Page 48 of The Weekend Crashers
“You could be right,” he says to the woman.
“Don’t patronize me.” She crosses her arms.
Now the rest of the table is staring at him. “I wasn’t patronizing you.” And then, feeling compelled to say more, to defend his feminist bona fides, says, “In fact, you’re welcome to join us later.” He doesn’t really mean it, and he hopes the woman isn’t interested in the offer.
“Challenge accepted,” she says.
“What?” he says.
“I’ll take you up on that. Whatever you guys have planned next, I’ll be there.”
“Lexi, no,” says the woman next to her. “Drop it.”
“Why? I know he doesn’t think I’m right,” Lexi says to her. Then, turning back to him: “And I’ll put my money where my mouth is. How much is the bet?”
“Fifty dollars,” Maggie says. He glances over and sees she’s enjoying this.
“Double it,” Lexi says. “Then it’s almost a respectable bet. Plus, I could really use an extra hundred bucks.”
Piper glances over at Cole; he’s smiling. He thinks this whole situation is funny. And more importantly, her mother does too. She seems happier, lighter somehow. She hopes Cole’s right about the potential for a love connection. It reminds her of that old Lindsay Lohan movieThe Parent Trap. Getting Maggie and Aidan together is now her weekend goal.
Kalli stands up suddenly. “I agree with Lexi—I’ll put up a hundred dollars, too.”
“All right!” Lexi says. “We’ve got a betting pool. I’m good with that. Anyone else want to contribute to the pot?”
Kalli turns to Cole. “Why don’t you ask your friends out there in the woods if they want in? Let’s see how big we can make the pot, and then winner takes all.”
Laurel pulls at her arm and hisses at her to sit down.
Cole has a strange, uncomfortable expression on his face. “Not sure that’s a good idea.”
“It’s a great idea,” Lexi says. The entire table is talking. Sheila reminds everyone that she’s been to every knitting retreat since the beginning, and “This is a first and I’m loving it.” But two people at the table are clearly not loving it: Dove reminds Lexi they’re on their honeymoon, and Laurel is furiously whispering to Kalli.
Belinda resorts to waving for everyone’s attention.
“While I applaud the spirit of competition in this room, we only have an hour and a half to get into brioche—a style of knitting I could devote an entire weekend to if we had the luxury.”
“That’s a future retreat idea,” Sheila says.
Belinda doesn’t acknowledge the suggestion. Maybe she didn’t hear it.
“Knitters, I start today’s class advising you this: Brioche, like many of life’s challenges, requires a shift in thinking. And once that’s achieved, it will become a favorite technique. But getting there takes persistence.”
Piper’s phone buzzes with another call from Gretchen. Again, she lets it go to voicemail. Her phone translates the voicemail to text across her screen and she catches the wordshuge opportunityandASAP. She looks over at Maggie, who’s busy writing on her notepad. Her mother would be appalled if she knew Piper was ignoring Gretchen’s calls.
“Let’s talk materials: For brioche, wool is ideal because the elasticity enhances the squishy texture that’s the hallmark of this style. Today, we’re working with Malabrigo Rios, a worsted-weight yarn that will give you excellent stitch definition.”
In the center of the table a basket is stuffed with yarn in shades like apple green, midnight blue, rose pink, and a few neutrals like putty and gray. They’re all prewound with the labels tucked back inside. Something about yarn just makes her itch to hold it, to get her hands moving. But Gretchen’s call nags at her.
She’d convinced herself The Fall was the end of her career. And while it stung that Gretchen dropped her, it gave her a convenient excuse to bow out of modeling. But if Gretchen wants her back, then the only way out is to actively quit. Something she’s not sure she can do. She’s not a quitter—no matter how unhappy she is. Plus, Maggie would be so disappointed.
Belinda tells everyone to choose a yarn from the center of the table. Cole, beside her, seems disinterested until Kalli chooses a skein in midnight blue and hands it to him. While everyone picks through the options, Piper takes the opportunity of everyone’s distraction to slip out of the room.
It’s time to be an adult and call Gretchen back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Piper finds a spot to sit halfway down the hall, a carved wood and green velvet settee under a framed oil painting. She can see the closed double doors of the Purl from her seat, but she’s far enough away that she’s free to talk. She calls Gretchen’s cell, hoping she’ll get voicemail but no, her (former) manager answers on the first ring.
