Page 6 of Treasured

"The fact that the whole flight crew got the flu hardly seems like fate. Seems like a lot of bad luck for them."

"But good luck for us that we weren't close enough to catch it from them," Jake says, sucking down a big swallow of iced tea.

"You're glad the flight got canceled, aren't you?"

"In a way," he shrugs. "I was looking forward to going, but it just didn't feel right."

"You and your feelings," I say, shaking my head at him.

"I'm telling you," Jake says, "we need to stick around town. Something is going to happen. I just know it."

CHAPTER3

Tracy

"Tracy!"

Hearing my name shouted out makes me pull back a bit as Aunt Max and I enter the building where the knitting group meets. The business is called Getting Crafty With It. I remember coming here a few times with Aunt Max but I've never attended the knitting group. It was just for adults and the women in the group were always rather protective of their Stitch and Bitch meetings. I guess this is a rite of passage.

But I'm only here for this one time. After that I’ll be heading back to my life. Disaster though it is. Eagle Canyon isn’t home. Hasn’t been for a long time. I just need to figure out where I’m going next and how I’ll support myself.

Easy peasy.

The person who called out my name comes trotting across the room in a blur of curly red hair and green cowboy boots, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me so tight I lose my breath. When she finally lets go and pulls back to smile at me, I say, "Boots! It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, city girl. Where have you been? It's been forever since I've seen you."

"Six years," I say.

"Well, it sure felt like longer than that. I'm glad you're back now. Where you belong." Boots grabs my arm and drags me over to a group of women I've never met before, though they look to be about my age. Or at least younger than Aunt Max.

I want to object to her comment about being back where I belong but Boots moves at a quick pace which doesn't allow for much chit chat. "Tracy, meet some folks who’ve moved to Eagle Canyon since you left. That's Cassie, she's married to Luke and Aidan. You remember, Aidan, right? He's the sexy doctor." Boots raises her eyebrows in a hubba-hubba gesture that makes Cassie blush and everyone else laughs. "This here," she points to a woman with blonde hair, "is Presley. She's a runner and she's using that same determination to learn to knit."

Presley holds up a hat with a big hole in the side. "I'm still working on this hat for one of my husbands," she says with a shrug. “Welcome, Tracy. It's nice to meet you." She's got a pleasant smile and when she scoots over, I sit next to her.

“Over there with her nose in a book,” she gestures to a woman with a giant tome on her lap, “that’s Shelby. She’s a librarian,” Boots says to me, as though that explains everything.

Shelby looks up and smiles. “Hi!” Then she holds the book up to show a beautiful sweater on the cover. “It’s a book of knitting patterns, Boots. Maybe if you returned your library books you’d be able to check it out yourself.”

Boots sticks her tongue out at Shelby and they both laugh.

“Shelby’s married to Hawke and Ethan. They had despairing fever and everything,” Boots says with great drama.

“Despairing fever?” I ask, trying not to let my skepticism show. I’d heard the old wives’ tale that when fated mates were away from each other, they would become angry and difficult to be around. Who isn't like that these days?

Well, except in Eagle Canyon, I remind myself.

“They were unbearable to be around,” Pat, of Pat’s Diner and an old friend of Aunt Max's, piped up from the other side of the room. Boots talks so loud, it’s hard to avoid hearing her. “I almost banned them from the diner, they were so hateful to each other.” Then she looked at Shelby and smiled. “But they’re sweet as pie now. Or as sweet as they’re able to be. Shelby’s made a big difference to them and we’re all grateful.”

Shelby blushes. “They’ve made a big difference for me too.”

"And finally," Boots continues, "this is my cousin, Tori." An attractive woman who clearly knows her way around a pair of knitting needles nods and smiles.

I tilt my head to the side. "I thought I'd met all your cousins years ago when you took me to your family reunion." In my rush to put all things Eagle Canyon out of my mind when I left town, I'd nearly forgotten all about Boots, which is quite a feat since she's definitely a memorable personality. But now the memories are coming back and I smile. You can't help but smile when Boots is around.

"She's a new cousin. Married to Bryce and Grizz. You remember them, don't you?"

"Oh, I sure do," I say, with a laugh. "They're great guys," I say to Tori. "But I suppose you know that."

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