Starting Now (Blossom Street #9)(11)

“Oh.”

“She took our mom to a doctor’s appointment this morning. We take turns helping Mom.”

Libby walked over to the display for the preemie hats. “I was thinking I could probably knit one of these, but I’d need a bit of guidance getting started.”

“I can help you with that.” Margaret came out from behind the counter. “Sorry if I seemed brusque, Lydia’s much more of a people person than I am. Do you have needles?”

“Ah … no. Actually I’ll need everything.”

“No problem.” Walking at a brisk pace, Margaret went from one end of the store to the other collecting items. “What color yarn do you want?”

“Ah …”

“Pink, blue, neutral?”

“Neutral, I guess.” Libby had trouble keeping up with the other woman. Margaret grabbed a peach-colored ball of yarn.

“The pattern Lydia prefers is for knitting in the round, but she has another for straight needles.” She paused and looked at Libby.

Libby blinked, unsure what the question was. “I don’t know that I’ve ever knit anything in the round.”

“Not a problem,” Margaret said, and grabbed a pair of straight needles off the case. “In addition to yarn and needles, you’ll need a measuring tape and scissors.”

This charity project was quickly adding up. “Exactly how much is this going to cost me?”

“Less than you’d think. Lydia gives a discount when knitters buy yarn for charity projects.”

“Okay.” While Margaret tallied everything up, Libby withdrew her debit card. “Will you be able to help me this morning?” Now that she had the yarn and needles, Libby was eager to get started.

“Sure thing.”

Someone else stepped into the store and Margaret greeted her by name. Libby settled down at the back table where she’d met Casey and Ava the day before and waited for Margaret to join her. It didn’t take long. The customer knew exactly what she wanted, made her purchase, and was gone.

Margaret joined Libby. “I usually crochet,” she explained, “but I knit, too. It’d probably be best to do a knitted cast-on.” She handed Libby the pattern, which was on a single sheet of paper. The picture of the hat had faded from repeated copying, but Libby didn’t think that would matter.

“Ah … sure … whichever cast-on you think would be best.”

“You might want to read the instructions all the way through first,” she suggested.

“Okay.” Libby reached for the sheet. They were actually pretty easy to understand.

“You finished?”

Libby nodded.

Margaret made a single loop and slipped it onto the needle. It only took watching Margaret cast on two stitches before Libby picked up on how it was done. Another customer dropped by and Margaret stepped away from the table. By the time she returned, Libby had the required number of stitches on the needle.

“I suggest you make a couple of the hats in stockinet stitch, which is knitting one row and purling the next. Once you’re comfortable with that, Lydia can show you how to knit in the round with either double-pointed needles or two circular needles.”

This sounded a bit like Greek to Libby, but she nodded as though she understood.

Libby had her first hat finished by the time Lydia returned. Casey was with her and the teenager broke into a huge grin as soon as she saw Libby. She hurried to the back table.

“You came back.”

Libby smiled at the girl’s enthusiasm. “You inspired me.”

“Ava’s coming by later. Can you stay?”

It wasn’t like Libby had anyplace else to rush off to. “Sure.”

“I’ll sit with you if you want.” Casey pulled out a chair and sat down next to Libby. She took her project from her backpack and started to work on it.

After a few minutes Lydia joined them.

“Libby, I’m glad you decided to come back. I see Margaret got you set up.”

She nodded. “The stitches aren’t that even …”

“Remember what you told Ava,” Casey reminded her. “It really helped. She was ready to quit and then you said she had to crochet all the ugly ones before she could do anything pretty. She’s still waiting for the pretty ones, but I told her they’re coming.”

“Apparently I have a few ugly ones left in me, too,” Libby said, and smiled. Casey smiled back.

Chapter 4

Bright and early Monday morning, Libby waited in the gym lobby for Robin. They’d continued to text over the weekend, but her friend hadn’t mentioned the gym again.

“I wasn’t sure you’d show,” Libby admitted when Robin walked through the gym door.

Robin, who’d never been much of a morning person, growled back, “Me either, but I’m here.” She’d brought along a change of clothes, which told Libby her friend intended to head straight to the office after their workout. It was what Libby would have done if she were employed, not that she needed a reminder that she was without a job. By living frugally, her severance package and unemployment benefits had carried her financially up until now, but it wouldn’t be long before she had to dig into her savings. The thought of that terrified her.

“Let’s get started,” Libby said, eager to show Robin the ropes. They found lockers next to each other and headed onto the floor. At this time of the morning the gym was even busier than at Libby’s usual time. They put their names on the waiting list for the treadmills and walked the track on the second-floor level until the machines were free. Runners raced past them as if Libby and Robin were standing still. Libby took delight in reminding Robin that the tortoises always beat the hares. Robin grumbled an incomprehensible reply.