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Despite her eagerness to work off the Sunday lunch, by the next morning Beatrice felt less like exercising. The sun was just a faint orb in the sky, obscured by dark clouds that hinted at rain or drizzle at the very least. She wanted nothing more than to stay in her well-worn robe and slippers and read her book while curled up with Noo-noo on the sofa. Instead, she dragged herself into her exercise clothes and hurried out to her car to meet Piper.
Summer’s house and studio were in a heavily wooded area not too far away. Beatrice pulled into the gravel parking lot, avoiding a large tree that must have fallen during the storm the night before. She glanced around her. Piper hadn’t come yet and Beatrice had no desire to go in and chat with Summer, who she didn’t know, before Piper arrived. Instead, she leaned back in her driver’s seat and closed her eyes briefly. She realized she should have had a bit more coffee before attempting to exercise.
At some point, she must have fallen asleep because she was startled by a light tapping on her window. Piper looked through the glass at her sympathetically. Beatrice quickly gathered her keys, phone, and small purse and opened the car door. “Sorry. I must have drifted off.” She stifled a yawn.
“Sorry I’m a little late. Everything seemed to be conspiring against me this morning,” said Piper. “Will had gotten food all over himself and I was trying to clean him up while Ash got ready for work so he could just leave when I got home.”
“Doesn’t Will normally like baths?” asked Beatrice.
Piper made a face. “Not this morning, unfortunately. He started crying and then couldn’t seem to stop crying. He was really wailing when I left. I felt sorry for Ash.”
“But you deserve some time to yourself, too,” said Beatrice. “Exercise will give you more energy for handling Will the rest of the day.”
“That’s what Ash said, too. Anyway, I’m glad we planned on meeting up this morning because I already feel exhausted. I probably wouldn’t have even made it here if we hadn’t decided to come together.” She glanced across at her mother. “Hey, I like your exercise clothes! Are those new?”
Beatrice grinned at her. “New to me. I actually saw them hanging in the window of the consignment shop. They still had their tags on them.”
“You keep finding these amazing things at the consignment shop. Every time I go in there, it seems like they don’t have anything that cute.”
Beatrice said, “The trick is to go in there frequently. Since it’s right near the Patchwork Cottage, I just stick my head in for a few minutes before I shop for fabric. The problem is, you don’t have a lot of extra time. How about if I keep an eye out for goodies for you . . . and for Will.”
“Since you’re the one with the good luck there, that would be awesome! Especially for Will. He’s been growing like a weed.”
Beatrice and Piper followed a sign from the parking lot toward the studio.
“No one else is here yet?” asked Beatrice, frowning.
“I guess not. That tells me Summer hasn’t done a good job getting the word out. Maybe she needs to do some advertising or something.”
“Or it tells us that this is perhaps a little early for an exercise class,” murmured Beatrice.
Piper grinned at her. “Did you not get much sleep last night?”
“It’s weird, but it was like all sounds and lights were extra-amplified. I could hear Noo-noo snoring, and she wasn’t even in the same room with us. Then I suppose she got restless later on and I kept hearing her little toenails tapping on the hardwood floor. And of course we had a huge storm last night and I couldn’t sleep during it. I guess sleep just wasn’t on the agenda for me last night. Did you get any?”
“Slept like a dream last night, actually. Storm or no storm.”
Beatrice made a face. “It says something about my sleeping when my daughter, who has a baby, is sleeping better than I am.”
“Well, after we exercise this morning, I bet you’ll sleep great tonight.”
They walked up to the studio behind the large house. The studio was bigger than Beatrice thought it would be—a one-story building that was brightly lit from the inside. There were flower boxes in the windows and landscaping around it. Beatrice was already impressed, and they hadn’t even made it inside yet.
“I guess we just walk right in,” said Piper, sounding a little hesitant. It did feel almost as if they were walking into someone’s house.
Piper opened the door, and they walked in. She called out, “Summer? It’s Piper. I’ve brought my mom with me as a guest.”
There was no response. They were standing in a small coatroom with lots of hooks for hanging sweaters, raincoats, or umbrellas.
“Maybe she has earbuds in and is warming up,” suggested Beatrice.
Piper said, “Or maybe she’s still doing some last-minute tweaks to the studio.” She called Summer’s name again, but they heard nothing.
Beatrice and Piper headed for the large room on the other side of the coatroom. It was clearly the main studio, with equipment lining the walls and mirrors everywhere. And, most surprisingly, the body of a blonde woman in the center of the floor.