Knit to Be Tied

by Maggie Sefton

  “He’ll have to work his way up to crutches,” Lisa said with a wry smile.

  “I want one of those electric chairs,” Greg said, voice still sounding a little hoarse. “You know. Stick my leg on it and ride around. Terrorize the nurses.”

  “I can see that,” Steve said, chuckling.

  Kelly had to laugh. “I’ll make sure to warn the nurses before I leave.”

  “Knock, knock,” Jennifer’s voice came from the doorway. “We wanted to come in for a minute then let Cassie and Eric visit. Will that be too many people?”

  “Steve and I will step out,” Kelly volunteered. “We want to let Greg see everybody.”

  “We’ll come by this weekend,” Steve said to Greg as he and Kelly headed toward the doorway. “Meanwhile, you just rest up and keep healing, okay?”

  Greg held up the thumb on his uninjured arm.

  “And leave those nurses alone,” Kelly teased in a lighthearted attempt at humor.

  However, the seriousness of Greg’s injuries had really shaken her when she first saw him. Greg’s face was splotched all over with now-purple bruises and so were most parts of his body that were not in a cast. Long red scratches on his arms were healing. Since it was summer, Greg had been wearing short pants when he was biking that night. So even his unbroken leg was bandaged in several places from cuts and abrasions.

  Jennifer and Pete were waiting outside the doorway. “Is it as bad as it looks from here?” Pete asked quietly.

  “It’s scary looking,” Steve said, nodding. “But Lisa swears he’s improving. And she would know.”

  “She says he’s purple now, instead of blue,” Kelly answered, noticing Cassie and Eric hovering nearby. “It’s kind of a shock to see big strong Greg lying helpless in a hospital bed.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Jennifer said, beckoning Pete to follow her into Greg’s room.

  Cassie and Eric quickly walked over to Kelly and Steve. “He looks awful from out here,” Eric said, gazing through the doorway.

  “Well, it is a shock to see someone you care about covered in bandages and casts on his arm and leg,” Kelly admitted. “So I’ll warn you guys. It’s gonna be a shock when you first look at him. So be prepared.”

  Cassie’s blue eyes went wide. “Can he talk?”

  “Oh, yes. Not much yet. But he’s starting to make jokes, which is a good sign,” Steve said with a smile.

  “That sounds like Greg.” Eric nodded with a little smile.

  “Yeah, he said he wants an electric wheelchair so he can race around and terrorize the nurses,” Kelly joked.

  At that, both Cassie and Eric laughed out loud. That was a good sign, too.

  • • •

  Kelly walked across the driveway toward the garden patio. Café breakfast and brunch customers still filled the tables dotted among the greenery, trees, and plants. Kelly always hated for August to end.

  Finishing her client accounts earlier than she expected, Kelly headed toward the Lambspun shop. Skipping up the steps, she yanked open the wooden entry door.

  Mimi looked up from the antique dry sink, where she was draping a loose-weave shawl. “Hello, Kelly. It’s good to see you while it’s midmorning. Often you’re too busy to make it over here until later.”

  “Well, my Denver client kept me on the phone for a couple of hours yesterday with a conference call,” Kelly said as she walked into the foyer. “So it’s nice today to be able to finish early and come over here and relax.” She glanced around the central yarn room ahead and into the loom room, then leaned closer to Mimi. “Is Cassie here or is she out at a tennis lesson or something?”

  Mimi smiled into Kelly’s eyes and said in a quiet voice, “She’s in the main room at the knitting table, and she’s doing fine.” She gave Kelly a knowing smile.

  “Oh, good. I’ll sit and chat with her for a few minutes. See if she wants to help us plan a late summer picnic.”

  “I’m sure she’d love it, Kelly,” Mimi added as she walked toward the front of the shop.

  Kelly headed straight for Pete’s Café. Now, for a tall mug of coffee. Caffeine first. Spying Jennifer standing beside the grill, Kelly got her attention. “Caffeine alert! Zombie status can only be avoided by Eduardo’s coffee,” she called out as she approached.

  Jennifer laughed and reached for the mug dangling from Kelly’s fingers. “Goodness, we can’t have that, can we, Eduardo?”

  Eduardo chuckled as he reached for the ever-present coffeepot and poured a black stream of steaming hot coffee into Kelly’s mug. “Nope. We can’t have zombies walking around, scaring customers.”

  “Thanks, Eduardo,” Kelly said before sniffing the rich dark aroma. Then she took a big drink.

  Jennifer shook her head. “I still can’t understand how you can drink that scalding hot coffee like that. In winter it’s one thing. But it’s summer now.”

  “I don’t know,” Kelly said with a little shrug. “Maybe my throat grew asbestos cells inside or something.”

  “Maybe you are turning into a zombie, Kelly,” Eduardo said with a grin as he turned back to the grill.

  Two pancakes looked ready to flip. Kelly watched Eduardo effortlessly toss them in a spiraling motion so they both landed on their opposite sides. A perfect light brown.

  “Maybe. I’d better watch to see if I develop that scaly zombie skin,” Kelly joked.

  “Oh, please.” Jennifer waved her hand and made a face as she loaded her tray with the plates of pancakes on the counter. “People are eating around here. No more zombie discussions.”

  “If you insist,” Kelly said as Jennifer walked toward the café tables. “Talk to you later, Eduardo.” Kelly was about to head back to the knitting shop when Eduardo spoke again.

  “Hey, Kelly, tell Steve and the other guys ‘thanks’ for showing up in Denver over the weekend. Jennifer told me what the guys did. I hope it scared that no-good.”

  Eduardo then uttered some words in Spanish that Kelly had heard from other people over the years. Eduardo was definitely not wishing Tanya’s boyfriend continuing good health. Not at all. “I think they scared the daylights out of him, Eduardo,” Kelly said with a wicked smile. “Serves him right. But Cassie took care of herself first. I’m so proud of her. She told him off and got the heck out of that apartment.”

  Eduardo nodded. “Cassie’s a smart girl. And she belongs here with Jennifer and Pete.”

  “And us,” Kelly added with a wink.

  Eduardo grinned wide. “You bet.” Then he returned to the grill, and Kelly walked back into the knitting shop.

  As she rounded the corner from the hallway into the shop, Kelly noticed some bright colors that caught her eye. Summer colors. Fire-engine red and bright turquoise blue, sunshine yellow and shamrock green. Pausing to touch the colorful fibers, Kelly felt the familiar texture of cotton but also something else. Something different. What was it? She burrowed two fingers farther into the yarn skein—summer corn yellow—and stroked the fibers. Maybe . . . bamboo? She checked the label. Bamboo. She’d guessed right. Amazed again at how versatile a fiber bamboo was. It could be turned into sturdy fibers for floor mats or softer fibers suitable for sweaters, even baby clothes. And it was completely natural, not synthetic.

  Kelly gave the sunny skein one more stroke then continued toward the main room. She spotted Cassie at the far end of the room, putting magazines in one of the two racks in the corner.

  “Hey, Cassie. I see Mimi has you hard at work as usual,” she said as she placed her shoulder bag on the long library table.

  Cassie gave her a quick smile. “This is easy, Kelly. Your batting practice early this morning was hard work. My arms are still sore.”

  “That will only last a couple of days,” Kelly said as she settled into a chair. “I worked you girls pretty hard. You’ll all be trying out for your high school’s junior vars
ity softball teams soon. So I wanted to make sure you girls were finely tuned, you might say.” Kelly grinned then took a large drink of coffee.

  “I hope you’re right. Usually freshmen play on the freshman team. They don’t make JV.” Cassie slipped the last magazine on the table into its appropriate slot on the turnstile.

  “Unless they’re very good,” Kelly hinted with a sly smile. “And you and the other five freshmen are really good. I predict you guys will make JV. Unless some heavy-duty talent has moved into town during the summer.”

  Cassie laughed as she pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the table. “Heavy-duty. That sounds like a truck.”

  “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? Okay, let’s switch adjectives. How about supercharged talent?”

  “Supercharged. I like that.” Cassie nodded. “That was great of you to schedule a special clinic, Kelly. The other girls and I really appreciate it. If we make the JV, it will be because of all your help.”

  Touched by Cassie’s compliment, Kelly acknowledged the praise with a nod of her head as she raised her coffee mug. “Thank you, Cassie. But it will really be the result of all of you girls working hard this entire summer. Hard work pays off, especially in sports.”

  “Megan says we have to practice four hours for every hour of lessons in tennis.”

  “She’s right. And that’s another reason you in particular have improved so much in batting. You’re out there on the tennis court as well, practicing shots. All of that builds up your muscles as well as sharpens your instincts. Tennis is a fast game. You’ve gotta think fast and move to the ball.”

  “Boy, is it ever.” Cassie picked up a blue and green ribbon yarn knitted piece from the table. “I should finish this belt if I want to be able to wear it next week when school starts.”

  Kelly pulled the white alpaca sweater from her large shoulder bag. Not quite half finished. Clearly, she needed more knitting time. “And speaking of instinct, I wanted to tell you again how proud I am . . . we all are . . . that you listened to your instinct last weekend and got the heck out of that Denver apartment and away from that creepy guy.”

  Cassie made a face. “Creep is right. I swear, I can’t understand why my mom stays with that guy. He’s gross. And he’s a total loser!”

  Kelly pondered how to phrase her reply. Cassie had touched on a sensitive topic. “I don’t know why some women stay with guys like that, Cassie. Maybe they’re simply afraid of being alone. Living alone can be scary for some people. I lived alone for years before Steve and I got together. But I never really felt like I was alone. I mean . . . I had all my friends that I saw every week. And I came over here and visited with Mimi and lots of knitters at the shop almost every day.”

  “And you had Carl,” Cassie said, glancing up from her knitting needles. Her hands moved quickly through the movements. Row after row of blue and green ribbon yarn formed.

  “You’re right. I had Carl. Dogs are great company. Cats can be, too. But don’t say that in front of Carl.”

  “My friend Marsha has a great kitty. Black-and-white face, so she calls her Panda. She jumps up on your lap and starts purring right away. She’s so sweet.”

  Kelly slipped a knitted stitch from one needle to the other, joining the others already collected there. Row after row appeared on her needles. She’d relaxed into the “knitting mode” and enjoyed several moments of quiet at the knitting table.

  “You know Lisa’s friend Nancy?” Cassie spoke into the quiet. “I heard her talking to Mimi a couple of times when Lisa was over at the hospital and rehab center with Greg. She’s going to have a baby, isn’t she?”

  Kelly blinked out of her quiet knitting mode. “Uhhhh, yeah. Yes, she is. I was sitting with Lisa here at the table when Nancy was here knitting a baby hat.”

  “Is she married to that guy she talks about? I think his name is Neil.”

  “Ummmm, no. No, she’s not,” Kelly answered, profoundly glad that Jennifer had already had the “sex ed” discussion with Cassie.

  “She really looks upset a lot of times. Sounds like she wants to get married but that guy doesn’t.”

  Bull’s-eye. “You hit the nail on the head, Cassie. This guy Neil sounded like a creep to me. Nancy said he acted all loving and attentive until she told him she was pregnant. Then he didn’t want anything to do with her. Rejected her at an Old Town bar in front of other people even.”

  Cassie screwed up her face. “Eeeuuuuu! He really was a creep.”

  “Yep. You got that right.” Kelly glanced up at Cassie, who was clearly starting to discern why some people behaved the way they did. “There are a lot of creeps out there in the world, Cassie. Sad to say. But it looks like you’re learning to spot them.”

  Cassie shook her head. “I hope you’re right. I’m trying. Some people start off acting really nice and fun. Then suddenly they kind of . . . change.” She gave a teenaged shrug.

  “I know what you mean. All we can do is try to hang around with the good guys. And girls.”

  “Like Steve and Marty and Greg and Pete, right?”

  “Yeah. And Eric. He’s a good guy, too,” Kelly added with a wink.

  Cassie grinned. “Oh, yeah. Definitely a good guy.”

  Fourteen

  Steve gulped down the last of his coffee. “I’ll be up at that mountain property near Evergreen today and probably tomorrow. Got a meeting with the Rural Electric Cooperative representative. I’ll stay over in Denver tonight, so don’t wait up.” He leaned over and gave Kelly a quick kiss on the lips.

  “You should go to our favorite steakhouse for dinner,” Kelly said before finishing off the yogurt cup.

  “That’s a great idea. I’ll appreciate a good steak after talking all afternoon.” He rolled his eyes.

  Kelly grinned. She knew Steve missed getting his hands on some wood and actually building something. “Hey, you can probably find something to do on that building site. Who’s your foreman? Maybe he’ll let you hammer some boards together.” She gave him a wink.

  “Dutch is mother hen on this site,” Steve said, eyes lighting up. “You’re right. All these meetings are draining the life outta me.”

  “Plus, you won’t get to whack any balls tonight at the game. You’ll be gone.”

  Steve grimaced. “Yeah, darn it. I should be back for our last game, though. Don’t want to miss that.”

  “We’ll plan on it.” Kelly tossed her empty yogurt cup in the trash. Then she walked over to Steve, leaned up, and gave him a real kiss. “Drive safely, okay? And watch out for crazed tourists hurrying home from vacation. They’re starting to clog the roads already.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said with a smile as he backed away. “Count on it.”

  • • •

  Kelly admired the rows of knitted stitches on her white alpaca sweater. Looking good, she nodded to herself. Slowly adding the inches in length she needed. Then she reminded herself to buy another skein before Mimi ran out of that yarn.

  She started another row, sliding the needles through the familiar movements. This last hour of uninterrupted knitting time had been very productive. Too often Kelly found that she would get distracted by other people’s conversations and her knitting productivity would suffer. At least, that’s how Megan phrased it.

  The familiar sounds of chairs scraping backward on the wooden floor in the workroom next door told her that Rosa’s knitting class was over. Kelly would not be alone for long. Within a few moments, women began drifting in from the workroom and classroom area, chatting about their projects. Two of them settled at the table and continued their conversation. Kelly recognized the woman Geraldine whose cousin’s daughter had had an unfortunate encounter with the recently deceased Neil Smith.

  Geraldine sipped from one of Eduardo’s iced drinks and glanced around the table. Clearly recognizing Kelly, she gave a smile. “Hello there, Kelly. How’re yo
u doing?”

  “I’m trying to stay cool. That’s why I’m here in the shop. These thick stucco walls really keep out the heat,” Kelly said as she slipped another stitch off her needles.

  “Well, stucco only goes so far with summer heat. Air-conditioning is why I’m here,” Geraldine said with a laugh.

  “Oh, yes,” her friend agreed with a nod, fingers continuing to knit the scarf that folded down into her lap.

  “The only good thing we can say about August heat is that it’s not as hot as July,” Kelly added.

  Kelly and the others knitted quietly for a couple of minutes, then Geraldine’s friend spoke up. “Please let me know if anything more happens with your cousin’s son, Geraldine.”

  “I will. I’m trying not to worry,” Geraldine said in a quiet voice.

  Kelly’s ears perked up at that. “Is your cousin’s son all right, Geraldine?” Kelly asked, trying to phrase her question as carefully as she could.

  Geraldine shook her head. “I don’t know. I surely hope so. The police came to my cousin’s house this week to question Reggie about Neil Smith. I’m sure they’d heard about his run-in with Smith a year ago after that lowlife assaulted Reggie’s sister, Mary. Reggie told them that he hadn’t seen Neil Smith.”

  Kelly could hear the worry and anxiety in Geraldine’s voice. “That’s good, Geraldine. That way the police won’t think Reggie is involved.”

  Geraldine chewed her lip for a second. “I’m not sure about that. Reggie confessed to me that he had actually run into Neil Smith one night recently, and they got into another argument. All about what he did to Mary. Of course, everyone in the bar witnessed it.”

  “Uh-oh,” her friend exclaimed.

  Kelly noticed Geraldine’s expression. “Something’s still bothering you, isn’t it, Geraldine?”

  Geraldine nodded. “Yes. I’m . . . I’m afraid that Reggie may not be telling me the truth. He acted really nervous when he was talking to me. Now I’m wondering if maybe Reggie did something rash. Maybe he followed Smith. I don’t know.”