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Jade had been at Nothin’ But Knit for nearly half an hour by the time Terri came in. Terri glanced at the clock on the wall behind the counter and asked if she was late.
“No, I got here early.” She smiled. “Caleb is the most wonderful guy I’ve ever met.” She told Terri about their date and the fact that he stayed with her until Fiona had gone and checked on Millie.
“Have you been up to check on Millie this morning?”
“No. I wanted to let her sleep in. I thought I’d check on her at lunchtime. Mom said she’d make her an appointment with her doctor this morning. I’m wondering if I should call her and ask if she’s done it yet.”
“And risk the wrath of Her Highness?” Terri held up her hands. “Better you than me.”
Greta flounced into Nothin’ But Knit with a cheerful, “Hidey-ho, fam!”
Mocha raced to his bed beneath the counter.
“That’s the most jumpy cat I’ve ever seen,” said Greta.
“Good morning, Greta. Have you seen Grandma this morning?”
“Yes, I have, and that woman is tee-totally fit to be tied over you siccing Fiona on her last night.”
Jade winced. “I know it was a drastic thing to do, but I was really worried about her.”
“I know, hon. I’m just warning you that she’s as ornery as a one-toothed junkyard dog trying to gobble down a T-bone.” She raised her brows and nodded. “But delivering a warning is not the only reason I’m here. I’m hoping you gals will help with the set-up for the celebration this evening. Can I count on you?”
Both Jade and Terri said they’d be happy to help.
“Thanks. I’m off to see who else I can wrangle into a job.”
As soon as Greta was out of earshot, Terri frowned at Jade and asked, “How ornery would a junkyard dog be if he had a steak?”
“Well, he has a steak, but he doesn’t have the teeth to adequately eat it…so maybe he’s aggravated about that?”
“But he still has a steak. Nobody is trying to take it away from him. So, what do you think this means about Millie’s frame of mind this morning?”
“I have no idea what it means about Grandma’s state of mind, but I can see that the two of us are giving Greta’s whacked-out analogy way too much consideration.”
Kelsey sauntered into the shop just before noon. She wore a pink-and-navy crop top and matching yoga pants that came to just below her knees. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. The young woman was stunning to the point that it made some other women—in this case, Jade—not want to like her, especially when Kelsey flirted with the man those other women were interested in.
Terri, on the other hand, greeted Kelsey as if she were her best friend. “Hi! Welcome to Nothin’ But Knit. What brings you by?”
“This is cool.” Kelsey gazed around the shop. She strode over to feel some of the yarn in the bins and then spun around to face Terri. “I want you to teach me how to knit. The app said you guys are holding a beginners’ class soon?”
“That’s right. We are, and we’d love to have you join us,” Terri said.
“Great. Is it hard to do?” Kelsey looked at Jade when she was asking, as if afraid Terri would give her the answer she wanted.
She had good instincts.
“Not once you get the hang of it,” Jade said. “Why do you want to learn? Is there something specific you’d like to make?”
“I want to make a scarf for Justin.” Kelsey’s perfectly contoured cheeks pinkened. “I know it’s silly, but he’s really impressed by all the stuff Greta can do—bake, cook, sew, knit. I think his mom is like a modern-day Martha Stewart or something, so…” She let the thought hang in the air.
“So, you want to show him you’re more than a pretty face,” Terri said.
“Exactly!” Kelsey grinned at Terri. “I mean, you know.”
That was another of Kelsey’s sentences she left unfinished because she certainly couldn’t honestly deny that she had a pretty face.
“When I saw you and Caleb in the hall the other day, I’d been to see Greta,” Kelsey told Jade. “I took her some hibiscus tea, even though she’d told me she didn’t need any, because I wanted an excuse to talk with her. Anyway, she’s teaching Justin how to cook. But she says she can teach me how to make some dishes she isn’t teaching him.”
“I wish you luck getting your man,” Jade said, “but I have to ask if he’s worth everything you’re doing.”
“Sure, he is.” Kelsey smiled. “And even if I don’t get the guy, I’m still improving myself. How can that be a bad thing?”
“It can’t.” Terri handed Kelsey a clipboard holding the form for the beginners’ knitting class. “Fill this out, and we’ll be in touch a couple of days before the class starts.”
“Great! Oh, and Jade?”
Jade turned to Kelsey.
“Don’t worry about Adalyn. She posted on social media that her uncle left her some money and that she might stay in South Carolina and sublet her apartment.”
Jade knew that news shouldn’t affect her in the least. Who cared what Adalyn did? If Jade couldn’t land Caleb without worrying that his ex-girlfriend might come between them, then she and Caleb weren’t meant to be. Still, she couldn’t help but smile.
They closed up Nothin’ But Knit that evening, left Mocha lounging on the bench near the window, and wandered to the common area where Sandra and the volunteers were assembling. Neither of them was terribly happy to be among the crowd. Sure, they were eager to help Greta and wanted to see the celebration succeed, but there were so many strangers there.
Gazing around hoping to see a familiar face besides Sandra’s, Jade was surprised when someone bumped up against her. She turned and smiled in relief when she saw that it was Caleb.
She gave him a one-armed hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad you’re here. I went to see Millie on my lunch break. I came up with an excellent excuse.” He took his phone from his pocket and pulled up a photo of Perry. “I called the sanctuary and had Keith send me this.”
“You’re a genius. I didn’t have an excuse when I went up at lunchtime, other than to say I was checking on her. That didn’t go over well. Mom did make Grandma an appointment with her doctor, but they couldn’t work her in until Tuesday.”
Greta worked her way through the crowd. “Hidey-ho, kids. I got a call from your grandmother a few minutes ago, Jade. She said she’s tuckered out and is going to have to miss out on the fun tonight.”
“Do you think I should go up and see about her?” Jade asked.
“Heck, no. I got the emphatic impression that Millie wants to be left alone tonight.”
For the next few hours, everyone worked to get tables set up, banners hung, signs printed out and placed, and flyers made with events and times. Every once in a while, Jade would see Caleb, and he’d give her a wink and a smile.
Once all the work had been completed, the group of volunteers gathered in the café.
Greta hurried over to Jade and Terri. “Look! No, not like that. Don’t be so obvious about it. Mitch Reedy is over there talking with Sandra.” She took out her makeup bag and thrust her purse toward Terri. “Hold this a second, would you?” She carefully reapplied her mauve lipstick. “How’s that?”
“You look terrific,” Terri said.
“Thanks.” She grabbed her purse with one hand and Terri’s arm with the other. “Let’s get over there.”
Jade was watching Terri and Greta infiltrate the interview when Caleb came up and slid an arm around her waist.
“Hi,” she said with a smile.
“Hi. Let’s grab a booth before it gets too crowded in here.”
She nodded toward the TV crew. “Hopefully, we’ll get one where we can see the show.”
“Nothing like dinner theater.”
Both Jade and Caleb were surprised that when the camera was turned on Greta, she handled the interview like a pro. She invited everyone out for a wonderful day of fun for the entire family and even flirted a little bit with Mitch Reedy. Terri, on the other hand, stammered and flushed and looked terrified.
“Oh, no,” Jade whispered. “Terri bombed.”
“That’s all right,” Caleb said. “They can fix that in the editing room.”
“I doubt they can fix that.”
Upon finishing her interview, Terri slid into the booth across from Jade and put her head in her hands. “Mitch Reedy must think I’m an idiot.”
“Scooch over,” Greta said.
Terri made room for Greta, and the older woman sat beside her.
“Do you feel like Mitch Reedy thinks I’m an idiot?” Terri asked.
“He probably does,” Greta said.
Jade’s jaw dropped.
“But I’m gonna work with you so that after tomorrow he won’t,” Greta finished. “He’ll be impressed with you.”
Terri lifted her head. “He’s never going to give me another chance to be on TV after I botched that.”
“Well, there is that.” Greta tilted her head. “Maybe he will. I’ll see if I can get you in. But, even if you don’t get on the news, I thought you were trying to impress the man, not the public.”
When Terri was silent, Jade asked, “Greta, how did you get to be so comfortable in front of a television camera?”
“In my younger days, I did commercials for local businesses, mainly for car dealerships. For one place, the slogan was, ‘We love to drive, and it shows.’”
A golden oldie—a man whose name Jade couldn’t recall because she’d only met him when they’d started working that evening—turned around and said to Greta, “Hey, I thought that slogan belonged to Delta. You know, ‘We love to fly, and it shows.’”
“Yeah, it did. The dealership eventually got in trouble over that, and I had to quit saying it. I was pretty much out of the commercial business after that.”