Chapter 6

 

I checked my watch. Crystal wasn’t late—yet. But then her habit was to cut it pretty close to the start time. I pulled out one of the chairs and took out the pink triangle hanging on the small circular needles. It really was the perfect project to carry around. I did the first two knit stitches and then the yarn over, which would increase the number of stitches in the row by one. I still had a long way to go before I’d begin decreasing the number of stitches in each row. In the end I’d have a lovely square with a pattern of open spaces along the sides. I’d already completed a number of these washcloths and every time I used one it made me feel good to know that I’d made it myself. I was getting up my nerve to make one for my mother. I’d find some fancy soap to include with it and mail it off to Chicago.

I sighed wondering if she’d be impressed. My mother was a cardiologist who literally fixed broken hearts. Making a washcloth didn’t really put me in the same league. She was having a hard time facing that the apple had fallen so far from the tree. As much as I argued with her, I kind of understood.

I heard the sound of someone coming in and glanced at the doorway just as a man walked in. I recognized the short dark hair and sharp features of the man I’d encountered in the hall. I supposed he technically was a man since he appeared to be in his mid-twenties, but something about his look made “guy” seem like a better description.

“You’re next door,” I said, gesturing toward the next-door room. He ignored what I said and came further into the room. He gave me a cursory glance before going back to checking out the room.

“The bag lady,” he said, and I winced at the title.

“I’d rather be known by my name. Casey Feldstein,” I said. I expected him to introduce himself, but he seemed most interested in his surroundings.

“This is much nicer than ours,” he said. “The fireplace, the drinks.” He walked over to the counter with the coffee and tea service. Without asking for permission, he opened the tin. “Cookies with chocolate, hmm, looks good.”

“I always bake some treats for my group.” I did a little side pitch on the other baking I did, mentioning the desserts I made for the Blue Door and the muffins for all the coffee spots in town. I was wasting my breath because he seemed to have no interest in what I was saying.

“Can I take one?” he said. By now I’d dealt with all kinds of people so I wasn’t totally surprised by his brashness. I’d made extra so I told him to help himself. Without hesitation, he picked up one of the small fluted paper cups holding one of the cookies and popped the treat into his mouth.

I watched his eyebrows go up in surprise. “This is really good. We should have something like this.”

“You’ll have to talk to Mr. St. John,” I said. “I understand he put together your retreat.” I gestured around the room. “I arranged all this for my group,” I said, still holding the knitting needles. I wasn’t accomplished enough to be able to stop knitting when I was in the middle of a row and quickly continued on with the stitches.

“Oh,” he said as his brow furrowed. He stepped closer and watched as I finished the row. When I set it down on the table, he picked it up and looked it over. “Is there a theme to your retreat?” I thought the guys from Silicon Valley were supposed to be shy and nerdy. He seemed to be neither. He’d come in and made himself at home. I wasn’t sure if it was confidence or a sense of entitlement.

“Ours is all about yarn craft and it’s a birthday celebration. I’m hosting a group of knitters who requested learning how to crochet. They’ll also be going whale watching and wine tasting.” I pointed to my work in his hand. “That’s knitting and this is crochet.” I grabbed one of the crochet hooks and a ball of cotton yarn. Crystal had taught me the basics of crochet and I made some chain stitches and a short row of single crochet. I opened the bin that had the supplies for my group and took out a finished sample of the shawl the group would be making. “By the end of the weekend they’ll either be finished making one of these or close to it.” He kept looking around and seemed unsettled.

“I heard your retreat is about mindfulness,” I said. He was making me uncomfortable and I tried to fill the dead air with conversation. “Some people consider knitting and crocheting to be mindfulness activities. You’re focusing on the stitches—which puts you in the moment,” I said.

At that he looked at the washcloth in progress again. “Can I try?” he asked.

“I guess so,” I said and rummaged around in Crystal’s bin and found a pair of knitting needles and grabbed the ball of cotton yarn. I wasn’t a super knitter, but certainly good enough that I could show him how so he could do a few rows.

“To expedite things, I’ll do the cast on.” I was already laying a base row on the needle as I spoke and then I handed it to him. From there I gave him step-by-step instructions like “poke the empty needle into the first stitch.” I moved the yarn around the needle for the first stitch to demonstrate and helped him manipulate them so that the stitch moved onto the empty needle.

I was going to help with the next stitch but he wanted to do it on his own. He needed a little coaching to complete it and then seemed proud of himself as he moved it onto the other needle. He stared down at the two stitches. “I get it. It’s all about loops. That was definitely a mindful experience. I was centered and focused.”

I let him go through one row, but then enough was enough and now I was ready for him to leave. He didn’t seem to be making a move, but thankfully I heard the sound of people coming up the path and going into the next room. I pointed it out to him. “It sounds like your workshop is about to begin.” He glanced toward the door and apparently got the message because he went toward the doorway without so much as a thank-you.

Crystal breezed in just then, passing him. With all her colorful clothes, it was like she brought in the sunshine on the cloud-filled day. He looked at her, then did a slight double take. She had that effect on people. She had on a bright orange top covered with a purple jacket. She’d wrapped a fuchsia-colored lacy scarf around her neck. I saw his gaze stop on her ears and he seemed perplexed.

“They’re not supposed to match,” I said, figuring his thought.

“Crystal, this is our neighbor from the retreat next door,” I said. I looked at him with a shrug, realizing I didn’t know his name.

“Elex Keaton, CEO of Reborn,” he said before going out.

“Okay,” Crystal said with a chuckle at the way he’d added his title to his name. “He seems a little full of himself. What is he, maybe twenty-five? She made her way to the table and took off the purple jacket and loosened the scarf.

“They’re having a mindfulness retreat,” I explained and Crystal perked up.

“And I bet they’re from Silicon Valley,” she said and I nodded.

“Kevin planned their retreat,” I explained. Crystal winced.

“Oh, good luck on that then,” she said. She pulled out a ball of pale pink yarn and some knitting needles with some work hanging off of them. It was too small to tell what she was making. She read my thoughts and picked it up to give me a better view. “It’s going to be a sweater for my daughter.” She made a face. “Can you believe it that she’s into pastels?” Her tone made it sound like her daughter was guilty of something terrible, not just liking light shades of color.

I showed her my pink washcloth in progress, and noting that for once she was actually early said I was going to join her in knitting while I gave her a heads-up on my group.

There was a commotion at the doorway and when I looked up Elex had returned with an entourage that included the guy with the flaxen hair I’d noticed earlier and Sky. Elex was in the lead and the other two seemed to be trying to keep up with him.

“Look at what they have. A fireplace, drinks and snacks. Real activities. And what do we have? A dismal empty room and—” Elex waved a sheet of blue paper and rolled his eyes as he read from it. “A mindful walk, air tasting, finding your mantra.” He moved right up to where Crystal and I were sitting with the other two close behind him. “I want what they have for us,” he said.

Sky looked panicked. “All the arrangements have been made. I’m sure when you’ve completed the first workshop—” The mop-headed guy glanced at the blue sheet in his hand. “Discovering What Mindfulness Means—you’ll feel differently. We do have a snack as part of the workshop. You’ll each be getting three raisins. The point is to savor the taste and texture.” He fumbled with the sheet and was about to say more when Elex cut him off.

“Three raisins,” he said with a snort. “I’ll have to talk to the manager.”

“No, don’t do that,” Sky said, sounding a little panicky. I knew why since I’d heard Kevin St. John’s threat about not wanting to hear any complaints. “We can’t change anything now.” He looked at the blue paper. “There’s a Sound Bath Saturday night for your group and all the other guests. You’ll see, it’ll be a life-changing experience.”

Elex seemed undaunted and looked at me. “What about you? Can you take care of what I want?” Before it could even register what he’d said, the flaxen-haired man moved in next to Elex.

“We should talk first,” he said in a low tone. “You need to understand things have changed.”

Elex gave him an exasperated look. “I’d expect you to understand even more than me.” Elex turned to Crystal and me. “Tim’s used to fancy vacations at posh resorts. My vacations are picking peaches on my family’s farm in Kern.”

“I can make do,” Tim said.

Elex seemed to shrug off Tim’s comment and spoke directly to me. “Well, can you do it? Arrange for drinks and snacks, get us some of those bags I saw you giving out?” He stopped and looked at the table where his knitting attempt still sat. “Can you arrange some mindful yarn thing where we actually have something to show for our time?”

Crystal and I looked at each other, trying to absorb what he was asking. Surely we could do it without much trouble. And making some extra profit on the weekend was definitely appealing. “There’d be a charge for our services on top of any actual expenses,” I said.

“No problem.” Elex turned to the light-haired man. “Tim, arrange it.”

Letting out a sigh of capitulation, Tim nodded at us. “If you could set up a tab, we’ll settle up at the end of the weekend.”

“I can’t do anything about your meeting room,” I said. “But I can get the drinks and snacks and leave goodie bags in your rooms. As for the yarn activity—” I looked at Crystal and she nodded in agreement.

“We could put together something for your group and arrange a workshop where everyone would learn how to knit and make a simple project, all done in a mindful manner.” I had a sudden thought. “We could even have it in this room when my group isn’t using it,” I said. Elex seemed to like the idea.

“What about this evening?” Elex glanced at the blue sheet in his hand. “It sounds better than mindful table tennis on your own.”

I thought it through quickly. The birthday group only had the upcoming afternoon workshop and then the room would be free for the rest of the day. I leaned over and asked Crystal what she thought. She was available that evening and was sure we could put together the supplies and a project. I knew I could depend on Cloris for help with the drinks and I had a tin of cookies at home I could bring over. “We can do it. Shall we say seven in here?”

“Agreed,” Elex said.

Sky let out his breath in relief as he did a little bow to us. “Namaste. I mean thank you.” He leaned in close and dropped his voice. “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention anything about any of this to Mr. St. John.”

“No problem,” I said with an inner chuckle. It wasn’t in any of our interests for Kevin to know what I was doing. He’d be angry that I meddled in his retreat. Sky seemed to remember then that he was supposed to be the leader and urged them to go back to their meeting room.

As soon as they were gone, Crystal and I started talking about the arrangements. We discussed what sort of a project would work for them. We’d talk to her mother have her put together kits and Cory could bring them over. The rest was up to me.

“Hmm,” Crystal said when we were done. “This should be interesting. We’ve never worked on two retreats at the same time.”

“Be interesting or cause trouble?” I said, wondering what I’d just gotten myself into.