Road Trip Read Online Free PDF Page A

examples of Mrs. Holden’s work in many of the public buildings.”
    The man’s face lit up with interest. “That’s very interesting. Where and when would this convention honoring Elizabeth be?”
    Alice smiled. “I don’t have the exact details. But you could ask in the needlework shop in town. The owner knows about the convention.”
    “Thank you,” the man said. “I’ll do that.” He turned and lumbered across the porch. He paused at the top of the steps to run his hand fondly down one of the porch supports, then clumped down the stairs and headed for his car.
    Annie stepped back and closed the door.
    “Phew!” Alice said. “That guy was creepy.” Then she turned and pointed at Annie. “I can’t believe you were considering letting him in the house. You’re way too nice.”
    “I felt sorry for him.” Then Annie gave Alice a wry look. “I’m not sure Mary Beth will thank you for sending him along to her .”
    Alice shrugged. “Mary Beth is a lot tougher than you are. And at least he won’t be asking to get inside her house .”
    Annie shuddered.
    “Do you want me to hang around a while?” Alice asked.
    “I thought you had a party to prep for.”
    “That is not more important than a friend in need,” Alice said firmly. “I don’t want you to be here alone if he comes back looking for a tour.”
    “Well, if he comes back, I promise not to let him in the house,” Annie said, and then she smiled. “And I’ll take Boots to the door with me.”
    Alice laughed at that. “I don’t think that the creepy old guy did anything that bad.” Boots had quite a reputation for being fiercely protective of Annie and Grey Gables. More than one person had discovered that the chubby cat had sharp claws and teeth, and she didn’t mind using them.
    After Alice left, Annie shook off any lingering nerves and settled down for some crocheting. As always, the movement of the soft yarn through her fingers soothed her. To her surprise, the afternoon passed with no return visit from the strange man. The closest thing she’d had to a visitor was when Boots hopped up on the couch and tried to push Annie’s yarn ball off onto the floor to make room to lie down.
    Annie laughed at her own worries. She’d experienced more than a few mysteries since she’d come to Stony Point, and a few of them had turned a bit dangerous. She supposed all those tight situations had made her paranoid. “Not everyone is hiding a mystery,” she said aloud, eliciting a sleepy glance from Boots.
    The days that followed didn’t bring the man back either, though Annie did get a postcard with a generic picture of Stony Point’s Main Street on it. “Hope to see you at the convention” was written on the back in large script. The card was signed “Edgar Harvester.”
    The card reminded Annie that she needed to haul the box from the attic over to A Stitch in Time. Maybe Mary Beth would have some ideas about Gram’s odd admirer.
    Mary Beth and Kate remembered the man quickly enough. “He was disappointed that I didn’t have any of Betsy’s work to sell him,” Mary Beth said. “He spent over an hour here, combing through everything. Though he did buy one of the small Betsy Original kits. I didn’t even know I had one left; I sold so many after Betsy passed. He found the kit mixed in the bin I keep some of the slightly shop-worn items in.”
    “He did seem like a very focused person,” Annie said. “I can’t quite picture him doing cross-stitch though.”
    “I didn’t like the way he implied he had some kind of relationship with Betsy,” Kate said, frowning. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
    Annie sighed. “I suspect he wrote to Gram. You know she always answered any mail from people who enjoyed her work, and Gram was always so warm and encouraging. I suppose I can see how the poor man could read more into that than was really there.”
    “I expect you’re right,” Mary Beth said. Then she looked a bit worried.