The Healing Quilt (7 page)

Emma felt immediate concern. “What is it, Lamar? Is something wrong?”

He shook his head. “Not wrong; I just have a favor to ask.”

“What’s that?”

“My friend Melvin Weaver wants to hire a driver and go down to Venice tomorrow to look for sharks’ teeth, and he invited me to go along.”

“But tomorrow is Saturday—our second quilt class, remember?” Emma reminded.

“I haven’t forgotten,” he said, scrubbing his hand down the side of his bearded face. “I just thought…. Well, if you think you can get along without me tomorrow, I’d like to go with Melvin. If not, then I’ll go some other time. Maybe you and I can hire a driver and look for sharks’ teeth together. Doesn’t that sound like fun to you?”

“It’s okay, Lamar. You go ahead. I’ll manage without your help on Saturday. After all, before I married you, I used to teach the classes on my own. And as far as me hunting for sharks’ teeth…Well, I’ve heard how it’s done, and the idea of standing in the surf, sifting through the sand with a bulky scoop, seems like hard work to me. Think I’d rather stay here and quilt.” Emma pursed her lips. “My only concern about you being gone this Saturday is that it’ll mean B.J. will be the only man in class. He might feel uncomfortable with that.”

Lamar’s forehead wrinkled. “I never thought of that. Maybe it would be better if I stayed here to help you. I can go hunting for sharks’ teeth some other time.”

“Are you sure about that?” Emma asked. “I don’t like to disappoint you.”

“It’s okay, really,” he said with a nod of his head. “I promised to help you teach this group of quilters, and that’s what I’m gonna do. I’ll get in touch with Melvin and take a rain check with him on that.”

Emma smiled. Like her first husband, Ivan, Lamar was a kind, caring man. She felt fortunate to have found love a second time.

“Now what was it you were going to ask me?” Lamar questioned, turning to look out the window.

“I was going to ask if you could pick some of the oranges from our tree later today or even tomorrow morning. I thought it would be nice to share some of them with everyone at the quilt class.”

“Sure thing. I was just about ready to pick us each one for a snack later on. If they’re ripe enough, I’ll pick some in the morning for everyone.” Lamar rubbed his hands briskly together. “Weren’t we lucky that this house had an orange tree in the backyard?”

Emma nodded. “It’ll be nice to send a healthy snack home with everyone tomorrow after class.”

Mike groaned as he rolled out of bed on Saturday morning, rubbing his eyes to clear his vision. He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to take Phyllis’s place at the quilt class in Pinecraft. “I must have been out of mind,” he muttered. The only good thing was that Phyllis had told him one of the teachers was a man and that another man was also taking the class, so Mike figured that might help him feel less out of place. Of course, he didn’t know a thing about sewing, nor did he want to know how to quilt. No matter what Phyllis thought, as far as Mike was concerned, anything that involved a needle and thread was for women, not a man who felt more at home on his boat than anywhere else.

Mike’s cell phone rang, and he picked it up off the dresser. After checking the caller ID, and realizing it was Phyllis, he answered. “Hi, honey. How’s your sister doing?”

“Penny’s still in a lot of pain, but she’s so appreciative that I’m here to help out. Thanks for allowing me to do this, Mike.”

“Sure, no problem.”

“I called to remind you about the quilt class,” she said. “It starts at ten this morning.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, and don’t worry, I won’t be late. Wouldn’t wanna miss one minute of that exciting class.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“’Course not,” Mike lied. “I’m looking forward to learning how to quilt.”
In a “dreading it more than coming down with the flu” kind of way
, he mentally added.

“When I get home I’ll be anxious to hear about everything you’ve learned.”

“Let’s hope I’m able to learn anything at all,” he muttered.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. Listen, Phyllis, I’d better get going or I
will
be late for the class.”

“Okay. Talk to you again soon, Mike.”

“Bye, hon.” Mike clicked off his phone and sank to the edge of the bed.
Sure hope my boat’s up and running soon. That’ll give me a good excuse to quit going to the quilt classes
.

Goshen, Indiana

“Guess who I talked to last night,” Jan Sweet said to his twenty-one-year-old daughter, Star. He’d just arrived at Star’s house to pick her up for a motorcycle ride. They’d be meeting his buddy Terry and Terry’s girlfriend, Cheryl, later on this morning. First, though, Star had offered to fix Jan breakfast.

“Who’d you talk to?” Star asked, motioning for Jan to take a seat at the table.

“Emma Miller. She and Lamar are spending the winter in Sarasota, you know.”

Star smiled, pushing her long dark hair away from her eyes. “That’s nice. Are they enjoying the warm weather down there?”

“I think so, but Emma said she misses her friends and family here in Indiana.” Jan flopped into a chair. “I miss Emma and Lamar, too. Miss stopping by their place for a visit and some of Emma’s tasty homemade treats.” He smacked his lips. “That angel cream pie she made for our quilting class was the best. You oughta get the recipe from her and make it for your old dad sometime.”

Star rolled her coffee-colored eyes. “You’re not old, but I’m not really into baking pies. Just wait until Emma gets home and then you can ask her to make you one.”

“But that won’t be till spring,” Jan complained. “Don’t think I can wait that long.”

“Well, you don’t have much choice.” Star handed him a cup of coffee, then went to the stove to begin cooking their eggs.

“I don’t know about that. Thought it might be fun to take a run down to Florida sometime soon. Would you like to go with me, Star?”

She looked at him over her shoulder. “Are you serious, Dad?”

Jan nodded. “We could head down to Sarasota to see the Millers and enjoy some time on the beach.” He winked at Star. “It might be more fun if we just drop in and surprise them, though.”

“Do you think they’d appreciate that?”

“Ah, sure. Emma and Lamar are good sports. I’m sure they’d be happy to see us.”

“When were you thinking of going?” Star asked.

“I can’t go right away ’cause I’m in the middle of a roofing job, and I need to get it done soon, before we get snow or heavy rain. It’s been a fairly mild winter so far, which has been good for business, but I’m sure it won’t last forever.” Jan paused. “I should get the job finished up in a day or two though.”

“So when did you want to go?” she persisted.

“I could wait a few weeks. Would you be able to get time off from your job by then?” he asked. “I’ll leave Brutus with Terry, so the dog won’t be a problem.”

“I do have a couple weeks’ vacation coming,” she said. “When I go to work Monday morning, should I put in for the time off?”

“Yeah, why don’t you?” Jan leaned back in his chair, locking his fingers behind his head. “This will be great, kiddo. I can hardly wait to go.”

“Will we ride down there on our motorcycles, or did you plan to take your truck?” Star asked.

“If the weather cooperates, I think we oughta ride our bikes. It’ll be more fun that way, and I can hardly wait to see the look on Emma and Lamar’s faces when we show up.”

Sarasota

Lamar whistled as he headed out the back door to pick some oranges. It was a beautiful Saturday morning—the kind of day that made a person feel alive and raring to go. He paused in the yard a few minutes, breathing in the fresh clean air.

On a morning like this, it’s hard to imagine bad things going on in the world
, he thought. Lamar hadn’t told Emma, because he didn’t want her to worry, but earlier in the week when he’d gone to the store to pick up a few things, he’d overhead someone say there had been some robberies in a neighborhood not far from where they lived. A few people had been robbed in broad daylight, right in their own backyard. After hearing that, Lamar had been keeping his wallet in the house whenever he went into the yard.

Lamar reflected on the economy, and how so many folks were struggling to find good ways to make it through life’s hardships, while others, like this group of thieves, had turned to crime and stealing from others, perhaps to survive. He sent up a silent prayer as he gazed into the deep blue sky, then headed toward the orange tree.

Lamar remembered how he and Emma had enjoyed their juicy oranges for a snack yesterday. There was nothing like eating fresh fruit picked right off the tree. The oranges were so sweet, and he was happy they could share some with their quilting students.

Continuing to whistle, Lamar started putting oranges, still wet from the morning’s dew, into his basket.
It doesn’t get any better than this
, he thought, lifting his face to the sun.

Suddenly, he realized that the birds were silent. That seemed a bit odd. Usually, the yard was full of birds chirping out a chorus of welcome to Lamar as soon as he stepped into the yard.

“Stay where you are, and don’t move a muscle!” a male voice said sternly.

Lamar froze in his tracks, watching a drop of dew fall from one of the oranges, as if in slow motion, and then splatter on top of his shoe.

Another male voice said firmly, “Don’t turn around; just stay where you are.”

Lamar’s heartbeat picked up speed. All he could think about was his dear wife, Emma.
Am I about to be robbed? What should I do? I don’t want to do or say anything to anger these men. The back door’s not even locked. What if they barge inside and hurt Emma?

As if to send his wife a silent message that only she could hear, Lamar whispered, “Please, Emma, stay in the house and lock the door.”

E
mma hummed softly as she removed a coffee cake from the oven. She planned to serve it to her students during the quilting class. Last week, she’d served cookies, and everyone seemed to enjoy them, so she hoped the cake would be just as well received.

Squinting over the top of her metal-framed glasses as she placed the cake on a cooling rack, Emma wondered what was taking Lamar so long to pick the basket of oranges. He’d been out there at least half an hour already. Maybe she should check on him. First, though, she would get out the plates and forks and put them on the counter for when dessert would be served. Once Lamar brought the oranges in, she would peel a few to serve with the cake.

Emma took a platter from the cupboard and placed it on the table. Then, remembering that she had some grapes in the refrigerator, she got them out as well. She stood there a moment, tapping her finger against her lips, while looking around the kitchen. There really wasn’t much else to do, so she decided to peek out the window to check on Lamar, knowing he should have that basket pretty much filled with oranges by now. She was almost to the slightly open window, when she heard someone outside speaking rather loudly.

“I’ll walk to him slowly from behind,” a stranger’s voice hollered.

“Okay. I’ll approach him from the front,” a second man said.