Harold delivered her to Mavis's cottage. He opened the car door and escorted her to the small front porch. To her relief, he rubbed his hand on her back, urged her to get some rest and left.
"That you?” Mavis called from the kitchen.
"Yes,” Harriet said and wandered in to join her. Mavis was pulling a baked chicken from the oven.
"I cooked a bird so we could have an early supper, but I'm afraid I can't stay here and eat with you. My daughter-in-law called and needs me to watch the baby so she can go to a class she's teaching. My son was going to do it, but he's stuck at work."
"I'm not hungry right now anyway,” Harriet said. “Besides, I need to go fix Lauren's quilt. Could you drop me off at my place? Then I can drive my car back when I'm done."
"You aren't supposed to be alone at your house, though."
"Everyone knows I'm staying with you, especially after the memorial service. No one will go looking for me at my house. It's probably safer for me there. If someone comes looking for me, it will be here."
She could see Mavis was trying to work out a better plan in her head.
"I suppose if you call me every hour while you're there. And just stitch, nothing else. Then you come right back."
"Agreed."
"Okay, let me put this chicken in the icebox and then we can go."
Harriet used the time to call Sarah Ness.
"I have your quilt on the machine. I'm leaving now, so just give me a few minutes to get it off the frame.” She rang off.
"You know, the more you accommodate her the more she's going to expect,” Mavis said and leaned into the coat closet to retrieve her purse, cutting off any response Harriet might have made.
Mavis drove around the lagoon and up the hill to Harriet's house.
"I'm still not comfortable with you being here alone,” she said as Harriet got out.
"It's going to be fine. I'll stitch the quilt and probably be back to your house before you are.” She retrieved the quilt from the back seat.
"Don't worry,” she said as she shut the door.
Mavis drove away, and Harriet fished the house keys out of her pocket. A low window to the left of the door was covered with a cream-colored sheer lace curtain to allow a maximum amount of natural light into the studio. She froze as the curtain slowly rippled. She started to back up and slipped off the landing onto the top step. The curtain slowly pulled to one side, and a furry face pressed against the glass.
"Fred,” she said and let out her breath.
She opened the door and stepped into the studio. The cat jumped off the windowsill and began to meow and rub his face on her shoes.
"I haven't been gone that long,” she said.
Fred wasn't buying it. It had clearly seemed an eternity to him.
"Come on.” She set her purse and the quilt on a chair in the studio and went into the kitchen. She poured a scoop of catfood into one ceramic bowl and filled the other with fresh water.
"There,” she said. “Just don't think you get to go on a food binge because I'm spending the night with Mavis."
Fred made a purring noise and planted his face in his dish. Harriet propped the door open and went back into the studio.
At the long-arm machine, she attended to Sarah's quilt. She loosened the tension block and unclipped the elastic tension pulls then removed it from the frame and laid it on her cutting table. She picked up a small, curved pair of scissors that would allow her to clip any loose threads close to the fabric's surface without cutting into it. She pulled a floor lamp over to the table and bent over the quilt. She was almost finished when she heard the door open.
"It's almost ready,” she said without looking up.
She heard footsteps approach the table then smelled a sickly sweet odor. She struggled to pull away the cloth that was clamped over her nose but only succeeded in breathing more deeply. She suddenly felt very heavy.