Page 21 of Love, Untangled

“Well, hello. All of you! So nice of you to join us.”

“Joanna told us all about you,” Madeline gushed.

“I’m not much for craftsy stuff,” Shiloh said. “But I’ve been wanting to make my nephew and Marvin hats and scarves.” She scrunched her nose. “Seems like a motherly, wifey thing to do.”

“You do so love crafting,” Joanna said. “Fess up, girl. You’ve been watching videos on knitting but haven’t been able to figure out the tension.”

“Fine,” Shiloh muttered. “I need lessons.”

“Then that’s what you’ll get,” Pen said. “Well, I guess we should get started.”

“Sounds lovely,” Eva said with a smile.

Over the course of the next hour, Pen showed the women a pearl stitch and a reverse stitch, explaining the importance of consistent tension with the fibers. Hattie had to redo her short strip of stitches twice, but she grinned the whole time, chatting happily with her cronies.

“Well, that was fun,” Joanna said. “I’m so glad Hattie suggested the classes at my shop. This is going to be a great option for those of us who want to be crafty but will never be painters.” She held up her three-foot-long double row of even stitches. “I’m going to have a real scarf!”

“You are.” Pen smiled. “And you’ll be very stylish wearing it.”

Joanna chuckled. “I’ll look better in one of yours. Hey, did you talk to Lucy Seow about selling some items in her boutique? And bring the hat and scarf sets to our sip and stitch event. Shiloh loves purple. She’ll buy anything that color.”

“I do. It’s true,” Shiloh said.

“I don’t want anyone to feel obligated—”

“I don’t,” Shiloh said. “And I like supporting local people.”

“Girl, you’re talented. Like, really. And your prices are fair. I looked it up to be sure. I think you could charge another twenty-five, thirty percent and still be in line with what other artisans are asking.” Joanna gave Pen a one-armed hug. “It was tough for me to put on my business hat in the beginning too, but we want to support you. So let us, okay?”

“Okay,” Pen whispered.

“Oooh, is that Carlo out there?” Hattie asked.

“Yes,” Pen said, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. Talking about money made her nervous. “I mentioned to him that I nearly ran into Leon and that could be a problem.”

Well, Carlo had seemed to know there was an issue related to Alpaca Man, but Pen had been too nervous to push him for answers. Instead, he’d simply set up his press in her yard earlier that week and made a point to stop by a few times a day if he was out in his fields.

Hattie exchanged a knowing glance with her friend. “Lovely man, Carlo. So thoughtful. Don’t you agree, dear?”

Once again, Pen’s cheeks burned. “Y-yes,” she stammered. As happened so often, she refocused on Carlo, longing tugging at her heart. “He’s really wonderful.”

“Yes, he is. He was quite concerned about Leon when I mentioned it.”

“You told him?”

Hattie nodded. “Of course. We needed to make sure you were safe. Now, let me get these items. I love how soft the wool is.”

Pen rang up Hattie’s purchase as well as a hat, scarf, and glove set for one of her friends.

The rest of the women had moved outside and Joanna was chatting with Carlo. Pen bit her lip as a wave of jealousy hit her hard, making it difficult to breathe.

Hattie strode out onto the porch and shimmied between Carlo and Joanna. “Are you making apple cider?”

“I’m pressing some of the first apples to test the flavor. They aren’t quite ripe yet. That won’t happen until September, probably.”

“Why don’t you give us each a little sample?” Hattie suggested. “You know, so we have something to look forward to once all the apples are pressed.”

“Well, I was planning to make it into a hard cider, but sure.”

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