Dropped Dead Stitch Read Free Page B

it. I’m in,” Kelly said. “I’m still fumbling with the crochet hook, so I’ll let you and Jen teach that.”
    “It will be gorgeous up there,” Jennifer agreed. “Yeah, I have to admit I could use some peaceful quiet time in the trees and mountains. Walking in my neighborhood just doesn’t do it for me.”
    “Steve and Greg will probably stock up on pizza while we’re gone,” Lisa said with a grin.
    “Naw, they won’t,” Kelly countered. “Friday night is chili night at Jayleen’s, remember? I bet the whole crew will show up on Jayleen’s doorstep. Curt’s always over there on chili nights.”
    “Tell Jayleen to save us some,” Lisa said.
    “You can have my share. I’ve gotta cut back. My butt is getting so big, it’s in another time zone,” Jennifer said, starting to knit a row of pink stitches. “By the way, who’s going to be at this workshop anyway? You never said.”
    Lisa’s laughter at Jennifer’s comment quickly faded, and she paused for a moment, her expression sobering. “It’s a workshop for women who’ve experienced sexual violence. Dr. Norcross is running it. I’m helping as part of my internship in the program.”
    Jennifer’s busy needles stopped their rhythmic movements. She stared at Lisa for a long moment. Kelly held her breath, her needles pausing as well, waiting for Jennifer’s reaction.
    “Uhhhh, I don’t know, guys,” she said, glancing back to her yarn, fingers moving slower. “I’m not sure I want to do that. Not with all those strangers.”
    “You don’t have to be in the workshops, Jen,” Lisa reassured her friend. “You can simply be there for the knit and crochet sessions. “But if you wanted to listen in, I’m sure Dr. Norcross wouldn’t mind. You know her.”
    Jennifer kept knitting, slower than before, focusing on the stitches forming, one after another. Lisa said nothing else, simply waited for Jennifer to speak.
    Kelly held her tongue as long as she could before speaking in a soft voice, “It might be good, Jen. With Dr. Norcross there, you know.”
    “Maybe . . . I don’t know,” Jennifer said with a sigh. “I’m not used to a group thing.”
    “Listen, you can just hang with me if you’re not comfortable,” Kelly suggested. “We can hike up there. It’s going to be gorgeous with the spring flowers bursting through the last of the snow cover.”
    “You can go horseback riding, too,” Lisa offered. “The ranch we’re going to has stables as well as cabins and stuff. People can ride every day if they like.”
    “What do you say, Jen?” Kelly said, leaning toward her friend. “A spring weekend in Poudre Canyon. We’ll have a campfire and keep away the bears.”
    “And the mountain lions,” Lisa offered with a wicked grin.
    “That’s supposed to encourage me?” Jennifer shot them both a look.
    “Hey, there will be so much chatter going on, those varmints will head for Cameron Pass,” Kelly promised with a laugh.
    Jennifer released a long sigh. “Okaaaay, you guys. I’ll do it if I can hang out and do my own thing, okay?”
    “Absolutely,” Lisa agreed, nodding vigorously as she caught Kelly’s gaze.
    Kelly and Lisa exchanged a look of careful optimism between them. Fingers crossed.

Two
    Kelly leaned on the open passenger window of Lisa’s car and watched the craggy rock walls of Poudre Canyon pull away from the road, opening to a meadow where pale green spring grass dared to make its presence known. At this altitude, nighttime temperatures still dropped to freezing. Mountain grass had to be hardy to grow in the canyon.
    “Are we there yet?” Jennifer asked from the backseat for the umpteenth time.
    “Almost,” Lisa replied as she steered around a curve. “In fact, we should be coming to the turnoff in a couple of miles.”
    The road steadily climbed. Kelly saw signs of spring everywhere. Even the scrubby bushes had tinges of green showing in between the brown. Boulders pushed their smooth round shoulders