Quilt By Association

'That's weird,” he said. “I just saw a guy who fits that description on my way through town on the way to your house. He was on the street in front of Little Lamb. It looked like he was trying to talk to Joseph, but Joe wasn't having any of it. He pulled his arm free and hustled into the building.'

'You saw Joseph?” Harriet and Mavis said at the same time.

'Yeah, didn't I just say that? He was arguing with that Rodney guy in front of Little Lamb. Why are you so shocked?'

'He was a no-show at work this morning. He left Phyllis in a real pickle,” Mavis said.

'Didn't I hear somewhere he still lives with his mother?” He slid another piece of pepperoni pizza onto his now-empty plate.

'He lives in his mother's house,” Mavis said. “It's that pink Victorian we pass on the way to DeAnn's. She remarried a couple of years ago and hasn't been seen in these parts since.'

'He takes care of the place for her,” Beth added. “She and Mr. Moneybags are living in a villa somewhere in Europe, according to Phyllis.'

'It was Joseph's grandma's house before that.” Mavis continued her local history lesson. “His mother lived there with her mother until the old lady went into the senior home. His grandmother was born in that house. Her mother died young, and she lived there and took care of her father who, if I'm not mistaken, was in the merchant marine. When she married, her husband moved in.'

'It must be nice,” Harriet said.

Aiden's cheeks turned red. “I have nothing to say about that,” he said and took a bite of his pizza.

'It's not the same thing at all,” Harriet protested when she realized what he was thinking. He was, after all, living in his mother's house. “You inherited your house when your mother died. That's completely different.'

'Living in Momma's house when she's still alive is a whole different kettle of fish,” Mavis concurred.

'We think we know where DeAnn's new daughter is from,” Harriet said, changing the subject, to Aiden's obvious relief. She explained their conclusion that Iloai was from somewhere in the South Pacific.

'Have you tried talking to her in her own language?” he asked.

'Not yet,” Harriet said and wiped her mouth on her napkin. “We just figured it out. Besides, there are more than a few islands with more than a few possible languages.'

'Maybe you can record the child talking and put it through a translation program,” he suggested.

'Now you're sounding like Lauren,” Mavis said.

'Was that a compliment?” He grinned. “I'll take it as one. I only know about the translation programs on the internet because of my time out of country.'

'I can't believe it took us so long to figure it out,” Harriet said.

'I can,” Mavis said. “Joseph told DeAnn she's from Uganda. Why would you give it another thought? People tend to believe what other people tell them until incontrovertible proof is shoved in their face.'

'I should have recognized that ‘Iloai’ isn't a Ugandan name,” Aiden said. “But I didn't put two and two together.'

'You've had distractions, though,” Harriet said.

'True, but that's what I'm saying. Everyone has their own stuff going on, so you don't question information unless something happens that makes you doubt it.'

'Good point,” Aunt Beth said. “So, what else are we taking at face value that we should reexamine?'

'Everything about Kissa,” Mavis said. “She's a delightful child, but I don't think we can believe anything Neelie said about her.'

'At least she has a Ugandan name,” Aiden said. “I encountered more than one Kissa while I was there.'

'I think Rodney falls into the question-everything category, too.” Aunt Beth said.

'He does seem genuinely upset about Neelie's death,” Harriet said. “But I agree-I think he knows a lot more about Neelie and what she was doing in Foggy Point. But that doesn't mean he knows everything.'

Aiden looked at her, and then at Aunt Beth and Mavis, in turn.

'So, what's next, ladies? I'm not sure I want to know the answer, but I can't help it.'

'Someone needs to tell DeAnn what's going on,” Harriet said.

'I'm not sure that's our place,” Aunt Beth protested.

'I think she needs to know anything we find out that can help her ease her daughter's transition,” Harriet countered.

'It's just guesswork on our part at this point,” Beth said. “We need to talk to Phyllis or Joseph and see what they have to say about it.'

'If someone pulled a switch at the other end, Phyl and Joe might not know any more than we do,” Mavis pointed out.

'So, what do you think we should do?” Harriet asked her aunt.

'I say we leave DeAnn out of it until we can get some confirmation her child is not from Africa. In the meantime, we keep trying until we can talk to Phyllis or Joseph.'

'We need to get hold of Rodney and see if we can get anything else out of him,” Mavis said.

'That should be easy,” Harriet said. “He's all about money and who's going to pay him. We just need to figure out where he's staying.'

'Nabirye said she would e-mail me a list of her half-siblings,” Aiden added. “It won't be quick, since she was calling from a field phone. We have to wait until she gets somewhere that has computer access or a fax machine.'

Mavis slid another piece of the artichoke pizza onto her plate.

'I've got plenty of quilting to keep me busy,” she said. “We need to get our blocks made and get on to making quilts. That auction is just around the corner.'

Aiden polished off his pizza and wiped his hands on his napkin.

'I've got to go flush some wounds,” he said and stood up. “Thanks for dining with me, ladies.'

Harriet stood and walked him to the door.

'This should only take me an hour or so. Can I call you when I'm done? Maybe come by and…?” He waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way.

'You're incorrigible,'she told him with a smile. “Yes, you can call or come by. I have to stop by DeAnn's and drop off the little girl's quilt that I repaired, then I'll be home working on my dog blocks.'

'Later,” he said and leaned in for a quick kiss before going out the door.

Harriet returned to the table and sat down again.

'I should get going, too,” she said. “As soon as I finish this.” She picked up her half-eaten piece of pizza.

'We all need to get going,” Mavis said. “We've spent so much time trying to outwit the Small Stitches that, if we're not careful, we won't have anything finished in time for the auction, prize-winning or otherwise.'

'I hear you,” Beth said. “Let me get a box for our leftovers.'

Chapter 28

Harriet zipped her hoodie as she walked to her car. A cold gust of wind slammed into her from the side, sending a shiver down her spine. There was a definite nip of fall in the air.

She had moved back to Foggy Point from California in the early spring and had so far been able to avoid shopping for cold-weather clothes; she could tell her hoodie wasn't going to cut it much longer, and she would have to make the drive to Seattle to buy some real winter wear.

Joseph's house was dark when she passed it, save for a pale-yellow glow in one downstairs window. She slowed and tried to look down the driveway to see if his car was there, but the drive curved around behind the house where it most likely ended in a detached garage that had been a carriage house in former times. It was an arrangement common to most of the Victorian houses in the area.

She toyed with the idea of stopping but looked at the time and decided she'd better go on to DeAnn's and deliver the now slightly less tattered quilt.