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Beatrice looked at her list and then at her suitcase. Even though she’d carefully used her master packing list, she still had the uneasy feeling she was forgetting something.
She was staring at the unassuming bag with her eyes narrowed and mouth twisted when Wyatt, her husband, stuck his head into their bedroom.
He chuckled, eyes crinkling at the sides. “You look ferocious. What’s that suitcase done, now?”
Beatrice smiled back at him. “Oh, nothing, as usual. I just have the feeling I’ve forgotten something. Even though I’m working from my trusty list.”
She waved the list at him, and Wyatt took it gently from her hand. He put on his reading glasses and studied it.
“I think I see the problem,” he said with a frown of his own. “The list is the problem, not you. ‘Black pumps?’ ‘Presentation on USB?’ These are things I wouldn’t necessarily think of when packing for a quilting retreat.”
Beatrice took the list back. “It was my master list for work travel. I did a lot of speaking at other art museums on folk art. I crossed those things off, though.”
Wyatt nodded. “You definitely did. But if I were the one looking at it, I would get confused.”
“Making an updated packing list for traveling is one of those tasks I never seem to get around to. I think I need to have different kinds—maybe one for regular vacation travel and one for something like this . . . a quilt retreat.”
Wyatt said, “You’re not forgetting your quilt, are you?”
Beatrice’s eyes grew wide. “For heaven’s sake. That’s exactly what I’m forgetting. I got so caught up in organizing and packing fabrics and notions that I completely forgot about the quilt itself. I guess I’d have been sitting around, twiddling my thumbs the entire weekend.”
She walked into the living room and came back with her quilt-in-progress.
“What’s the pattern?” asked Wyatt curiously. “Is it something hard or easy?”
“It’s actually something pretty difficult.” She carefully put the quilt into a large tote bag. “At first, I thought I’d do something easy this weekend. I thought about all the time we might spend developing friendships and hanging out with Piper. But then I realized the whole focus is quilting, so I might as well tackle something a little more challenging. If I go slow, that’s fine. At least I’d have gotten started with it. Plus, if I ran into any trouble, there would be a slew of people there to help me out. And it’s not too hard. There’s no paper piecing involved.”
“I’m not sure what paper piecing is, but it sounds like something that’s good to avoid,” said Wyatt, his eyes crinkling again. “Well, I’ll let you double-check your list again. I’m going to switch on the weather.”
“Again?” Beatrice raised her eyebrows. “It seems like you’ve been glued to it lately. Surely, it hasn’t changed much since last night.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll give it a check anyway, though. The mountains can be unpredictable.”
While Wyatt headed into the living room to pull up the weather on the television, Beatrice gave her belongings one last going over. Noo-noo, her corgi, was watching her intently. She was never a fan of seeing luggage pulled out. She seemed to hope that if she stayed between Beatrice and the door, Beatrice wouldn’t forget to bring her along.
Beatrice saw her plaintive eyes and stooped down to give her a rub. “It’ll be okay,” she said in a soothing voice, as the little dog gave her a mournful look in return. “I’m only going for a few days. You’ll be here with Wyatt. Then I’ll be back, safe and sound.”
Noo-noo didn’t look convinced, but lay her sable and white head down on Beatrice’s feet and enjoyed the rubbing.
Wyatt came back in, looking rather grim. “The weather has taken a detour, unfortunately. It doesn’t look good.”
“Really? What are they saying? Storms?”
He shook his head. “Not just storms. Snowstorms. Are you sure the retreat hasn’t been cancelled?”
Beatrice pulled her phone out of her purse and opened her text messages and emails. She shook her head. “No. They’d have texted or emailed if they had. And Meadow would have been sure to call, full of indignation. Besides, the weather forecasters have been wrong about the weather for weeks. I’m starting to feel like they must have stock in the area grocery stores because they’re making everyone run out to buy bread and milk.”
Wyatt still seemed worried. “You don’t think the weekend should be rescheduled? Just in case?”
Beatrice shook her head. “I’m sure the retreat wouldn’t refund us the money at this point. I have to admit that it would have been nicer to go to a lake retreat in the summer instead of the winter, though. Then we wouldn’t be dealing with these sorts of issues at all.”
“Why were the Village Quilters interested in going in the winter?”
Beatrice sighed. “Well, they definitely sold us on it with their pictures of big fireplaces, firepits, and the promise of s’mores. But what really clinched the deal was that it was half-price in the off-season.”
“I can understand that. And it does sound cozy there. You could read by the fire if you’re not quilting.”
Beatrice chuckled. “I almost ended up doing a lot of reading, considering I nearly forgot to bring my quilt. Let’s hope there’s nothing else I’ve forgotten.” She reached over and put her arms around her husband. “Don’t worry about the weather. We’ll be fine.”
“You’ve got your cell phone charger?”
She nodded. “I do. I’ve checked that three times. I’ll give you updates from the quilting front.”
Wyatt looked down at their corgi. “Someone else looks worried about you going.”
Beatrice bent down to pick up Noo-noo, cradling her on the bed. The little dog looked up at her with solemn eyes.
“I’ll be back soon,” said Beatrice. “I’d smuggle you into the retreat if I didn’t think I’d get caught.”
Noo-noo gave her an understanding doggy smile.
Beatrice looked at her watch. “I suppose I’d better head on out, since I’m picking everyone up.”
“Not everyone, surely.”
“No. Not everybody could make it. Edgenora, for one, is staying at home and June Bug is staying put to manage the bakery. But in terms of my car, it will feel like everyone is in it,” said Beatrice with a laugh. “It’s going to be a full car. I’ve got Meadow, Piper, and Miss Sissy.”
Wyatt frowned. “How on earth are you going to fit everyone’s luggage in there?”
“Oh, Posy is borrowing a friend’s van and we’re all putting our bags in there. There was no way to make it work otherwise.”
After eating a very quick snack and giving Wyatt and Noo-noo hugs, Beatrice headed off to Meadow’s house, which was the meeting place for the group. She put her suitcase into Posy’s van.
Beatrice’s daughter, Piper, gave her a hug. “How are you, Mama?”
“More important, how are you? This is your longest time away from Will, isn’t it?”
Piper smiled ruefully. “Don’t remind me. I already boo-hooed after leaving home. It’s going to be a great break, I know. But I’m going to miss him and Ash, too.”
Meadow, who was Will’s other grandmother, overheard Piper. Her eyes immediately filled with tears. “I know! I was thinking just a little while ago how much I was going to miss the baby. It’ll be hard.”
Beatrice said, “It’s only for a few nights. I think it will be good for us.”
Meadow looked exceedingly doubtful about this. Also, she appeared to be reaching for her cell phone, likely to show off the most recent editions of her photo albums of Will.
Beatrice quickly interjected, “We should probably get going, shouldn’t we? Wyatt was talking about the possibility of bad weather.”
Meadow put a finger over her lips. “Don’t say that too loud! I’ve been on a mission to make sure Ramsay doesn’t hear a whisper about possible snow. With his job, he’s seen a lot of awful accidents due to bad weather. He’d be worried sick about us.”
Ramsay was the local police chief and Beatrice had no doubt that he’d probably seen his share of car accidents, weather-related and otherwise.
Piper looked concerned. “You don’t think there’s going to be a problem on the roads, do you?”
Beatrice shook her head. “The forecasters have been wrong so many times lately. I’m sure we’ll be fine. You packed plenty of warm clothes, though, didn’t you?”
Piper nodded. “I figured it might be pretty windy, next to the lake.”
Meadow said, “We’ll just have to cuddle up in front of the firepit! I’m looking forward to having some s’mores.”
The mention of food brought Miss Sissy, the guild’s oldest member, hurrying over. She must have been expecting a pre-trip snack because she not only looked disappointed at the lack of s’mores, but looked furious at having been deceived.
“We’ll have them at the retreat,” said Meadow. “That’s what the brochures promised, anyway.”
Miss Sissy’s expression implied that the organizers would have a lot to answer for if the s’mores didn’t materialize soon after arrival.
Posy climbed back into the van and gave a cheerful toot of her horn. “Ready for a quilting adventure?” she called out through her open window.
“Ready!” said Meadow. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
So they set out with Posy’s van leading and Beatrice right behind.