The Key in the Attic Read Online Free PDF Page B

attic.”
    “Oh Mom!” LeeAnn half scolded, half teased. “Another mystery?”

4
    A little before eleven, Annie hurried into A Stitch in Time, glad to see she was the only customer in the shop so far.
    “Hi, Mary Beth. I know I’m a tiny bit early for the meeting, but I was hoping you had some new crochet patterns in. Does Kate have any new originals out? Where is she? Organizing your stock again?”
    Mary Beth didn’t quite look at her. “She’s not working today, but she’ll be here for the meeting.”
    Annie stepped lightly past the topic of Kate’s reduced hours. “Oh, OK. Anyway … I feel like making something really big this time, and I want to make an heirloom. How much of that glorious Two Ewe yarn do you have in stock?”
    Mary Beth shook her head, and Annie could see now that her eyes were red-rimmed. “You don’t have to do it anymore.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You and the rest of the club, you don’t have to keep buying a lot of expensive stuff you don’t really need. I know you mean well, and it means a lot to me that you’re willing to do it, but you shouldn’t.”
    “Mary Beth—”
    “It’s no use throwing good money after bad.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Mary Beth managed half of a smile. “I mean I love you all, more than I can say, but there’s no reason for you to bankrupt yourselves trying to help me.”
    The bell on the front door jingled as Alice and Peggy came into the shop.
    “Hi, girls.” Peggy’s bright expression faded. “What’s going on?”
    “Nothing’s going on.” Mary Beth gestured toward the circle of comfortable chairs that was home to the Hook and Needle Club, all business. “Make yourselves comfortable. Did you finish cross-stitching those Christmas ornaments yet, Alice?”
    Alice glanced at Annie who could only shrug.
    “Not quite, Mary Beth. I think I want to add some beading to them, just for the sparkle.”
    Mary Beth and Alice were looking over the bead rack when Kate and Gwen came in, followed by Stella, and they all settled into the sewing circle. Once Alice had made her selection, she joined them. Only Mary Beth was left standing, looking expectantly at them until their chatter died down.
    “I’m glad everybody is here today. There are some things I need to let you all know.”
    Everyone looked at everyone else, worry in their eyes, but nobody said anything. Kate kept her head down, and there was an extra touch of color in her cheeks. Had Mary Beth decided to let her go all together?
    “As I told Kate yesterday, my landlord, the owner of this building, has given me notice that he wants to sell out when my lease expires at the end of next month. He says he has a good offer for the place, but he wants to give me the chance to match it, if I’d like to stay.”
    Still no one said anything. Annie finally asked Mary Beth what they all wanted to know.
    “What are you going to do?”
    Mary Beth smiled wryly. “There’s not much I can do. I don’t have the money to buy him out. I’d have to have enough for the shop and the theater next door too. He has to sell both places. It doesn’t matter anyway. My credit is already maxed out. I think I’m going to have to close up.”
    “Close up?” Peggy wailed. “You can’t just close up. How will you live?”
    “I’ll just have to find a job, won’t I?” Mary Beth shrugged. “Or maybe I’ll retire.”
    “You’re too young to retire,” Stella said firmly. “Maybe in another twenty years, when you’re my age. And who knows what’s going to happen to Social Security anyway?”
    “Do you know who he plans to sell to?” Gwen asked.
    Mary Beth’s mouth was tight. “They want to tear down this building and the theater to build a Burly Boy’s Burger Barn, complete with drive-through, all-night service, searchlights, and a twenty-foot-tall Burly Boy looming over it. I think A Stitch in Time will mostly end up as the parking lot.”
    A chorus of groans went up from the members of the