LITMIR.BIZ

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Karen to switch from the red yarn with which she’d been knitting ribbing to the navy-blue yarn of the sweater’s body. The silence that had descended on the group was broken when Roland, consulting the impressive watch normally concealed by his aggressively starched shirt cuff, announced, “It’s ten minutes to eight. I must excuse myself to prepare the coffee and tea.”

      He slowly rose from the turquoise chair, making sure not to alarm the cat cuddled against his thigh, set his knitting in the spot he had vacated, and headed toward the hall that led to the kitchen. Soon the aroma of brewing coffee began to drift in from that direction. Pamela was nearing the end of a row, and when she reached it she set her knitting aside. She was about to venture to the kitchen and offer to help carry things when Roland reappeared carrying a sleek pewter tray, which he set on the coffee table.

      It held five steaming cups of coffee with their saucers and two empty cup-and-saucer sets. The cups and saucers were made of pale porcelain, unadorned, but all the more impressive in their elegant simplicity.

      “Tea is coming,” Roland explained, and hurried back toward the kitchen, this time followed by the black cat.

      “We can help,” Bettina called after him and started to rise. But Melanie had joined them.

      She waved Bettina back onto the sofa and said, “He likes to do it himself. He’s so proud of being in the group and he enjoys these meetings so much.”

      In the armchair, Nell suppressed a quizzical expression.

      Roland returned bearing another tray, which he set next to the first one on the coffee table, aligning it so both were exactly parallel.

      “Oh my goodness, Roland!” Holly exclaimed. “You got into the spirit of Halloween after all! These are just too cute!”

      Besides a porcelain teapot and the cream-and-sugar set that matched the cups and saucers, as well as spoons and small napkins, the second tray held a heaping plate of cookies. They were chocolaty rounds studded with candy corn.

      “They look divine!” Bettina reached for one. “What a clever idea! Chocolate and candy corn.”

      Roland had taken his seat and been joined by the black cat, which was once again cuddled against his thigh. A tiny close-lipped smile appeared as he absorbed Holly and Bettina’s praise, but instead of looking at them, he looked at the carpet. “Well”—he cleared his throat—“I knew you’d all expect something . . . something seasonal, and so I . . . it just seemed . . . candy corn . . . is so . . .”

      “So Halloween!” Nell said with a triumphant laugh.

      “I can’t imagine a better combination!” Bettina reached for a cookie and then a napkin, tasted the cookie, and pronounced it divine.

      “Plates!” Roland exclaimed, springing to his feet and startling the black cat. He lunged toward the hall that led to the kitchen. Crockery rattled and a cupboard door banged shut, then he was back with a stack of small plates from the same delicate porcelain set. He placed them on the coffee table next to the plate of cookies and returned to his chair, calming the black cat with a gentle pat.

      Melanie, standing behind her husband with her hands on his shoulders, smiled at the group, seemingly delighted by Roland’s success as a host.

      But he glanced around the room and suddenly leaped up, startling the black cat again, as well as Melanie. He turned back for a moment to stroke the animal, which looked up at him trustingly, then seized the porcelain teapot. He poured two cups of tea and placed one on the coffee table within reach of Karen. He carried the other to Nell and set it on the small table next to the substantial armchair that was always reserved for her.

      “Now,”—Roland glanced around again—“does everyone have everything they need?”

      “I’ll take a cookie,” Nell said, starting to rise. “Just one, though.”

      “Let me, let me—” Roland edged toward the coffee table where the plate of cookies waited, but he swiveled back to ponder Nell and said, “Cream and sugar too! You need cream and sugar for your tea!”

      Nell was on her feet now. “Roland, really”—her voice was soothing—“everything is lovely. Please relax and sample your own treats.”

      He was about to return to the sleek turquoise chair when he noticed Melanie still on her feet. He waved her toward the turquoise chair with a courtly gesture and fetched an extra chair from the dining room. Soon everyone was settled, with coffee or tea sugared and creamed to their satisfaction and one cookie or more in reserve on a small porcelain plate.

      Pamela didn’t really like candy corn, though she acknowledged that it was as crucial to the rituals of Halloween as peppermint candy canes were to Christmas or foil-wrapped chocolate eggs to Easter. But she had to admit that the pairing of chocolate with candy corn was inspired. Sweet as the chocolate cookie was, its flavor still hinted at the slight bitterness of the cacao bean, and that bitterness tamed the excruciating sweetness of the candy corns studded here and there.

      Melanie didn’t usually join the group when Roland hosted Knit and Nibble, but perched in the turquoise chair, she seemed to enjoy the benign gossip and the chatter about babies and home improvement projects unloosed by Roland’s expertly managed refreshments. She was happily nibbling on the cookies, though to judge from her lithe, well-toned body, such indulgences were rare.

      Roland’s discreet peek at his watch signaled that he, at least, judged the time had come to return to the knit component of the evening. Taking their cue from their host, people began tipping cups to capture the last swallow of coffee or tea. Murmuring that she really shouldn’t, Bettina helped herself to one more cookie.

      Pamela lowered her empty cup to its saucer and picked up her knitting. She’d left off at the end of a row, so there was no need to ponder which direction she’d been heading when the group put their knitting aside to sample Roland’s treats. Soon she was once again enjoying the steady rhythm of yarn-looping and needle-thrusting as, stitch by stitch, the blue cashmere sweater front continued to grow. Roland had made short work of cleaning up, loading the two pewter trays with cups, saucers, plates, and the rest, and allowing Melanie to help him by bearing one to the kitchen.

      Next to Pamela, Bettina was advising Karen that Lily was plenty old enough to enjoy eating banana slices with her fingers. Holly had once more left the sofa to confer with Nell about the progress of the Christmas stocking. Back in the turquoise chair, Roland was contentedly at work on what he had made clear was the second sleeve of the camel-colored sweater destined for Melanie.

      After some time had passed, Nell rested her knitting in her lap and raised a hand to muffle a yawn. “It must be nine, or nearly so,” she said. “I don’t usually get sleepy this early, but I still haven’t quite caught up with my sleep after Saturday night.”

      “I’m ready!” With a flourish, Bettina completed the last stitch in a row. She reached for her knitting bag and tugged it up onto her lap.

      After a brief flurry of activity, during which knitting was stowed in knitting bags and coats and jackets were retrieved, the Knit and Nibblers gathered at Roland’s front door, congratulating him once again on his Halloween cookies. Nell had arrived with Holly and Karen because the walk all the way to the Farm was a bit far, even for her. But she was to be driven home in Pamela’s car because Holly was stopping off at Karen’s to look at swatches for a set of curtains Karen had in mind.

      With a last round of thank-yous and goodnights, the five women stepped out onto Roland’s porch, where the scarecrow’s jack-o’-lantern grin, illuminated by the porch light, echoed their host’s genial send-off. They made their way down Roland’s front walk to their respective cars. Pamela, Bettina, and Nell climbed into Pamela’s serviceable compact and, with a wave to Holly and Karen, set out for the Palisades and Nell’s house.

      Chapter 7

      Pamela halted at the corner when she reached Nell’s street. Even from the end of the block, it was clear that something untoward had happened in the vicinity of

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