Needle and Dread (23 page)

Miranda's surprise was short-lived, but it was enough for Leona to pull Rose to safety as Tori rushed forward and knocked Miranda to the ground.

“He said two apples don't make no bushel.” Margaret Louise pulled her phone from the pocket of her polyester jacket and lowered herself onto Miranda's stomach. “I'm thinkin' it's 'bout time we put in a call to the chief so all those nice folks from Jasper Falls can finally go home . . .”

Tori tiptoed out of Rose's bedroom and collapsed onto the couch next to Milo.

“So I take it she finally fell asleep?”

She wanted to answer, she really did, but the emotions she'd managed to hold at bay until that very moment were sure to make speaking difficult. Instead, she nodded and nestled herself against him, waiting for his warmth to chase the pervasive chill from her body's every nook and cranny.

“She's going to be okay, baby. The doctor said so. She's just a little shaken up is all.”

Seeing Rose so helpless and so frightened was an image she never wanted to see again, yet she knew it would return for an encore on those nights when sleep proved elusive.

He moved his hand to her face and gently stroked her
cheek. “Leona called for about the fourth or fifth time just before you came out. She's worried about the two of you.”

Clearing her throat of the emotional fog lodged around the halfway mark, she made herself speak for no other reason than to try and soften the concern she saw in his eyes. “I'm fine. Miranda didn't touch me.”

“That doesn't mean she didn't hurt you, Tori. In fact, Leona told the chief that Miranda threatened all of you.”

Had she?

Tori couldn't remember, either way.

All she could remember was Rose's face and that sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't going to be able to save her friend. “I can't believe Miranda didn't hear Margaret Louise.
Everyone
hears Margaret Louise,” she whispered.

“Margaret Louise said she had a sense something was wrong the minute she stepped onto SewTastic's front porch to pick up Rose.”

“I'm glad.” And she was. Truly.

“Do you know if she confessed to the police?” Milo asked.

“She did.” Lily Belle, aka Miranda, bared her soul to the department's detective before they'd even reached the patrol car. She poisoned her husband because of a purported affair, and she snuck into the project room and strangled Opal as a way to keep the troublemaking museum founder from identifying her as the acclaimed seamstress and wanted felon Lily Belle. “But do you want to know what's really crazy?”

He pulled his hand from her face and gently interlaced their fingers. “What's that?”

“Miranda's husband wasn't having an affair. The note
she found in her husband's suit jacket was about a diamond anniversary ring he was planning on getting Miranda—a ring Margot was trying to help him find.”

“She killed him for no reason?” he asked.

“That's right, and she did the same thing to Opal. She was confident it was only a matter of time before Opal's extensive knowledge of labels would result in her capture. But considering the group was due to head out of Sweet Briar bright and early the next morning, the likelihood Opal was going to figure out Miranda's true identity was growing slimmer by the minute.”

“So two people lost their lives for no reason. Wow.”

“
Three
people,” Tori corrected. “Miranda's life is essentially over now, too. And why? Because she assumed something that was untrue about her husband and then, because of how she handled that falsehood, she felt compelled to make another erroneous assumption—this time about Opal.”

“So what happens with the museum and all the other properties that Opal bought up in Jasper Falls?” Milo asked. “Is there a husband or a child who gets them now?”

“No. Opal lived alone. All she had was her money and her power. It's why she was all over the place in what she did with that money. Sometimes she did good things, sometimes she wielded it like a weapon because it was the one place in her life she felt she had control.” Tori pulled her legs up and onto the couch. “It's kind of sad, you know?”

He rested his lips against her head. “You're right, it is. All the way around. But we can't change any of this. All we can do is learn something from it, I guess. “

Milo was right. It was time to pick up and move on.

“I think I should check in with Leona and make sure she's doing okay, too. Watching Rose being handled like that upset her deeply.”

*   *   *

She took a step back and surveyed the cake. The purple sugar from Charles's favorite Pixie Sticks added a nice splash of color, as did the M&M's he now loved thanks to Leona.

“It's getting' harder 'n harder to keep sayin' good-bye to him, ain't it, Victoria?”

“Yes, Margaret Louise, it sure is.” Tori slipped her hands under the cake and led the way across the kitchen and over to the back door. “It's like Rose always says, Charles is a breath of fresh air. When he's here in Sweet Briar, everything is just a little lighter and a lot more sparkly.”

“Sparkly? What's sparkly?”

Margaret Louise jumped in front of Tori and shielded the cake from Charles's prying eyes. “Don't you worry your head none 'bout what we're sayin' in here, Charles. Just scamper over to the other side of the deck and don't peek.”

“But I like to peek!”

Channeling her inner Charles, Margaret Louise snapped out her reply in a slightly misshapen triangle. “That's. Too. Bad.”

Charles squealed and turned away. “My work here is done, people.”

“Not even close, peeker.” Tori hipped her way through the door and then stopped on the other side to try to get a handle on her emotions.

Rose sidled up beside her to get a closer look at the cake. “What's that purple stuff?”

“Sugar crystals from one of his Pixie Sticks.”

“Of course it is.” Rose pulled the flaps of her sweater more tightly against her body and grinned up at Tori. “That's what makes you so special, Victoria. You pay attention to everyone's likes and dislikes, and you operate accordingly.”

“You do the same thing, Rose.”

Clearly uncomfortable at the praise, Rose called everyone over to the table and the waiting cake. “As much as we don't want to see Charles go, he does have a plane to catch.”

“Just this one last time I do.”

Every head on the deck turned in Charles's direction with Leona's voice leading the verbal charge. “You're not coming back?”

He took a moment to appreciate the cake and then ran his finger across the purple sugar crystals with the reckless abandon of a six-year-old. “Oh I'm coming back. I'm just not
leaving
again.”

“Quit your sneakin' and start spillin'!”

Rising onto the balls of his feet, Charles let off a series of happy claps. “I know a few of you are probably wondering where I was on Sunday afternoon when Hurricane Miranda exploded her wrath all over my friends. If I'd known what was happening, I'd have been sitting on top of her right next to you, Margaret Louise. But since I didn't know, I was busy signing some papers—lots and lots of papers.”

“Papers?” Tori echoed.

“That's right.” Charles pointed to the cake and then
looked around at each and every person circled around him. “Who wants a piece of cake?”

Leona stepped forward, pulled the knife from his hands, and put it back down on the table. “Finish your story, Charles.”

“Actually, I think I'd rather show you instead.” He flounced across the deck to his favorite backpack and pulled out a sheaf of papers bearing the McCormick's Books & Café logo of his New York employer. “For the past six months or so, my boss has been trying to persuade me to help him open another store location. I was flattered, of course, but I liked where I was better than the location he was considering.”

Rose pilfered a red and a brown M&M from the side of the cake and handed one to Leona. “What's this got to do with you not leaving anymore, young man?”

“Well, when Leona mentioned that Calamity Books was closing up shop for good, I got to thinking. A shop with rare first editions might not be able to make it here in Sweet Briar, but a store like McCormick's might.”

Tori held her hand over her mouth, afraid to breathe, afraid to move. “And?”

“I asked my boss if he'd consider Sweet Briar as a place to put another location.”

Eight bodies leaned forward. Waiting.

“But he said no. He said Sweet Briar was too far.”

Eight sets of shoulders slumped.

“But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. Sweet Briar
is
too far away for another McCormick's Books & Café. But it's an absolutely perfect spot for
Snap. To. It.
Books & Café, don't you think?”

~Taryn L.

For those leftover thread snippets: Buy a glass ornament. While sewing, anytime you have an extra piece or just a snippet of thread, place it in the ornament. When it gets full, you have a wonderfully colorful ornament that you can hang on your Christmas tree. I even like to add a little bit of shiny silver or gold thread at the end for a bit of flair.

~Julie S.

When working with silky fabrics, it's best to use a round-point needle instead of a sharp needle. It keeps the fabric from getting little runs in it.

~Judy G-L.

When doing appliqués, I put HeatnBond Lite on the back of my pieces. It helps with fraying, and you can iron down the piece before you do the final stitch.

~Debra W.

For those last-minute needs, I keep about four to five sewing needles threaded on a spool of white thread and the same on a spool of black thread. I grab the last needle, unwind what I need, cut the thread, and knot the end for next time. I keep them in the junk drawer with an empty bottle to keep needles in. When I use the last one, I rethread a batch and put it away for the next emergency.