Sewing in Circles Read Online Free PDF Page B

me to be part of it!”
    Ivy, who’d overhead Zoey telling Priti, smiled in an unexpectedly friendly way. “Zoey, that’s really amazing. I’m happy for you,” Ivy told her.
    Even though Ivy had been nicer to her since the reversal in her family fortunes, Zoey was still surprised that Ivy seemed genuinely pleased to hear of her good news.
    â€œThanks, Ivy. I’m really excited.”
    â€œWhen does the pop-up shop open?” Ivy asked.
    â€œI’m not sure,” Zoey said. “I just have to get Daphne some samples quickly, so she can decide which design will work best with her collection.”
    â€œGood luck!” Ivy said, before walking away to go use the table saw.
    Priti elbowed Zoey. “What’s got into Ivy all of a sudden? Why is she being nice to you?”
    Zoey hesitated. She’d promised Ivy that she wouldn’t tell anyone about seeing her and her mom picking up supplies at the food pantry, because Ivy’s father had lost his job and they’d been strugglingfinancially. But how else could she explain to Priti why Ivy had suddenly developed some compassion for others?
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “People change, I guess.”
    Priti gave her a sideways look.
    â€œWe’re talking about Ivy Wallace , your supreme nemesis!” she said. “I don’t trust this sudden transformation into Nice Ivy. Be careful, that’s all I’m saying.”
    Zoey wasn’t sure she trusted it either, but knowing what she knew, she felt like she wanted to give Ivy the benefit of the doubt.
    â€œI will,” she promised Priti. “I will.”

CHAPTER 4
    Lock and Key
    I’ve got some potentially very exciting news that I can’t share yet—but keep your fingers crossed. Sorry to have to keep it under lock and key—the inspiration for today’s designs—but I don’t want to jinx anything. Mine’s not the only mystery around here. I can’t tell youmuch more about that, either, but I know exactly how you feel about being kept in the dark! Maybe if I wasn’t so busy with everything else, I’d do a little detective work, like Sherlock Holmes would. I could wear this cute dress and necklace as I went around hunting for clues.

    â€œThere’s a letter for you,” Marcus told Zoey when she got home from school. “It’s on the counter.”
    The envelope had “Mapleton Gift Fair” as the return address. Zoey dropped her backpack and ripped open the letter, excited to see if she’d been accepted into the fair.
    Dear Ms. Webber,
    Thank you for your application to the Mapleton Gift Fair. While we found your designs charming, we haven’t had the greatest success with clothing vendors in the past, because of the lack of dressingroom facilities and because clothes are harder to buy as gifts than other items. Therefore, we’ve made the decision to cut back on clothing vendors and are sorry we cannot offer you a booth at this year’s gift fair.
    Sincerely,
    Mapleton Gift Fair Planning Committee
    Zoey’s heart sank. She’d been counting on getting a booth. Allie had made it sound like it was almost a sure thing. Plus, she’d already told Ezra about it, and he’d been so excited for her. Now, she was going to have to tell him that it wasn’t happening after all. That would teach her to jinx things by talking about them before they were a done deal!
    Maybe she should have submitted accessories instead of clothes, Zoey thought. Except thatwould have put her directly in competition with Allie, and that didn’t seem right given that Allie was the one who recommended she apply for a booth. It wouldn’t be very considerate. But then Allie hadn’t been especially considerate of her feelings lately, had she?
    Zoey sighed.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” Marcus asked. “You’re looking pretty glum all of a sudden.”
    â€œI