LITMIR.BIZ

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going to be a quilted wall hanging.”

      “You ought to learn to quilt,” Nellie told Kristen. “It’s not that hard. Just work on a simple square to begin with.”

      “Or a place mat or pillow covering,” Gloria agreed. “I like to see a quilter take on a whole project to begin with, even if it’s small.”

      “I don’t know,” said Kristen with a laugh, happy to realize the women were dedicated to their craft. Her aunt had told her that at least one person from Sew Fine’s classes won a ribbon at the county fair every year. “I’ve never so much as taken up a hem. I don’t think sewing is one of my talents.”

      “Nonsense, everyone can sew if they try.” Gloria raised her brows. “And knowing something about quilting could help you with the business end of things. Why don’t you sit down and join the class?”

      “That would be wonderful,” added Shara, the others nodding in agreement. “We could use some new blood. We’ve been hanging out together for a couple of years now.”

      Then it was more like a quilting circle than a class, Kristen decided. She didn’t want to stay any longer, especially not tonight. However, she agreed to at least drop by the class again next week. Before she left, Gloria plunked a prepackaged kit of color-coordinated strips in her hands.

      “What’s this?”

      “Just take them home and play with the fabric, the colors and the designs.”

      Kristen objected, “Well, I can’t just take this. I have to pay...”

      “Don’t worry, I’ll write the kit down for the records, Ms. Businessperson,” Gloria told her.

      “Well, okay...”

      “Try it, you’ll like it.”

      Gloria sure could be a compelling salesperson, Kristen admitted, heading home. Sew Fine was lucky to have her. Kristen even opened the package of material strips and spread them out on the bed before she went to sleep. In shades of blue and turquoise and contrasting green, they certainly were pretty. But not only was quilting out of her sphere of knowledge, it took too long to finish anything.

      Longer than she would be in Sparrow Lake.

      * * *

      ALEX WASN’T ONE to give up easily when he wanted something. And it seemed he wanted to get to know Kristen Lange even more than he’d originally realized. Just trying to have a simple conversation with her was a challenge. He could only wonder what spending time with her would be like. Undoubtedly, she would dispute everything the way she had when he’d caught her breaking into Sew Fine.

      If she knew about his current investigation, she wouldn’t be happy. And if she had accepted his dinner invitation, he would have felt obligated to tell her about it, considering her brother was involved.

      Not that Brian Lange seemed like a bad kid.

      Alex had seen how hard Brian was working in the store. And he’d heard Margaret sing the kid’s praises more than once.

      So why was Brian looking for trouble with Matt Stapleton and Andy Eccles?

      Nellie Martin had been the first to make a formal complaint. Someone had mixed a rainbow of clashing colors and styles on the consignment store’s mannequins. One was wearing lingerie on top of its outer clothing, while another sported a purple feather boa over what appeared to be a raincoat. He’d had to force himself to keep a straight face on that one. Women’s styles were so crazy at times, he hadn’t even been certain that mischief was afoot, and Nellie wore a pair of what seemed to be fairly strong glasses. He’d wondered if the aging woman simply had trouble with her eyesight and had dressed the mannequins in dim light, then had been horrified to see her work the next day. After all, there hadn’t been a break-in—Nellie had admitted she’d left in a hurry and may have forgotten to lock up.

      But then the other calls started coming.

      Old Mr. Fergus had risen one morning to find two panels of his picket fence had been pulled out of the ground and were lying neatly on his front lawn. What was he supposed to do? He was too old to put them back himself, and he couldn’t afford to hire someone to do the work.

      Feeling sorry for the old guy, Alex had asked for volunteers at the department to help the man, and both Walt and Jack had agreed to put the fence back together again. While Alex’s officers worked, Mr. Fergus had speculated on who could have done the deed. He’d seen Matt and Andy and “that new boy” hanging around outside at dusk and had thought nothing of it at the time. But after the fence incident, he had wondered, making Alex wonder, too.

      A speculation that had put the spotlight right on the trio as the incidents—and sightings of one or more of the three teenagers—had increased. Alex could only figure they were bored and looking for ways to entertain themselves. If he could actually catch them in the act, he could put the fear of the law in them, force them into choosing reparation and community service or make them go before a judge, something he really didn’t want to do. He simply wanted to change their direction into a more positive one before things got out of hand. Then he would have no choice. He would be forced to arrest them.

      Truth be told, the night before he’d been going down the alley behind Sew Fine looking for signs of mischief.

      Alex hadn’t been at all prepared to find it in Brian’s sister.

      What a conundrum. He’d wanted to catch Brian in the act; he simply wanted to catch Kristen.

      Two goals at odds with each other.

      Though he’d known Kristen for less than twenty-four hours, he was certain that, if he arrested her brother, she would have nothing to do with him.

      What to do?

      CHAPTER FIVE

      ALEX DIDN’T APPROACH her for a date again, but in the next few days, Kristen swore she saw him more than anyone other than her aunt or siblings. No matter where she was—home, store or just walking through town—she saw Alex cruise by her in the patrol car.

      Slowly.

      She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or flattered.

      Then she found herself looking for Alex every time she was out on the street. And sometimes she looked out Sew Fine’s windows to see if she could spot a patrol car anywhere around.

      That’s what she was doing late one morning the following week when her sister joined her at the window.

      “What are you looking for?” Heather asked, scanning the area outside the store.

      “Oh, nothing. I was just stretching my legs.”

      “Huh. You’ve been doing a lot of that the past week.”

      “I get tired of sitting so much.” Not wanting to talk about her paranoia over Alex, Kristen started back to the office area.

      Right on her heels, Heather said, “Then get away from that computer and start working in the store.”

      “I only know a little about quilting.”

      “You can learn more. That’s why you’re taking Gloria’s class, right?”

      “I’m not exactly taking it. I’m just checking things out. If I understand the classes and what they provide for customers, I can market them better.”

      “Whatever. It’s a smart move. You never know, you might be ready for Aunt Margaret’s advanced session in no time.”

      “That’s very hopeful of you.” Kristen laughed. “I’m not quite ready for art quilts yet.” She thought about her aunt’s retirement. “Is Aunt Margaret going to keep teaching here at the store now that she’s retiring?”

      “As far as I know, she wants to continue.”

      “But what if we expand and there are more people for classes?”

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