Stitches in Time

by Terri DuLong

  “Thanks. Well, I haven’t met the best man yet but just in case he might be available, I wanted to be sure I’m looking my best.”

  My mother and I laughed as Haley walked into the room. She had chosen to wear the mint green dress she’d bought for Chloe’s wedding. Having just turned fifteen a few weeks before, my daughter was growing into a beautiful young woman.

  We complimented Haley and then my mother said, “Ready? Clive will be here shortly to drive us.”

  “Yeah. You guys go downstairs. I’ll be right along.”

  When they left the room, I looked around and smiled. I had spent my final night at Koi House and a whole new life was opening up for me. Maybe Mavis Anne had been right. Maybe the house did have energy and enveloped its inhabitants with love.

  I walked to the door, turned around, and whispered, “Thank you, Emmalyn. Thank you for whatever you might have done.”

  * * *

  We pulled up to Chadwick’s house and all of a sudden I had butterflies in my stomach. Clive assisted me out of the car while my mother and Haley went inside.

  Petra stood beside me. “I guess I have to go find my best man. I’ll see you shortly.” She leaned over to place a kiss on my cheek.

  A few minutes later, David came outside.

  “Okay,” he said. “Everything is ready. All set?”

  I blew out a breath of air and nodded. “Yes.”

  With my hand on David’s arm, we walked inside and I heard the strains of classical music coming from violins and a flute. Walking to the edge of the covered patio, I saw two men and a woman playing the instruments, while my gaze took in a crowd of chairs along the terraced area. And there at the bottom on the patio overlooking the river was Chadwick, looking up at me with a huge smile on his face. He looked incredibly handsome wearing a charcoal gray suit, white shirt, and light gray tie.

  Holding tightly to David’s arm, I descended the steps down to Chadwick, never once taking my eyes from his.

  I had chosen to carry three calla lilies tied with a cream ribbon, and I now passed these to Petra. I saw the tall man standing beside Chadwick. He nodded and gave me a smile. And then I turned to Chadwick as he took both of my hands in his.

  We had decided to exchange traditional wedding vows, minus the obey phrase, and as we said the words I knew that all of it, everything that had happened in my life, had brought me to this moment in time. To uniting with the love of my life and becoming Isabelle Price.

  When we were officially pronounced husband and wife, Chadwick leaned over and kissed me, to the applause of the crowd. And then, turning, he said, “Drew, I want you to meet my wife, Isabelle.”

  The word wife took on a very special meaning for me.

  “I’m so happy to meet you,” he said, smiling. “And let me be the first to wish you a lifetime of happiness.”

  Petra leaned forward to return my flowers and kiss my cheek. “I love you both,” she said. “May your life be filled with all good things.”

  “You look ravishing,” Chadwick whispered in my ear as we ascended the stairs to the reception area.

  The next few hours were a blur. Shaking hands and exchanging hugs with family and friends. Dancing, grabbing a few bites of the hors d’oeuvres, and sipping champagne.

  It had been arranged that Drew would drive us to the Orlando airport around nine. We were booked for our wedding night at a hotel before taking off the next day for my secret honeymoon destination.

  Petra came over to me. “Hey,” she said. “You wouldn’t mind if I came along for the drive to the airport, would you? Drew has invited me to come with him.”

  “Oh, really?” I said and felt a grin cross my face. “Interesting. And of course not, we’d love for you to come.”

  “I knew you’d say that,” she said, before we heard Chadwick at the microphone asking for attention.

  He motioned for me to join him and slipped an arm around my waist.

  “The honeymoon destination has been a surprise for Isabelle,” he said. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he removed a packet and waved it in the air. “So the time has come to let her know where we’re going.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on my lips. “My beautiful wife and I will be leaving tomorrow night on a flight to Paris, where we’ll spend a few days. And then we will be leaving on a fourteen-day Viking cruise to Germany, Vienna, and Prague.”

  I gasped as the crowd cheered and clapped.

  “Oh, my, God, Chadwick! I can’t believe you remembered I wanted to go there.”

  I recalled that a few months ago he had insisted I apply for a passport. Without giving anything away, he explained that he wanted us to travel a lot after we got married and that at age forty-five, it was time I finally had a passport. That’s when I realized that I hadn’t even packed it.

  “I don’t have my . . .” I started to say and he laughed.

  “Passport? Not to worry. Haley took care of that for us. She has it for you.”

  I shook my head. This man had thought of everything.

  After dinner had been served and guests were dancing and mingling, Chadwick took my hand to walk down to the patio where we had exchanged vows a few hours before. The sun had just set and the river was tranquil and serene.

  I let out a contented sigh as we stood there in comfortable silence.

  “Happy?” he asked.

  “I know I’ve never been happier. I love you, Chadwick, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.”

  He kissed me and then said, “I love you too, and I have a little something for you.”

  He reached into his jacket pocket and passed something wrapped in tissue to me.

  I removed the tissue paper and saw a gorgeous blue-and-white glass dragonfly.

  “Oh, it’s beautiful. I love it.”

  “The night that I proposed to you right here in this spot the dragonflies appeared. I felt it was significant to our love and our life together.”

  And I knew he was right. Like the dragonfly, life was fragile and required change and renewal. The past year had proved to me that when we allow love to direct us, we are transformed and end up exactly where we’re supposed to be.

  Author’s Note

  The scarf pattern mentioned in my story, Isabelle’s Challenge, was designed by April Reis. If you would like a hard copy of the pattern or any of April’s other lovely designs, please visit her page on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/designers/april-reis.

  Isabelle’s Challenge Scarf

  Designed by April Reis

  Materials

  Yarn: Universal Bamboo Pop, 292 yards (1 ball)

  Needles: US-6

  Miscellaneous: Waste yarn for provisional cast on, stitch markers, tapestry needle

  Optional: 64 qty. beads (to fit on desired yarn)

  Gauge: 6.5 stitches per inch in stockinette

  Final Measurements: 5” wide x 54” long

  Basic Stitches

  K – Knit

  P – Purl

  K2TOG – Knit 2 stitches together

  P2TOG – Purl 2 stitches together

  PFB – Purl into the front and back of the stitch

  YO – Yarn over

  SL1 – Stitch one stitch, Knitwise on the RS rows and Purlwise on the WS rows unless otherwise noted

  PSSO – Pass the slipped stitch over the stitch you just knit

  PM – Place marker

  SM – Slip marker

  Special Stitch

  Star – Purl 3 stitches together, leave the 3 purled together stitches on the left needle, YO around the right needle, purl the 3 stitches together again, drop stitches off left needle.

  Notes

  • The first stitch of every row is slipped; knit-wise on right side rows and purl-wise on wrong side rows, unless otherwise specifically stated.

  Bead Placement - Optional

  • Beads are only used on horseshoe lace parts of the pattern (the ends).

  • To place bead, after you pass the slipped stitc
h over the K2TOG, add bead to the K2TOG stitch.

  • There will be four beads placed on each RS row for a total of 32 beads per end.

  Pattern

  Using waste yarn, provisional cast on 40 stitches. Begin with Star Lace Pattern.

  Star Lace Pattern

  Row 1 (RS): SL1, K1, PM, K37, PM, K2

  Row 2 (WS): SL1 purlwise, K1, SM, (Star, P1) to marker, SM, K1, P1

  Row 3: Repeat Row 1, slipping markers as you come to them

  Row 4: SL1 purlwise, K1, SM, (P1, Star) to marker, SM, K1, P1

  Repeat Star Lace Pattern, Rows 1 – 4, for a total of 58 repeats.

  Repeat Row 1 one more time, removing markers as you come to them.

  Part Two

  Row 1 (WS): SL1 as if to purl, K to last stitch, P1

  Row 2 (RS): SL1 as if to knit, P to last stitch, K1, increasing one stitch by PFB in the center

  Row 3: SL1, P to end

  Row 4: SL1, K to end

  Row 5: SL1, P to end

  Row 6: SL1, K to end

  Horseshoe Lace Pattern

  Row 1 and all WS rows: SL1, P9, K1, P9, K1, P9, K1, P10

  Row 2 (RS): SL1, (YO, K3, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, K3, YO, P1) x3, YO, K3, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, K3, YO, K1

  Row 4: SL1, (K1, YO, K2, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, K2, YO, K1, P1) x3, K1, YO, K2, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, K2, YO, K2

  Row 6: SL1, (K2, YO, K1, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, K1, YO, K2, P1) x3, K2, YO, K1, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, K1, YO, K3

  Row 8: SL1, (K3, YO, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, YO, K3, P1) x3, K3, YO, SL1, K2TOG, PSSO, YO, K4

  Row 9 – 16: Repeat rows 1 – 8

  Next...

  Row 1: Purl all

  Row 2: Knit all

  Row 3: Slip 1st stitch purl-wise, K to last stitch, P last stitch

  Row 4: Slip 1st stitch knit-wise, P to last stitch, K last stitch

  Bind off loosely.

  Turn work and remove your provisional cast on, pick up 40 stitches. Start at Part Two and work the remainder of the pattern.

  Bind off loosely.

  Did you miss the first of Terri DuLong’s Ormond Beach series?

  PATTERNS OF CHANGE is available now in either ebook or print

  on demand format!

  PATTERNS OF CHANGE

  An Ormond Beach Novel

  “DuLong reminds me of a Southern Debbie Macomber but with a flair all her own.”

  —Karin Gillespie

  New York Times bestselling author Terri DuLong turns a new

  page in breezy Ormond Beach, Florida, where a woman looking

  for a fresh start discovers her dreams coming true in ways

  she never imagined...

  Chloe Radcliffe was ready to shake the dust of Cedar Key off her

  feet and sink her toes into the warm sands of Ormond Beach with

  her soon-to-be husband. But when tragedy struck, she found herself

  alone, unraveled—and unsure where she belonged . . .

  A series of vivid dreams of a Victorian house with a beautiful

  fishpond convince Chloe to take a leap of faith and rent a condo in

  Ormond Beach. There, she makes fast friends with a group of

  knitters and the owner of a tea shop, who also happens to have a

  house nearly identical to the one in Chloe’s dreams—and she’s

  willing to rent her the property. Just as Chloe begins casting on her

  grand plans for the home, her tangled past comes back to haunt

  her—but her dreams and newfound friends just might point her

  toward the love she’s been missing all along . . .

  INCLUDES AN ORIGINAL KNITTING PATTERN!

  Chapter 1

  Sitting on Aunt Maude’s porch watching the April sun brighten the sky wasn’t where I thought I’d be ten months ago. Having experienced two major losses, I found myself still in the small fishing village of Cedar Key . . . and like the boats in the gulf, I was drifting with no sense of purpose or direction.

  Life had proved to me once again that it can change in the blink of an eye. I certainly found that out four years ago when my husband, Parker, left me for a trophy wife. But eventually I pulled myself together and made my way from Savannah to this small town on the west coast of Florida. Straight to the shelter and love of my aunt. At the time, I’d been estranged from my sister, Grace, for many years, but eventually Grace and I renewed our bond and now we were closer than we’d ever been.

  The ring tone on my cell phone began playing and I knew without looking at the caller ID that it was Gabe’s daughter, Isabelle—she was the only person who called me before eight in the morning.

  “Hey,” I said. “How’re you doing?”

  A deep sigh came across the line. “Okay. I just had another battle with Haley about going to school, but I managed to get her out the door. How about you?”

  “Yeah, okay here too. Just finishing up my coffee and then I’ll be heading to the yarn shop to help out.”

  I wasn’t even gainfully employed anymore because I’d given up my partnership with Dora in the local yarn shop when I thought I was relocating to the east coast of Florida . . . with Gabe. And now Gabe was gone.

  Another sigh came across the line. “It’s funny. I didn’t see Dad all that much, but I knew he was there. Do you know what I mean?”

  “I do. Sometimes I think we just take it for granted that those we love will always be with us.”

  Losing Gabe in the blink of an eye was a heartbreaking reminder of the fact that life was indeed fragile. We had made great plans for a bright new future together. When he arrived in Cedar Key to spend the winter months, he had signed up to take some men’s knitting classes at the yarn shop. I knew immediately that I liked him, and the feeling was mutual. Eight months later we’d made a commitment to relocate together to Ormond Beach on the east coast. Gabe was also an expert knitter and we had put a deposit on a lovely home just outside the city limits, where he would tend to the alpacas we’d raise and we’d both run a yarn shop downtown. But that wasn’t to be.

  “Exactly,” Isabelle said. “And poor Dad didn’t even make it to Philly to sell his condo. This might sound selfish, but if I had to lose him, I’m glad it happened right here at my house.” I heard a sniffle across the phone line. “At least I was with him at the end.”

  We both were. Gabe had wanted to make a stop outside Atlanta on our way to Philly to visit his daughter and granddaughter. But on the third day of our stay, sitting on Isabelle’s patio after dinner, a grimace covered Gabe’s face, he clutched his chest and he was gone. I jumped up to perform CPR while Isabelle called 911 but by the time the paramedics arrived, it was too late. A massive coronary had claimed his life. Just like that.

  “No, it’s not selfish at all,” I said. “I’m glad I was with him too.”

  “We’ve both had a time of it, haven’t we? I lose Dad and then two months later, Roger decides he doesn’t love me anymore.”

  It was actually the breakup of Isabelle’s marriage that had brought the two of us closer. While she had been civil to me when we’d first met the previous June, she had been a bit cool. I remembered how she had emphatically informed me that she wasn’t called Izzy or Belle. “It’s Isabelle,” she’d said.

  I chalked it up to father-daughter jealousy on her part. Although she wasn’t at all close to her mother, who had taken off to Oregon years ago after her divorce from Gabe, I had a feeling that Isabelle didn’t want another woman in her father’s life. But when her husband up and left her, I was the first person she called. Sobbing on the phone, she related that she was experiencing the same thing that had happened to me—her husband had fallen out of love with her. Common troubles have a way of uniting women.

  “Any further word on the divorce settlement?” I asked.

  “Yes, that’s why I’m calling. It’s been decided that I will get the house. At least until Haley is eighteen, so that gives me five years to figure out what I’m doing. And when we sell it, we each get half.”

>   “That sounds fair enough.”

  “Yeah, except that Haley is so unhappy here. Between the loss of her grandfather and her father leaving, it’s been a difficult time for her. And to make matters worse, things at school aren’t going well either.”

  I knew Haley was a bright girl and a good student, so I was surprised to hear this. “What’s going on?”

  “Well,” she said, and I heard hesitation in her tone. “In the ten months since you’ve seen her, Haley has really packed on some pounds. Unfortunately, I think she’s taking comfort in food. And you know how cruel kids can be. Especially thirteen-year-old girls.”

  “Oh, no.” I didn’t know Haley well, but when I met her for the first time we immediately clicked. Unlike her mother, she didn’t display any frostiness toward me. Quite the opposite. She seemed to genuinely like me and I liked her. “What a shame. Gosh, I know kids have always been mean but today, from what I hear, they seem to have taken it to a new level.”

  “You have no idea. Hey, how’s Basil doing?”

  I smiled and glanced down at the twenty-pound dog sleeping inches from my foot. I guess you could say that Basil was my legacy from Gabe. I had gotten to know the dog well during the months that Gabe was on the island, and we had taken an instant liking to each other. When Gabe passed away, there was the question of what to do with Basil. Although I know that Haley would have loved to keep him, Isabelle had insisted that wasn’t possible and even hinted that perhaps he should go to the pound. That was when I stepped in and offered to give Basil a home. I think gratefulness has a lot to do with loyalty, because Basil hasn’t left my side since we flew back to Florida from Atlanta. Basil in his carrier, in the cabin with me, of course.