Erma watched as Riley interacted with the other two Bosom Buddies—Viola Porter and Gwen Brown. Everyone peppered her granddaughterwith polite questions, never once hinting that they knew the deeper reasons for Riley’s departure from Maple Falls, beyondher wanting to be a famous artist. Erma wasn’t sure Riley knew those reasons herself. Her granddaughter not only didn’t wantanything to do with her mother, but she also didn’t want to be anything like her. The BBs were also aware of Tracey’s pastand the friction between her and Riley. These women were Erma’s confidantes, and although they didn’t know everything, they knew a lot. They also knew when to keep their mouths shut about BB secrets.
Guilt stabbed at Erma, but she shoved it away. She hadn’t exactly been forthright with Riley today. The shop hadn’t alwayslooked this messy. The BBs helped her tidy it up often enough. Over the past year or so, even before the accident, Erma realizedshe was losing interest in running the store, which was why she hadn’t been open as often as she should. Before she brokeher leg, she’d finally started to organize her inventory with the intent to liquidate. She had finally accepted that her granddaughterwouldn’t continue the Knots and Tangles tradition, a fact that deeply saddened her.
With Riley here now and working at the shop again, Erma prayed she would change her mind and see the value of keeping traditionalive. She knew it would take a miracle for that to occur. Good thing God is in the miracle business. He’d already provided one miracle—Riley was back. Hopefully soon she would realize that despite the past, Maple Falls couldtruly be her home.
After all the women filled up their plates with snacks and visited for a while, Erma clapped and wheeled herself as closeto the sitting area as she dared, almost knocking her leg into one of the chairs.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this thing,” she muttered, rolling to a stop next to Gwen.
“You’ll be on crutches soon enough.” Gwen gave her a brilliant smile that was always perfect because her husband was a dentist.His practice was in nearby Malvern, the closest large city to Maple Falls, although calling it large was a stretch.
“Crutches might be worse.” Bea chuckled and took a big bite of Peg’s salad, then set her plate down and picked up her bag.“Who’s ready to knit some knockers?”
Erma glanced at Riley, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room between Bea and Viola. She held a pair of knittingneedles and a ball of soft, white pima cotton yarn in her lap. Erma had always preferred crochet, so Bea had taught Rileyhow to knit.
Erma tried not to frown at the lost look on her granddaughter’s face—a look she was all too familiar with. How many timeshad she seen it during Riley’s teenage years? Her heart had ached back then as she wished she could help Riley feel more atease and make friends. That familiar pain filled her heart now. At least she’s here. That’s something.
“Here, sweet pea, let me give you a refresher.” Bea angled her large body toward Riley and began to show her how to use theneedles again. As Erma had suspected, Riley picked the knitting back up right away, and soon she was concentrating on thecopy of the pattern in front of her on the coffee table.
“How long do you think she’ll stay?” Madge whispered, leaning close to Erma as the rest of the women buzzed with conversationand laughter.
Erma shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“Hopefully she doesn’t have her mother’s wandering genes.” Madge, who enjoyed knitting and crocheting, sat back and primlyslipped a knot of light-pink yarn on her crochet hook.
Erma held her tongue, a task that always involved a great deal of difficulty. Not only was Madge the youngest in the group,but she was also the newest member, even though she’d been attending Bosom Buddy nights for over two years, at the insistenceof Erma herself. More than once Erma had questioned the wisdom of her decision. Overall, Madge Wilson was a good woman, butthere were times when her words held a sharp edge, and Erma sometimes thought she was being hurtful on purpose.
She ignored Madge and the urge to put the youngster in her place and focused on crocheting. She’d made so many knockers thatby now she could crochet them without looking, which freed her up to visit with her friends, forget about both the pain inher leg and the pain in her behind sitting next to her, and most of all, keep a surreptitious eye on Riley. She hoped hergranddaughter could relax enough to enjoy herself tonight. She deserved to have a good time. Erma had a gut feeling that didn’thappen much in New York.
* * *
Riley was surprised she was able to halfway complete one knocker—and stunned that it didn’t look horrible. Nevertheless, shewould unravel it later and start again, this time focusing on her tension instead of remembering how to do the stitches, sothe project would be as close to perfect as possible. She refused to donate something that wasn’t her best work.
She was also surprised at how knitting again helped her forget about her concern for Mimi. More than ever, Riley believedshe would have to convince her stubborn grandmother to sell the shop. It had become more of a burden than a joy—anyone couldsee that. Except for tonight, perhaps. Riley had to admit it was nice to be around a group of people who were enjoying themselves,even if they were decades older than her.
Before she realized it, Bosom Buddy night was over, and Riley helped Mimi’s friends pack up their leftover food—because, ofcourse, everyone had made too much. They wouldn’t be Southern cooks if they hadn’t. Erma bade each of her friends goodbyewith a hug and a smile. When the last woman left, Riley turned to her grandmother. She was still smiling, but lines of wearinesshad appeared on her face. When she moved her wheelchair
