The Stitching Hour Read Online Free PDF

believe they’re vampires!’ Oh, and you owe me brownies.”

Chapter Three
    I ’d just sold a customer a set of Japanese embroidery needles and invited her to the open house when Sadie walked into the shop. Sadie held the door as the woman left.
    â€œHow’s it going?” Sadie asked, as she dropped a kiss on Angus’s head before taking a seat in the sit-and-stitch square. She was dressed in a blue polo and jeans, and she still wore her brown apron with the tan M AC K ENZIES’ M OCHAS logo. Her long, dark hair had been swept up into a messy bun; and when she sat, her brown eyes immediately closed.
    â€œYou look exhausted,” I said.
    â€œI am. I didn’t sleep well last night, and the shop has been a madhouse all day.”
    â€œWould you like some water?”
    â€œPlease.” She still hadn’t opened her eyes.
    I stepped into the office and got us each a bottle of water. I heard Sadie squeal, and I hurried back into the main part of the shop. Angus had placed his front paws on Sadie’s lap and was licking her face.
    â€œAngus! Come here.” I got his favorite toy at the shop—a Kodiak bear Vera had given him. “Here, Angus. Get your bear.” I tossed the bear toward the window.
    Angus loped over to the bear, picked it up, and lay down by the window.
    â€œSorry about that.” I handed Sadie her water.
    She giggled. “No problem. Every girl wants to be awakened with a kiss from a handsome prince, right?”
    â€œI’m not sure those fantasies include doggie breath . . . but okay.”
    â€œI hear you’ve met the Atwoods.”
    â€œWho told you?” I asked. “Todd? How many brownies did he have you bill me for?”
    â€œNo, it wasn’t Todd. It was the Atwoods. They think you’re magnificent.”
    â€œHow nice. Um . . . how did you and Blake get involved with providing concessions for the haunted house?”
    â€œAfter they leased the building, Claude and Priscilla approached us and made us a great offer. We get to keep eighty percent of the proceeds of what we sell there, and it should be really good advertising for our business.”
    â€œYou aren’t having trouble with MacKenzies’ Mochas, are you?”
    â€œOh, no,” she said. “This deal simply seemed to be a win-win, and it’s only for a month.”
    â€œThat’s true. It’s just that you look so tired right now that I’m concerned about you doing even more work,” I said. “Is there anything I can do to help out?”
    â€œWith the open house coming up, I’d say you have plenty to keep you busy. In fact, I came by to talk about food for your party. But, first, tell me what you thought about the Atwoods.”
    â€œThey’re eccentric,” I said. “But I seriously doubt that they’re vampires.”
    Sadie frowned. “What?”
    â€œNellie Davis thinks the Atwoods are vampires. At least, that’s what she told Todd,” I said. “I saw her acting weird—more so than usual—and he offered to investigate for peanut butter fudge brownies.”
    â€œIf they were vampires, they couldn’t be walking around in the sunlight . . . could they?”
    I threw up my hands. “That’s the very question I asked Todd.”
    â€œAnd what did he say?”
    â€œHe said it depends on whose mythology—literary mythology, I believe he meant—that you embrace.”
    â€œAnd Nellie apparently subscribes to whatever mythology allows the Atwoods to be vampires and walk the streets of Tallulah Falls in broad daylight.”
    â€œI guess.”
    Sadie shook her head. “I agree that Claude and Priscilla are a bit strange in the way they dress and talk, but I’m guessing that’s just all part of their act.”
    â€œDo they ever drop the act?” I asked.
    â€œThey haven’t around me. Not yet