The Knitting Diaries by Debbie Macomber Read Free Book Online

academically, Ellen had been extremely shy. Anne Marie became her “lunch buddy,” and that was how everything began, how both their lives had been transformed.
    Lydia filled the kettle and plugged it in, then reached for her knitting. “Well, I’m glad it all went well.”
    “Tim was a big help, too,” Anne Marie commented, mesmerized by the way her friend knit, gracefully weaving the yarn around the needles, creating what appeared to be a child’s sweater, one knit in the round from the top down.
    “I heard Tim was there, but Mel didn’t show up.”
    “He was with clients,” Anne Marie explained, wondering what her friend knew.
    “Casey likes Tim. She said his red truck was cool.”
    Anne Marie remembered how eager Casey had been to ride with Tim and Ellen on the way to the house. Tim had agreed, which thrilled Ellen, who admired the older girl.
    “We had a scare Saturday afternoon when Baxter went missing,” she said, “but it actually worked out well.”
    Lydia looked up in alarm. “Missing? You got him back, right?”
    The kettle whistled and she set aside her knitting.
    As she took two mugs from the cupboard and poured hot water over the tea bags, Anne Marie clarified her remark. “Ellen and I were out looking for Baxter and, yes, we did get him back—thank goodness. We also came across a flower shop and a bakery.”
    Lydia brought the tea to the small table, along with sugar and milk. “It sounds just like Blossom Street.”
    Anne Marie thanked her for the tea, added milk, then sat back. “Well, not exactly like Blossom Street, but close enough for Ellen to realize her new neighborhood isn’t so different from her old one. She made a new friend, too—the girl who actually found Baxter—and, as it happens, April has a dog. Another Yorkie.”
    “You couldn’t have arranged that more perfectly if you’d tried,” Lydia said with a smile.
    “I know.” Anne Marie stared down at her tea. “Anything new on Blossom Street?” Ellen wasn’t the only one who was going to miss living here. She’d still be working here, but—despite what she’d told Ellen—it wasn’t quite the same.
    “I saw Bethanne Hamlin on Saturday—and she had news.”
    “Oh? What?” Anne Marie sipped her tea. Bethanne frequented the yarn shop and was a good friend of both Lydia and Anne Marie. She ran a highly successful party business that she’d started shortly after her divorce and often visited the bookstore.
    “Bethanne told me that Andrew and Courtney Pulanski are engaged.”
    “That’s wonderful! When’s the wedding?”
    “Mid-July.”
    Anne Marie had never met Courtney, although she’d heard plenty about her. Bethanne’s son, Andrew, and Courtney had been dating for several years; they’d met in their senior year of high school, after Bethanne and Courtney had taken one of Lydia’s knitting classes.
    “Bethanne’s knitting Courtney a pair of beaded fingerless gloves for the wedding. I special-ordered the yarn,” Lydia told her. “Cashmere.”
    “She’s such an accomplished knitter,” Anne Marie added. “I’m sure the gloves will become a family heirloom.”
    “Me, too,” Lydia said.
    Anne Marie put down her cup. She searched for a way to broach the subject that had been weighing on her mind all weekend. She’d unpacked boxes late into the night on Saturday and fallen into bed exhausted. Tired though she was, she’d been unable to sleep.
    All thanks to Tim Carlsen.
    “Did anything else happen on Saturday?” Lydia asked after a moment of silence.
    “You could say that.”
    “Between you and Tim?”
    Anne Marie’s head shot up. “How’d you know that?”
    Lydia shrugged, her smile sympathetic. “Call it a lucky guess.”
    Anne Marie exhaled slowly and picked up her tea, needing something to do with her hands. “I overheard a conversation he was having on his cell. As it turned out, he was talking to Mel, although he never really said why—other than to pass on the message that Mel