The Quilt Before The Storm

“Wait here,” Tom said and, when Harriet sat, jogged back to the truck then returned with one hand held behind his back.

“What’s going on?” Harriet started to stand.

“Relax,” he said, and she sank back onto the bench as he swept his hidden hand into view, presenting her with a bunch of flowers. At least, it resembled a bunch of flowers.

“What is this?” she asked as she took the cellophane-wrapped bouquet of holly that was brightened with what turned out to be carefully crafted origami flowers.

“I just thought you might need something to brighten your day,” he said with a smile. He sat down beside her.

“Did you make these?” She bent to sniff them out of habit and was surprised to find they smelled faintly of roses.

“Don’t sound so surprised. Mrs. R taught me how to make them the first day, in between card games. She has lots of craft supplies. She also provided the rosewater. She said her grandkids and great-grandkids have given her enough cologne to float an ocean liner.”

Harriet laughed.

“What? A guy can’t make paper flowers? It’s not that different from making architectural models. Paper is paper.”

“This is very unexpected…and very sweet,” she said and bent to smell them again.

She felt a gentle touch on her chin. She turned and as she did, Tom brushed his lips against hers. When she didn’t resist, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

He broke contact and pulled back, using his fingers to brush her bangs away from her face. He searched her eyes with his.

“Are we okay?” he asked in a quiet voice.

Harriet’s cheeks had turned pink, and she could feel the heat all the way to her toes.

“We’re fine,” she said and smiled. Only a little twinge of guilt twisted her stomach.

Tom took her free hand and pulled her to her feet.

“We better get to the camp before your aunt sends a search party out after us.”

“You’re right-and, Tom…” She paused for a moment. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

He put his arm around her shoulders and walked her back to the truck.

“I designed that,” he said as he was turning the truck onto the road again.

“The bench thingy?”

“I believe the proper term is kiosk, but, yes, the bench thingy.”

“I’m impressed.”

“It was a long time ago, while I was still in college. We all had to submit designs for scenic wayside kiosks. I was lucky-mine was chosen to be implemented.”

“Now I’m really impressed.”

“It’s not like I saved the life of a tortured animal or anything.”

“Hey,” Harriet said and reached across the center console to touch his arm. “This isn’t a competition, and I certainly don’t choose my friends based on their work output.” She was quiet for a moment. “I do like your bench thingy, though.”

Tom glanced at her with a grin.

“I feel like I’m back in high school.”

“As you pointed out a few days ago, I don’t seem to have a committed relationship with anyone, so I’m free to have as many friends as I want. Can we just leave it at that?”

“As long as I get to see you, I’m fine with leaving things as they are,” he said. “For now.”

Chapter 16

Jorge’s truck was already parked near the restrooms when Tom pulled in. A blue Peterbilt truck sleeper was at the far side of the area. The couple, Harriet assumed.

Aunt Beth, Lauren and Connie stood in a half-circle near the tailgate while Jorge handed pans of food and bags of paper goods to the group from the bed of the truck.

“Did you get lost?” Aunt Beth asked.

“It’s my fault,” Tom explained. “I wanted to show Harriet a sample of my work, and we had to take a pretty long detour to get there.”

“Uh-huh,” Beth said. “We certainly didn’t see any of your work at your mother’s place.”

Harriet glared at her.

“Can we help you unload Tom’s truck?” Connie asked. “Come on, Lauren,” she added before Lauren could add her own comment about Harriet and Tom’s delay.

Joyce came out of the ladies restroom and smiled when she saw the group slowly making their way toward the trail behind the building.

“We brought you a hot meal.” Jorge raised his pan slightly.

“Oh, my,” Joyce said. “You are a welcome sight. We’ve been living off what Tom and Harriet brought, and we’re only eating two meals a day.”

“What would you have done if we hadn’t showed up?” Lauren asked.

“Lauren,” Harriet warned and glared at her.

“I’m just curious about how this all works. I’m self-employed-you never know what’s going to happen. I mean, I could end up down here with them. I need to know what preparations I should make. You know, just in case.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Did you tell the police what happened here?” Joyce asked Tom.

“We did,” Harriet answered. “They’ve got their own problems-all the detectives got stuck on the other side of the slide. We reported to the officer at the station, but he’s stuck downtown with another guy because the river overflowed the bridge right after we left. Anyway, without being able to access the station and with little communication, the police aren’t going to be any help anytime soon.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Joyce asked. “Should we bury him?”

“No!” Harriet and Lauren and Beth said at the same time.

“You can’t destroy the evidence,” Harriet added.

“I know it seems disrespectful,” Aunt Beth soothed her. “But the best thing for your friend is to figure out who killed him, and to do that the police need all the evidence they can get.”

“It doesn’t seem right to leave him lying there,” Joyce protested.

“Has anyone gone in to that stall in the restroom?” Harriet asked.

“We haven’t been using the men’s room at all, but you can see how it is. Anyone could go in if they wanted to. All they’d have to do is wait until everyone is asleep or in their own area.”

“Great,” Lauren said.

“My food is cooling,” Jorge reminded everyone.

“Oh, my, yes, let’s get the food to the group before it’s cold,” Joyce said. “I’ll call everyone while you set up. Could someone go across the parking lot and tap on the truck door?”

Tom turned and headed back. Jorge led the parade down the trail to the common area. He set his pan of burritos on the table then took the bag of paper goods from Connie. He pulled napkins and forks from the bag and set a stack of plates beside the burrito pan. Aunt Beth opened a quilted bag and drew out a carton of sour cream, two jars of salsa and a bottle of hot sauce.

“Sorry we didn’t have chips or cheese on hand,” she said.

“This looks wonderful,” Ronald said as he joined them.

“Thank you for doing this,” they heard Kate say to Tom.

“Thank the big guy,” Tom replied as they came into view-accompanied by Marjory’s family.

“What…?” Lauren started to say.

“They came here to use the restrooms,” Tom told her as he came to stand by Harriet. “They were getting out