Seasons in Paradise. Barbara Cameron

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СКАЧАТЬ looked at her expectantly. Mary Elizabeth marveled at how quiet it got. You could have heard a pin drop.

      “Some of you may know Leah here. She’s the owner of Stitches in Time in town. Leah has been very generous to us. She’s donated fabric and supplies from her shop because she believes in what we’re doing.”

      Spontaneous applause broke out. Leah blushed. A spry, white-haired Amish woman in her seventies, she wasn’t used to being acknowledged like this.

      “Leah has more energy than anyone I know,” Kate continued. “She came to me with a very interesting proposal she wants to talk to us about today.” She gestured at Leah to speak.

      “I’m so happy to be invited to meet all of you today and to see what you’ve been doing,” Leah began, smiling as she looked around the room. “I’ve been sewing all my life, and there’s nothing I love doing more. But, I also love seeing others enjoy sewing, so Kate and I have come up with an idea that we’d like you to consider.”

      A ripple of excitement ran through the room. Mary Elizabeth glanced at the doorway, wondering what was taking Lavina so long. She was going to miss Leah’s announcement.

      “The store next to mine came up for sale recently, and I’ve decided to buy it and open another shop,” Leah said. Her blue eyes sparkled. “I like to encourage creativity in others, and I want to have local crafters sell their work there. I’ve seen some of the work you ladies have been creating, and I want to offer you the opportunity to sell your work there.”

      There was a ripple of excitement in the room. Leah paused and let the women chatter for a few moments before going on. “I thought I’d call it Sewn in Hope, and I’m planning to be open in two months, so there will be plenty of time to sell crafts made for Christmas gift-giving.”

      She smiled and stepped aside for Kate.

      “I want you to be thinking about what you’d like to make and sell, and we’ll take one or two samples to Leah to approve for sale,” Kate said. “I think this is a wonderful way for you to make some money to save up for when you’re ready to move into your own places. And Pearl has said she’ll see to child care a few hours each day so you can work right here.”

      Lavina hurried back into the room and took her seat next to Mary Elizabeth. “What did I miss?” she whispered.

      “Wait until you hear what Leah’s planning!” Mary Elizabeth whispered back.

      Chapter 4

      4

      It took a long time for the room to empty.

      As the women filed out of the classroom, they chattered excitedly. It did Mary Elizabeth’s heart gut to see them this way. In the months she’d been volunteering here at the shelter with Lavina she’d seen so many of these women come in scared, sometimes bruised and beaten . . . beaten down, in Kate’s words. Often they had only the clothes on their backs. And the kinner . . . if they had kinner, those poor little ones were even more scared.

      Gradually they began to feel safe. Protected. Supported. Some of them drifted into the classroom and became interested in the quilting and sewing crafts. Some of them drifted out after they said it really wasn’t for them. The kinner clung to their mudders and looked too old for their years. Velcro kids, Kate called them, desperate to hold onto the only security in this scary world they knew. Gradually, as they saw their mudders relax and felt the love and support here, they smiled and played and went back to being kinner again. Ellie lingered with her mudder and chatted with Leah about how she’d sewed the tiny quilt that covered the doll she carried in her arms and never let go of.

      Mary Elizabeth waited with Lavina—actually, Lavina had slipped from the room again in a pretty big hurry—and watched Carrie approach Kate.

      “I want to apologize,” she said.

      “For?”

      “When I came to this class the first day, I said it was a waste of time. Why should we bother with it? No one was going to hire us to sew a quilt. We’re not Amish.”

      “Well, you were right,” Kate said, unoffended. “Leah’s not asking anyone to sew a quilt and pretend it’s been done by an Amish woman. But the shop will offer quilts, and there are plenty of things the women here can make to sell there. And they’ll take the same skills everyone’s learned in the class.”

      “Well, anyway, I’m sorry for the attitude I showed. You’ve been great to start the class and show up here each week when you could be home putting up your feet.”

      Kate laughed and tucked the quilt she’d been working on in her tote bag. “Thanks. I love doing it. And sometimes I put my feet up here and sew.”

      She paused and looked up at Carrie. “Actually, what you said stayed in my mind and when I was in Leah’s shop recently we got to talking. A few weeks later she called me and wanted to chat about her idea for the new shop. So you might say what you said to me that day led to this opportunity for the women here at the shelter.”

      “Wow.”

      “Yeah. Wow.” She settled the strap of her purse on her shoulder and picked up her tote bag. “I’m thinking maybe you could help me get everyone organized with what they’re going to do. I figure you were pretty good with people working at the bar like you did.”

      “Yeah, I could do that. Yeah.” Carrie grinned.

      “See you next week.”

      “See you.” Carrie walked over to put her project box on the shelf.

      “Sorry things took so long today,” Kate said as she walked downstairs and on out to the car with Mary Elizabeth and Lavina.

      “We wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” Lavina said.

      “You were out of the room a lot of the time,” Mary Elizabeth reminded her.

      “Everything okay?” Kate asked Lavina as she unlocked the trunk of her car and put the tote inside.

      Mary Elizabeth saw Lavina blush, but she nodded and got into the back seat.

      Kate dropped them at their house, and Lavina hurried ahead of Mary Elizabeth. When she walked inside, Lavina was closing the door of the downstairs bathroom.

      Mary Elizabeth walked into the kitchen. Her mudder was slicing a loaf of bread.

      “Did you stop for lunch on the way home?” her mudder asked.

      “Nee, Kate wanted to talk to us—the class—about something. Mamm, listen, I’m worried about Lavina. I think something’s wrong with her.”

      Linda looked up. “What is it?”

      “I swear, she’s been running to the bathroom every ten minutes. That’s where she is now.”

      “Nee, I’m not.” Mary Elizabeth jumped guiltily and spun around to see Lavina standing in the doorway.

      “Are you allrecht, kind?” Linda asked. She hurried to press her lips to Lavina’s forehead to check for fever.

      Lavina laughed and hugged her. “Don’t СКАЧАТЬ