The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club - 02 - The Tattered Quilt by Wanda E. Brunstetter Read Free Book Online Page B

common with the woman.” Jan motioned to her car. “For crying out loud, she drives a Corvette. How’s that compare to your beat-up truck?”
    “Well, there’s only one way to find out if she’s married or not,” Terry said, ignoring Jan’s remark.
    “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
    Terry rubbed his hands briskly together. “I’ll go in the house and check things out.”
    Jan grunted. “Check out what, Terry? Are you just gonna barge into Emma’s home and ask the blond-haired chick if she’s married? And if she’s not, are ya gonna ask her out?”
    Terry shrugged. “I might.”
    “Don’t be such a sap. Emma would be shocked if you did something like that, and the cute little blond would probably laugh right in your face.”
    “Maybe not. Maybe she likes the strong, silent type.”
    Jan leaned his head back and roared. “You, the silent type? Now that’s a good one!”
    “Well, maybe I’m not silent all of the time, but I am strong.” Terry gave his ponytail a flip and chuckled. “Could be, too, that the pretty little thing likes men with flaming red hair.”
    Jan pointed to the shingles nearby. “Just get busy picking these up and quit fantasizing.”
    Terry’s eyebrows lifted.
“Fantasizing?
Where’d you pick up a word like that?”
    “I ain’t stupid, ya know.” Jan shook his head. “For your information, being around Star so much and listening to some of the song lyrics she’s written has broadened my vocabulary.”
    Terry bent down and grabbed an armful of shingles. “If you say so.”
    After heaving the shingles into the bed of the trailer, Terry turned to Jan and said, “Just as soon as we’re done here, I think I’ll go inside and see what I can find out about the blond. Is that okay with you?”
    Jan turned his hands palms up. “Suit yourself. Just don’t say I didn’t give you fair warning if someone throws you out on your ear. I’d hate to have to say, ‘I told you so.’ ”

     
    When Emma heard a knock on the front door, she turned to Lamar and said, “Would you mind getting that? It’s probably Jan. I saw him and Terry pull into the yard a bit ago.”
    “Sure, no problem. You go on teaching the class, and I’ll be back in a minute.” Lamar shuffled out of the room, moving at a slower pace than usual. Emma hoped his back wasn’t hurting again. He’d had trouble with it since he’d bent the wrong way to pick something up two weeks ago. A few visits to the chiropractor and Lamar said his back felt better, but maybe he just didn’t want her to worry.
    Turning back to her students, Emma was disappointed that Anna seemed bored. Rather than looking at the samples of material Emma had shown them a few minutes ago, the young woman sat staring out the window as though in a daze.
    She doesn’t want to be here
, Emma thought.
I don’t know why Anna’s mother thinks I’ll be able to teach her to quilt. She won’t learn a thing unless she wants to, so the money Ira and Linda spent on the classes for their daughter might be a complete waste. Well, all I can do is try to get through to her and hope for the best
.
    When Lamar returned to the quilting room, a slender, attractive woman was with him. Her pretty blond hair reminded Emma of one of her earlier students, Pam Johnston, only this woman’s hair was shorter and worn in a bob.
    “Emma, this is Cheryl Halverson,” Lamar said. “She brought you a quilt.”
    “It’s my grandmother’s quilt,” Cheryl was quick to explain. “It’s in pretty bad condition, and I was wondering if you could repair it for me.” Cheryl set the box she held on one end of the table and opened the lid. When she lifted out a tattered old quilt, Emma slowly shook her head. “Oh my, that does need to be mended.”
    Lamar’s forehead creased. “Can you do it, or is it beyond repair?”
    “The ends are quite frayed, and there are several tears, but I think it’s salvageable.”
    Cheryl smiled at Emma with a look of relief.
    When Emma opened