Annie was thankful that Wayne had left her well provided for when he passed away. Of course, no amount of security could fill the empty space he had left behind, but at least she didn’t have to worry about how she was going to make it financially without him. It was nice to have the freedom to do what she wanted most of the time.
She smiled as she walked back to her car. What she wanted now was to dive into these glorious yarns and get started on her new sweater. It was Friday. Tuesday would be here soon enough, and then she could find out more. Surely, between them all, the members of the Hook and Needle Club could help her figure out how to get back in touch with Susan.
3
“What do you think?”
Annie held up the beginnings of her Maine sweater for everyone to see. She had worked on it all weekend and had made good progress.
“That’s really nice.” Gwen stilled the clicking of her knitting needles to give Annie’s creation her full attention. “Looks like it’ll be warm too.”
Alice fingered the worsted yarn and grinned at Annie. “That’ll be warm enough for a Maine winter.”
“Oh, good!” Peggy dropped the quilt block she was appliquéing and clasped her plump hands together. “Annie’s decided to stay.”
“Hold on! Hold on!” Annie laughed and shook her head. “You’re all going to hurt yourselves jumping to conclusions like that.”
Mary Beth nodded wisely. “You’re making a sweater, not a commitment, right, Annie?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, we’d like you to stay.” Kate shyly lowered her head and went back to work on the delicate crocheted vest she had almost finished. “It’s been so nice having you here.”
Annie beamed at the younger woman and went back to work on an azure stripe in her sweater. “I’ve loved being here. I guess getting Grey Gables fixed up and decluttered has been more of a job than I expected, but getting to know everybody here has been a nice fringe benefit. It kind of reminds me of when I used to visit here in the summers when I was young.”
With a hint of a smile, Alice made a French knot in the intricate floral bellpull she was cross-stitching. “When you and Susan Morris were such good friends.”
“I’m sorry, Annie,” Mary Beth said. “We never finished our chat about her.”
“Susan Morris?” Gwen tilted her blond head to one side, thinking. “I remember her. Didn’t she lose her parents in a car accident?”
“Yeah, she did.” Mary Beth sat in one of the comfy chairs in the circle of crafters and started sorting out a large box of embroidery floss for her store display. “She’d just come back from college and was living at home again when her mother and father were killed. It must have been so terrible for the poor girl.”
“I had no idea. Poor Susan.” Annie had met Susan’s parents only a couple of times, but she knew how close to them Susan had been. What had her life been like after their loss? “You don’t know what she did next, do you?”
“I thought she went off and married some rich guy.” Gwen pulled more yarn from the ball in her knitting bag. “Can’t remember his name now; it’s been so long.”
“That’s right.” Mary Beth bit her lip. “What was his name? He was some bigwig in shoes or something like that. I could pick him out if I saw the name again. Anyway, she sold the family home, that house way out on the far end of Elm Street, and left to get married. Never came back to Stony Point as far as I’ve ever heard.”
“I knew her parents.” As usual, Stella had been nearly silent for most of the meeting, but now she shook her regal gray head, not looking up from her knitting. “That house had been in the Morris family for almost 200 years, but young people, well, they don’t understand what family means anymore.”
That was just like Stella, and in spite of herself Annie smiled a little.
“I don’t know. From what I remember, Susan loved that old house. She always said she never wanted to leave it. Ever. I guess Prince Charming, whoever he was, had other ideas about living in little Stony Point.”
“I wonder if that’s the house where the other handyman in town lives. He’s way out on Elm, I know that much.” Peggy stopped to cut out another piece of fabric to add to her appliqué flower. “Sometimes, when somebody needs a handyman and Wally already has a job, he has them call this guy. His name is Tom something. Maxwell, I think. Of course, until now, there hasn’t been enough work to keep Wally busy.”
“Until now?” Gwen asked.