Elm Creek Quilts [06] The Master Quilter Read Online Free Page A

how it is. I got started talking with Bonnie, and then, well, I looked up at the clock and I barely had enough time to get coffee before Sylvia expected me.” Sarah set down her fork and glared at Matt. “If it bothers you so much, I’ll go back tomorrow and spend all the money for your Valentine’s Day present on fabric for myself.”
    Matt could barely hide his grin. “You don’t have to go that far.”
    “Sarah, dear, relax,” said Sylvia, astounded. “Goodness. Everyone’s allowed to be late once in a while. He’s only teasing you. There was no harm done.”
    “You’re right.” She smiled sweetly at Matt so that he would be sure to know the real harm was yet to come. “I’m sorry, honey.”
    Sylvia seemed satisfied, but Matt could only manage a weak grin.
    She cornered him by the kitchen sink after Sylvia and Andrew retired to the parlor to watch the news. “All right,” she said, snapping a dish towel at him. “We’re adding a codicil to our wager. If Sylvia finds out about the quilt because of you, it doesn’t count.”
    “I’m not going to tell her,” he protested.
    “That’s not good enough. If you force the truth out of me in front of her, or trick any of our friends into revealing the secret, or accidentally on purpose leave one of the quilt blocks on her chair, I win the bet.” She extended her hand. “Shake on it.”
    He took her hand gingerly. “No kiss?”
    “Not this time.”
    “Does this mean you’re not getting me a Valentine’s present?”
    “Oh, no. You’ll get exactly the present you deserve.”
    Two days later, a still-contrite Matt brought Sarah breakfast in bed, and he gave her a thorough foot massage while she read the paper. Only afterward did he mention that he was trying to make up for all the breakfasts in bed she would not receive once he won the bet. Sarah didn’t take offense. Instead she made him a Dutch apple pie to compensate for the apple trees she had no intention of buying him.

    The first day of the new season of quilt camp was rapidly approaching, and Sarah’s days were filled with the minutiae of the business: processing registration forms, scheduling classes, ordering supplies, mailing out welcome packets, assigning rooms and sometimes roommates. Amid the chaos, Sarah wondered how the campers could not fail to notice how she scrambled to make everything run smoothly. Summer assisted her by planning evening entertainment programs and inviting guest speakers, and together they wrestled with the problems of last-minute course adjustments. Already it seemed apparent that Gwen’s Hand-Dyeing and Agnes’s Baltimore Album courses would not be filled throughout March, while Diane’s class for beginners and Judy’s seminar in computer design were in heavy demand. It was no small feat to adjust the schedule in a way that would please everyone.
    When Sarah and Summer decided they had done the best they could, Summer phoned the instructors involved to see if they would agree to the changes. In the meantime, Sarah went through invoices and contacted the distributors who—for reasons they could not explain—had still not delivered supplies Sarah had ordered months before. Summer hung up the phone in defeat long before Sarah had sorted out her own problems. “What is wrong with everyone this year?” asked Summer, dropping into a chair in front of the library fireplace, which still held a few logs in cynical mistrust of the calendar. “Agnes was home, of course; you can always count on Agnes. But Diane, Judy, and my mom are incommunicado. My mom won’t even pick up her cell phone.”
    “She’s probably in class.”
    “Not all day. She ought to be in her office by now.” Summer let her head fall back against the cushions. “People could try to be a little more accessible at this time of year.”
    “Diane’s so stressed out about Todd’s college acceptances that she’s probably too jittery to sit by the phone. Judy’s either at work or with Emily,