2 The Patchwork Puzzler (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

B
ill and Kathy were heading back to Chicago today. Tillie and Mark the Shark had come over to Melon Picker Row to say goodbye to them. Aggie was holding the new baby very carefully, as if the tiny entity were a fragile China doll. Beau had wandered off somewhere, but that was par for the course.

“I can’t tell you what a great visit this has been,” said Bill, hugging his mother.

“Yes, it has,” agreed Kathy, lining up for her hug. She liked being a part of this ungainly, something-always-happening family.

“We’re so happy for you children, having a child of your own now. I know that’s what you’ve always wanted.”

“N’yen is such a wonderful boy,” smiled Kathy.

“Where is N’yen?” asked Bill, looking around with a slightly worried expression crossing his chiseled face.

“He was here just a few minutes ago,” said Mark.

“Maybe he’s in the backyard looking for fireflies,” suggested Aggie, still holding her baby sister.

“Fireflies? It’s ten o’clock in the morning,” said her mother, keeping an eye on the baby.

“N’yen doesn’t know they only come out at night,” giggled Aggie. Her joke on a new cousin.

“Let me go check,” said Maddy. “You guys can be putting your bags in the car.”

“Sure, mom.” Bill gave her a wink. He knew everything would be under control with his mother on the case.

Maddy walked through the kitchen to the sliding glass doors. You could see the goldfish pond at the far end of the backyard, hints of red and gold swirling beneath the surface. There on the bank was her husband, the small Vietnamese boy at his side. Their words carried across the open expanse of the yard.”

“Gee whiz, Grampy, look at the fish.”

“Next time you come to visit, the two of us will go fishing. I know a great spot on the river where the catfish are as big as sharks.”

“Oh boy, I’d like that, Grampy. You promise?”

“Count on it, young man. I’m going to teach you to hike and camp and fish. We’re gonna have us a grand old time.”

Maddy slipped back into the house, unseen by the man and boy. She couldn’t help but smile, knowing that everything was right with the world.

“Hmm,” she said to herself. “Maybe I’ll start me a new quilt today.” She always liked sewing on a quilt when she was happy.

= = =

Bonus

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About the Author

Marjory Sorrell Rockwell
says needlecraft arts – quilting, crocheting, knitting – are pastimes every woman can appreciate. And she particularly loves quiltmaking. “It’s like painting with cloth,” she says. But when not quilting she writes mysteries about a midwestern sleuth not unlike herself, a middleaged lady with an unpredictable family and loyal friends. And she’s a big fan of watermelon pie.

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