Page 42 of Better Together

“I was your dad’s art teacher. If I remember right, he was quite talented.” Emma pulled a chevron-patterned blanket in soft pastels from her bag.

Not sure where to start, Alexis held a pair of needles like chopsticks. “What are you working on, Sloane?”

“I like making animals. This one will be a giraffe.” She held up a pattern book with a cute stuffed giraffe and cat on the cover. “I gave the cat to sheriff Nick,” she explained. “Nick keeps stuffed animals in the back of his car in case a child needs comforting.”

“That’s so sweet,” Alexis said.

The others nodded and voiced their agreement.

Ruth Reid, mother of Chloe and Nick, walked in. “Sorry I’m late.” She took a bottle of water from the fridge and sat next to Emma. “So, Lily, I heard you caused quite the ruckus out front.”

Lily covered her face with her hands. “My crochet club back east referred to themselves as the Happy Hookers. I thought the sign would turn heads and we’d get more people to sign up. I didn’t think it would cause an accident.” She held her hand over her heart. “To think I was responsible for two sweet old men getting hurt.”

“You did nothing wrong, Lily.” Alexis said.

“They shouldn’t have been driving so fast and should have looked where they were going,” Emma scoffed.

“Thank goodness they weren’t seriously hurt,” Maggie said.

Maggie handed Alexis a small ball of light gray yarn and held up her single hook. “You don’t eat with them, plus you only need one—we’re crocheting, not knitting.”

Alexis grinned.

“Let’s start you off practicing a slip knot and a chain.” Maggie showed her how to make the knot and after a few tries, she was successful. Although frustrating at first, she got the hang of chaining, too, but thought she’d stick to reading as her hobby.

Paige looked up from her project and asked Rachel, “Where is Levi tonight?”

“I dropped him off at Roman’s. The twins are looking after him.”

“How’s everything going between you and Nick?” Emma asked with one brow raised.

Always the matchmaker. But Alexis knew from what Zeke had said about Nick and Rachel that they were only friends. They’d both lost someone they loved: Rachel, her husband; and Nick, his best friend. He had promised his buddy he’d look after his wife and little boy if anything happened to him.

“I already had the love of my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to date again. Nick’s a great guy, and Levi adores him.” Rachel swallowed hard. “He’s been a wonderful friend. Nothing more.”

Emma patted her knee, and Lily and Chloe side-hugged her.

“I’m glad Nick talked you into moving to our small town,” Ruth said. “We are happy you joined our crazy little community.”

“Thanks, Ruth.”

“I heard Zeke stayed at Mandy Blake’s home in California,” Lily said.

The last thing Alexis wanted to talk about was Zeke’s involvement with the sexy actress, so she kept her head down, concentrating on the next chain stitch.

Maggie spoke up. “There’s nothing going on between Zeke and Mandy Blake. He was there to do a job.”

Sloane leaned toward Alexis. “You’re doing great.”

When Alexis looked up to acknowledge Sloane, everyone’s eyes were on her. “What?”

“Oh. Nothing, dear.” Emma and Elsie grinned at her.

Her face flushed. How could they possibly know she and Zeke had transitioned into new territory?

Several hours later, with a full stomach and a very long chain, she packed away her project, as did the rest of the crocheters. She hadn’t escaped all talk of Zeke, but she did manage to steer the conversation away from anything personal. She learned a lot about the recent goings-on in town since she hadn’t had time to check the Town Talk app, and viewed several bloopers of Zeke at the house on Maggie’s phone.

Alexis sent a quick text to Zeke: I think they all know. Done here.