you have?” she ultimately asked the man after examining every quilt in detail.
“I’m afraid so,” he responded. “Do you mind if I help that man? He’s been waiting for quite a while. If you need me, just holler.”
“Of course,” Sarah said, suddenly realizing a few customers had joined them at the booth. “Just let me and my friend take one more look at these. Surely we can find a couple that will be right for my home.”
Relieved to be out from under the vendor’s close scrutiny, Sarah and Sophie went through the dozens of quilts that were now spread out on the counter. “Not one,” Sophie whispered.
“I know. I was so sure we’d find at least one.”
Charles saw that the two women had stopped digging through the pile of quilts and had stepped back from the counter. He decided to join them and see if he could help. “No luck?” he said as he walked up.
“I’m afraid not, Charles.” Noticing that the vendor was now listening to their conversation, she added, “I had something very specific in mind, and I guess I’ll never find it.”
“What exactly did you have in mind?” the vendor asked.
Sarah mentioned the Civil War fabrics in Andy’s quilt and added, “and maybe something with browns.”
“Sure wish I could help you, but this is it. I’ve emptied the van. Why don’t you look around? There are several other vendors carrying quilts, and if you don’t find anything, come back here. I’ll give you 30% off on any quilt you choose from here.”
“Just on one?” Sophie asked.
“Maybe more,” the man said, laughing. “We’ll see.”
“You can’t beat that deal,” Charles exclaimed. “Come on, ladies, let’s get something to eat before we do any more shopping.”
Turning to the quilt vendor, he said, “Thanks for your patience with my gals. We’ll probably be back.”
“I hope so,” the man said cheerfully, turning to the couple who had been waiting. “Sorry to keep you folks waiting,” he said. “How can I help you?”
* * * * *
“She’ll be a while,” Charles remarked as he and Sophie found an empty table. It was approaching noon, and there were long lines at the food vendors’ booths. Sarah had insisted on waiting in the line for hot dogs and sodas.
“Here she comes carrying a tray,” Sophie exclaimed. “That didn’t take long.”
“This nice-looking cowboy let me cut in line,” Sarah announced. Charles frowned and scanned the line, looking to see who may have been flirting with his wife.
“He was young enough to be my grandson, Charles. Relax!”
Charles picked up his hot dog but glanced up at the line a couple of times just to make sure. After a while, he relaxed and asked, “So, about the quilts. Did you see anything familiar?”
“We sure did. We saw five quilts that were the same patterns as ours,” Sarah responded. “There were lots of star patterns, several crazy quilts, and a Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, but none of them were ours.”
“Are you sure?” Charles asked.
“Absolutely, Charles. I have the pictures right there. The colors were wrong. The sizes were wrong. Even the quilting was wrong. They weren’t our quilts.”
“But what about the woman in Amarillo? She said she saw our quilts,” Sophie asked.
“I think Josie’s intentions were good,” Sarah responded. “She was looking at the magazine article and recalling the quilts she had seen in the show. They were the right patterns but the wrong colors. This man doesn’t have our quilts and probably never did.”
“Then why did he shut down his website when you were on it?” Sophie asked Charles as she reached for her second hot dog.
“I checked today, and it’s up again, and it’s still on his card. I think that might have been more of a simple coinci-dence. He probably shut it down temporarily to update it after the Amarillo show,” Charles replied, “and that just happened to be when I was trying to access it.”
“You mean we wasted our time coming here?” Sophie asked.
“No, I had a great time. Didn’t you?” Sarah asked. “I’m glad we came.”
“Actually, yes, I did,” Sophie responded, “and I s
till am. In fact, I’d like to go back and look at his quilts again. There was this small one there I really liked, and I think it would look sensational on my bedroom wall. Would you hang it for me if I buy it, Charles? Norman isn’t very handy that way.”
“I would be happy to do that, Sophie,” Charles responded.
After walking through most of the other aisles and seeing no other quilts, the group returned to the previous quilt vendor, and Sophie purchased the small Turkey red and white Broken Star quilt, taking advantage of his 30% off offer. Sarah considered buying one so she would have a change for her vintage guest room but decided to make one using reproduction fabrics instead.
“What a deal,” Sophie exclaimed, hugging her purchase, as they headed for their rental car.
The next morning they returned home without incident. Sophie left her shoes on and walked through the security check peacefully and carried her purchase onto the plane as her carry-on. Charles had checked all their baggage.
As the plane was descending, Sarah took her husband’s hand and said, “I wish we were bringing good news to our friends.”
“I’m glad you didn’t tell the women in the quilt club where we were going. At least we didn’t raise their hopes.”
They weren’t aware of one person who knew they were going to Phoenix and was delighted to see them heading off in the wrong direction.
Chapter 28
It was early Christmas morning, and Charles and Sarah decided to have a pancake breakfast. They had exchanged their gifts the evening before, a tradition they had started the first year they were together. It freed them up to spend Christmas Day with family.
They arrived at Sarah’s son’s house at noon and were immediately joined by Sophie and her son, Tim, with his wife, Martha, and Tim’s daughter, Penny. Jennifer’s parents had flown in the day before and were staying with Jason, Jennifer, and their two children: Alaina, who was now five, and Jonathan, soon to turn three.
The children immediately began ripping the paper off the presents their friends and relatives had brought for them and were running around excitedly showing them to everyone. Jennifer tried to keep up with the wrapping paper, which was being strewn around the room, but threw her hands up at one point and said, “Ah, it’s only paper.” She headed for the kitchen.
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