Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(13)

“Hello,” Lauren said, coming up behind Bethanne.

“Lauren.” Bethanne surprised her by remembering who she was. “Lydia told me you were coming in this afternoon.”

That explained it.

“I’m glad you’re both here at the same time,” Lydia said, handing Bethanne the credit card slip for her signature. “Do you have a few minutes to sit down? I learned a new cast-on method that is very clever, and it works beautifully for the blanket. If you’d like, I’d be happy to demonstrate.”

“That would be great.” Lauren had an hour to kill before she was scheduled to meet Todd. Besides, it’d been a while since she’d picked up a pair of knitting needles. With Lydia’s help, she collected the variegated pastel yarn, knitting needles, and stitch markers. By the time she finished, Bethanne was already seated at the table in the back of the shop.

“We’re offering a class for different methods of casting on and off a week from this Saturday, if either of you are interested,” Lydia said. “J. C. Briar is teaching it, and she’s such a good teacher. I believe there are a couple of spaces left.”

“I … I don’t know what I’ll be doing next weekend,” Bethanne murmured, keeping her gaze lowered.

“Will you be seeing Max?” Lydia asked. “Silly question. Of course you will.”

Bethanne managed a weak smile.

“Sounds like something I’d like to learn.” Lauren could use a bit of encouragement to sharpen her skills. She had the basic knit and purl stitches down, but it’d been a long time. Knitting was a craft that had long interested her. Even now, she wasn’t sure why she’d stopped.

They both cast on per Lydia’s instructions, using a long-tail method but also employing both ends of the skein. Lydia was right. This was a clever technique. Lauren picked up on it right away, but Bethanne needed a bit of extra help. Then Bethanne miscounted the number of stitches and appeared irritated with herself and started over again, jerking the stitches off the needle.

“Is everything all right?” Lydia asked gently.

Bethanne nodded weakly. “It’s fine … Max and I had a bit of a falling-out over something silly.”

“I’m sorry,” Lydia said in that same caring tone.

Bethanne sighed. “I felt terrible about it this morning, but I haven’t been able to get ahold of him all day. It isn’t like Max not to answer his cellphone.”

“Did you call his office?” Lydia asked.

Bethanne nodded. “His assistant called in sick, and the woman answering the phone said that the only information she has is that he’s out of the office.”

“Men,” Lauren muttered under her breath. She braced her elbows against the tabletop and kept the yarn in her lap as she read over the pattern. The first eight rows were knit in garter stitch, knitting every row to form an even border that would prevent the blanket from curling.

“Are you having man problems, too?” Lydia asked Lauren.

“After this evening I won’t,” she said with determination. “I’ve been dating the same guy for three years and I’m calling it quits.” She purposely didn’t mention Todd’s name because that invariably led to a discussion about him and his job with the local television station.

“You sound like you’ve made up your mind,” Bethanne said, looking up from her own knitting. Lauren noticed that she hadn’t progressed far.

“I have,” she concurred. “It’s embarrassing to admit how easily influenced I’ve been by good looks, charm, and prestige. Right now I’m more interested in intelligent, funny, hardworking, and kind.”

“You aren’t alone in prejudging a man by his looks,” Bethanne assured her.

“I’m not looking to marry the Hunchback of Notre Dame. But I refuse to overlook a potential husband because he doesn’t fit the tidy, neat picture formed in my mind as a college student. Back then I thought I knew what I wanted in a man. I assumed I’d found that, but unfortunately he turned out to be a … disappointment.”

Lydia chuckled. “Brad would be miserable in the corporate world. My husband’s a blue-collar worker, and I couldn’t ask for a better man. I thank God every day for bringing him into my life.”

The back door opened, and in walked a short teenage girl, hauling a heavy backpack. She tossed it on the table next to Lydia. “I had the worst day ever.”

“Hello, Casey,” Lydia greeted, sending apologetic looks to both Bethanne and Lauren. “What happened?” She wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and gave her a hug.

“Jack asked Hadley to the dance.”

Lydia was instantly sympathetic. “I’m sorry, honey.”

“Oh, it gets worse. I flunked my algebra test.”

Lydia seemed surprised. “But you studied, and your dad said you had the equations down pat.”

“I did, but Mr. Hazel didn’t test us on that.”

“Oh, sweetie.”

“And then I dropped my purse and everything spilled out and it’s my time of the month and, well, you can guess what happened when the guys saw my stuff.”

“It sounds like you had a perfectly dreadful day.”

“I need to see Grandma,” Casey pleaded. “Can you drop me off after work and then pick me up later?”