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It was a beautiful, crisp mountain day and hard to believe there was any bad weather in the forecast. The sun was beaming from a bright blue sky.
They were hardly more than a few minutes into the trip when Meadow produced a large wicker basket. “Is everyone ready for a road trip snack?”
Beatrice glanced at her in disbelief. “We’ve barely left your driveway!”
“Which makes it the perfect time to eat. That way, we’ll be hungry by the time we arrive in case they’ve made something delicious as an arrival snack.”
Piper said, “I thought the trip to the lake was only about an hour and a half or so.”
“Y’all are no fun at all!” said Meadow in mock anger. “And I’ve been baking like crazy for this road trip.”
Miss Sissy reached out her arthritic hands for the basket, fully intending on consuming its contents by herself.
Beatrice quickly interjected, “I didn’t say I didn’t want any.” Meadow was an amazing cook.
“Me either,” Piper quickly added. “Save some for me.”
Meadow looked appeased. “Good. There are three different kinds of cookies in there, brownies, and some party mix.”
As usual, the food was all delicious. But Meadow didn’t want to stop there. “I thought we might sing. That’s always fun during a road trip.”
Beatrice was dubious about that. “I can speak for Piper and me and say neither of us can sing.”
“Oh, I find that hard to believe.”
Beatrice glanced in the rearview mirror at Piper in the backseat. “Let’s give her a sample of ‘She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain.’”
After fifteen seconds of a rousing rendition of the folk song, Meadow had winced and Miss Sissy hissed from the backseat.
Beatrice and Piper chuckled. “I told you it was bad,” said Beatrice.
“There are different levels of bad,” said Meadow. “That was in the awful range.” Then she brightened. “Something else Ramsay and I liked to do with Ash when we traveled was road games.”
Piper said, “Too funny! We played those, too. Which ones did Ash like best?”
“All of them! But the one that kept him the most occupied was the license plate game. He would try to get as many states as he could on long trips. On our shorter trips, he’d shoot for the whole alphabet from the first letters of different license plates he saw. But here, considering there’s not much traffic, we could try to get the alphabet from any signs we see.”
Beatrice was exempted from the game since she was driving, and everyone wanted her to keep her eyes on the curvy mountain road. But the rest of them played the license plate game—a game that got progressively harder as they moved from well-traveled roads to more rural ones. Miss Sissy and her sharp eyes ended up winning her the game, and a round of applause.
“Does this conference center only do quilting retreats?” asked Meadow. “It seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere.”
Piper said, “From what I saw online, they have conferences there all year round. It looked very popular; their online calendar was booked up, even in the winter.”
Meadow said, “That’s another reason we needed to go. We couldn’t have rescheduled to a different weekend if the place was always booked. Plus, I’m sure we wouldn’t have been able to get our deposit back. Besides, the sky is blue as blue can be.”
Beatrice frowned. “Is it? It looks like it’s getting cloudier to the east.”
“White, puffy clouds. Nothing too ominous,” deemed Meadow with a sniff.
But, by the time they’d reached the retreat, heavier clouds had rolled in. Meadow, naturally, was determined to put an optimistic spin on things. “It’ll keep us from getting sunburned.”
Beatrice felt it was unlikely that the group would get sunburned in January, but she wisely kept her thoughts to herself.
She parked the car, following the directions of one of the staff. Posy parked on the other side of her, and everyone headed to the van to grab their things.
A staff member got them checked in and assigned them cabins.
Meadow said, “This is a huge place! Who else is here?”
The staff member said, “We have your guild and one other quilting guild for the weekend. The entire retreat grounds won’t be open, but you’ll have a well-stocked conference room.”
Meadow frowned. “Just one other guild here? I was thinking there might be more.”
“There were supposed to be three others, but they decided to cancel because of the weather forecast,” the young woman said.
Miss Sissy growled at the mention of the forecast, startling the staff member a bit.
Piper said quickly, “Does it look like there will be snow?”
The young woman gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. We’re right on the lake, after all. The lake ordinarily keeps us from getting any wintry weather here.”
The quilters took their bags to their assigned cabins and spent a few minutes unpacking. Beatrice worried the cabins might be a little rustic, but was pleased to see that the one she and Piper shared was very well-appointed. There was a warm rug on the floor, slippers and robes for guests, two separate bedrooms, and even a small sitting area between them with a kitchenette.
Piper said, “This is a lot nicer than I thought it would be. I was worried it would be more like camping.”
“I was a little concerned about that, too. But I guess the conference center hosts all sorts of different groups, so they’d want to make sure everyone is comfortable. Want to go explore?”
Piper said, “I’d definitely like to take a look at where we’ll be quilting. It sounds like we don’t have the whole run of the place, though.”
Beatrice flipped through the welcome packet the staff had given her when she arrived. “There’s a map here. They’ve crossed off the buildings and areas that are closed off.”
With that, they headed over to the conference room set up for quilting. Inside, there were long tables, sewing machines, ironing boards with irons, a collection of notions, and even quilts on the walls.
Piper studied the quilts. “Were these from former retreats?”
“Maybe the conference center purchased them. They definitely help set the mood.”
There was a wall of windows from floor to ceiling on one side that looked out on the lake and the surrounding mountains. Beatrice was sure it was probably a great view in the summer when it would overlook children swimming, sailboats, and picnics. But in the dead of winter, it lent a rather bleak feel to the space.
Piper shivered, seeming to feel it, too. “I’m getting chilly just looking out. Or is it cold in this room?”
“I think they might have to turn up the heat. There’s definitely a draft in here when the wind blows.”
And the wind was blowing constantly.
Piper glanced up at the skylights cut out of the ceiling. “Look how fast the clouds are moving.”
Sure enough, the wind was pushing huge puffy clouds across the sky.
Beatrice made a face. “I wonder if that’s the snowstorm moving in.”
“Snow, I can handle. If it’s ice, though . . . all bets are off.”
For the first time, Beatrice felt a frisson of unease. Ice was a frequent problem in the mountains and was much more treacherous than snow. Driving in snow wasn’t a problem. Driving in ice was something else completely. Plus, ice often meant that the electricity could go off.
Her uneasiness must have been reflected on her face because Piper swiftly said, “Let’s not worry about something that probably won’t even happen. Maybe the wind will blow the storm out of here and further down the road. I know—let’s set out our quilting stuff before anyone else does. Then we can sit together.”
Beatrice smiled at her. “Sounds like a great idea.”
And it did. One of the main reasons she wanted to come on this retreat was so she and Piper could spend more time together. The quilting was decidedly secondary. Although she got to see Piper several times a week, this would be her first one-on-one time with her in a long while. She loved her grandson, but really appreciated the opportunity for her and Piper to visit with each other while Will stayed with Ash.
As they walked back to their cabin to get their quilting bags, Piper asked, “Who’s rooming with whom?”
Beatrice considered this. “Well, we know Savannah and Georgia will be together.” They were sisters, and it made the most sense. “I’m guessing Meadow and Posy are sharing another cabin, unless one of them is sharing a cabin with Miss Sissy.”
Piper snorted. “I doubt anyone wants to share with Miss Sissy. We’ve all heard her snoring in the Patchwork Cottage over the years. You’d have to wear earplugs to get any sleep, even from another room, and I’m not even sure that would work.”
They gathered their supplies and started setting everything up in the conference room, chatting as they did.
“Smart girls!” said a voice behind them.
They turned to see Meadow standing there. “Look at you two,” she said. “Getting all organized and set up early. My stuff is a total mess. I didn’t pack until late, so I ended up just randomly stuffing things into my suitcase and my tote bag.”
Piper said, “You’ve got time to unpack now.”
Meadow gave her a rueful look. “That’s what Posy is doing. It would be the smart thing for me to do because I feel really disorganized. But after spending so much time in the car, I had the itch to walk around and explore.”
“Did you grab your map?” asked Beatrice, indicating the slip of paper from the welcome pack.
Meadow said, “We have a map?”
“In the welcome pack.”
Meadow shook her head. “I hadn’t gotten that far. I thought I’d just head outside and wander around. It’s a good size place, but it seems like it’s pretty self-contained, so I shouldn’t get lost. And I can stretch my legs. I feel sort of weird walking without Boris and Cammie, though. They’re my walking buddies.”
Boris was Meadow’s huge dog and Cammie was her rescued little one who now seemed to rule the roost.
Piper asked, “You walk both of them at the same time? How does that work? I know Boris likes to yank you down the road. And Cammie has such short legs, I’d think she wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
“If I were on roller skates, Boris would pull me all over town! Honestly, it would probably be a better way for me to get places. But you wouldn’t believe how good he is when I’m walking Cammie. She keeps him in his place. He always behaves himself when they’re together. Unless there’s a squirrel. If he sees a squirrel, then all bets are off. Then Cammie snarls at him for dashing ahead and pulling me and her along.”
“Is he chastened when she snarls at him?” asked Beatrice.
“Boy, is he! He starts walking with his head down and his tail between his legs.” Meadow chuckled at the thought. “I’m going to miss that big lug here.”
Beatrice and Piper smiled. “You make it sound like we’re gone for a month. We’re only here for the weekend.”
Meadow brightened. “That’s true. And I’m looking forward to meeting the other quilt guild members. Have you seen anybody yet?”
Beatrice shook her head. “Piper and I were too busy getting unpacked. And no one else has come over to the conference room yet.”
Meadow said, “At first, I was disappointed that the weather scared off the other guilds. I’d figured we were going to have maybe fifty quilters or more here, but it looks like it’s probably going to be fewer than twenty. Then I decided we should make the best of the situation and get close with the one other guild that’s here. I was thinking if we all hit it off, they could be our sister guild! We could even have them as pen pals or have joint quilt shows with them.”
Beatrice thought this type of friendship was a lot to ask for during a brief weekend when they were planning to spend a lot of time working on their projects.
Meadow, however, was still unpacking this idea. “Maybe I shouldn’t sit next to the two of you. Maybe I should make a point to sit in the middle of women from the other guild.”
Piper said, “That’s a great idea, Meadow! You can be the ambassador from our group.”
Meadow seemed to like the sound of that. She puffed up at the idea of this role. “That’s what I’ll do, then. I’ll wait until a few of them have arrived in the conference room and then I’ll plop my stuff down right in the center.” She walked back toward the door. “In the meantime, I’m going to explore.”
“Do you want to take my map?” Beatrice waved it at her.
Meadow shook her head and said with a grin, “Nope. I’ll just let serendipity work its magic. Toodle-oo!”
Piper chuckled. “Why do I have the feeling she’s going to get lost?”
“It’s a foregone conclusion,” said Beatrice. “Her sense of direction isn’t great to start with, especially in an unfamiliar place.”
Piper said, “Was there anything else in that welcome packet that we should pay attention to?”
“There was some sort of agenda in there, I think.”
Piper said, “I’ll pull it out.”
She flipped through a few papers in the manila envelope until she found the schedule. “It looks like we’ve got an orientation in a few minutes.”
Beatrice raised an eyebrow. “An orientation? For a quilt retreat?”
Piper studied the paper. “I think it’s more about the amenities here. What time meals are served, the structure of the day, and things like that.”
“Got it. I guess we can fill Meadow in on the details.”
Piper grinned. “Maybe one of the staff members will herd her over there.”
But there was no sign of Meadow when they got settled over in a small auditorium where the orientation was being held. The rest of the Village Quilters were there, though, and Beatrice and Piper sat next to them.
“Have you seen Meadow?” asked Posy, her sweet features creased with concern.
Beatrice nodded. “She said she was going to explore the retreat grounds.”
“With a map?” asked Posy in a hopeful tone.
Piper said, “She decided not to take one. Maybe she’ll realize no one is walking around outside and will join us soon.”
Georgia, who was sitting next to Posy, leaned over. “Looks like the other guild here is called ‘The Sew and Sews.’ Isn’t that cute?”
Beatrice nodded. “Very clever. It looks like there’s six of them here, unless some of their group is missing.”
Georgia said, “Part of me is a little disappointed that there aren’t more quilters here. I guess the weather forecast really scared people off.”
“Luckily, it’s an absolutely beautiful day,” said Posy, lifting up her chin and looking contentedly through the skylight above. “The sky is a gorgeous blue.” Then she made the tiniest of frowns. “Wow, the clouds sure are moving quickly. I guess the wind is clearing out the sky.”
Beatrice had thought that perhaps the wind was blowing the clouds in, but she didn’t want to say anything.
A woman standing at the front of the room cleared her throat and said, “May I have your attention, please? We’ll go ahead and start.”