The Patchwork Quilt of Happiness Read online

  Just today Karen had suggested Sadie start a day quilting class, thinking there might be some stay-at-home moms or retired women who would prefer an earlier start time. Karen’s two knitting classes, both held during the day, had waiting lists now. She’d thought about adding another class, but fabric cost more than yarn. Another quilting class would bring in more money beyond the class tuition. Sadie didn’t see a downside.

  “Everyone sure they’re okay?” Sadie asked, looking around at the group.

  They all nodded, so she took Paige to the table and asked her to bring out the squares. Her sister now had a workbag, a navy one with the phrase “Art Is Love” emblazoned on one side.

  “I think I’m finally happy with a pattern,” Paige told her. “Haley helped with the squares. Of course, she still wants a quilt for herself, but I told her this first one is for a little baby in the hospital who needs it more. Plus, she has your quilt, which she loves. She sleeps with it almost every night.”

  “Oh, that’s so sweet,” Sadie said. “I’m glad she loves it. We’ll have to come up with a special princess design for her once you’re more comfortable.”

  Of course, she had ideas, not only for Haley but for Jess too. Even though she hadn’t spent much time with the little girl, she felt like she knew her through Riley. Maybe he needed a quilt too. Would that be weird? She’d never even seen his bedroom. Oh, goodness, talk about putting the cart before the horse. This was so not the slow program they’d agreed to.

  “That will be fun,” Paige said. “Mark said he’d never imagined anyone would get so nervous over a few squares of cloth. I told him to butt out.”

  Sadie couldn’t help laughing. “Okay, show me. I’m dying to see.”

  Paige laid out the squares she’d chosen. Her sister had gone mostly with shades of dark blue with a couple patterned squares resembling the night sky for the top part. In the topmost left corner, the first square she’d selected depicted a happy-faced crescent moon. Midway through the pattern, her squares turned into shades of yellows and gold, ending with the square depicting a happy sun grinning from ear to ear in the bottom right corner.

  “Oh, Paige!” Sadie exclaimed, putting her hand to her heart. “This is stunning.”

  “You think?” her sister asked, straightening one of the squares to form a perfect line with the others. “Haley was emphatic about the night turning into day, and that seemed to fit my theme. No matter what time of day, a baby should always feel safe. Be safe. Especially at night.”

  Sadie wondered how many nights Paige hadn’t felt safe. Her heart ached when she thought about it. Even though their daddy had abandoned her, she didn’t remember feeling unsafe with the rest of her family around her.

  “Haley was fearless with the squares, moving them around and around. I re-ironed all of them. Don’t worry. I brought the ones I didn’t pick in a separate container.”

  “Sounds like Haley is a good partner in crime,” Sadie said. “You’re lucky. None of my sisters ever wanted to play with the squares with me. But that was all right because I kinda liked doing it all by myself. I mean, as the youngest, I felt like I was following in everyone’s shoes in school, but quilting was always my thing.”

  “Of course, Haley asked if you have a quilting class for kids, but I told her she could just help me. I’m really excited about it actually. I can see it better in my mind, kinda like when I design a website. You have to choose a theme that fits the information you want to convey, and then find a clean and crisp way to share it.”

  “Look at you! You’ve found your groove.”

  “And it’s precious…finding something special to do with your daughter. My mom and I never…”

  She trailed off, and Sadie put an arm around her. “Well, you have me and Haley, and any time you want to come over to my place and quilt, you let me know. We…ah…don’t have to stick only to class.”

  Paige’s watery smile gave Sadie the courage to be fully vulnerable.

  “I really love spending time with you, Paige. Getting to know you better is…well, it’s one of the greatest blessings ever.”

  “I feel that way too,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “About all of y’all.”

  “Are you two crying again?” Leanne asked.

  She and Paige looked at the doorway. Leanne wasn’t alone. Imogene stood next to her, crunching on a chocolate chip cookie.

  “Oh, you have your pattern,” Imogene said. “Goodness, that’s wonderful. Everyone! Come see Paige’s design.”

  The whole class bustled into the workroom, exclaiming their delight.

  “You could add a ruffle around it to give it a little more whimsy,” Leanne suggested.

  “Or a strip border,” Ada added, fingering the squares. “Way to go, honey. The baby who receives this quilt is going to treasure it as they grow up.”

  “Nothing says love like a quilt,” Mae said. “It’s beautiful, Paige.”

  Sadie studied the pattern, feeling an idea niggle at the edge of her brain. Then she envisioned the fabric she needed to make it happen. “Oh, I have an idea! Give me a second.” She darted out into the main part of the store and zipped through a couple of aisles until she found the fabric she wanted. She picked it up and brought it back to the women, laying it beside Paige’s pattern on the worktable.

  “How about a border with this fabric?” she asked Paige. “I think it will add to the feeling of safety you want to convey. This fabric looks like starlight, so it’s rather like saying the heavens are watching over this new baby.”

  Paige got choked up, and oddly so did Sadie and the rest of the women. Even Leanne gave an audible sniff.

  “Didn’t I tell you Sadie has some great ideas?” Mae said, patting Paige on the back gently. “Oh, honey, what an incredible first quilt. You’re a natural.”

  “I haven’t done any sewing yet and it’s my fourth class,” Paige said with a laugh.

  “Goodness, you should have seen my first quilt,” Ada said, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “It was a strip quilt and probably one of the ugliest things this side of the grave. But I loved that quilt. Made my daddy take a picture of me holding it on the front steps of our house.”

  “Mine was a rag quilt,” Mae said, “and probably uglier than yours, Leanne. But I loved it too. Honey, you never forget your first quilt.”

  Sadie thought back to her first quilt, also a rag quilt made from scraps of cloth she’d begged her mom to cut from the old clothes she wanted to donate to the church clothing drive.

  “No, you really don’t,” she said softly. “Be sure to take a picture. Every quilt you create deserves to be remembered. I wish I’d known that when I started out, but now I take a picture of each one.”

  “All right, everyone,” Imogene said, “let’s get back to it. There are more cookies to eat and more babies who need quilts.”

  The women returned to the circle, leaving the sisters alone together.

  “I also know what I want to sew inside,” Paige whispered. “‘May you always be safe.’”

  Sadie fingered the squares, feeling her heart clench. “That’s beautiful. Every baby should be safe.”

  “Yes, they should,” Paige said in a hoarse voice.

  “Let me show you how to piece it,” Sadie said, patting her on the arm. “It’s like sharing your life story with a new friend. One page at a time.”

  Paige’s smile widened. “Is that a pun?”

  Page. Paige. Oh, goodness, her brain had hijacked her and she was becoming a total mushball. “Not intentionally. Forget I said it. Now, we’re going to need to measure some batting and some backing for your quilt, but let’s get you to piecing it.”

  Paige stopped her with a hand. “I’d like to meet up sometime this week to quilt—or have a glass of wine.”

  Just like sisters, Sadie thought with a little shiver of pleasure. “How does Thursday sound?”

  “It sounds great.”

  And together, they assembled the top face of her quilt, piece b
y piece, just like they were doing with their relationship.

  Chapter 12

  Paige was dancing on her way to the car to see Sadie and her sisters when she heard Riley shout her name. Between Monday night and Wednesday, somehow her one-on-one quilting date had turned into a full-on girls’ night at Sadie’s. Tonight she’d not only see her sisters but the other women in their extended family. They were bringing her into the fold slowly, but she was gathering momentum. She wanted to meet everyone! She’d been so excited she’d even painted her toenails—a rich orange—after getting home from work tonight.

  Riley ran across the yard with something in his hand. “Hey there!”

  “Hey back,” he said, dancing in place, but his dancing was completely different than hers. While she had Pitbull’s “Greenlight” playing in her head, it looked like his internal soundtrack was spinning something like Gavin James’ “Nervous.”

  “Something on your mind, Riley?” she asked.

  “Well…you’re seeing Sadie tonight, and I thought…” He thrust out the object he was holding. “Can you give her this card for me? I couldn’t…pass up the chance to give her something. I mean…something tangible is more romantic.”

  Oh, could he be any sweeter? “You know, Riley… You could ask Sadie out more than twice a week.” They were on the Wednesday and Saturday plan right now.

  He kicked at a pebble on the driveway, and it ricocheted off the rim of her wheel. “I know, Paige, but we both agreed to take things slow.”

  Slow? When he was acting like an eager puppy? “Why do you need to take things slow?”

  He stopped moving. Ran a hand through his thick hair, a puzzled look on his face. “Well…it’s early and—”

  “Since when have you followed the rules?” she asked. “Riley, if there’s one thing I admire about you it’s your independent thinking. You always listen to all sides of an argument and then decide for yourself. If you like Sadie so much, why in the world aren’t you going out more?”

  “I’d like to see her more than two days a week,” he said, punching the air. “But I’m a dad, and I…”

  He trailed off at her look.

  “Fine, I even had a weird thought about joining her quilting class to spend more time with her, but that was a low moment. Can you imagine me quilting? Not that it isn’t okay for men too, but seriously, I would hate the sewing and—”

  “Riley, you still haven’t told me why you’re taking things slow. I mean, I know it’s different, but I fell for Sadie pretty much the night we met, and I already love her. Does that sound like slow to you?”

  He shook his head, turning the card end over end. “No, and it’s really unlike you, which is why I know she’s so great, so right for you.”

  This wasn’t the normally decisive Riley she knew at all. “You aren’t sure if she’s right for you?”

  “I told you. It’s early.”

  “I knew I wanted to be with Mark the rest of my life on our first date,” she told him. Of course, he knew the story. Haley and Jess had made her tell it at bedtime more than once with Riley in the room.

  “Yeah, but you guys are special. Like an alien couple or something. I mean, do you know the odds of finding a bond like that? It’s like one in a trillion.”

  She scanned the sunset cresting over the roofline of her house and thought for a moment. “Riley, I know things with Mandy were terrible, but you can’t tell me you don’t believe in true love. I know you. I’ve read a few of your comics. There’s always a love interest. Besides, you’ve watched too many Disney movies with the girls for it not to affect you.”

  “Please don’t extrapolate anything about my character based on my knowledge of Disney. I watch those movies with Jess and Haley because it makes them happy. It’s what a good dad does.”

  She knew he was downplaying things…a lot. Riley had created a special fairy castle in the playroom out of cardboard and old curtains. He’d hunted for special princess costumes for the girls, saying they needed to celebrate their own identities as Princesses Jess and Haley. Disney princesses like Belle or Ariel were their friends; they didn’t impersonate them.

  “How many times have you played the heroic prince and told the girls to hold out for true love?”

  “I don’t want them to end up effed up like me,” he said, rocking back on his heels. “Excuse my language, but you know what happened with Mandy.”

  “Sadie isn’t Mandy,” she said straight out. “And you know it.”

  “But Jess is…young and…I don’t want her to form an attachment to someone who might not be in my life later. Despite the fact that she’s clearly going to be in yours.”

  Mark had told her about Riley’s worries about Mandy, how Jess had been looking at pictures of her mother in his office. She and Riley hadn’t explicitly discussed it because her men—like she thought of them—took care of each other.

  “I’m not saying we aren’t going to have to…” She searched for the right words. “To heck with it. I’m just going to tell you straight out. Jess is a smart girl. And she’s resilient. If you and Sadie don’t end up becoming a thing or break up after being a thing for a while, she isn’t going to be destroyed by it. Not like I might have been when I was a kid. And do you know why?”

  He worried his lips before responding, “Why?”

  She put her hand on his T-shirt. “Because, Riley Thomson, Jess knows you love her like crazy. And she knows I love her and Mark loves her. Haley is her sister for life. And Sadie and Shelby and Susannah are mine now, thank God. She’ll find a way to still love Sadie and adjust to the change. In fact, I expect she’ll love Sadie for Sadie, whether she’s your girlfriend or my sister or Haley’s aunt, and Sadie will love her right back. No one can have too much love in this world, Riley.”

  He tapped the card on his thigh for a moment. “I know you’re right, but you didn’t see how vulnerable she was the other day, Paige. Mark must have told you what happened. She never sneaks around like that usually, and she was so quiet.”

  “That wasn’t about Sadie, Riley,” she said gently. “That was about her mother.”

  He looked to the house, and she rubbed his back.

  “I hate this,” he whispered. “I want to protect Jess from the truth, but I know someday she’s going to ask me straight out…and I don’t want to lie. When I think about what the truth will do to her, I want to cut off my own arm to prevent it.”

  Paige thought about Sadie’s mom again, a woman she’d been thinking about a lot lately. Mrs. McGuiness had kept Paige and her mother a secret because she’d wanted to protect her children.

  “You know…Sadie’s mom protected her children from the truth about their dad and my mother—and me, I suppose. She did it for decades. Like you, she wanted to prevent them from feeling more pain, something any loving parent would want for their child. Will it hurt when you finally tell Jess? Yes, but when the time comes, you will be there, and so will Mark and me and Haley.”

  She paused, looking him in the eye, then added, “Riley, Sadie told me she was glad her mother had finally told them all the sordid details about my mom and their dad because that was what brought them to me. You can’t keep thinking of the worst-case scenarios.”

  “I know, but it’s hard not to when all the evidence seems to point to it. Mandy’s still a junkie based on the update I had that private investigator do last year, and she could try and use Jess. Seek her out at school and ask her for money. Kidnap her. Dammit, Paige. You know how Mandy showed up that one time when Jess was little. I had to call the cops.”

  She did, and she also knew how paralyzing the fear could be that a drug-addict parent could come back again. Still she said, “You need to trust yourself…and Jess.”

  When she reached out and hugged Riley, she felt his arms come around her.

  “Whenever you get overwhelmed by something like this, you call Mark or me. Sadie and the rest of her siblings are new additions to my family, but you and Jess…you’ve been family fo
r years.”

  “Shit,” he said, the muscles in his back bunching as he fought emotion. “I’m glad you’re my family too.”

  “Look, all I’m saying is don’t go slow with Sadie because of rules or because you’re trying to regulate how much Jess might come to love her,” she told him. “If there’s one thing I’ve realized it’s that only a silly person or someone truly afraid of life tries to regulate love like it’s out of something like a gas pump. I mean, if I’d let my old experiences with my mother and her men influence how I felt about Mark, we would have never made it past the first couple of dates.”

  Riley gave a hoarse laugh and let her go. “You’re underestimating Mark.”

  “Maybe,” she said, “but you can’t make anyone love you. I had to step over the fears I had from my past and take his hand.”

  “Are you saying I need to take Sadie’s hand?” he asked, taking a deep breath.

  “If you want to,” she said, gesturing to the card he still held, “and from where I’m standing, Riley, you definitely look like a man who wants to.”

  “Shit,” he said again. “Paige, I drew her.”

  “You what?”

  “I drew her likeness and put it in this ‘Thinking of You’ card. I mean my female superhero has been looking more and more like her, but I’ve never…” He waved the envelope. “I’m either a moron or a—”

  “Man falling pretty hard for a really wonderful woman,” she finished, cutting him off from putting himself down. “Riley, she’ll love the card. Now, give it to me so I can run. I’m going to be late for my first girls’ night with the McGuinesses.”

  He handed her the card. “So let me sum things up. I’m supposed to make up my own mind. Keep the course with Jess. And take Sadie’s hand.”

  “Yep,” she said, rising on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be your love messenger.”