“I heard your retreat is about mindfulness,” I said. He was making me uncomfortable and I tried to fill the dead air with conversation. “Some people consider knitting and crocheting to be mindfulness activities. You’re focusing on the stitches—which puts you in the moment,” I said.
At that he looked at the washcloth in progress again. “Can I try?” he asked.
“I guess so,” I said and rummaged around in Crystal’s bin and found a pair of knitting needles and grabbed the ball of cotton yarn. I wasn’t a super knitter, but certainly good enough that I could show him how so he could do a few rows.
“To expedite things, I’ll do the cast on.” I was already laying a base row on the needle as I spoke and then I handed it to him. From there I gave him step-by-step instructions like “poke the empty needle into the first stitch.” I moved the yarn around the needle for the first stitch to demonstrate and helped him manipulate them so that the stitch moved onto the empty needle.
I was going to help with the next stitch but he wanted to do it on his own. He needed a little coaching to complete it and then seemed proud of himself as he moved it onto the other needle. He stared down at the two stitches. “I get it. It’s all about loops. That was definitely a mindful experience. I was centered and focused.”
I let him go through one row, but then enough was enough and now I was ready for him to leave. He didn’t seem to be making a move, but thankfully I heard the sound of people coming up the path and going into the next room. I pointed it out to him. “It sounds like your workshop is about to begin.” He glanced toward the door and apparently got the message because he went toward the doorway without so much as a thank-you.
Crystal breezed in just then, passing him. With all her colorful clothes, it was like she brought in the sunshine on the cloud-filled day. He looked at her, then did a slight double take. She had that effect on people. She had on a bright orange top covered with a purple jacket. She’d wrapped a fuchsia-colored lacy scarf around her neck. I saw his gaze stop on her ears and he seemed perplexed.
“They’re not supposed to match,” I said, figuring his thought.
“Crystal, this is our neighbor from the retreat next door,” I said. I looked at him with a shrug, realizing I didn’t know his name.
“Elex Keaton, CEO of Reborn,” he said before going out.
“Okay,” Crystal said with a chuckle at the way he’d added his title to his name. “He seems a little full of himself. What is he, maybe twenty-five? She made her way to the table and took off the purple jacket and loosened the scarf.
“They’re having a mindfulness retreat,” I explained and Crystal perked up.
“And I bet they’re from Silicon Valley,” she said and I nodded.
“Kevin planned their retreat,” I explained. Crystal winced.
“Oh, good luck on that then,” she said. She pulled out a ball of pale pink yarn and some knitting needles with some work hanging off of them. It was too small to tell what she was making. She read my thoughts and picked it up to give me a better view. “It’s going to be a sweater for my daughter.” She made a face. “Can you believe it that she’s into pastels?” Her tone made it sound like her daughter was guilty of something terrible, not just liking light shades of color.
I showed her my pink washcloth in progress, and noting that for once she was actually early said I was going to join her in knitting while I gave her a heads-up on my group.
There was a commotion at the doorway and when I looked up Elex had returned with an entourage that included the guy with the flaxen hair I’d noticed earlier and Sky. Elex was in the lead and the other two seemed to be trying to keep up with him.
“Look at what they have. A fireplace, drinks and snacks. Real activities. And what do we have? A dismal empty room and—” Elex waved a sheet of blue paper and rolled his eyes as he read from it. “A mindful walk, air tasting, finding your mantra.” He moved right up to where Crystal and I were sitting with the other two close behind him. “I want what they have for us,” he said.
Sky looked panicked. “All the arrangements have been made. I’m sure when you’ve completed the first workshop—” The mop-headed guy glanced at the blue sheet in his hand. “Discovering What Mindfulness Means—you’ll feel differently. We do have a snack as part of the workshop. You’ll each be getting three raisins. The point is to savor the taste and texture.” He fumbled with the sheet and was about to say more when Elex cut him off.
“Three raisins,” he said with a snort. “I’ll have to talk to the manager.”
“No, don’t do that,” Sky said, sounding a little panicky. I knew why since I’d heard Kevin St. John’s threat about not wanting to hear any complaints. “We can’t change anything now.” He looked at the blue paper. “There’s a Sound Bath Saturday night for your group and all the other guests. You’ll see, it’ll be a life-changing experience.”
Elex seemed undaunted and looked at me. “What about you? Can you take care of what I want?” Before it could even register what he’d said, the flaxen-haired man moved in next to Elex.
“We should talk first,” he said in a low tone. “You need to understand things have changed.”
Elex gave him an exasperated look. “I’d expect you to understand even more than me.” Elex turned to Crystal and me. “Tim’s used to fancy vacations at posh resorts. My vacations are picking peaches on my family’s farm in Kern.”
“I can make do,” Tim said.
Elex seemed to shrug off Tim’s comment and spoke directly to me. “Well, can you do it? Arrange for drinks and snacks, get us some of those bags I saw you giving out?” He stopped and looked at the table where his knitting attempt still sat. “Can you arrange some mindful yarn thing where we actually have something to show for our time?”
Crystal and I looked at each other, trying to absorb what he was asking. Surely we could do it without much trouble. And making some extra profit on the weekend was definitely appealing. “There’d be a charge for our services on top of any actual expenses,” I said.
“No problem.” Elex turned to the light-haired man. “Tim, arrange it.”
Letting out a sigh of capitulation, Tim nodded at us. “If you could set up a tab, we’ll settle up at the end of the weekend.”
“I can’t do anything about your meeting room,” I said. “But I can get the drinks and snacks and leave goodie bags in your rooms. As for the yarn activity—” I looked at Crystal and she nodded in agreement.
“We could put together something for your group and arrange a workshop where everyone would learn how to knit and make a simple project, all done in a mindful manner.” I had a sudden thought. “We could even have it in this room when my group isn’t using it,” I said. Elex seemed to like the idea.
“What about this evening?” Elex glanced at the blue sheet in his hand. “It sounds better than mindful table tennis on your own.”
I thought it through quickly. The birthday group only had the upcoming afternoon workshop and then the room would be free for the rest of the day. I leaned over and asked Crystal what she thought. She was available that evening and was sure we could put together the supplies and a project. I knew I could depend on Cloris for help with the drinks and I had a tin of cookies at home I could bring over. “We can do it. Shall we say seven in here?”
“Agreed,” Elex said.
Sky let out his breath in relief as he did a little bow to us. “Namaste. I mean thank you.” He leaned in close and dropped his voice. “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention anything about any of this to Mr. St. John.”
“No problem,” I said with an inner chuckle. It wasn’t in any of our interests for Kevin to know what I was doing. He’d be angry that I meddled in his retreat. Sky seemed to remember then that he was supposed to be the leader and urged them to go back to their meeting room.
As soon as they were gone, Crystal and I started talking about the arrangements. We discussed what sort of a project would work for them. We’d ta
lk to her mother have her put together kits and Cory could bring them over. The rest was up to me.
“Hmm,” Crystal said when we were done. “This should be interesting. We’ve never worked on two retreats at the same time.”
“Be interesting or cause trouble?” I said, wondering what I’d just gotten myself into.
Chapter 7
In the few moments between the time Elex and his crew left and my group showed up, Crystal and I talked over the events of the morning.
“I’m sorry,” I began. “I thought, well, hoped, that the Delacorte sisters would be happy to find out that they had more family.” I looked at Crystal. “I’m afraid everyone is mad at me now for discovering that your mother was their brother’s child.” I left out love or illegitimate since they seemed kind of judgy.
Crystal had picked up her knitting and was adding rows to her daughter’s sweater. Without stopping she turned to me and smiled warmly. “Nobody wants to kill the messenger. At least, not me. I like Madeleine and I think she likes me. I know she likes Cory. The problem is with Cora and my mother.” She let out her breath and I could only imagine what her mother had said to her about the earlier meeting. “I think we have to give it some time and then hopefully we’ll all be one big happy family.” It was obvious by her tone that the last part bordered on sarcasm.
I was glad to let go of the subject as the birthday group, as I’d come to call them, arrived. Madison walked in first and looked around the room. Deani was right behind her carrying her pink tote bag. I couldn’t tell if Fifi was hiding somewhere in it and I wasn’t about to look. Iola slipped in behind Deani and took a seat on the other end of the table from Crystal and me. I tried to focus on her appearance and note her clothing, but it was like she had on an invisible cloak. Nothing about her registered. PJ came in last. I thought she was talking to herself, but then I noted that she was holding her phone up in front of her and talking to it. Deani had warned me that PJ would be collecting stuff for her vlog. She took a panoramic view of the room with the phone and I heard her say something about “roughing it.”
“Where’s Aileen?” I asked when they were all in the room. They shrugged in unison and looked around the room as if she might be hiding under a chair.
“She’ll be here,” Madison said. “She’s been talking nonstop about looking forward to this weekend.”
“In the meantime,” I said, gesturing toward the coffee and tea setup. The four of them went to help themselves and brought their drinks and cookies back to the table.
I introduced Crystal and said she was going to unlock the secret of crochet for them. I was glad that I knew who was who now and introduced each one of them to the workshop leader. They seemed entranced by her attire and mismatched earrings.
“What a super hack. What to do when you lose an earring,” PJ said, pulling out her phone and asking if she could get a close-up of Crystal’s ears for her vlog.
Crystal was uncomfortable at the attention, and to deflect it asked how the group had formed.
“You know how at the end of the day you need to let off steam. Some people go to a bar. They all come to me,” Madison said. “We use the lounge of the shared office space I manage. Everyone has something they need to get off their chest. Almost everyone.” She stole a look at Iola, who was looking out the window.
“So, it’s as much about the stitching as the bitching,” Crystal said with a chuckle.
“You know it,” Madison said. “For me it’s about my mother-in-law. She’s at my house now probably making a list of all my housekeeping gaffes. And my daughters. I think I’m an enlightened mother but even so they roll their eyes at every suggestion I make.” She let out a snort. “And then there’s the tenants, or work partners as we call them now. It’s bad enough dealing with them during the week, but I just saw some of them here.” She let out a big breath. “I didn’t mean to start with the bitching before we even started stitching.”
Crystal went to get something from her bag. “You’re the birthday girl, right?”
Madison nodded. “For the purposes of this retreat, yes, but in actuality it’s not for a couple of weeks.” Crystal took out a lei made out of crocheted flowers and put it around her neck.
“So, you can wear it now, and then when it’s your actual birthday.”
Just then Aileen came in. She looked around at everybody. “Sorry I’m late,” she said.
“Are you wearing mascara?” Deani demanded, staring at Aileen.
“And lipstick, too,” PJ said. I took another look at Aileen and it registered how different she looked. It wasn’t just the makeup—her clothes were different too. I didn’t remember exactly what she’d been wearing other than it was bland-looking. Now she had on jeans that seemed molded to her body with a very fitted scoop-neck white top and a long, colorful silk scarf that hung loose.
“What’s the big deal?” Aileen said. “I don’t have time to think about things like makeup when I’m home. It’s nice to get a little dressed up for a change.” She put her things down next to one of the chairs and I pointed her to the refreshments.
They waited while she got herself a drink and a cookie.
“You probably figured that Aileen was the late arrival,” I said to Crystal. “And Aileen, this is Crystal, who is going to unlock the secrets of crochet for all of you.”
Aileen gave Crystal a second look and smiled. “I love the look. I bet you’re a fun person.”
“I’d like to think so,” Crystal said. “But you better not talk to my daughter. She thinks I’m embarrassing, like I’m trying too hard.”
“Oh, do I ever hear you,” Madison said. It seemed the group was more interested in socializing than getting down to yarn craft. While Madison and Crystal traded stories about their daughters, PJ grabbed some more video for her vlog. She’d separated from the others and was holding her phone out and talking to it.
Curious, I edged a little closer. She’d set the camera so it was facing her and was talking about traveling.
“The best hack to traveling light is wear something like this.” She stood up and moved the phone so it got her whole outfit.” She noticed me listening and stopped recording long enough to ask me to hold the phone. She hit Record and then did a twirl as she went on about the merit of the black leggings and black tunic top. It took up little space in her suitcase, was comfortable, hid any spills, could be dressed up or left casual. She leaned over and pushed the Stop button.
“You sold me,” I said and she smiled. I noticed there was a tiny embroidered red heart on one shoulder.
“If you think of any other hacks for coming to a place like this, please let me know. The pressure to come up with content never ends. I need to keep my followers following to get advertiser money.” She let out a sigh. “I’ll upload this as soon as I can get a signal.”
I hadn’t planned on mentioning it since this group seemed to be okay with being unplugged, but it was different for PJ. It was her livelihood. “My house is across the street. If you walk into my driveway, you’ll get a signal.”
She instantly brightened. “Thank you. You’re a life saver.”
When I looked back at the group I noticed that Crystal’s brows were furrowed and she was looking at her watch. The allotted time for the workshop was going by and nobody had picked up a hook yet.
I stood up and got the group’s attention. “We ought to start the program.” I did a flourish with my arm toward Crystal, and she joined me in standing.
“Okay, ladies, time to find out about hooking.” They all chuckled before she continued. “We’re getting a late start so I’ll be teaching you the basic of crochet and we’ll start the project next time.”
I handed out the red Yarn2Go tote bags, a set of crochet hooks and a ball of cotton yarn to each of them. Since they were all accomplished knitters I had no doubt they’d pick up crochet easily. I hung around while Crystal explained that in crochet instead of casting stitches onto a needle, you made a length of chain stitches
. She demonstrated how to make them, and before she’d finished they’d already picked up their hooks and were making their own.
There was no reason for me to stay and I needed to put together and distribute the goodie bags for the Silicon Valley group and get things together for their workshop.
The door was shut to their meeting room, meaning their workshop was still in progress. It seemed pretty quiet and I wondered if they were doing the mindful exercise with the raisins. I passed a few people pulling suitcases as I went through the grounds before I crossed the street and walked up my driveway.
Julius was watching me from the kitchen window. His gaze was unusually intense and I was sure he knew we had a dog visitor. I’d have to make it up to him later. For now, I went directly to the guesthouse. I was almost afraid to look in the crate, sure that Deani had come back and gotten the dog. But then the tiny white poodle let out a yip as I came in.
She was my responsibility too, so I let her out of the crate and held her in my lap while I made a quick call to Gwen Selwyn to tell her what we needed from the yarn shop for the evening workshop. Thankfully, there was no mention of the morning meeting with the Delacorte sisters and she went directly to the business at hand. She promised to get the kits together and have them dropped off at the front desk.
“I have to warn you, I’m a cat person,” I said to the dog when I’d hung up the phone. “But you’re awfully cute.” I gave her a snuggle and she licked my arm in what I took to be a dog kiss. “Okay, now I have to get to work,” I said, putting the dog on the floor. She did a little shake and went back into the crate and stayed in there even with the gate open.
Knot on Your Life Page 5
