assumed the quilting would be covered up.” She held it up, showing Mavis the simple grid pattern that had been done on the lower half of the quilt.
'I think I'll just use my sewing machine. There's no real reason to take the time to put it on the big machine.'
'I agree,” Beth said. “Especially since you need to get that back in…” She looked at her watch. “…a couple of hours.'
'I better get busy,” Harriet said.
Chapter 27
The light coming in through the front window was beginning to wane when the trio heard a knock on the studio door followed by Aiden opening it and coming in. Harriet had Iloai's quilt on the big table again, clipping threads and generally giving it the once-over. Aunt Beth straightened in her chair and rubbed her lower back with a sigh.
'This looks like trouble,” he said with a smile.
'What?” Harriet asked.
'Whenever the Loose Threads brain trust gets together, it's trouble.'
'We aren't the brain trust,” Mavis said. “That would be Lauren-just ask her.'
'I came by to see if anyone wanted to go get pizza. I have a couple of hours before the next round of meds starts for the rescue dogs.'
'How are they doing?” Beth asked.
'Some will be ready for adoption soon, but there are a lot that still have a way to go, and there are a few that will have to have ongoing treatment that could last years.'
'That's so sad,” Beth said.
'I'm just thankful you all do such a good job of raising money at your auction so we can take care of them. Unfortunately, a lot of places would have euthanized many of these dogs to avoid the cost of rehabbing them.'
'Hopefully, we'll get a good turnout this time,” Mavis said. “The community is usually very generous, but the economy has been so bad these last few years.'
'Someone will want to pay top dollar for the beautiful quilts you ladies make,” Aiden said with a broad grin.
'Always the charmer,” Aunt Beth said.
'So, how about pizza? Are you ladies in?'
'Sounds good to me, if you don't mind having a couple of old hags tag along with you and Harriet,” Mavis said.
'You beautiful ladies aren't hags,” Aiden said in a shocked tone.
'Like I said.” Beth rolled her eyes. “Always the charmer.'
'I'm in,” Harriet said, “I'm starving.'
'Mamma Theresa's okay with everyone?'
'Is there anywhere else?” Mavis replied.
'Not if you want good pizza,” Beth said.
'I think I'd better take my own car,” Harriet said. “I've got to go by DeAnn's and drop this quilt off when we're done. In fact, I better go call her and let her know.'
'Speaking of your communication problems,” Aiden said when she had finished her call. “I hope you won't think I'm being too forward, but it worries me that you're driving around without a way to call for help.'
She started to protest, but he held his hand up to silence her. With the other, he pulled a box out of the pocket of the blue fleece jacket he was wearing over his customary surgical scrubs and handed it to her.
'I took the liberty of getting you a replacement phone. All you have to do is plug it into your computer to transfer your phone book.” He pretended to duck. “Okay, you can hit me now.'
A range of emotions swept through Harriet. Her knee-jerk reaction to anyone making decisions “for her own good” was anger. On the other hand, she needed a phone and had dreaded having to go to the phone store and fight through the myriad options, upgrades and other sales-related pressures such a trip would entail.
In the end, gratitude won.
'Thank you so much,” she said. She pressed the on button and smiled when she saw that he'd already programmed his own number into the directory.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Aiden closed the distance between them and pulled her into an embrace.
'We'll meet you there,” Aunt Beth said as she and Mavis gathered their purses and coats and hustled out the door.
Aiden kissed her gently on her lips.
'I'm glad we're not fighting anymore.'
Harriet tensed in his arms, but he put his finger to her lips.
'Let's enjoy the moment, okay?'
She smiled and put her arms around his neck, pulling his head down for another, deeper kiss.
'Okay, we better go while we still can,” he said when they finally broke contact.
Harriet picked up her coat and followed him out the door.
'We took the liberty of ordering,” Mavis said when Aiden and Harriet arrived at the restaurant and joined them at their table.
'We got a large pepperoni and one that's half artichoke, black olive and feta cheese and half Mamma's combo.'
'Sounds good,” Aiden said and took a drink from the large water glass that had already been set at his place. “Hey, I heard back from my friend in Africa.'
'Why didn't you say something?” Harriet asked, her voice rising slightly.
'I figured you'd get all excited and then I wouldn't get a kiss when I gave you the phone.'
She started to argue and then realized he was once again teasing her.
'I forgot,” he continued in a more serious tone. “She called when I was with a patient, and the phone connection wasn't very good.'
'Well?” Aunt Beth prompted.
'As I suspected, she had no idea what I was talking about, and she definitely has not had a baby-now or ever.'
'Does she have a sister?” Harriet asked.
'She does, but it's more complicated than that.'
'What does that mean,” Beth asked.
'She has a full sister who is married and lives in Uganda, and she's seen her recently. The complication is that in Uganda, it's not unusual for men to have more than one family, each in a different village. Her father had at least two other families, and she's met several of her half-siblings. I was trying to ask her about Neelie when our connection was dropped.'
'So, we don't really know anything,” Mavis said.
'We know Neelie's maybe-sister who worked with Aiden didn't send him a baby, so for sure that much was a scam. We're not any closer to knowing who Neelie really was or why she targeted Aiden.'
'We also don't know who baby Kissa really is,” Aunt Beth added.
'Baby steps, ladies,” Aiden said as their pizza arrived and their waitress set it on a two-tiered rack at the center of their table. “One fact at a time is what I say.'
'That's easy for you-you don't have a motherless baby in your midst.'
'True, but I still think caution is advised.” He slid a piece of pepperoni pizza onto his plate.
'The police aren't any further along in their investigation,” Beth said and proceeded to recount the trip to see Detective Morse while the other three munched on their pizza.
'We ran into Neelie's so-called husband,” Harriet added when her aunt had finished the account of their police visit without mentioning Rodney. She described the action they had witnessed.
