Fit To Be Tied

by Elizabeth Craig

  Fit to Be Tied

  A Southern Quilting Mystery, Volume 11

  Elizabeth Craig

  Published by Elizabeth Spann Craig, 2019.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  FIT TO BE TIED

  First edition. August 5, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 Elizabeth Craig.

  ISBN: 978-1946227454

  Written by Elizabeth Craig.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  About the Author:

  This and That

  Other Works by Elizabeth:

  Chapter One

  BEATRICE LOOKED AROUND her, feeling a contented warmth as she saw the faces of her quilt guild friends gathered around her daughter. Piper, now about a week out from her due date, was beaming back at them all, a hand resting gently on her large stomach. It was after-hours at the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop, so not only was Beatrice surrounded by friends, she was surrounded by the familiar sights of the shop: bolts of brightly-colored fabric, overstuffed gingham floral sofas, and quilts hanging from the ceiling and draped over every available surface. There was soft music from local bluegrass bands playing in the background.

  Meadow leaned over and said, “Isn’t this the perfect place for a baby shower for Piper? Where better to introduce our grandchild to quilting?”

  “I’m not sure our grandchild is exactly soaking it all in,” said Beatrice dryly, as she glanced over at Piper’s tummy.

  “Sure he or she is! Babies get all sorts of impressions of things in-utero. I’ve been reading all about it,” said Meadow in a firm voice.

  Of that, Beatrice had no doubt. Whenever she went over to Meadow’s house, there were stacks of baby books everywhere: books on the counters, books on the coffee table, books piled up on the floor. You’d have thought that Meadow was having this baby, herself . . . and being quite proactive in learning about baby care.

  Meadow continued, “Babies are completely different now than they were when we had Ash and Piper.”

  “Are babies different? Or is the baby equipment different?” asked Beatrice with a grin.

  Meadow chuckled. “You know what I mean. It seems a lot more complicated now than it used to. Why, I remember just putting Ash’s baby carrier on the floor of the car and driving around and feeling he was as safe as he could be.”

  Beatrice reflected that it was a wonder that Ash had survived his formative years.

  Everyone from the Village Quilters guild was at the Patchwork Cottage to celebrate the baby’s upcoming birth. June Bug had outdone herself with cakes and pastries. There was a caramel cake, a Hershey bar cake, and a sour cream pound cake alongside her homemade doughnuts of different kinds. After liberally tasting a fair number of the offerings, Beatrice was sure that a nap was in her future.

  Miss Sissy growled, “Presents!” The old woman usually was the first one to start eating and the last one to stop at any event and her directive made the other guild members stop chatting and blink at her as if the real Miss Sissy had been abducted and someone else put in her place.

  “You heard the lady,” said Meadow. “Here we are gabbing when we could be giving Piper her presents! And before we tire her completely out. It’s been a long time ago, but I still remember how worn-out I used to get when I was carrying Ash.”

  Piper said, “I’ve actually been feeling pretty alert! You should see me at the end of the school day, though; that’s a different story. But I’d love to open presents, if it’s time.”

  Miss Sissy made sure that her gift was the first one that Piper received. Beatrice felt her eyes moisten as Piper reached into a large gift bag holding a beautiful vintage quilt with yellow and white squares. Covering the squares were adorable hand-embroidered ducks, bunnies, frogs, and puppies, all with big, expressive eyes.

  Piper gently ran her hand over the quilt. “It’s beautiful,” she said, eyes shining as she looked at the old woman. “Did your mother make it?”

  Miss Sissy nodded abruptly and impatiently rubbed a hand over her eyes.

  “I’ll make sure we take good care of it,” said Piper with a smile.

  But Miss Sissy shook her head violently. “Just use it,” she insisted. “Let baby play on it on the floor.”

  Piper nodded. “I sure will. It’s so soft that the baby will love it.”

  Miss Sissy looked pleased. “I replaced the batting,” she said gruffly.

  Piper reached out to give the old woman a hug and Miss Sissy fiercely hugged her back.

  Beatrice gently took the quilt from Piper, gathered it, and carefully folded it up for the return trip to Piper’s house and then watched as Piper next picked up a white box with a jaunty yellow ribbon.

  “That’s from Cork and me,” said Posy with a smile.

  Piper unwrapped two sets of crib sheets with E.H. Shepard’s traditional and much-loved illustrations of Winnie the Pooh scenes covering them.

  “Ohhh, I love Pooh,” said Piper. “And Mama, we forgot to buy sheets.”

  Beatrice laughed. “In the state we’re in Piper, it’s amazing we remembered to get the crib itself! I’m not surprised we overlooked them. Thank goodness that Posy had us covered or the poor baby would have been sleeping on something makeshift the first night home.”

  Savannah, always the pragmatist, frowned. “There must be some sort of checklist or something online for supplies. I could find one for you and email you.”

  Piper smiled fondly at her. Savannah was always ready to tackle a challenge and solve a problem. “That would be great. Mama’s right—it’s like she and I have become super scatterbrained the closer this baby is to coming. I did think of a checklist, but the first one I saw online had a lot of stuff on there that wasn’t really essential. And the baby won’t be tiny forever.”

  Meadow held up a hand. “Now you stop right there, Piper! This baby hasn’t even come yet and I plan on enjoying every little moment with him or her. You’ve already got this baby in high school, halfway to the prom!”

  Miss Sissy growled at the idea of the baby being in high school. Because her mouth was full of cake, the growl sounded particularly ominous.

  Piper gave Beatrice a surreptitious wink. They’d been talking earlier about Meadow’s fondness for popping by for visits. Both had the feeling that those surprise visits might be on the rise after her grandchild was born. Although Beatrice acknowledged wryly that she might find herself popping over for random visits with Piper, too. Or allegedly with Piper but mainly for the baby.

  Savannah said, “And you’re sure you wanted to be surprised by the baby’s gender, Piper? You didn’t want to plan for girl or boy toys, or plan the colors for sheets and paint and things?” She frowned. “Or the baby’s name?”

  “Ash and I thought it would be fun to find out when the baby is born. There aren’t so many surprises in life anymore and we thought this would make for a good one. And there are lots of different options for gender-neutral bedding and toys when the baby is little,” said Piper in a soothing voice. Clearly, Savannah would have
chosen the path of more planning.

  Posy asked, “What are your plans for after the baby arrives, Piper? Are you able to take a little break, or will you be heading back to the classroom right away?”

  Piper shook her head. “The timing was really perfect. I’ll have the baby soon, in late-spring. Then there will be a substitute teacher for my classroom for the end of the school year. She’s perfect since she’s a retired teacher who used to teach my grade. Because of all my doctor appointments, the kids have already gotten used to her so it won’t be such a hard adjustment. Then there’s summer vacation directly after that. I’ll feel a lot better about leaving the baby and returning to school when the baby is close to four months old.”

  Meadow and Beatrice exchanged looks. Meadow was determined that to watch the baby, herself, while Piper was at school, although nothing had been said yet. Beatrice had told Meadow that now wasn’t really the time to discuss daycare plans since Piper had so much else on her mind with the imminent arrival. There would be time to talk over childcare after the baby’s birth.

  Georgia, Savannah’s sister, said quickly, “I think that’s marvelous. Everything is working out so well. I know you’re all so thrilled.”

  Posy asked, “Do you have any pictures of the nursery?”

  Piper immediately pulled out her phone and found the photos. “Ash has been working hard in there, although we still have some things to do.”

  Georgia asked, “Are you enjoying your new house?”

  Piper nodded. “It’s been fun to have a little more space and a yard. And I love how close we are to town . . . and all of you! We liked our old place too, but the commute was killing us.”

  The women peered at Piper’s phone and all gasped in unison as they looked at the little nursery. There was a comfy armchair with an ottoman in one corner with a small, soft, yellow quilt draped over the chair. There were a couple of shelves on the wall with board books stacked up, including some of Beatrice’s favorites: Goodnight, Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There was a changing pad on top of a wide chest of drawers. The chest and the crib were both a light gray and the walls were a cheerful yellow.

  “It’s so sweet,” said Georgia.

  Savannah, always looking at the practical aspects said, “And it’s very practical to put the changing pad on top of the dresser. The diapers and the fresh outfits will all be within reach.”

  Piper snapped her fingers. “Diaper pail! We’ve forgotten about that. I mean, I know diapers are involved.”

  “Quite a few of them,” said Meadow with a snort.

  “And we’ve already bought some diapers and put them in the chest of drawers. But I totally forgot about the dirty diaper disposal.”

  Savannah straightened up proudly. “Then you should open my present.”

  Beatrice hid a smile. It was an odd baby shower gift in some ways, but Savannah was excellent at being pragmatic.

  Piper laughed. “Perfect! Problem solved.”

  After the diaper pail had been opened and duly applauded, June Bug handed Piper a small gift.

  Piper wrinkled her brow. “But you’ve already given me your present. The booties and gowns were lovely.”

  June Bug looked shyly at her. “This is from Katie.”

  Katie was June Bug’s niece. When she’d lost her mom, June Bug had stepped in to take care of her. It had been a bit of a transition at first, but now Katie was doing well at school, had made friends, and was even doing some quilting, herself.

  Piper took the box, which appeared to be carefully wrapped by Katie herself, using a good deal of tape and the comics section of the last Sunday newspaper. She opened it to see a well-loved stuffed animal—a kitten with big eyes and a plaid bow-tie around his neck. Piper blinked a little as tears filled her eyes.

  June Bug said, “It was her favorite toy, but now she’s ready to pass it on. Katie wanted the baby to have it.”

  “Is she sure? This kitten looks like it’s had a whole lot of love from Katie,” said Piper slowly, running her fingers over the worn cat. “This must be a really special toy.”

  June Bug nodded, smiling shyly. “She’s getting into other toys now. Barbies and things. But she loved that little cat.”

  “I can see that. Tell her that we’ll treasure it like she did—and thanks!” Piper carefully put the kitten with her other presents.

  By the end (and after Meadow’s and Beatrice’s gifts), Piper had accumulated a lot of needed things for the new baby, including a swing, a car seat, and a high chair.

  “I never realized how much equipment these tiny little people needed,” said Piper, glancing around her.

  Beatrice said, “These things will make life easier, for sure. I remember how helpful the swing was for you when you were a baby. You used to fall right to sleep in it while I was putting away laundry or cooking supper.”

  Piper said in a teasing voice, “So who loved the swing more? You or me?”

  “I think it might have been a tie,” said Beatrice with a smile.

  After the presents were all unwrapped, everyone chatted for a few minutes before the shower wrapped up.

  Georgia walked up to Beatrice. “You must be getting so excited.”

  “It’s hard to think of anything else, honestly. Although I really need to be,” said Beatrice with a sigh.

  Georgia laughed. “How is your home improvement project going?”

  Meadow, overhearing her, joined them. “Can you believe it? Who takes on a home improvement project when life is already nuts?”

  Beatrice sighed. “It was one of those things that I suddenly just had to do. It started out with some minor water damage and a bit of rotted wood. Then I figured that it was a good time to update and remodel since a contractor was already going to have to go in and tear things out. The kitchen cabinets were ancient and needed to be replaced when I moved in, but I procrastinated getting them taken care of.”

  Georgia said sympathetically, “Sure you did. No one likes taking on a project like that, especially when you’re already overwhelmed by moving into a new house.”

  “In a new town,” added Meadow.

  Beatrice said, “But then things got worse when Wyatt and I didn’t notice that the pipe under the kitchen sink was leaking. We ended up with a fair amount of water damage. I couldn’t stand looking at it a moment longer so Wyatt and I started talking to contractors about replacing the cabinets.”

  Meadow said, “Except that Wyatt is too easy-going and just wants whatever Beatrice wants in terms of new cabinets.”

  “Can you be too easy-going?” mused Georgia.

  Beatrice said, “Well, it’s a great trait to have and very fitting for a minister. But I really needed some direction. The options for the new cabinetry were completely overwhelming. I had no idea that there could be so many different choices for a small kitchen. And it’s a small kitchen.”

  Meadow said, “But it has everything you need, right?”

  “Considering the fact that I’m not a fan of cooking, it’s just the right size. Anyway, I finally reached a decision and we had Jake to help us with the work—he was highly recommended by a bunch of different people we know in church.”

  Georgia said, “Oh, I know Jake. He’s a friend of Tony’s.” She frowned. “Actually, I think Tony told me that Jake was having some family issues, isn’t he? I was going to see if I could bring food by.”

  Beatrice nodded. “Unfortunately, he is. His mom isn’t doing well and he’s taking care of her until he can figure out if she needs to move to a senior living community. But there’s no need to bring over food—his mother lives in Indiana.”

  “Yikes,” said Georgia.

  Beatrice nodded. “I really wanted to be able to have him finish the job, but he told me he appreciated the thought but couldn’t leave me hanging like that. He doesn’t know how long he’s going to be in Indiana, but it doesn’t sound like a brief trip.”

  Meadow said, “But the cabinets were halfway ripped out.” She shook h
er head and gave a little laugh.

  “Every place and every independent contractor that was recommended to us were all totally booked and couldn’t take on an immediate job,” said Beatrice.

  Georgia winced. “So, what did you do?”

  Beatrice said sadly, “We took on someone who was available, considering the kitchen was half-gutted. But he’s new to the job and he’s taking a long time. And not necessarily showing up when he says that he is, either.”

  Meadow’s eyes widened. “Did you just give him a key, then?”

  “We just didn’t feel comfortable doing that because we don’t know him at all and he wasn’t recommended by anyone we know. He seems like a nice guy, but he’s basically a complete stranger. No, the way it’s been working is that he shows up at the house unexpectedly and I change my plans and hang out there instead. Or he shows up unexpectedly and I’m not at home and I have to hurry over there to let him in. Obviously, he’s not at the house now and I’d just tell him it wasn’t a good time if he’d called me while I’d been at my daughter’s baby shower. But it’s pretty inconvenient.”

  Georgia asked, “How is Noo-noo handling all this?”

  Meadow chuckled. “I’m guessing not very well. That corgi’s ears are so big that the sounds of the gutting and hammering must be driving her completely batty.”

  Beatrice said, “That’s exactly right. She’s been huddled on top of my feet at the house, totally miserable. But since I’ve been the point person for this and now that it’s the start of a new week, Wyatt said that he’d work at the house this week and give me a break.”

  “Doesn’t the noise bother him, too?” asked Georgia.

  “Not so much. He puts his earbuds in and plays jazz music and seems to be able to write sermons, compose Sunday school lessons, and pen emails. The only things we need to trade out over is when he has hospital visits and things like that. We’re sharing a calendar for all of that now,” said Beatrice. “It’s an online one so that we can check it while we’re away from the house.”