Stitches in Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

thought you should take the next few days to just settle in. So I told all of our new customers you’d begin next Monday, the first. Would that be okay?”
    I nodded. “Yes, fine. That’ll give us time for you to go over the routes with me too.”
    â€œRight. But I don’t think you’ll have much of a problem. Everyone is located right here in Ormond Beach, so it’s pretty easy to get around.”
    A few of the regulars dropped into the shop throughout the afternoon, and a fair number of customers came in to make purchases. I was surprised when I heard Chloe say, “I’ll go put the closed sign on the gate.” I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was just after five. The afternoon had flown by as I sat there knitting and conversing, and I was happy to discover that I now had about eight inches done on my top. I was reminded of my days in Atlanta when sometimes an hour felt like a week. Maybe moving here would prove to be a good thing for me.
    * * *
    The three of us walked into the kitchen of Koi House to find Henry preparing dinner.
    â€œHey,” he said, coming to give me a hug. “Welcome to Ormond Beach. And you too, Haley.”
    I saw my daughter’s smile as he also pulled her into an embrace. “Obviously, I’m Henry,” he said.
    Chloe had only started dating him the previous September, so this was our first time meeting him. She had rented his condo on the beach for a month when she first came here from Cedar Key. And when they actually met in person it appeared to be a case of love at first sight; now their wedding was just a few months away.
    I saw him pull Chloe into his arms and without a trace of shyness he kissed her lips. “Have a good day, sweetie?” he asked.
    â€œI did,” she told him. “And thank you so much for coming over to get dinner started.”
    â€œMy pleasure,” he told her, and held up a bottle of red wine. “Shall we toast Isabelle and Haley’s arrival?”
    â€œThat would be nice,” Chloe said, reaching for wineglasses in the cabinet.
    â€œOh, who’s this?” I heard Haley say. I turned around to see a large golden retriever wander into the kitchen, followed by Basil.
    Henry laughed. “Oh, this is my dog, Delilah. Delilah, meet Haley and Isabelle.”
    â€œShe’s just gorgeous,” Haley said, kneeling down to let the dog sniff her hand and then accepting her paw. “What a beautiful girl.”
    â€œThank you. She and Basil are best of friends, which makes it nice.”
    I smiled as Chloe passed me a wineglass. I could already see that my daughter was in her glory with the yarn shop, Chloe, and two dogs to fawn over. I also had a feeling she had taken an instant liking to Henry, and this made me feel coming here was the right thing to do.
    Henry held up his glass. “Here’s to Isabelle and Haley. Welcome to your new home. May you have much happiness here.”
    â€œThank you,” I said, before I took a sip and realized this was the first time in a long while that I hadn’t already had two or three glasses of wine before five o’clock.
    Following a delicious dinner of shrimp stir-fry and rice, Haley and I pitched in with the cleanup.
    â€œWell,” Henry said, “I’m going to take the dogs for a walk on the beach. This will give you gals some more time to catch up. Haley, would you like to join me?”
    â€œOh, yes,” she said, jumping up.
    Chloe and I took our herbal tea out to the patio with our knitting.
    â€œI like Henry,” I told her. “A lot.” And I did. He’d kept us laughing throughout dinner with humorous stories of some of his travels as a photographer for National Geographic . He was a kind and friendly man, not to mention very good looking and completely besotted with Chloe.
    She nodded. “Yeah, he is pretty special. I guess I knew it the moment I met him.”
    â€œYou were